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

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 128 (Machodor #79): The Tomb of Kistomerces

Translated from Old Trollopulean

    

Timekeeping

This session began on August 21th, 2025, with the player characters adventuring until August 22nd. Downtime for these characters begins on the 23rd.

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)

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

with henchmen Bishoy (F6) and Tawardros (F6)

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

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

with henchman Gilthaniel (Elf F5/M8)

Gorfag (Level 5 half-orc Fighter whose name translates as "Hero Astonishing")

Introduction

Last session the party unearthed a tomb of some kind in the mountains south of the valley of pillars. It was a costly find however, with four deaths, and this week they planned to return and loot the place for all it was worth.

Downtime

Sever brought the dead to Minas Mandalf for Raise Dead spells. The cost of this was less than normal as some clerics there have reached level 9, where as previously the only ones who could cast the spell were level 12 and so it was 1500 gold machos more expensive. So, the players have that going for them. Sever also had his henchman cast Comprehend Languages on the rubbings Giuseppe had taken from the entrance to the tomb. Seeing the name Kistomerces, he asked about for any further information on this Kistomerces, and found that it was the same name of a formerly powerful and influential family in the city of Trollopulous.

Also in downtime Giuseppe moved his troops from Guarda to secure the location in the Valley of Pillars with the path up into the mountains.

Session Report

They worked their way back into the mountain ravine and checked in with their friend the giant venomous snake. Giuseppe brought a goat to feet the monster, and it liked the fresh meat even more than the iron rations Fluid had given it previously.

After this the adventurers went east again and soon had reached the entrance to the tomb. They braced themselves and went up the stairs, but there was no repeat of the Symbol of Death from last session. They found the room above was much as they had left it, but the remains of the mummies were gone, and the sarcophagus was again closed. They pried it open again and found it to be empty. 

The carving depicted the location of a city, with a river to its east and swamps to its west, a vast jungle stretch across the area north of the river. The players recognised this as a depiction of Trollopulous from long ago; before the weebs, before the rampant disease (Fluid wasn't here to feel guilty this time), before it became the Ruin of Trollopulous.

To the east from the mural was a straight stair leading down into a 30' by 20' passage, with double doors at the far end. The ceiling here was filled with thick cob webs, and that started the tingling of the players spider senses.

They backed up and executed a complicated plan the burn away the webs, which revealed a poorly held together ceiling, consisting of large stones that looked like it could collapse at a touch, so of course they touched it: with a Spiritual Hammer. The whole thing came down--safely for them--and the made there was across the fallen rocks to the door, it was fake and set up to bring down the ceiling if opened.

Returning to the mummy sarcophagus which they had opened, they followed the exit to the north, a 20' passage that soon turned east into a long passage with a central column every 20 feet. The columns were normal, but caused spooky shadows to form from their light sources. Marty insisted on checking every single one for hidden compartments, and was finally rewarded on the very last one: which held 4 gems covered in an invisible contact poison that Fury sniffed out before it could harm anyone.

Along the way down to this point they had found and avoided another trapped set of doors down a southern corridor. And finally they found the east corridor ended in a cave in, rubble and debris blocked further travel in that direction:

 or did it?

The party set their digging-machine-ranger to moving the rocks, and after a turn they realised that the passage was just as blocked as when they had started. An Illusion? Marty cast Dispel Magic and was rewarded with the sight of the rubble disappearing, and a very different corridor to the south appearing.

It was clear that they now stood at the threshold of the tomb proper.

This first main corridor was filled with pits, the first set off by Sever--smashing a box attached the wall--and he plummeted down 30' onto poisoned spikes. Feather fall saved him again, but he could only do that once (although his henchman also had one of these spells memorised). 

Bumblebore and Gilthaniel found some hints of markings with meaning on the red-tiled path, he kept an eye on it as they advanced; and the Invisible Rabbit, who got a good roll on his Read Languages skill, also thought they might be able to make something of its meaning once they had travelled the full path. 

The party moved forward cautiously, Bishoy & Tawadros tapping with their pole arms as they advanced. This proved crucial as between them they discovered a bunch more pit traps. Finally they reached a place where the red mosaic path branched in two, one branch continued south to stop at a wall almost immediately, the other went into a mist filled archway.

And at this point those examining the path found they could read a message on the ground, like one of those old optical illusion puzzles that would reveal itself if you stared at it long enough.

Beyond this writing, directly ahead was the end of the hall, and here was a giant green devil face set in mosaic. Bumblebore placed a coin with Continual Light on the end of his staff and inserted it into the mouth of the thing, and came a way with a rod and no coin.

The face radiated both evil and magic.

Now there were many discussions about what all these riddles could all mean. They returned up the corridor and tested and (re)examined each of the pit traps, but these pits were just as they appeared, although only 10' deep compared to the one Sever went down, and there were no secret doors or other means out of them. Knowing that all this caution had used up the remaining daylight hours outside, the party decided to carefully record all the riddles and return to Guarda to plan their next foray.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel:  22 Miles

Downtime begins on: 23/Aug
Combats: 0
Rooms mapped: 4
Combat rounds: 0
Losses: none

Treasure & Items

4 gems : 2,020gp

Monsters

none

2,020 XP & 2,020 GP Assignment

Sever (E) 269 xp & 269 gp 

and Rabbit (E) 135 xp & 135 gp

and Poindexter (E) 135 xp & 135 gp

Giuseppe (E) 269 xp & 269 gp 

and Bishoy (E) 135 xp & 135 gp

and Tawardros (E) 135 xp & 135 gp

Marty (E) 269 xp & 269 gp 

Bumblebore (E) 269 xp & 269 gp 

and Gilthaniel (E) 135 xp & 135 gp

Gorfag (E) 269 xp & 269 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 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 127 (Machodor #78): On the trail of the Ogres

   

 

Timekeeping

This session began on August 14th, 2025, with the player characters adventuring until August 15th. Downtime for these characters begins on the 16th.

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)

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

with henchmen Bishoy (F6) Rhoikos (M4) Steelvein (F4)

Fluid the Druid (Level 7 Druid, former wearer of the Ring of Kings)

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

Dribbledruid (Level 4 Half-elf Druid)

Josef Ironbeard (Level 1 Dwarf Fighter from Schloss Ragnar)

Downtime

Sever's troops reached his fortress in the Valley of Fear, meanwhile his henchman Thomas used Speak with Dead on the dead Sidonian adventurers. Bumblebore returns to Guarda but left his new henchman back at Castle Irish.

Session Report

With a few characters and players unavailable, the party made the decision to go back on the trail of the Ogres again. A thunderstorm delayed their departure, but after it cleared a bit they rode on to the Valley of Pillars and scrambled up the ravine to their previous camp site by night fall. This time there was no nightly encounter and they set off under cloudy skies to the south, soon retracing their steps to the area with three exists, two blocked by rocks. After detecting the signs of spider webs, the party decided to push on without investigating further. 

Ignoring the area where they had previously encountered Cockatrice, the sound found themselves in a new section of the tunnels, and then the way forward was blocked by a large boulder; a simple problem but one that we had some fun with. Sever sent his Weasel familiar, Fury, scuttling through a gap below the boulder to check what was on the other side. He came back right away with, literally, his tail between his legs. Something had him spooked!

Fluid now clambered over the boulder where there was a gap between it and the ceiling of the chamber beyond. He saw an exit to the south and to the east, and between the two something was hissing at him.

Encounter #1: Venomous Snake

Rounds: 1

Result: The Snake let them pass

Highlights: Fluid lost initiative but managed to get down into the round cavern and cast Speak with Animals as a gob full of poison sailed past his face. 

The snake was initially barely civil, but when Fluid shared some of his food with it the beast soon came around. The party then joined the druid as the latter explained that to the snake that these guys were ok.

To the south from here was a passage that opened up into a large cavern. Here they found and easily avoided some likely piercers hiding among the stalagmites and beyond the cavern it opened out to the sky and a valley heading south west, the far side of which was about a mile away. Convinced that there was more to see inside the tunnels, they returned to the snake; this time Sever casting Speak with Animals and the thing was happy to eat some more food and continue to let them be.

They went east and the here-to-fore natural tunnel turned sharply south, and it was possible for Josef the dwarf to find that it had been squared off and partially smooth, but the workmanship of an unknown kind. The passage continued and looped around before continuing east again, and here it soon turned into a fully worked passage of stone. The passage ended in a large and sealed slab of stone. There was writing on it.

sadly no one had Comprehend Languages available

The edging of the door was sealed with something that had become brittle over time, and the party were able to push the vast slab forwards into a cavity beyond. There they found themselves standing in the ten foot square entrance to larger room, with stone columns in the corners, and stairs ahead on the far wall going up to the north. As they took this in, the shadows cast from their Continual Light sources starting moving--of their own volition--and taking upon themselves the forms of men.

Combat #1: 10 Shadows

Rounds: 1

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: Bumblebore practically begged Sever to back everyone out of there and down the corridor, far enough that the magic user could use Fireball. They chose this risky maneuverer on the Shadows as they were forming up from whatever layer of hell they had come from. It worked. 

With the shadows destroyed, the party searched the room and found that one of the pillars contained some gems in a hidden compartment, they bagged these and headed up the stairs.

Now, I had a pretty good idea what was in this area, how it differed from the tunnels outside etc; but, as usual, I was rounding things out with Appendix A. What happened next is a good case study of taking a roll and sticking with the result; because although it was very bad result, it fitted my idea of the area well, so I had to keep it; otherwise why roll at all? This discovery in turn reinforced my idea of what this place was all about.

They went up the stairs and...

A roll of 20 on Appendix A table V.I just says: Symbol. So I checked on both the Magic-user and Cleric version of the spell, I was prepared to go for the latter as being more appropriate for a tomb, however I then realised that only the Magic-user version has unlimited duration, so switched back to that. I discussed this with the players as I was adjudicating, and you could cut the atmosphere with knife. There are eight possible manifestations of the Symbol spell, so I rolled a d8, and came up with a 1--Death, which has this effect: 

"One or more creatures whose total hitpoints do not exceed 80 are slain."

Ok, but how does that effect a party going up the stairs and setting it off? First of all, Sever has more than 80 hit points, so he was unaffected--tough bastard. I was tempted to just go down the marching order from Sever, but then decided it would be more a case of a random result of who was looking up at the wrong moment. I would roll and apply the death effect, adding the hit points of the slain as I went--until I reached 80. 

Sadly, Josef's number came up first, and the dwarf was gone; then Thomas and then Steelvein were the next unfortunates, before the remaining 3 hit points could not be applied to Dribbledruid (a close one for him!)

The dead fell and rolled back down the stairs, to the shock of the survivors. That wasn't enough to turn them away though, someone was going to pay for this! They arranged the bodies respectfully, and then remounted the stairs; they lead up into a large room with a sarcophagus ahead in the center. Sever went forward to open it, and promptly fell down a 30' pit trap. However, the ranger was ready with Featherfall, and landed safely. He threw his rope up as the others came forward to help him get out of the pit, when the lid of the sarcophagus slid open and four mummies came out to attack!

I described it as a "Mummy Clown Car"

Combat #2: 4 Mummies

Rounds: 4

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: The battle turned into a scrum with the characters all getting up into Giuseppe's Protection from Evil zone, but this also put them well into the "mummy swipe" zone. Before that though, Bumblebore set O'Malfoy on the highly flammable monsters and his familiar's breath weapon worked to great effect on them. He then wasted a charge from his Wand of Paralysis to learn that mummy's are immune to this attack form. Giuseppe himself may have been immune to the mummy rot-touch, but Fluid was not. Fortunately the Druid had Cure Disease memorised, because why wouldn't the "Scourge of Trollopulous" have that particular spell memorised? Rhoikos was extremely unlucky to be hit with exactly the right about of damage to kill him.   

After wrapping up the fight with its occupants, the party found within the sarcophagus were a large quantity of ancient coins and, hidden among them, was an obviously valuable necklace. Now they were prepared to withdraw with their dead, and seek help back in civilisation. Their friend the snake gave them an inquiring look as they went past, but otherwise they were able to re-join Bishoy back with the horses, and then return to Guarda safely by the end of the day.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel:  22 Miles
Downtime begins on: 16/Aug
Combats: 2
Rooms mapped: 4
Combat rounds: 6
Losses: Josef, Steelvein, Thomas, Rhoikos all killed

Treasure & Items

5000 ancient gold coins

3 gems : 1,100gp

1 Jewelled Necklace 10,000gp

Monsters

10 Shadows 3270xp

4 Mummies 5608xp

24,978 XP & 16,100 GP Assignment

Sever (E) 4,703 xp & 2927gp 

Giuseppe (E) 4,703 xp & 2927gp 

and Bishoy^ 1,464 xp & 1,464 gp

Fluid (E) 4,703 xp & 2927gp 

Bumblebore (E) 4,703 xp & 2927gp 

Dribbledruid (E) 4,703 xp & 2927gp 

^minding horses

Graveyard

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

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

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

Matthias Steelvien (Henchman Fighter level 4), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126.

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 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 126 (Machodor #77): Guardan variety adventures

  

 

Timekeeping

This session began on August 7th, 2025, with the player characters adventuring until August 8th. Downtime for these characters begins on the 9th.

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)

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

with henchmen Bishoy (F6) Tawadros (F6)

Fluid the Druid (Level 7 Druid, former wearer of the Ring of Kings)

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

Gorfag (Level 4 Half-orc fighter, formerly known as Fagor)

Downtime

The players decided that the Ice Castle was no longer worth the trouble and risk of occupying, they packed up and move out, heading to Guarda where their troops would go their separate ways. Steelvein was on the lookout for getting work for Giuseppe's mounted crossbowmen from one of the merchant companies in the area.

Session Report

The players' force reached Guarda with no problem during downtime, they deposited Giuseppe to rest from his near death experience last session, and dispersed their troops in town. The question was, what to do? Recently, Giuseppe and his henchmen had defeated a group of ogres near the Valley of Pillars, which was less than a day's ride east. They had then tracked the monsters to a narrow gorge leading deeper into mountains to the south from the valley. 

I'd forgotten all about it.

Instead I was working on all the information on recent events in Guarda. Pegasus Corps 6th Company had pulled out, leaving Machodor officially represented by an embassy mostly staffed by a small Pegasus Express contingent. The town was booming with trade, and traders, from the cities to the south; Battra, Biblos, Sidon, & Tyre by name. With this trade had come some disruption to the usually more peaceful town.

The party set off on a lovely clear summer's day, and made it to the Valley of Pillars with a few hours before night fall. There was some reminiscing on events that had occurred in the valley previously, this is where Giuseppe first obtains his holy warhorse Bonecrusher, while Sever scouted the way forward from the air. Starting from the spot Giuseppe had helpfully marked by placing ogre heads on spikes, the ranger found that the rising gorge levelled out about 200' up. From there the gorge continued into the mountain side, at times visible and an other times returning to the embrace of the mountain; no telling what was in there. 

Even with rope it looked too difficult for the horses to get up there, so Tawadros was detailed to look after the mounts while the rest climbed up to adventure on. By the time they had made it up the sun was setting, and the clearing at the top of the rise looked like the best place to camp. The nearly full moon gave them plenty of light. Sever was on watch at 1am when he heard the sound of voices from the path ahead to the south. It sounded like two men conversing; but, as he waited, whoever--or whatever--was making the sounds failed to appear.

Sever woke the rest of the party, using his familiar Fury to do so quietly while he appeared unmoving. They set about getting their armour on while Fluid transformed into an Owl and went forward to check it out.

Encounter #1: ?

          Rounds: N/A

Result: Monsters withdraw

Highlights: Silently the Fluid-Owl glided over behind an overhanging piece of rock down the trail. Looking back he saw four, 4-legged creatures. They had hooves and ugly, badger-like heads. Whatever they were playing at, they soon gave up when the party chose to put on their armour and get ready. They raced past Fluid unawares, heading south. 

 

The Druid reported back to the party and then intended to return to owl form, but someone remembered that the druidic shape-change ability is more restricted than that. He can become a "reptile, bird or mammal" and each type can only be assumed once per day. There was some speculation that he could become a bat and continue scouting, but at any rate the party decided to move forward together.

Sever was unable to actually find the creatures tracks, a rare failure, but since there were few directions for the monsters to go the party opted to move forward, for once keeping their Continual Light sources hidden and relying on the bright moonlight to see by. After passing in and out of overhangs, the path ahead finally plunged into darkness, beyond this they eventually found a round-ish cave with 3 exits; two narrow and one wider, all had passages that either switched back or soon curved out of sight.

A more thorough search failed to turn up anything, except for a random encounter, something was coming towards them from eastern exit, clucking as it approached.

Encounter #2: 2 Cockatrice

Rounds: N/A

Result: Monsters withdraw

Highlights: Sever managed to impress the creatures that today was not the day to mess with him, and they backed up the way they had come. Would they return at the worst possible time? The party were willing to take that chance.

Fury confirmed that the smell of what ever it was they were following was still detectible here, and it seemed strongest near the wider south west exit, so they went that way. The curving natural passage spilled out into an oval cavern with three tiers, at the floor level were the four creatures they had been tracking, but that wasn't all. 

It was a trap!

Combat #1: NPC Party

Rounds: 13

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: The four Leucrota charged, one impaling itself on Sever's spear, and then there were three. Gorfag came forward to augment the front rank, and then a magic-user appeared on the upper ledge and cast Slow on them, and then a cleric appeared nearby and cast Silence. The players immediately grasped that they were taking on an enemy with powers much like themselves.

The party was made of of adventurers from Sidon, and they weren't interested in negotiating. 

Next round the enemy cleric cast Hold Person, snagging the hapless Gorfag and also the cleric Marty, fortunately Fluid shrugged off the effects. 

So, after two rounds of enemy action: all of our heroes were Slowed, two of them were Held, one was Silenced. A leader type among the enemy, and his lieutenant, scrambled down from the ledge to engage in melee, leaving the casters with five men-at-arms to protect them. It was a bad start to say the least. I found myself contemplating the post TPK situation; it could have been fun having survivors taken back to Sidon to be sold as slaves, maybe sent for a stint rowing a trireme. I could see it now; this would be no story-game-theatre-kid-spotlight-party thing, those characters would be stuck there and maybe not played for weeks, it might be the end for them, who knew?

These thoughts were shelved as the party gradually began to claw their way back out of trouble.

Rhoikos managed to get far enough away to for everyone to realise that he was the one with the Silence spell on him. From where he had moved to he could see the Wall of Ice the enemy magic-user had used to trap them here and prevent any escape; but the St. Raulian couldn't tell anyone!

After this came one of the swingiest combats I can remember, my d20 was coming up 19s & 20s or 1s & 2, and hardly anything in between. Fluid, having saved against the Hold Person, managed to get out of the silence effect and cast Summon Insects on the enemy cleric. Marty's player wanted to cast Command on the magic-user; could he do that while under a Hold Person spell? Well it requires verbal component only, and Hold Person doesn't stop you breathing, so I ruled he could cast it as long as he could say the word without moving his lips. 

So what did he say? "Fawl!"

The enemy magic user had high enough intelligence (and level) to get a save, but he failed! Following the command, he toppled over the side of the higher ledge, landed on the one below, then continued off that to land with a splat on the cavern floor. As he had no control to brace himself, I applied double normal falling damage; he also lost the spell he was planning to cast. Not at all bad work from Marty there, but the purple clad adventurer was struggling to rise, though it wasn't clear if he could still do so.

The clash between the Leucrotas and the two fighters against Sever and Bishoy was a titanic affair, with Sever going shield up to really lower his AC, making him very very hard to hit, but even so with my dice rolling he was losing hit points and dishing out damage in equal measure, even with the Slow happening. 

Dorrinal kindly reminded me that the party should be automatically losing initiative because of that, at least according to the PHB (page 104), but the monsters had been winning it most of the time anyway. Later I argued that the initiative procedure in the PHB is trumped by that of the DMG (page 63), which does not say this about Slow. We'll probably sort this out again next time.

Fluid now went spear out and charged the enemy magic-user, this brave act was rewarded with ten arrows from the men at arms; but they all missed! The charging druid impaled the magic-user before he could do what ever he was planning to do, and next round the druid returned to the main melee under the hail of another 10 arrows; and somehow only 1 out of 20 actually hit him. Don't ask me how, but I suspect he messed with the discord dice roller.

Meanwhile on the ledge the Insect Swarm was nipping hit points away from the cleric while she batted at them ineffectually. Finally some of the men at arms came over with torches to try and shoo the little flying bugs away, would this work?

The enemy leader had been taunting away at Sever from the moment the fight was out of the field of the Silence spell, and now several rounds passed with little more than harsh language being exchanged. Somehow the bad luck rolls had extended to the remaining Leucrota. As the battle stretched on the duration of both Slow and Hold Person was actually coming in to play.

The enemy cleric was reduced to a desperate action; she had the men-at-arms douse her in oil and set it on fire! "It was going to hurt," they said, "Do IT!" she answered. This would definitely drive off the bugs, but it also caused 4d6 damage; I rolled a total of 22, and she only had 20 left! Down she went in a similar manner to the magic user, she did not rise again.

First the Slow, the the Hold Person, and finally the Silence expired, they party was back to their full number and no one had been killed.

During the war of words in the melee it became clear that these Sidonian adventurers had a particular problem with Machodorians, but they were both finally cut down before they could give their reasons.

With the last of the adventurers dead, the men-at-arms threw down their weapons and surrendered. It turned out they had been hired on in Guarda, and didn't even speak the same language as the adventurers. All the loot, a considerable pile of coin, was then packed up, along with the bodies for later magical interrogation, and they returned to Guarda safely (after waiting for the Wall of Ice spell to expire).

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel:  22 Miles
Downtime begins on: 09/Aug
Combats: 2
Rooms mapped: 3
Combat rounds: 13
Losses:  none somehow

Treasure & Items

6000gp

12 gems: 8,166gp

Scroll of Protection from Undead 1,500xp

Magical: Mace, Longsword*2, Staff, Bracers 4050xp

testing of these shows the weapons are better than normal weapons, one longsword is better than the other, the Bracers provide some form of extra protection to AC.

Spell Books 1st: Magic Missile, Message, Shield, Read Magic; 2nd: Invisibility, Web; 3rd: Fireball, Slow; 4th: Wall of Ice. 100xp per spell per spell level to Rhoikos (for those he doesn't already have)

Greater Identify * 2 = -1200 gp

Cursed Dagger 0gp

Dagger+2 1500gp

Monsters

4 Leucrota  2964 xp

NPC Party Shadow Talons 4010 xp

28,190 XP & 14,466 GP  Assignment

Sever (E) 4906  xp & 2411 gp 

Giuseppe (E)  4906  xp & 2411 gp 

and Tawadros^  (E) 1,206  xp & 1,206 gp

and Bishoy (E) 2453 xp & 2411 gp 

Marty O'Tool (E) 4906  xp & 2411 gp 

Fluid (E) 4906  xp & 2411 gp 

Gorfag (E) 4906  xp & 2411 gp 

^minding horses

Graveyard

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 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