Friday April 12, NR 707 (continued)
While some of the party began setting up camp, Malachy and Duncan investigated the ruined building. In the roofless shell of the building they found an obvious place where the huge dogs slept, including a gnawed human arm. In the back of the building, against the face of the cliff, was a doorway surrounded by carved symbols and inscriptions. Eustace the sage was called to look at them, and he read the old Onorian word "Karelith" inscribed above the doorway.
Hewn out of the rock of the hill were a couple of chambers, filled with more carvings of a religious nature. Eustace believed these to be the kind of carvings and inscriptions one would find in a tomb or crypt complex. The first chamber had a wooden door in one wall, in front of which was piled a significant amount of debris to block it. A passageway led to the second outer room, which turned out to be the troll's lair. A modest amount of treasure was found in coins and some jewelry, and the rest of the remains of the missing human spellcaster were here. Duncan recovered a back pack with a spellbook containing only three first level spells (Magic Missile, Fog Cloud, and Unseen Servant).
The night passed uneventfully, with only some eerie screeching sounds from a distance to the north breaking the monotony of the watches.
Saturday April 13
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| Karelith Family Crypts |
As the party approached the furthest chamber (#11), they heard the rattling of bones, and could see at least a half dozen animated skeletons reaction to their approach. Malachy took up a blocking position at the top of the steps to that chamber, and fought the skeletons sequentially as they tried to get past the bottleneck to attack the rest of the party. Duncan, trying out his "sculpt spells" Evoker ability, cast Burning Hands at the leading skeletons while attempting to weave the area-of-effect magic around his friends. Malachy and Badric failed to avoid the damage and got a little toasted. [Later, Duncan would try this same move again, his friends would fail to avoid damage again, which led to the quote of the night: Malachy, lamenting a failed melee attack, was consoled by Badric - "hey, to be fair, you were on fire..."]
While fighting the skeletons, Melior was attacked from behind by a Shadow, and wounded pretty badly. In the confusion, Badric was attacked by a second Shadow, suffered a critical hit, and was knocked unconscious, with 6 points of strength drained. After a good struggle, the Undead were all dispatched. Unfortunately, there was no treasure to be found for their efforts...
Having fully investigated the Karelith family crypt, the party (with encouragement from Eustace the sage), chose to return to town for training and study in order to gain the full benefits of their new levels (level 3). This would mean meditation, prayer and study for most, and a search for a mentor for Duncan. The characters were unanimous in their decision to retrace their steps back through the Silver Hills rather than seeking a different way home. They looped north around the hills, and then made their way southwest back into the grasslands, camping for the night very near the spot where they had camped on the way in.
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| Castle Langborne (hills at top) to Shimmermere (in Hexographer) |
Sunday April 14
An uneventful dozen or so miles to reach Shadyvale and spend the night.
Monday April 15
A long day covering 18 miles back through Shimmermere to Olmsby, with the mule carrying the armor and other heavy stuff. Upon arriving in Olmsby and heading to the Half Pint Tavern for a good hot meal to end a long day, they encountered Ravar Kelt, the elderly man who pointed them to their first dungeon. Ravar came over to thank them, as it turns out that Ned Greenbrier (whose son Tad they healed a while back) is kin to his late wife. As a way of showing his gratitude, the characters end up spending the remainder of the evening with Ravar regaling them with many tales and bits of lore. He sketches out maps and provides plenty of information on nearby sites.
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| Shimmermere , Olmsby, Fulcher's Hold and Linden (in Hexographer) |
Tuesday April 16
After a good night's sleep in a comfortable bed, the party travels to Fulcher's Hold. Leveling up for most of the characters will be simply a matter of meditation, prayer, rest and practicing new skills. For Duncan, the wizard, it is a little more complicated, as he needs a tutor who can help teach him new spells. Alissara, the mage of Fulcher's Band, is not a student of evocation magic, but says that she has a friend who can help. She asked whether Duncan was willing to take a trip, and when he agreed, she led him into the under-construction castle, down into the basements, down a number of stairs and passages (some of them seeming to be quite old), until they came to what he recognized as a teleportation circle. Alissara chanted a brief incantation and the two mages disappeared in a flash, reappearing many many miles away...
The Sage's Commentary - It had been a month since our last session (with only two players), and it was great to have a full group of all four again. The game is as much about camaraderie as anything, and three players is better than two, but all four players is best of all by far.
It is amusing to me that having played seven sessions now, certain statistical patterns seem to be emerging. Melior's healing spells seem to always roll badly and be of little help. Badric has spent (by far) the most time unconscious (if this dwarf was one of the seven dwarfs, he would be Sleepy...). Malachy seems to end most combats with just a few hit points left. Niam seems to like to roll very high or very low, but rarely in the middle.
As for what comes next...we ended the session as we pretty much always do, with my question "so, what do you think you want to do next time?" The immediate and unanimous response was "we're going back to Castle Langborne."
Sounds good to me. Now, where's my graph paper...
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