Campaign Journal 34 - To the Ruby Knight's Tomb

We last left our heroes standing in a hallway between the Lower Tombs and Middle Tombs in the City of the Dead in the Underdark city of Traniska.

July 25, Thursday (cont.) - In Search of the Ruby Knight's Tomb.

Part of the interrogation of the captive Farrin was to ask about the location of a place called the Ruby Knight's tomb. He was unable to say with certainty whether he knew of the place or not, but thought it might be at the boat docks in the Noble Tombs area. Across the dock cavern from the Alberneth noble tombs themselves was a passage of dwarven carving that he and the other maintenance crew members were forbidden to enter. There were hints of flaking crimson paint on some of the carved ancient dwarven decorations surrounding the door.

With the guidance of Farrin, the party made their way quickly through the Middle Tombs area, avoiding the temptation to be distracted and loot the tombs. At one point, they heard some sort of creatures howling in the distance. Farrin was concerned that this was the sound of more Stalker Demons. This would be bad, as one Stalker Demon had been a significant challenge.

Passing through a shrine and a series of priests' chambers, Farrin led them the back way to a hidden boat dock that would lead them a few hundred yards down a water passage to the Noble Tombs area. This was a short cut that the priests and their minions used; citizens visiting the Tombs to pay their respects would come to these areas through other ways in.

Arriving at the boat dock, the characters came face to face with a small band of seven lizardmen snooping around the docks and the boat that was moored there.

Lizardmen at a boat landing

The melee characters, with an assist from Melior's creative use of the Wind Wall spell, were able to dispatch the lizardmen with little trouble, although Thalmyr did end up in the water...

Fighting the lizardmen

With Farrin's help, Malachy was able to pilot the magical boat, which was propelled by holding the rudder and guiding the boat with your mind. Think forward, go forward, think stop, stop.

A few hundred yards down the passage, lights were seen ahead, and the passage opened into a larger cavern. Passing into the cavern, the boat passed over a submerged rope strung across the opening, which in turn banged a gong hung near the entrance. After a suspenseful wait...nothing happened. The alarm had been sounded, but apparently there was nobody around to hear it.

Emerging into the cavern, the Noble Tomb entrances were on the left, leading from a well lit dock area. To the right, in the dim unlit corner of the cavern, was a much older dock and a passage opening carved in obviously dwarven style.

The characters docked in the dimness near the dwarven entrance, and started down the short staircase just inside the opening. There was a chamber at the bottom of the stairs, and in the chamber were several heaps of charred remains. Carved in the wall of the chamber, in dwarven runes, was the inscription "only the righteous may pass." Presumably the heaps of charred remains had tried to pass but not been righteous enough...

The Ruby Knight's Tomb

Niam was concerned about the inscriptions (based on some events in his past), and would not continue past the chamber. Mal, Badric and Thalmyr went through the far door, into another chamber, and had a choice of going left or right down a pair of short hallways ending in dwarven doors. They chose to go left, went into a tomb chamber, and had brief but disastrous encounter with a wraith. Courtesy of a critical hit from the wraith, Malachy had a very-near-death experience, but was able to get out alive. Barely. The three fled and were not pursued.

Going into the tomb on the right, they found the burial sarcophagus of the Ruby Knight, an ancient dwarven warrior, and were permitted (by the Knight's spirit) to remove the magical warhammer found in the sarcophagus.

The party then pulled their boat as far out of the way as they could, posted a watch, and settled down for a night's sleep.

Next - The Noble Tombs.

GM Commentary - After the bunch of sessions that revolved around slogging through the Underdark, this session (and the last one) were a nice change of pace. The characters were in a different environment, and their interactions with the captive Farrin were interesting.

Knowing that these encounters were likely to be coming, I had made some custom terrain pieces for them (as well as for some other areas that we never used). I think this helped create a concrete sense of "place" for the players (but I'm not one of the players, so I can never really be sure...). Yes or no, this was an enjoyable diversion in and of itself, and I am sure that I can eventually find a use for the pieces that I made for this that got skipped. [Side note: the most elaborate custom piece of terrain I made for this whole campaign arc never got used...]

Which I guess brings up an important point: the time you spend prepping for sessions as a GM (and also certainly in the crafting arena) needs to be enjoyable in its own right, because you have to do so knowing that some (or much, or even most) of your prep is never going to get used. The trap here is to force the players into doing the things that you prepared for them, which is a bad trap to fall into. Player agency (the ability of players to make meaningful choices for their characters) needs to be real and meaningful. The game loses meaning if the GM forces the events into a predetermined course no matter what the players do. I have many aspects of my GM'ing that I can improve on, but this one point at least is something that I think I have been able to internalize pretty well.

Campaign Journal 33 - In the Tombs

We left our heroes just having found a passage in the Lower Tombs that led into a series of ancient-looking dwarven chambers.

July 24, Wednesday [day 11, cont.] - Dwarven Kings' Tombs and Grandar's Pool.

After finding that they were in an area of dwarven construction, the party came out into a huge room with a vaulted ceiling far overhead. Ornate dwarven architecture, artwork and statuary in a crumbled state of disrepair filled the room. In the center of the room was a large pool of clear clean water.

Grandar's Pool

Thalmyr, the dwarven paladin of Grandar, god of vigilance, vengeance and retribution, threw a stone into the pool (of course). The water began to bubble and steam, and a misty form rose out of the pool. A voice like rocks grinding together addressed Thalmyr, who knew that this was a manifestation of Grandar. As the towering misty form of the two-headed dwarf coalesced in the room, the rubbled room around them began to reform, and the party got a view of the chamber in its former majesty. The ghosts of dwarven kings materialized out of the walls and lined the room...

Thalmyr throws a stone into the Pool

Grandar spoke to Thalmyr at length about the desecration of these ancient dwarven royal tombs, and wanted him to seek vengeance against those who had desecrated them. He was told to destroy the Blood Orb to weaken their power, and to seek an item in the Ruby Knight's Tomb that would help in the quest. Grandar asked Thalmyr's companions to join him in the quest, and promised rewards upon successful completion of the quest. In the meantime, he granted Malachy and Duncan, the only two humans, darkvision. All agreed to go on the quest.

They slept the night safely in the Pool chamber.

July 25, Thursday [day 12] - Lower Tombs to Middle Tombs.

Waking in the morning, the party left the dead-end that was the dwarven area, and re-entered the Lower Tombs. They spent some time looting some valuables from various individual tombs, and noticed something odd: old wooden doors into some of the tombs had been either repaired or replaced recently. Metal locks and hinges were in some cases still shiny and new-looking, in stark contrast to the very old rusted fittings on other doors. Someone had been repairing these recently...

On the far side of the flesh golem chamber, the party encountered another such chamber, and another flesh golem. With knowledge of how to fight the last one fresh in their minds, they disabled the lightning-healing ball easily (a spider-climbing druid with a hammer) and took down the monstrosity in short order.

Shortly after the fight ended, the party heard voices approaching. They surprised two guards who were coming to investigate the noise from the golem fight, and were able to subdue them and capture them after a very brief struggle.

The captives were interrogated, using Comprehend Languages magic. It turns out that these two were from the Underdark city they called Traniska, and were serving a several week tour of duty as guards and maintenance men in the tombs of the City of the Dead. They worked for the priests of the Death Temple during this rotation. The population of Traniska had long been in decline, and the commoners were required to do periods of service for the Masters. The Masters were the Alberneth true-bloods.

So it turned out the Alberneths were alive and well (so to speak) after all these years, with their descendants living in an underground city. Demon-worshipping, dark magic and slavery were the order of the day in Traniska.

What they referred to as Traniska was a number of different areas carved into the caverns lining a miles-long underground lake. The City of the Dead was in an isolated area on the north bank of the lake. Farms were to the south, mines to the northwest, and the city proper to the west. The only outsiders to come to Traniska were some duergar (dark dwarf) traders, and less often some drow elves.

After getting what information they could out of the terrified captives, they took the captives and headed toward what they called the Middle Tombs. This was the way toward the Death Temple.

In the long hallway between the Lower Tombs and the Middle Tombs, the party ran into what the captives (Farrin being the more cooperative/talkative) called a Stalker Demon. This huge four legged monstrosity put up a good fight in the cramped quarters, but the blades of Malachy and Thalmyr took it down. During the fight, the second captive tried to run, and was killed as he ran.

Stalker Demon vs the group

As the creature fell to the ground in death, there was a loud popping sound and the body disappeared, leaving behind only the smell of sulphur.

Stalker Demon

Farrin couldn't believe that the party could kill such a terrifying beast...

Next - Into the Middle Tombs.

GM Commentary - This was a fun session due to the fact that a half dozen sessions leading up to this finally got us to the point of an important reveal: the Tombs of the Alberneth were not just a series of old tombs, but were part of a living city (Traniska), still inhabited by the descendants of the Alberneth, a family of the elder people of Ithilkar. And those people were evil, worshipping and summoning all manner of demons and fiends, and dominating all nearby peoples as slaves (to the degree possible). Different things were in the immediate future. It felt good to be out of the Underdark wilds.

XP for this session was ~900 per character.

Campaign Journal 32 - Tombs of the Alberneth

We left our heroes slogging through the Underdark, just a few days short of their destination...

July 22, Monday [day 9, cont.] - To Spider Haunt.

The rest of the day's journey passed uneventfully, with the party camped just short of the location known as Spider Haunt.

During the night, Arian was again woken with intense pain in his left arm. The blue scales now extended down to his wrist, and across the back of his hand. It would no longer be easy to hide the, under clothing, short of wearing long sleeves and gloves. It was also apparent that the fingers on his left hand had become longer, thinner, and more claw-like. Arian found that by concentrating, he could extend (or retract) claws from those fingers.

July 23, Tuesday [day 10] - Spider Haunt, Broken Bridge and Waterfall Hole.

The day's hike proceeded mostly without incident, although the party was attacked by a trio of phase spiders at one point.

Phase spiders hunting intruders

The fight was short but bloody.

The intruders fight back

The party arrives at Waterfall Hole and succeeds in finding the secret way that is supposed to lead to the Tombs. Like in the Silver Swords journal, the party sees a ghostly monkey-like figure perched in a ledge, which then darts behind a rocky outcropping and disappears. The small hole leading onward is behind the outcropping.

They decide to camp here and continue on in the morning.

During the night, it was Badric the Cleric's turn to have a strange dream: You have a difficult night with horrible dreams of death and decay. You stand on a battlefield with your kinsmen, fighting hosts of orcs and goblins, and many that you know are wounded and fall around you. You call on the healing power of Maurig, your god, the god of life, but instead of seeing your friends healed and restored to health and vitality, they decay before your eyes, flesh peeling back from their bodies, bones exposed, organs melting away as you watch. Maggots erupt from their corpses and swarm toward you. You watch in horror as the maggots swarm up your legs and burrow into your flesh. You feel the agony as they disappear into your body, and you can feel them burrowing through you, seeking your heart. You call on Maurig's power to heal yourself, but instead your flesh begins to melt off your body, exposing your own innards... You wake, shaking, in a cold sweat...

Badric prays in the morning, as usual, but is unable to find a connection to his god (and in game turns does not regain any spell slots). Melior the Druid has the same issue.

July 24, Wednesday [day 11] - The Tombs of the Alberneth.

After the better part of a day's walking and crawling through small and difficult tunnels, the party finds the passage blocked by a small pile of loosely piled rocks, from which a dagger hilt protrudes. Guessing that this was left as a marker, the party moves the rocks out of the way and finds a small opening that emerges into a small cavern. Parts of the walls and floors have obviously been worked, and there are burial niches carved into the walls. Several other similar caverns are explored. In the last cavern, the tunnel onward is blocked by a locked metal-bar door set into a grid of metal bars. Thirty feet beyond, a similar door can be seen. In between, the floor is covered with what Duncan the wizard identifies as protection glyphs and sigils.

Opening the doors and proceeding on, the party emerged into a large finished chamber. A bronze colored metal ball, approximately two feet in diameter, hung from the center of the ceiling 20 feet above.

Several giant spiders attacked the party, and then a large monstrosity lurched into the room from a side passage.

Giant spiders and a flesh golem

The creature was a flesh golem, and proved to be a formidable foe. It had a low armor class, and thus was easy to hit, but it had a lot of hit points, and could be healed by lightning periodically pulsing out of the metal ball hanging from the ceiling. Before realizing that lightning healed the construct rather than dealing it damage, Arian cast lightning bolt on it (his most powerful spell), rolled very high for the amount of (not!) damage, and was shocked to learn that he had just healed it of most of its damage.

The flesh golem

Once its secret became apparent, the combined might of the melee characters attacking it while the spell casters blew the metal lightning-healing ball apart with magic was enough to win the day.

Investigating the immediate area, a passage was found that broke out of the old tomb passages and entered what were obviously ancient dwarven chambers...

Next - The Tombs of the Alberneth - into the Dwarves Tombs.

GM Commentary - It was probably around the end of this session, having taken a few sessions to get here, and then most of a session to play out a very small part of one small section of the Tombs, that I realized (with certainty) what I had already suspected - that I had prepared way more material for this than we would want to use. It was seeming at this point that we could spend the rest of the campaign down here. Whether the campaign lasted weeks, months or perhaps even years. This wouldn't become obvious to the players, yet.

Not wanting to spend the rest of forever down in this part of the Underdark, some shortcuts and abbreviations would need to be made. Unfortunately, fairly radically truncating this story arc would have its own issues. But that's commentary for a later time...

XP for this session was 1,050 per character. This was a combination of combat, per diems and story goals.

Campaign Journal 31 - Slogging the Deeps 2

The party had fought and escaped from an undead horde at the Boneyard, then camped for the night a mile or so south...

July 20, Saturday [day 7 underground] (cont.) - Boneyard through Worm Bore to Black River.

At one point during the day, while the party is resting, it occurs to Duncan the wizard that one Fireball could hit the whole party.

During the night, Duncan finds that one of his known spells has dropped from his memory and been erased from his spell book, and has been replaced with the 3rd level necromancy spell Animate Dead.

A carrion crawler attacks Arian during the night, but fails to paralyze him, and is easily dispatched when the rest of the party is woken up.

Arian defends the sleeping party

While Arian stood watch, an intense pain throbbed in his left arm. On inspecting it, it was obvious that the small blue scales from his draconic heritage, which had formerly stopped at his elbow, now extended halfway down his forearm. His lower forearm seemed to pulse gently as he watched.

July 21, Sunday [day 8] - Black River through Echo Hall to Scramble.

A roper surprises the group as they pass through a small cavern, and does a lot of damage, but is killed.

A Roper

Malachy's Dream - While he slept that night, Mal had an intense dream.... You are in a stone walled chamber with a starry night outside the opened windows. There are two regal looking elves facing each other. The first elf, a wizened and ancient elf in flowing gray robes speaks first. He is holding out a sword, presenting it to the other elf: "Marlek, my son, take this and use it well against the unholy abominations that plague us. It is the last blade I will ever forge." The other elf, a fierce and majestic looking warrior in ornate elven armor, takes the sword, kneels, bows his head in respect, and speaks: "I pray this is not true, Friliar, father, but I accept your gift, and pray that I prove worthy of it." The warrior elf rises, belts the sword around his waist, and bows deeply. The elder elf bows in response and then moves forward and clasps the younger elf in a brief embrace. He steps back and says "This sword I have named Dralikin. Use it well. It is imbued with the spirit of our ancestors, and its might will match yours. In the darkest of times, call on it, and it will provide that which you require..." The dream fades... You wake with a start, and realize that you have drawn Dralikin partway from its scabbard. The blade glows with a bright blue light, which quickly fades as you watch, and disappears.

Malachy already knew that his sword, Dralikin, was a blade from Elder times, forged by the elf Friliar Stormwarden, of the Onorian city of Fellsar...

July 22, Monday [day 9] - Scramble through Petrified Tail to just short of Spider Haunt.

During a short rest, with the party bickering and sullen, Thalmyr hears a voice in his head that says "Persevere my child. Stay on the path..."

Slogging southward, a mumbling sound is heard ahead. Soon, a group of a dozen or so small figures comes into view, shambling toward the party. The creatures smell horrible, and are covered with sores and festering wounds. They snarl and move to attack.

Screecher demons

As the party's fighters leap to the attack, the little demon creatures begin making a high pitched screeching sound, which intensifies as they are wounded. The group soon realizes that each time one of the creatures is killed with a bladed weapon, it splits into two such creatures, which continue the attack.

Badric on the overpass

After a few close calls, the creatures are dispatched with non-slashing weapons and magic.

Malachy, Thalmyr and the spell casters

The group ends the session about a day's journey short of the location called Waterfall Hole, where they will try to find the concealed entrance leading to the Tombs of the Alberneth.

Niam in the shadows

Next - To the Tombs...

GM Commentary - [Continuing to catch up on writing these a year or so later, so pardon the lack of detail...]. XP for the session was 1,275 per character (including the 100 XP per diem I have begun giving them to prevent needing to play out lots of little insignificant encounters. Plus the very act of surviving in the Underdark.

Campaign Journal 30 - Slogging the Deeps

The party had just killed 5 trolls in a large underground cavern, and stood bloodied and exhausted over the fire-burnt troll remains...

[Notable landmarks and locations are given names in the descriptions below]

July 17, Wednesday [day 4 underground] (cont.) - Following the big battle in the main cavern, the party explores the side passages out of the cavern (in search of treasure, of course). They find a sixth troll further back in the lair, dispatch it, and do find a significant haul of treasure accumulated over many years. The treasure consists of a little over 2,000 GP worth of mixed coinage (different kinds and different minting, some old and unrecognizable), 9 gems of ~100 GP each, 7 arrows that prove to be magical fire arrows (normal damage +1d8 fire damage), and 2 potions (Animal Friendship and Greater Healing).

The group continues south on the difficult passage to Green Cascades, a long narrow cavern with a stream along one side which is fed by a series of waterfalls coming out of the rock wall. The waterfalls are illuminated by phosphorescent green algae disturbed in the stream as the water cascades down into it.

There is some bickering amongst the party as they eat yet another meal of Melior's magically conjured Goodberries.

July 18, Thursday [day 5] - An uneventful day as the party continues south from Green Cascades along an easier passage. They pass through Temple Rock, a smallish cavern with a raised circular area in the center. On this circular area is a 30 foot diameter ring of a dozen or so cracked and fallen stone pillars. They end the day at Monolith, a very high-ceilinged cavern with a single unadorned 50 foot tall carved stone monolith. There are no runes or markings on the monolith, and it doesn't radiate magic, although it is clearly not a natural feature.

The characters are all feeling the stress of their days underground. Melior is continually haunted by nightmares during the night, with visions of the endless rock closing in all around him, and is unable to get a good rest.

July 19, Friday [day 6] - The party leaves Monolith behind and navigates the relatively easy passage to Tight Squeeze. Tight Squeeze lives up to its description in the notes as a brutal crawl, slither, shimmy and squeeze. Fortunately it only lasts a few hundred yards, although the passage beyond continues to be difficult.

During the day, Niam the rogue periodically hears a voice in his head saying "kill them all."

Near the end of the day, they reach the location called Boneyard. This is a long and wide cavern whose great expanse of floor is covered with bones of all shapes and sizes. There is a clear path that winds through the cavern, and as the party makes their way along the path, they can see what they believe to be a altar on an elevated section of the cavern off to their left. As they move, they begin to hear bones rattling, and skeletons of all types and sizes begin rising out of the bones and attacking them. They party hurries forward, hard-pressed, and timely and effective use of Turn Undead by Badric the cleric holds off the growing horde of skeletons long enough for the party to escape the far side of the cavern.

Traversing the Boneyard

A ways down the passage, content that nothing is following them, the group rests for the night. During Arian the sorcerer's watch, excruciating pain runs through his left arm, and sees that the blue scaly skin that is part of his draconic heritage has spread from his upper arm all the way down to his wrist (on that arm only). The fingers of his left hand seem a little longer and more claw-like.

July 20, Saturday [day 7] - Leaving the Boneyard area behind, the party heads along the relatively easy passage toward Worm Bore...

Next - Heading south toward Worm Bore...

GM Commentary - This was a tough recap to reconstruct in January 2017 (as the next couple will be as well). Prep notes, known route of travel, our campaign calendar record and the XP recap for the session gives me confidence that I got it right. More or less. I think... [Player XP for the session was 850 each]

With the characters having been underground for almost a week at this point, I had a lot of fun trying to create a sense of a hint of creeping madness. Voices. Noises. Strange occurrences. The players definitely seemed to be enjoying that aspect of the session, and I got a lot of positive feedback on it. Which is another reason to be vigilant in making sure to not unintentionally turn the game into one big free-form miniatures battle game, and make sure the role-playing part of the game gets proper emphasis.

Laristen's Folly

About 100 years ago, in the early days of resettling the Northlands, a great cleric of Metris (in his aspect of protector of travelers) began building a stronghold in the far southwestern Iron Spire Mountains, overlooking the valley of the River Greve far below.

Laristen's Folly (in Hexographer)

Laristen's aim was to provide a safe haven for others exploring and settling the region. The nearest settlement was the then-tiny village of Wegley.

With the castle only partly complete, an orc horde accompanied by several giants swept down out of the mountains and massacred everyone, with the exception of Laristen himself, and cast down most of what had been built. Laristen, broken in spirit, is said to have disappeared into the far south, never to be heard from again.

Legend has it that his treasure, hidden in, around, or below the castle site, was never recovered. The ruins can easily be found in the foothills northeast of Wegley. The castle ruins are now known as Laristen's Folly...

Tychon's Tower

Located on a craggy hill at the north end of the Trollclaws, just a few miles south of the Road, is the multi-spired tower of the archmage Tychon. Tychon is a venerable half-elven evocation wizard who is rarely seen in public these days, although his retainers frequently visit nearby Nandra to buy food and other supplies.

Tychon's Tower (in Hexographer)

Tychon routinely accepted students (for a high price) in days gone by, but is less likely to welcome intrusions on his semi-retirement in recent years; many would-be students have been turned away.

It is said that his tower is protected by a Sanctuary Mageward (the most powerful kind of mageward in existence following the Weave-Rending). There are also a trio of metal statues flanking the entrance to his tower that are believed to be iron golems.

Torhaven and the Torvald Mines

The dwarven hold of Torhaven, and the Mines of Torvald that underlie the town, is the biggest producer of iron and steel in the North. Torhaven is located on the southern edge of the Iron Spire Mountains, 2-3 days' journey north of the city of Nandra. Torhaven consists of both an above ground town as well as a fortified underground dwarf hold.

Torhaven (in Hexographer)

Ruled by the Brighthammer clan, Torhaven is known to be connected to the Deep Realms, and has trade connections both above and below ground. The dwarves produce both raw metal ingots as well as finished metal goods and crafts of all types (and high quality).

Torhaven can also be a source of information, as dwarven sages and elders have extensive knowledge of dwarven history, lore, and knowledge of the surrounding lands.

Castle of the New Dawn

The settlement known as New Dawn, or more accurately the Castle of the New Dawn, is located in an area that is largely wilderness. It sits at the southern end of the Telzek Hills, west of Lake Beranarr (and therefore northwest of the Silver Hills). The nearest town of size is the town of Forlorn, 40-plus miles to the south/southwest.

Castle of the New Dawn (in Hexographer)

The Castle was founded in the year NR 659, almost 50 years ago, by a band of priests serving Ardran, the god of life, vitality and renewal. It was their goal to form a bastion in the Onorian wilderness around which civilization could re-form. Settlers would move in, farms would be established, towns and villages would grow, and the wilderness would be reclaimed for civilization.

The reality has not met the original goal, at least not so far. There are fertile farmlands in the gently rolling hills and excellent grazing lands all around, but the threats that still exist from being on the extreme edge of civilization pose a constant challenge, and the influx of settlers has been very slow.

New Dawn is a fortified hilltop town of approximately 250 souls. Perhaps another 250 people live in farms and homesteads close to the town. A series of stout stone watchtowers guard the area and provide early warning for monster attacks and other unwelcome incursions. The town walls and watch towers are manned by servants of the Temple of the New Dawn (the priests of Ardran and their retainers) as well as members of the Order of the Stalwart Shield [see below]). Retainers of the Temple of the New Dawn, known as the Dawnriders, patrol the lands and roads nearby mounted both on warhorses and flying hippogriffs.

The town trades with the high elves of the Forest of Kyrell (to the west) and the towns of the Great North Road to the south, bringing in necessities that cannot be produced locally.

Due to its location, the Castle also often serves as a base of operations for adventuring bands exploring the Onorian wilderness to the north and east, or the Onorian ruins that exist within a day or two's travel.

The Order of the Stalwart Shield - The Order is a group that is associated with New Dawn (and based there), but it is separate and distinct from the priesthood of Ardran. The Order is a group of warriors and others pledged to protect New Dawn, led by paladins of Brand (god of duty, honor and protection). Members of the Order serve as guards for the town, help man the watch towers, and patrol the surrounding lands.

Campaign Journal 29 - Journey to Alberneth (pt1)

Play begins with the party in the Underdark, on a main "road" east of a location called "Crystal Landing", on the way to find the Tombs of the Alberneth. [Malachy (barbarian 5), Melior (druid 5), Arian (Sorcerer 5), Badric (cleric 5) and Niam (Rogue 4) present]

July 15, Monday [day 2] - The party continues east on the well-traveled Underdark road, following their maps and notes. They pass a junction where another sizable passage branches off to the south, but continue east, arriving a a location called "Razor Rapids".

Razor Rapids - The map notes say that Razor Rapids is a location where a foot bridge and cargo ferry cross an underground river. Above the bridge (top of picture, with the ferry), the water is calmer. Below the bridge, the water drops down into cascades and rapids churning between sharp rocks. Falling in would be bad.

"Razor Rapids" - goblins trying to burn the bridge

As the party arrived, the cavern was lit by torches and a fire. The fire was a group of goblins trying to set fire to the middle of the bridge. Attacking by surprise out of the dark, the party was able to shoot down the half dozen or so goblins who were actually on the bridge and moved to put out the fire that was beginning to catch. Meanwhile, the spell casters dealt with the remainder of the goblins on the far bank, including a sorcerer, primarily by means of a well-placed Spike Growth spell. After gathering food and water from forage-able areas, the party continued east.

Putting out fires while dead goblins float away

Wind Tunnel - A couple miles further east on the main road, the party came to the location where they would branch off to the south, taking a smaller more difficult passage. Entering the area (from the right of the picture), there was enough dim light from phosphorescent fungi to see the entire area. A large rift of indeterminate depth was oriented north to south, with another branch to the southeast. They would need to cross an ancient stone bridge (which did have a post and chain railing), and then get across the open rift (top left of picture) before moving on to the south. A gusty breeze moved through the area from north to south.

"Wind Tunnel" - a Cloaker attack

Melior shape shifted into a giant spider and investigated the area, crossing the bridge to the far side. Arian followed successfully, then Malachy. When Mal was in the middle of the bridge and Niam and Badric were only starting out, something large and dark (and flying) attacked Badric. This turned out to be a cloaker, a terrifying and tough creature. A cloaker has two special abilities - to project multiple copies of itself (so that you had a hard time actually damaging the real one) and a frightening moan to scare people. A frightened character fights at disadvantage and cannot move closer to the creature.

The fight turned out to be easier than it should have been, although Niam and Badric did both end up with only a few hit points each. Malachy was frightened for one turn, but then did manage to shake off his fear and help. The cloaker didn't hit on too many of its attacks. But the real hero was Arian the sorcerer, who cast a lightning bolt as hist first action, picking the real one of the four images to shoot at. In subsequent rounds, he cast a number of other spells at the creature, never failing to hit the right one. That and the fact that the cloaker as never able to successfully "engulf" a character certainly saved one or two characters from death on the bridge.

After healing, and a bumbling effort at crossing the smaller rift via ropes, the party headed south away from the well traveled road.

July 16, Tuesday [day 3] - The party continues south, through areas called Sink Holes and Five Forks. The day is uneventful.

July 17, Wednesday [day 4]...

Troll Haunt - In the afternoon, the party arrives at the location noted on the maps as "Troll Haunt". The scribbled notes indicated that the Silver Swords fought several trolls here, killing two (but not with fire), and running from several more. When the party arrives (from the right of the picture), the cavern is mostly dark, continuing off out of eyesight. There is a fire in the distance, and a smell of something cooking. There is one troll near the fire, and another crossing the cavern in its direction.

"Troll Haunt" - 2 trolls cooking dinner

A vicious and long drawn-out fight ensued, with the two trolls quickly joined by a third. A Called Lightning storm flickered around the chamber, doing substantial damage to the trolls (and sometimes to friends). As the first three trolls were being finished off, a final two came out of the darkness, but fortunately for the party they arrived in sequence and not at the same time, because the party was in pretty bad shape. The 63 hit point damage-resistant barbarian was down to 3 HP, and the Niam and Badric were also on the verge of unconsciousness. This was the party's toughest fight ever (but a huge XP victory...).

5 dead trolls and a battered party

We ended the session with the characters standing over the burned bodies of 5 trolls; battered, bloodied and bruised, and having spent most of their higher level spell slots.

Next - Surveying the troll wreckage.

GM Commentary - This was a different kind of session for us. There has been a good amount of "story" in the past few sessions, and not a whole lot of fighting. I thought that a first full session of journeying through the Underdark would be a good opportunity to have a combat-heavy session, and get a chance to use a lot of the various terrain bits I have crafted over the last few months. Combat takes a while, and we got through three major encounters, all on detailed terrain set ups (in 4 hours). I wouldn't want every session to be like this, but every now and then it is a nice change of pace, and the experience points gained by the characters were huge.

A note on XP - The goblins with sorcerer and boss were worth 1,000 XP. The cloaker was worth 3,900 (which should have been much more dearly earned). Five 5 trolls were 9,000.  This is 2,780 per character, plus 200 each in "per diems" (see below). This is massive XP given that our characters started the session with between 6,300 and 11,000 total depending on how many sessions they have been at over the course of the campaign. I have been stingy with XP (intentionally), as I think the game plays best at the lower levels. Our 5th level characters already seem tremendously powerful now.

Niam the Rogue (assassin) achieved 5th level, and Melior the Druid reached 6th.

A note on Underdark travel - The recent Out of the Abyss adventure book from Wizards of the Coast says to roll for Underdark encounters every hour. I did make a fairly detailed encounter chart that we will use on occasion, but I have elected to go with more of a "travel montage" way of getting through this journey. With ~10 days of travel to get to the Tombs, and 6-8 hours of travel per day (due to the difficulty), it would take us forever to get to the destination, and we'd all end up bored silly. I've told the players that they will get a 100XP per day "per diem" of XP for all the little minor encounters and challenges that we don't need to play out. Every combat with a pair of giant spiders, or some snakes or lizards causes no real or long term threat to this group. So we'll skip it. We'll have a random encounter every now and then that will be worth playing out, and the rest will be planned encounters and events. This makes sense in this situation given that they are following a predictable route using detailed maps and notes. This couple of sessions is 100% railroad. We'll see how it goes.

[I will continue backfilling the missing write-ups (from sessions 23-28), but I wanted to get this in while the details were fresh in my mind]

Campaign Journal 28 - Into the Underdark...Again

We left our party having just passed a magical flame barrier in the dungeons under a ruined tower in Kristovaria...

July 13, Saturday (cont.) - The group finished exploring the small laboratory dungeon and comes upon a door with a glowing magical runes written on it. Duncan the wizard reads that they say "Dwarves say door." Thalmyr the dwarven paladin speaks the word "door" in dwarvish and the runes fade. They open the door and go into the chamber beyond. The part of the chamber near the door is a finished chamber, but the far side blends into a natural cavern.

A gray tarp is discovered to be hiding a small crawlway to a series of caves and passages. In the series of 7 or 8 caverns, the party kills a group of 6 gnolls in one encounter, kills a pair of gricks and a pair of grells in another, and finds the decaying dead body of a 7 foot tall lizard-like creature. They discover both a cave entrance to the surface (on the far side of a hill just west of the ruins), and a passage that seems to lead far down.

They camp on the surface near the cave entrance for one last night above ground.

July 14, Sunday - Into the Underdark. A full day's descent toward the location called Crystal Landing. Camp just short of Crystal Landing.

July 15, Monday - The group arrives at Crystal Landing and sees a group of gnolls below them, guessing that they are a different bunch of the same group that they killed in the caves near the surface two days earlier. They surprise the gnolls and are able to defeat them, Malachi and Thalmyr taking some damage in the process.

Crystal Landing and more gnolls

As they are investigating the huge and wondrous cavern filled with giant rock crystal formations, they hear noises coming. They hide, and a small drow elf merchant pack train of giant lizards passes through the center of the cavern (heading east, the way the party needs to go). The party decides not to attack.

Fighting Gnolls

After they let an hour or so go by, the party follows the drow group out the east passage, which is a wide and well-maintained road...

GM Commentary - I really enjoyed bringing out some of my new toys for this session. I wanted Crystal Landing to be an impactful visual moment as we began the Underdark story arc, and I think it went over well. It definitely as the "wow" moment I was hoping for.

[January 2017: I also think it is fair to say, looking back, that this was the first of a series of several sessions where I became so enamored of the terrain that I was crafting (and having a huge amount of fun doing it almost as a standalone hobby), that I lost track of certain other things that I could have been focusing a little bit more on. Also, spending time focusing on a few cool visual encounters per session (each of which take a while to play out) made it such that the journey to the Tombs probably took a session or two longer than it could have. It's easy to fall into the trap of wanting to use all of the cool stuff you are making and lose a bit of objectivity on some of the choices you are making. I'm trying to be mindful of this moving forward, and make sure that the crafting serves the game and not vice versa.

Campaign Journal 27 - Return to Kristovaria

We last saw our party in Turil, in the dark of night, holed up in the house of Nath Ravenblood, questioning the man who hired the slavers...

July 8, Monday - Having spent most of the overnight hours interrogating, and then talking to, Nath Ravenblood, the party decides to take the things that the noble has offered and let him live. His anguish over the bargain he made with the lizardmen to save his own life seems genuine. He is left with an admonishment to never get involved in anything like this or Duncan the wizard would know, and they would be back. Some imaginary spells were cast over him for effect and the party left.

The party spent much of the day resting in a decent inn, the Old Serpent, in the Sunrise section of the city (eastern area inside the city walls, near the citadel and the Society of the Arcane). They decide that after taking care of some routine business in the city, they will go to find the Tombs. Duncan visits the Society of the Arcane and pays his annual dues to be a member (which gives him the right to use the library and facilities...for potential additional charges, of course).

Near dusk the party goes back to the Slanted Shingle Inn to see if Baldur Kersk has returned. He has not (and is likely miles away by now!).

July 9, Tuesday - With the intent to follow up on the materials on the Tombs of the Alberneth, some of the party finds an antiquarian bookseller in order to try to find books related to the Underdark. Maps said to be of the Underdark, but in distant locations, are passed up on. Some expensive tomes are also considered and rejected. In the end, a pair of book are purchased from the bickering gnomes that run the shop; Poisonous Plants and Fungi of the Deeps and Monstrous Creatures of the Sunless Realms. The last is for a copy of an original (and very expensive) small work.

[Mistlethorp's Fine Books and Tomes, in the Northmarket neighborhood, is a deep but narrow shop cluttered floor to ceiling with shelves of books, scrolls and documents of every imaginable type. It is run by a pair of middle-aged gnome brothers, Silas and Roderick Mistlethorp, who bicker and correct each other incessantly. They are very knowledgeable, and have a good variety of wares.]

The remainder of the day is spent buying equipment, replenishing stocks of rations, etc...

July 10, Wednesday - The party sets out to return to Kristovaria, but with Duncan now possessing the knowledge of Fireball, and Arian possessing the knowledge of Lightning Bolt. This should aid our heroes immensely. The route back to Kristovaria will be to go northeast on the Great North Road to (or near) Pittston, and then south/southeast cross-country to skirt the lake and find the same trail used previously.

The day's travel passes uneventfully and the group spends the night in the small roadside village of Jerikan (at the Wayward Traveler Inn).

Turil and the Great North Road northeastward (Hexographer 1 mile scale)

July 11, Thursday - A few miles west of Pittston, and nearing the end of the day's travel, the party comes upon a group of three men camping by the side of the road. The trio invites our heroes to join them for dinner and drinks. The pheasant roasting over the fire is tempting, but the wary characters are able to correctly perceive that something is fishy. The trio is drinking something from one small cask, but are offering the party drinks from a different one. The party is able to avoid a trap of sleep-poisoned ale. The three potential thieves are captured, questioned, and then executed. Their bodies were stripped, marked, and left on the road as a warning to thieves. The night passes...

Pittston and south to Kristovaria (Hexographer 1 mile scale)

July 12, Friday - The day's journey from the roadside camp to a new campsite in the hills on the lakeside overlooking the ruins of Valtana passes with no problems.

Valtana from the North

And the night passes without incident.

The Ruins of Valtana

July 13, Saturday - Arriving at Kristovaria late in the afternoon, the party is ambushed by a number of displacer beasts. Two attack from out of the ruins, and then a third joins the fight. Eventually, the party overcomes them, killing two and chasing off the third, but are badly bloodied in the process. This is one of the toughest fights our heroes have had to date. Niam was down and several others were very low on health.

The group spends time healing and then goes to explore the large ruined tower at one end of the central plaza. It becomes obvious that the tower, while ancient, has been renovated in recent years, and then once again fallen into disrepair. A secret door is found in the basement, and the party begins working its way through a small dungeon which is obviously the laboratory of a magician or alchemist of some sort. Not much of value is left, although a beautifully carved wooden staff (non-magical) is recovered, and a chest containing 200 GP in coins and 4 large pearls is found. [These pearls will be important for Duncan to have for use in Identify spells while underground].

Their way becomes blocked by a chamber trapped with blue and red magical flames. Runes on the threshold of the door say "feed the flames and pass unhindered". It takes a while for the characters to figure out that if they cast any kind of fire-based magic into the flames, they will subside for a period of time, and they can pass safely. The session ends when they figure this out. More dungeon to come...

GM Commentary - So we have set out on a major story arc for the Underdark, and I am anxious to begin using some of the stuff that I have been busily crafting for Underdark terrain. Underdark oriented D&D minis are showing up in the mail in bunches. These should be different kinds of sessions, and the grind of being far underground with no easy or quick exit should be a challenging backdrop to play against.

The pearls were an intentional treasure reward for the group. One of the hacks we have incorporated in drifting our game away from pure 5th edition D&D is that we have eliminated the idea that anybody can gain full knowledge of a magic item just by sitting with it and concentrating on it for a while. This completely eliminates the need for several wizard spells, and takes away one of the arcane abilities that makes spell casters different from normal people. Our group no longer knows anything specific about a magic item, or even knows for sure that it is a magic item, until someone realizes that it is magic (Detect Magic spell) and then figures out what it is (Identify spell or similar).

As a final side note, I found the group's treatment of the thieves to be somewhat startling. It was out of character for the characters (and for the players too). We haven't had too many flat-out murder hobo moments in the campaign, but this was certainly one of them. Harsh punishment for a failed robbery attempt, but hey, it's a tough world.

Campaign Journal 26.5 - Interlude

The Silver Swords company and the Tombs of the Alberneth

The following is a recap of the many pages of scribbled notes, sketches, writings and maps related to the Tombs of the Alberneth.

Nath Ravenblood's Materials
An adventuring party of some note (the Silver Swords) found a well-hidden and difficult passage deep in the Underdark behind a series of waterfalls. The passage led several miles, coming out in a series of man-made (or creature-made) tombs. The party was able to use magic to read and transcribe inscriptions on some of the tombs and memorial carvings. They fought powerful undead and a number of fiends. The group lost two of its members (literally separated and lost, never to be seen again), but they were able to escape with sacks loaded with gems, jewelry, and strange gold and silver coins. [This occurred in NR 698, ~9 years ago]

Upon reaching home, the Silver Swords were able to research some of the names and carvings they had transcribed (with the aid of the sages of Talengard), and came to the conclusion that they had found the tombs of the Alberneth, a family of powerful spell casters who fled the surface world back in the time of the Elder Wars (~300 years earlier).

The Silver Swords intended to return to the tombs, but first went into the northern Tellarn Mountains (southeast of the Greenreach Woods) to investigate recent rumored sightings of the great (and near legendary) blue dragon Vassylspeere. Nobody is know to have returned from that expedition.

Years later, the Silver Swords' written materials found their way into the hands of Nath Ravenblood, a part-time adventurer and the last member of a fading minor noble family of Turil. Desperate for cash, Nath organized an expedition to recover treasure from the tombs. Shortly after entering the Deep Realms through the ruins of Kristovaria in the Greenreach Woods, Nath's party was ambushed by lizard-like humanoid creatures, and all but Nath were slain. Nath bargained for his life by promising to deliver additional slaves to the lizardmen. Later, the party intercepted Nath's hired slavers, tracked them back to Nath, and were given these materials...

The materials included detailed maps and notes on how to get from the ruins of Kristovaria to the secret entrance to the Tombs of the Alberneth.

The Elder town of Mirron (Hexographer, 6 mile scale)

Alberneth Background
The Alberneth were an influential family in the Elder Days, essentially ruling the town of Mirron (in the realm of Ithilkar) in the southeastern Hills of Horeb. There were many powerful spell casters in the extended family, and they were the patrons of a famous (and somewhat notorious) wizards' school specializing in conjuration magic, the Tower of the Shadowed Veil. As the Elder Wars raged, there were concerns within the ruling circles of Ithilkar regarding the increasing use of dark magic by the Alberneth and their students, especially necromantic magic and the summoning of powerful fiends.

As the Wars raged on and things turned against Ithilkar, most of the population of the town of Mirron, including virtually all of the staff and students of the Tower, simply vanished overnight one night. Investigation by the authorities revealed that this was a planned evacuation, and that the missing people seemed to have gone down into the Underdark via old caverns and tunnels under the town.

Little was heard directly of the Alberneth thereafter, but occasional tales and rumors said that they had carved out a realm for themselves deep in the Underdark, where they devoted themselves completely to the pursuit of dark magic and demon worship. These tales said that even the drow avoided the territory claimed by the Alberneth.

Campaign Journal 26 - Nath Ravenblood

We left our heroes camped on the shores of a small lake, on the edge of the northwestern Greenreach Woods, with 12 freed captives in tow...

July 6, Saturday - After fighting the misshapen giants, the group settles down for a night's sleep under overcast skies. During the night, the skies clear, and a full moon is revealed. A slight breeze picks up, coming from the south, and with it comes the sound of distant drums. The drums play intermittently, rising to a frenzied pitch at certain times and then dying away. The group decides not to investigate and the rest of the night passes uneventfully, if nervously and not very restfully.

A day's march with the 12 civilians in tow brings the group to the tiny village of Felrin. Four of the civilians leave the group here; the rest will stay with the group to Turil.

Turil and southeastern approaches (Hexographer, 1 mile scale)

July 7, Sunday - Another 16 mile march brings the party to the city of Turil (for the first time). The remaining 8 civilians express their thanks and go their separate ways. It's late in the afternoon.

While crossing the Caravan Grounds heading to the Slanted Shingle Inn in the Wagontown section of the city (outside the walls on the southwest side), Baldur Kersk slips his bonds and makes an improbable escape through the crowd. Niam the rogue, the quickest of the group, is unable to catch him in the crowd.

The City of Turil , Wagontown section at lower left

The party gets to the Inn, bullies the owner into letting them into Kersk's room, and are able to find (and take) the 325 gold pieces hidden in a sack under a loose floorboard. They then head to the Laughing Goblin Tavern and stake out the place, hoping to see that man the Kersk described to them.

Malachy (the barbarian) and Arian (the elven sorcerer) see a man matching the description while thy are tarrying (and dining) at an inn across the square from the Laughing Goblin. They waylay him outside the place, and drag him into a nearby alley. He is a shady businessman by the name of Thurbrin Weirich, and is easily strong-armed into telling what he knows.

Weirich was hired by a minor noble named Nath Ravenblood. His instructions were to find someone to take the assignment of capturing 50 people and delivering them to the troglodytes in the Greenreach Woods. He hired Kersk, paying him 500 gold pieces for the job. It turns out he was just a middleman with no particular ties to either Ravenblood or Kersk.

A few inquiries within the walled part of the city direct the party to Ravenblood House, a minor noble home in the Artisan's Quarter section of the city (inside the city walls, south/southeast of the Market, between Market Street and the Eastway). Ravenblood House is a not particularly well-maintained three story town house off of a side street. It is approximately 9:30pm and after dark by now.

Duncan the wizard casts Invisibility on Niam the rogue, who then sneaks into the house. He finds only one elderly servant (Joril) and a sleeping man (Nath Ravenblood) inside the house, which had definitely seen better days. The party enters the house and interrogates Ravenblood, who tells a tale of having been part of an adventuring band in the Underdark that was wiped out by lizardmen. He was the only survivor. He bought his freedom by agreeing to provide slaves for the lizardmen, delivered to the caves at Kristovaria. Ravenblood is wracked with guilt (genuinely) and begs for mercy.

For letting him live, he gives the party a magical tome called Ayaralan's Workbook volume 4, which is a spell book of unique trap-constructing magic. He also gives them a dwarven travel stone, a magical item that serves as both a compass and time of day tracker. This gives someone information on which direction they are headed, and roughly what time of day it is (day vs night, sundown vs dawn, etc). This is especially useful underground. Lastly, he gives them a packet of maps, papers and journals regarding the adventures of a band called the Silver Swords. The party spends the rest of the night in Ravenblood's House.

...More on the Silver Shields and the Tombs of the Alberneth in the next post...

[Duncan and Arian advanced to level 5 after this session]

GM Commentary - This was, for me, one of the best sessions we have had. It wasn't combat focused, but was driven almost entirely by story. We had players acting as their characters would do, we visited some new locations, and we added a lot to the fiction. Good stuff.

Cheating ahead, writing this 8 months after the session, the seeds that were planted here turned into at  least 10 sessions of game play. And all because we took a bit of a left turn from the expected. Nice.

Campaign Journal 25 - Kristovaria

Plays begins with our heroes a few miles into the northwestern Greenreach Woods, on the way to the ruins of Kristovaria and another entrance to the Underdark...

July 4, Thursday (cont.) - Standing in the clearing in the woods, in the aftermath of the fight in which they defeated 6 gnolls and saved a young treant named Birchlock, the party paused to rest and regroup. Investigating the area, they found two paths out of the clearing (other than the way they came in from the north); one to the southwest that was the path Rogan had them on in order to get to the ruins of Kristovaria, and another to the southeast. There were easy to find tracks showing that the gnolls had come up the southeast trail.

After a brief discussion, the party elected to continue on their original path, but to camp for the night first.

July 5, Friday - The party head south from the clearing and within another couple of miles came to the ruins. Hearing voices nearby, Niam (the rogue) creeps into the ruins and spies out a handful of armed men and another bunch of captives. Setting up a successful surprise attack, the party is able to overpower the band of thugs, killing everyone except the leader, who is charmed and captured alive. 12 more captives are saved from being sold into slavery.

Ruins of Kristovaria (Hexographer, 1 mile scale)

The party interrogates the captured leader, Baldur Kersk, who proves to be a mercenary warrior from the city of Turil. Kersk claims that he was hired by an unidentified man while staying at the Laughing Goblin Tavern in the Wagontown section of the city. He was paid to capture and deliver 50  healthy people to the lizardmen in the caverns near the ruins. These were to be spread over 4 different groups so as to raise less alarm. This was the last of the 4 groups. Kersk is able to provide a detailed description of the man who hired him (who has some distinctive features). Kersk also begs for his life, and says that he has 325 gold pieces hidden in his quarters at the Slanted Shingle Inn in Turil, which he will give to the group for letting him live.

Following a brief discussion, the group decides that they will go to Turil and hunt down the man who hired Kersk, returning the captives to safety along the way.

The large group moves south from Kristovaria, coming out the far side of the forest, stopping after a half dozen miles or so to camp near the shores of a small lake.

While making camp, the group is attacked by two giant-sized monstrosities. The monsters are killed after a bloody fight, and the party settles down for the night.

GM Commentary - This is a session where my prep work and the path the party chose to take diverged completely. I fully expected the party to choose to follow the gnoll tracks to the southeast, which would have set them on a course to spend several sessions playing out the "evil in the Greenreach" story arc. I had prepped the next bunch of that arc. I hadn't really prepped much for actually getting to Kristovaria, because I didn't think they would choose that. Much of what happened at Kristovaria, with more captives in the presence of the bandits, in the process of being prepared to be sold to the lizardmen, was improvised. That improvisation was intended to be a short interlude, after which I figured the group would choose to deal with the evil in the woods. As things played out, the group was interested in tracking down the people responsible for these slavers. So off to Turil we went. Go figure. [Reviewing my session prep notes for sessions 24 and 25, there is no mention of anything that happened subsequently, that only occurs in the session 26 prep notes when I knew we were on a new track...]

This ended up being a key decision point in the campaign. Coupled with choices the party would make in the next session (#26), this ended up setting the course we are still on as I write this far after the fact (following session 36 in January 2017).

Campaign Journal 24 - The Road to Kristovaria

Play begins with the party having just made it back to the underground entrance up into the dungeon basements of Fulcher's Hold.

June 30, Sunday (cont.) - Fulcher is concerned when the party shows up in his basement with 15 other people. Not wanting to have word spread that his new castle has basements that connect to the Underdark, it is eventually agreed that the former captives will be subjected to memory-blurring charm magic that will prevent them from remembering details of the last day or so.

July 1, Monday - The party travels from Fulcher's Hold to Linden with 15 blindfolded captives in a pair of wagons. The captives are set free in Linden, and Marlena Berkor, the High Riders Company merchant captain reasserts her vow to reward them, and promises to deliver such reward care of Raglin Tindall at the Linden Inn. She also gives them a signet token from the High Riders that will allow them to seek assistance from company offices or members when needed.

Rogan, one of the caravan guard fighters, says that he knows the location of the ruins where the captives were taken underground. His father was a hunter who traveled the region extensively, and he recognized the ruins his father called Kristovaria. He says he can lead the party to the spot and show them the entrance to the Underdark.

The party agrees to go. Lily Copperknock, the first level gnome wizard, talks the party into allowing her to go with them.

July 2, Tuesday - The party travels from Linden 5 miles south to Bornil, on easy trails, and then an additional 6 miles west to Gulb. On the road just west of Bornil, 2 ankhegs burst out of the ground and attack the party. This may have been a greater challenge at an earlier time, but the party dispatches the insectoid creatures without much difficulty. The party spends a quiet night at the Day's Rest, a small tavern and eatery (and the only such place in the tiny village of Gulb). Here they are told stories of strange happenings and dangerous creatures in the normally peaceful northern fringes of the woods.

Linden to Kristovaria (maps in Hexographer, 1 mile hexes)

July 3, Wednesday - On a sunny warm day with a light breeze blowing, the party travels west/southwest about 12 miles by hunters' trails to the southeastern shore of a medium-sized lake. A mile or two across the water to the west, distant outlines of ruins can be seen. Rogan says these are an old Onorian town called Valtana, which is said to be a haunted place that locals avoid.

July 4, Thursday - Another warm calm day, and the party travels west along the south shore of the lake, and then south to find the trail into the Greenreach Woods. They have a difficult time finding the trail Rogan is looking for, and most of the midday period is spent searching the forest's edge for it. Eventually they find the trail and head south into the woods.

As they advance into the forest, Melior the druid sees increasing evidence that something is not right in the forest. Odd vines grow, trees and plants look twisted, and the forest grows darker the further they go.

Approximately four miles in, the party stops to rest in a clearing, and are beset by a number of vine blights and a pair of angry awakened trees. The trees are seen to have glowing blue crystal shards protruding from their trunks. When the awakened trees are killed, the crystal shards go dark. Thalmyr the dwarven paladin takes one of the shards with him.

Proceeding a short way down the trail, the party comes across a strange scene; a group of 6 gnolls surrounding a young treant, threatening it with torches and fire. It seems to be in desperate straights, outnumbered and showing many signs of burns on its trunk and limbs. The party kills the gnolls. The forest creature, near death, is saved by the party. Rogan the caravan guard, and their guide, is killed.

The treant introduces himself as Birchlock, and says that he came to this part of the forest to seek out one if his elders, an ancient treant named Fallthorn. He wanted to ask Fallthorn about the evil growing in the forest, and to seek advice and guidance. He was beset by the gnolls before he could find Fallthorn. After talking with the party, he heads off to the south, returning to his home to rest and heal from his wounds.

GM Commentary - I enjoyed this session very much. There wasn't a whole lot of combat, but the fight with the gnolls in order to save the treant was fun in that it presented the beginnings of a new potential story arc for the future (bad things going on in the northern Greenreach). The encounter with the two ankhegs was simply a case of tossing an experience point bone at the players (and that's fine if you know that there isn't going to be a lot of combat, and you want to make sure that you can get the players some XP).