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).
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| 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...
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| 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.
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| Valtana from the North |
And the night passes without incident.
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| 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.
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