Original Session - August 3, 2020 -
PCs in attendance:
Yelrah, Klayton, THE Svetlo, Albrecht
NPCs: Morgan Ironwolf, Ulster,
Kirsten, Ori the Dwarf
The Group
spent a few days relaxing at Ironguard Keep, before joining the Castellan for a
by-invitation dinner. In addition to the
Castellan Herr Rottmeyer and his wife Frau Rottmeyer, the Keep Chaplain Alain
de Blanc, the Lord Magus Antoine Lebrun,
and the Captain of the Guard Jurgen Hoffmeister were also in attendance.
(It is
important to point out that during the predinner downtime, Klayton had his
pseudodragon capture a squirrel, which Klayton promptly beheaded and sewed the Voodoo Head to. The Voodoo Head
thanked him and went off to do creepy things until called for. Albrecht spent the time determining that his
Acorn Cap attracts squirrels and may allow understanding of them. Perhaps if he wears it longer… Also, the Group hit up Mario’s for potions,
and the dice god (named Avrae - clerics of Avrae might be a thing?) dictated
potions of “fouling a body of water,” “smelling salts,” and “switching phobias”
were purchased - thanks, d4 Caltrops d100 potions list!)
Over dinner,
the Group learned a bit more of the history of the area, specifically that as
the Three Chaos Temples grow in power, Law, logic and civilization crumble and
fall away. The Temples were last thrown
down - at least temporarily - more than 50 years prior, but have seemingly been
rebuilt.
During a
question-and-answer session, the Group learned the further tidbits: if one
Temple still stands, the others rebuild; holy water, fire, magic, and steel
were used to tear down the Temples last time - those methods may yet serve
again; the nearest Temple is past the abandoned Wizard Tower the Group had
looted a few weeks prior; undead are a popular minion of the Chaos Cultists;
Dragons have served the Cult in the past; and lastly, a guide will be provided
the Group when they set out to destroy the Temples.
When the
question of payment arose, Herr Rottmeyer explained that the Keep itself is
cash-poor, but will provide resources for the endeavor. The Chaplain immediately offered up numerous
vials of Holy Water free of charge.
Furthermore, the Group was more-or-less told that they can keep whatever
they loot from the Cultists and their minions.
They parted
ways for the evening, and while alone in the shadows, Klayton felt a hand upon
his shoulder. Turning around, he found
himself face-to-face with Theodotus of Byzantium, still as pale-skinned and
goateed as before. Theodotus’s eyes
flashed, and Klayton made his saving throw.
Theo laughed and promised he would be back, then disappeared into the
shadows. Klayton’s verbal response is
unprintable, but his tasking to his familiar is not. Klayton commanded the bizarre
Shrunken-Head-Squirrel-Thing (SHST for short) to seek out Theo and find where
he lairs. SHST giggled and went off to
do his master’s bidding.
In the
morning, the Group set out and found an armored Dwarf waiting for them at the
Gate. He told them his name was Ori, and
was the Keep’s promised guide. The Group
begrudgingly accepted his presence, despite grumbling about shares of
treasure. Upon further quizzing, it was
learned that Ori, and his brothers Nori and Dori, are all nephews and
apprentices of the Keep Weaponsmith, Snorri.
Now eight in
number, the Group set off for the nearest Chaos Temple. The journey was uneventful until they arrived
at the abandoned Wizard’s Tower. At this
point, the Group decided to detour in pursuit of picking up the rest of the
loot, or at least the magic sword they’d left behind (the DM knew they had left
other easier-to-obtain treasures, but that is their fault). Jokes were made about encountering the Druid
in zombie form, and through the door they went (a bit of unintentional foreshadowing, these jokes were).
Once inside,
the Group were dismayed to see another band of looters - this one including
Zombies (though not their dead friend).
A running battle commenced that (mostly) ended in the ground floor
dining room. In the end, 8 zombies were
slain, as well as four Cultists and a pair of wights. Other cultists escaped up the stairs and into
the Chest of Many Stairs, it’s lid slamming shut as Yelrah entered the room
behind them.
Highlights
of the battle included lots of double-exploding damage dice (sadly, only for
the PCs’ team) and Yelrah being commanded
to drop his weapon, then doing so. d30s
were used for damage, but rolled miserably.
At the last moment, the DM read the Zombie description and saw Undead
Fortitude, then handwaved things a bit to use it, resulting in all the Zombies
rising back up for one last hurrah.
Tragically, all Zombies were slain - again - without dealing much
damage. So very, very sad.
Albrecht captured and interrogated a Cultist, learning several interesting things as the poor man (the Temple’s cook, it turns out) voided his bladder and bowels in utter terror of the “kindly acolyte of Skadi” and his sharp knife. The most useful bit of information was that the Temple’s High Priest is named Master Oni Afio (courtesy of a babyname generator, set to African names - the DM grinned widely, because in Japan, Oni are something totally different - ah, emergent story). The Group did NOT ask how many more Cultists there were.
Rookie mistake.
The session
ended with Yelrah exhausted and the group nearly out of spells, but with only surface
injuries and most hit points. They know at least two
Cultists descended into the Chest of Many Stairs.
Whatever shall the Group do next?
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