Session 10

MORTHEVOLE'S CELLARS

3rd Longrass, 4433

Cast:

Gorr, ranger 3
Suba-Jin, cleric 2
Robert the Swift, fighter 2
Tullius Jr./Sir Karavon, fighter 3

Eric Withakay, cleric 3

Young Joe Spruce, druid 1

Ted, Fred & Ned, men-at-arms

New Friends & New Adventures

The group followed up a lead from the Church of Hextor: a down-on-his-luck merchant was asking for help. Joined by Young Joe Spruce, a druid in the city for the first time. Accompanying him were three men-at-arms, bound into servitude for a month for trespassing in the forests (for two of them, the servitude would be much shorter than that!).

The group met Morthevole the merchant and asked for information. He gave them the key to his shop and a crude map of part of The Nest. Gorr took a short detour to the pleasure-parks and boulevards in the south of the city to plant one of Grandfather Tree's acorns.

Entering the Nest is like walking into a dungeon. The borough is almost completely sealed off, with only three well-known entrances. Buildings stack on top of each other, blocking out the sun and rendering it a dark & confusing three-dimensional maze. The group startled a few prostitutes as they wandered, but saw no other living beings. They were able to follow their map and not get lost.

The Tunnels

The group explored Morthevole's dingy pawn-shop which had been cleared out in a hurry. They found a crack in the basement wall, leading into some rough limestone caverns, hewn into the very rock the city rests on. These tunnels were low & cold, filled with ancient calcifying skeletons stowed here long ago for unknowable reasons.

The first encounter was with some feral, emaciated humans resembling ghouls or vampires, with yellow phosphorescent eyes and sharpened canines. These ragged beggars lost their nerve after a few casualties, and were chased down & slaughtered to the last. The group descended further and searched through many rooms, fighting some undead priests with knives instead of hands, and turning over many ancient skeletons slick with minerals, stacked or sitting or sometimes piled haphazardly wherever they would fit. 

In a small shrine, they found a bronze statue of a buxom woman called Shriwar the Slicer. Behind it stood a chart of the world's three moons (Sky-King, Vanis & Howla) in relation to each other, showing certain conjunctions and alignments. Robert the Swift narrowly avoided death when he attempted to gain the trapped statue's treasure, but with Tullius Jr's assistance a glittering ruby was recovered from its chest.

At the bottom of the vaults, the group lit two skull-lamps with scented oil to open a great iron door. Inside, they disturbed a group of 12 knife-skeletons and were set upon by a strange foe: a skeleton with glowing crystal bones, which drew the very breath from poor Ted and Ned.

A Conversation with Morthevole

Returning to the merchant led to a few clues. He was endlessly grateful for the party's help, and they learned that the tarry substance found in his shop was called BLACK, an addictive substance rubbed on the throat, producing an energetic high and sense of self-confidence. He kept it in case of shakedowns: when black-throats come visiting, one had better be prepared to give them something. 

Gorr asked about the myserious amulet recovered from Eralion's keep: Morthevole recognized the symbol as one used by a local gang called the Coffin Masters to mark their territory.

The group pressed Morthevole to keep his shop open to them if they needed to fence stolen goods, or find a place to hide out. He seemed nervous about the prospect but reluctantly assented. He recommended a few out-of-the-way places to lay low for a while, since the group were nervous about the wanted posters they'd seen around town.

Night in Viridistan

The party visited the burning-ghats, at the base of the great bridge. Priests of the fire-goddess Kale Kala with sooty orange robes conduct cremation rites there for a fee. Joe Spruce paid 40 silver each for Ted and Ned to be prepared, while Suba-Jin and Eric administered a warriors' last rites - the latter stumbling over the liturgy, as he had only learned it a few days prior.

From there, they took back streets to Seven Visions. It turned out to be a well-appointed, upscale whorehouse. Soft music, plush carpets and incense pervaded inside. The madame, an elegant Tharbrian named Zvezdana Ozi whose office was decorated with appalling pornographic paintings, said she could rent rooms & provide any entertainments desired - and was herself a sage, well-versed in many topics of inquiry. The gang laid their money down and got ready to enjoy themselves while hiding out!

Monsters Defeated:

14 feral beggars (70 xp)

2 knife-ghouls (142 xp)

12 knife-skeletons (156 xp)

1 glowing crystalline skeleton (350 xp)

Treasure: 

270 gold coins (divided during the session)

silver comb (650 sp)

scented lamp-oil (240 sp)

ancient amphorae of camphor oil (1440 sp)

old ritual headdresses (nobody seems interested in buying these)

Total - 388 sp each

Treasure Kept: 

hammered gold shield (Suba-Jin kept)

crystalline bones (still glowing faintly)

corpse's hair (detects as magical)

Shriwar the Slicer's ruby "heart"

Carousing:

Robert - girls 100 sp

Suba-Jin - carousing 270 sp

Eric - carousing 300 sp

Gorr - carousing 1000 sp

Joe Spruce - carousing/girls 400 sp

The results of carousing will be detailed next session.

EXPERIENCE TOTALS:

Party To-Do

-Suba-Jin reached 3rd level, Eric Withakay reached 4th. A few other characters are spitting distance of leveling as well. Gorr might be close to leveling, but I don't know how much XP he needs (Chris, please send me a chart).

-The first 3 people to contact me with the passphrase "Yredelemnul" will get 250 bonus xp. [Expired]

-For each encounter with undead, your character's sanity is affected. Many members of the group have accumulated 2 or 3 fear points by now.  Once your Fear equals your WIS score, you suffer a blow to your sanity.  These points are not easily removed: for 20 days (one Imperial month) spent in a calm, civilized setting without any danger or strenuous activity, you may remove 1 point.  How you manage this mechanic is up to you. 

[Setting] The Imperial Calendar

Balozkinar's Corrected Commoners' Calendar
(BCCC for short) has been adopted throughout the Empire.




It uses 5-day weeks and 20-day months.
The days of the week are: Airday, Waterday, Earthday, Fireday and Spiritday.

The months of the BCCC Calendar are:

Month	Day	Season Begins
Thawmist	1-20
Dewsnap	21-40	Spring
Flowerbloom	41-60
Sweetrain	61-80
Meadowlark	81-100
Longrass	101-120	Summer
Warmshade	121-140
Sunstrong	141-160
Thistleburn	161-180
Harvestime	181-200
Goodgrove	201-220	Fall
Blackmoon	221-240
Willowind	241-260
Redleaves	261-280
Maggotfeast	281-300	Winter
Coldrain	301-320
Shadowrath	321-340
Gloomfrost	341-360
Year's End	361-365\366

Because Year's End is a 5- or 6-day month, the days of the week are the same every year (ie. Thawmist 1 is an Airday, Coldrain 19 is a Fireday, etc)


Holy Days:

Every religion has its own holy days, and some have more than one. With 137 Imperial gods, at least a minor festival or celebration is happening somewhere in Viridistan every day. There are far too many to list!

History:

A small selection of notable events throughout the years:

4433 - Today

4431 - The Deepwater Rebellion - towns & cities around Trident Gulf revolted. Ruthlessly put down by Viridian troops (including some PCs if they were in the Legion - fighters, rangers, spies, etc)

4284 - The Great Slaughter of Pain - massacre of the Mycretian religion, Viridian garrison placed in the Holy Cities in the desert.

4283 - Hautulin Seheitt becomes the current Green Emperor

4105 - An Imperial army destroys a rebel host from the City-State of the Invincible Overlord

3075 - City-State of the Invincible Overlord founded

2400 - The Holy Cities achieve independence from Viridistan

120 - City of Valon founded

101 - Viridistan founded

0 - "Corrected" Creation Date adopted to harmonise various calendar systems. Not everyone agrees on this.

-8603 - Creation Date of many religions

Session 9 Downtime - Viridistan

Suba-Jin

Reports to the great Battle-Dome of Hextor on the Street of the Gods to make his devotions. The dark edifice looms over nearby buildings. It is surrounded by statues of warriors and adorned with stained-glass windows, friezes and murals featuring scenes of historic battles against goblins, elves, monsters and just about everyone else. The clanging of weapons, shouts of battle and cracking of whips ring out at all hours. He passes by Hextor's red-robed priests & soldiers, naked slaves, and the familiar if unnerving skeletal temple guardians to the sanctum of his superior Votgauum, a severe & scarred Viridian.

The clergy finds the mournful, ethereal scent from the Forest of Dreams a bit sensitive, but are pleased at Suba-Jin's diligence & piety for bringing treasure wrested from his enemies. Votgauum also suggests Suba-Jin consider choosing one of the "arms of Hextor" to become proficient with, and he selects the falchion. Votgauum presents him with one as a gift to the promising acolyte.

[Offerings of roughly this value are expected from crusading clerics such as yourself regularly. As you donate more, Hextor will favour you with other benefits: special one-use abilities, magical buffs, guidance, followers or even magic items.]

Votgauum also passes along a request: a seedy-looking pawnbroker in the Old City named Morthevole has asked the church for help, saying his shop was taken from him unlawfully. Suba-Jin found him staying at a bar in the Old City (a lower-class district against the northern city wall. Filled with crumbling tenements, narrow alleys and outlandish structures left by the city's original builders, whoever they were). "The White Egg" is a lousy dive bar on the Avenue of Power, in the shadow of the great aqueduct. It's only made tolerable by a few tough-looking serving girls who work the crowd for tips. The pawnbroker probably picked it because it isn't very busy.

Morthevole is a wienery-looking Antillian in once rich, but now shabby clothes. He looks scared shitless. He is evasive about questions. He says he didn't have dealings with "the things," but that they are so dangerous he fears returning to his shop. They came up from a hole in his basement, and there are at least six or seven he's seen - but he has heard the sounds of more. He wants this whole thing kept secret, and says if nobody finds out, you can keep any treasure you find. His shop is in a part of town called The Nest. It's a district of adobe & brick structures built on top of each other in layers upon layers, until it forms a 3-dimensional maze. Most of the neighbourhood never sees the sky at all. As you would expect it is populated with criminal gangs, scum, mutants & drug fiends. Morthevole can give you directions & the key to his store which is not too far inside, but doesn't know the district well other than that. 

["A hole in his basement" is significant. It is commonly believed that dungeons exist underneath the city. But everyone knows it is illegal to explore below, on pain of death.]

Lothos

Studies magical tomes. From The Starless Stars, Lothos is able to decipher several spells easily: charm person, allure, shocking grasp, jump, scare & arcane lock are added to his spellbook.

To decipher the encoded text of Obliteration Without Glory, Lothos locks himself in his tiny rented room in Otherside, poring over the ancient & forbidding tome for three days straight! At the end of the third day, his efforts bear mixed success. He has decoded one of the spells, but its magic is unusable to him - it requires a spellcaster devoted to the forces death! 

There are several more spells to be deciphered, and each attempt will take three days. There is no guarantee which ones will be usable by elves and magic-users, and which require a dedicated necromancer.

Vanished!!

When you are done resting and get ready for your next adventure, Lothos the Undesirable is nowhere to be found! The rooming-house where he stayed does not remember when he left. With him go the two aforementioned spellbooks, as well as the mysterious engraved staff lifted from Eralion's tomb, and the 'talking book' Pheldrazash.

His whereabouts are unknown. Amongst the indifferent masses of the Emerald City, a determined elf could hide for a long time. Perhaps you will see Lothos again, perhaps not. I am sure you can all guess what might have happened. Mike will need a new character for the time being.

Spotted Around Town

On the third day, you spot some parchment handbills posted around the city:

Unlocking New Character Classes

When player-characters die, this is my gift to you. Each unique death will unlock a new playable character class or sub-class. Lothos didn't exactly 'die' but was taken out of play, so it's close enough for this purpose. For being 'killed' by a magical effect, this class is now available to everyone:

"The Incantrix"

A dimensional guardian specializing in divinations, wards and metamagic. Viewed with suspicion by established magic-users for their dangerous spell-stealing ability.

Requirements: INT 9, WIS 12

Casts a mixture of Magic-User and Illusionist spells up to 7th level

17 INT to cast 6th level spells, 18 INT to cast 7th level spells

Special Abilities:

1st level - charge healing - Drain charges from magical devices to heal (2d4 hp per charge). This takes a full round and does not work on artifacts or items without charges. This can raise hp above max, but these phantom hp last for only 10 rounds.

2nd level - spell steal - The incantrix can steal a memorized spell from another spell caster. The spell to be stolen is determined at random and the incantrix knows nothing about the stolen spell. This special ability by-passes magic resistance and there is no saving throw. The stolen spell may be cast by the incantrix immediately or held for later use, and can be cast without any material components. When cast, the spell functions as if cast by the being it was stolen from (with regards to level). Any spell already in the process of being cast cannot be stolen. 

The incantrix can erase the spell from her mind and inscribe it on a scroll or in a book with the Write spell, though this does not allow her to use it if it is forbidden by her class. Only by such scribing can the stolen spell be identified. The incantrix may use this special ability 1/day at levels 2-4, 2/day at levels 5-6, 3/day at levels 7-8 and so on at a range of 10'/level. There is a small chance of spell-steal victims being mentally damaged in the process, especially after successive strikes.

3rd level and up - other abilities which help fight ethereal & undead creatures, etc.

Session 9

THE SAGE OF LUNE 

15th-18th Meadowlark 

Characters: 

Gorr, Ranger 2
Suba-Jin, Cleric 1
Robert the Swift, Fighter 1
Eric Withakay, Cleric 3
Lothos the Undesirable, Elf 2
Meep, Dwarf 2 

The Trade

Continuing from the cliffhanger last session, Lothos & the 'talking book' Pheldrazash discussed using the crone statues so that the book could use Lothos' body in exchange for teaching the elf some of its magic. After discussing it back and forth, they asked the statues to go ahead. There was a pause, and then they said "IT IS DONE!"

Lothos felt a bit dizzy, but not that much different, and the group decided not to press the issue further. Many odd wonders were discovered on the second floor of the temple:

-Talking wooden statue holding up the ceiling, covered in graffiti. It offered to explain the workings of a few rooms, and asked for an offering in return (explanations are written in the room descriptions). After some sullen negotiations, Eric threw it a few of his (fake) gold coins.

-Candlelit room with a tiny coffin, filled with severed skeletal hands & arms. Pictographs showed a man severing his own hand in a ceremony of some kind. The ceremony allows anyone to make contact with a true Power of the universe (god or demon), at the cost of a hand or limb.

-Room with illusionary walls of a dense, sunlit forest inhabited by naked, giggling nymphs. They responded to the players. Gorr managed to convince one to come closer and take one of his magical cherries and an acorn from Grandfather Tree. He asked it to come out of the wall, but it seemed too scared.

-A bare room with a 4' crystal sphere in the middle, filled with churning smoke. Once in a while, a great golden eye would press itself against the glass from the inside.The group tried rolling the sphere around, but ultimately decided to leave it here for the time being.

In the room with four pillars, Meep the dwarf discovered a hidden switch on the pillar guarded by the brass soldier. It opened on a set of stairs, leading upwards. The group managed to distract the brass man enough that almost everyone could dodge past.

Meeting the Sage

Lothos, Robert, Suba-Jin and Meep climbed the stairs. At the top, a broad cupola was dominated by a pool of still water reflecting the moon. Nine brass soldiers stood at attention, but took no notice of the group. A (real human, not a shadow!) woman wearing delicate robes and ornate jewellery (a gem-studded silver ring, a silver sceptre, silver brooch and an engraved brass bracelet) greeted them warmly, apologizing for any mistreatment by the mechanical soldiers.

Her manners were welcoming, but little details were odd. When she walked in her thin slippers, her feet made a ceramic clack-clacking on the stone floors. Close up her face looked inside-out or inverted, like an optical illusion or something.

The Sage of Lune said that she almost never received visitors and offered to show the group visions in the reflecting pool of past and present things:

Suba-Jin asked about the origin of the land's curse and how it might be stopped: 

This land was once held in balance between the sun and moon. A cultist of Uthummaos, the God of Empty Darkness, drew that evil deity's attention to our world. This grim god spread his demons and shadow creatures throughout the land, and has plunged the world into a perpetual twilight, with no day or nighttime. I do not know how to break the curse, but Uthummaos has four demonic lieutenants in this world who enforce his will. If anything is at the core of the curse's power, it is them. The pool showed a man with indistinct features at the candle-lit shrine, cutting off his own hand and throwing it in the small coffin. Then hordes of shadowy monsters climbing forth from the deep, misty crevasse below Wakelinus' Folly (session 4).

Robert the Swift asked about these four demons and where they might be found:

I know three of their names, but the fourth eludes my sight. Eralion, who dwells deep beneath his old fortress in the moonlit zones. Varthatov, who presides over the First Temple of Uthummaos, somewhere beneath Wakelinus' Folly. Vashundara, the snake-demoness. The vision showed first Eralion's fortress, then the ruined colosseum again, then a woman with coal-black skin sleeping on an opulent bed covered with cushions, wearing only golden jewellery. A gold key hung on her necklace, and her belly was bulging and distended.

Lothos asked a question, but the Sage required a kiss in return. He was unwilling to do this, feeling the situation was too suspicious.

Meep asked about the crystal sphere filled with smoke, and the group learned about the cave squid inside and the ancient cult which once worshipped it. Finally, the group asked if the Sage had any useful items or magic that might assist them in their quest - she mentioned the shrine to Usham Ta, the lucky cat, might contain some treasure if they made the right obeisances, which she demonstrated for them. Not everyone had asked a question, and the Sage begged them to return later so she might grant them further visions.

Investigating the cat shrine on their way out, the religious gestures opened a secret compartment with a chest and a message: 'Tis better to give than to receive! Donate, so the chest never remains empty! They looted some valuable bricks of incense, and left some silver coins and an ornate dagger.

Return

That night when they camped, Gorr felt seized by a blind, unreasoning fear, and could not figure out its source.

Eric had a vision during the night: The forest was light by bright sunshine, and an armoured knight with kindly eyes reached out to him. He knew this was Solaris, the almost forgotten god worshipped by Shandril and a few others. Solaris praised his valour and wisdom in wielding the enchanted mace Lua Saka, asking Eric to abandon his current faith and follow a new path. Eric shook his outstretched hand feeling a sense of joy, acceptance and relief. The god departed, fading into the overwhelming radiance.

After returning to the Forgotten Village, Shandril showed Eric the rites of his new religion and the group decided to return to Viridistan with their loot. 

Returning found the Night Wolf's tavern packed with strange people from the far corners of the world. A stage-hypnotist was performing for the crowd. Eric spotted a group displaying a solar insignia and went over to talk. They followed a deity called the "Unconquered Sun," spoke with strange accents and said they called The Wardale Rogues from Verulamium. They had never heard of Solaris, but seemed friendly enough.

Returning to Viridistan by the coast road, the group passed through the Moon Gate in the great wall and over the Emperor's farmlands. Entering on Market Avenue, they were back in familiar territory for the moment: the greatest city in the empire, beckoning adventure from every door and alleyway!

Remember, temporary bonuses such as the +1 luck from the cat shrine have long expired now. 

If you haven't already gotten back to me with downtime actions (carousing, studying, rumours, etc) please do so!!!

Treasure: 

A huge amount of treasure was redeemed from the last 7 sessions in the Forest of Dreams. Having arrived in Viridistan, it can easily be offloaded & converted to local currency in the city's grand bazaars.

220 electrum coins (worth 3 sp each - 660 sp)

3846 silver

10 copper (1 sp)

50 gold (500 sp)

ancient china tea set (400 sp)

gilding pried out of skeleton's helmets (300 sp)

7 bricks of Forest of Dreams incense (3500 sp)

animal pelts (1100 sp)

coat of chromatic peacock feathers (700 sp)

ivory Y 'crucifix' (1000 sp)

scented Forest of Dreams woods (1000 sp)

cracked quartz disk (400 sp)

TOTAL LOOT VALUE: 13,407 sp

I've deducted cost-of-living (1% of total xp) from your awarded loot automatically, since we're starting next session in the city.

Per character

Suba-Jin: 2289 sp

Robert the Swift: 2287 sp

Gorr: 2128 sp

Lothos the Undesirable: 2075 sp

Eric Withakay: 2081 sp

Meep: 1563 sp

Aladar IX: 500 sp

Viegar Thricescarred: 157 sp

Current XP totals

Gorr, Suba-Jin and Robert the Swift have gained levels! If anyone wants to carouse, let me know before next session.

Session 8

THE ECUMENICAL TEMPLE

15th Meadowlark 

Characters: 

Gorr, Ranger 2 

Robert the Swift, Fighter 1 

Suba-Jin, Cleric 1 

Eric Withakay, Cleric 3 

Lothos the Undesirable, Elf 2 

Aladar IX, M-U 2 

Aftermath 

Recovering from their ambush by shadowy dogfolk, the group were joined by the belated magic-user Aladar IX and his unfortunately-named dog "Mincemeat 2."

Progressing further into the building, the group triggered a pit trap with a sweeping wooden plank that knocked half of them in! They now realized what the other plank they had seen before actually was for. With no obvious way to close the pit, they climbed out and kept going.

Artist's Rendering may not be exact

Many odd and inexplicable things were found:

-A wooden face floating in a pool of black tar, that animated and gnashed its teeth when touched. Eric took some of the tar in a waterskin for later.

-A carefully arranged pile of debris, scraps and furniture. The group removed a large wooden table and began carrying it around the dungeon with them.

-Stairwells led upwards, covered with carvings & graffiti. Not all was understandable, but some pictographs showed people throwing things into a round basin and waves coming out afterwards.

-A room with carvings of buildings: A great castle under construction in a field. A tower high on cliffs above the sea. Thin, crooked & impossible towers twisting above dense woods. A fortress in the mountains blending in to the cliffs. A short, round tower on an island with a yellow tree.

-An altar with a faintly flickering slab of quartz resting on it, shaped like a clear disc with a yellow triangle inside. Suba-jin pried the quartz off the stone, but cracked it in half in the process.

In a room with a round altar covered in odd pictograms rested a huge glass basin with swirling brown & yellow colours at the bottom. After a few tests to see if it was safe, Gorr climbed inside. Passing through the swirling colours, he found himself in another world: cloudy grey skies and cracked brown & yellow landscape stretched in every direction. First he planted one of the Great Tree's acorns. Next, he began searching through the rubble and detritus piled up around the entrance and found a strange Y-shaped ivory crucifix of a hollow-eyed figure with a sinister, toothy grin. This treasure gained, he jumped back through the pool of colour before he could encounter any dangerous locals.

Upstairs

In a room with three tall statues of robed & ancient crones, the group were ambushed by a group of four dogfolk, but the large table they were carrying proved a useful barrier and the shadowy foes were dispatched with ease.

They found the source of the constant incense-smoke: a room with a dozen smoking braziers burning exotic & fragrant purple wood. The braziers were engraved with images of a king making strange hand gestures receiving benediction from robed monks, decorated with carvings of a cat. Turning over the braziers and quenching the fires allowed the smoke to disperse somewhat. Some spare bundles of scented wood were taken.

In a shrine with a stone cat idol, the group got into a brief fight with some shadowy satyrs through Gorr's readiness with a bow. After destroying one, the other surrendered and asked them to play a dice game. He offered to tell them a secret about the Sage of Lune, but instead hustled the group out of some minor treasure (Suba-Jin lost the double crescent-moon amulet he had found in Eralion's ruined keep). He did tell them about a blessing the shrine bestowed: rubbing the top of the cat's head granted a minor boon of luck.

[+1 to all d20 rolls for the remainder of the expedition. Players must remind me of this bonus when applicable!]

In a garden room with some thirsty talking plants, the group encountered a 9' tall knight clad completely in engraved brass armour. Not speaking, it pursued them slowly but relentlessly wherever they went.

They led the brass soldier towards the three statues. When it passed through the center of the three crones, they animated and began discussing it in approving tones: "Ah, very nice. Unbreakable grip. Impervious to mundane harm. Even immune to electricity. Sadly, you are controlled by someone else." Then the crones began asking questions and were roundly ignored by the brass man, which everyone was now sure was some kind of automaton or golem.

Seeking an alternate solution, the group managed to just barely trip the man of brass by ramming it repeatedly with their wooden table, sending it down the stairs. It didn't seem out of action, as they heard its joints creak & clank as it got up & walked around the lower floor.

The last room they explored had four massive wood columns carved as women in the four stages of life: young, adult, mature & venerable. In front of one column stood another brass man, but it did not seem to take notice of them.

2nd floor

Finally, the group decided to experiment with the three crones and discovered some amazing things. The statues had keen insight into the nature of anyone who stepped into their triangle, and could even reveal previously hidden information about someone's status or equipment. Anyone entering was described at some length, then offered the chance to 'trade' or 'swap abilities' although it was a bit unclear how this was to be accomplished.

Gorr was labeled as "an aesthete" who will soon feel a great strain, and they observed that "the outer realms had best take care" with him around.

Aladar IX managed to get a clue about the wand he recovered from Orelia: "Your opponents must find it hard to breathe."

The most shocking of all was when Lothos entered. "Ah, like to consort with long-dead sorcerors, do you?" asked the statues. Eventually it seemed they weren't even speaking to the elf: "The corruptor of Bishop Gray! [See session 1] You have travelled many years to be here. Are your people still lost in the nightmare, or have they returned to the waking darkness?" It became clear they were addressing Pheldrazash, the strange 'talking book' Lothos carried.

Pulling out the book and asking if Pheldrazash wanted to trade for anything, it replied: "I want to have a body again." Gorr suggested they might somehow 'donate' to make it a brand-new body, and Lothos offered to trade his own body for the wizardly book's magical knowledge...

Treasure:

Ivory Y "crucifix"

2 bundles of scented purple wood

Broken quartz disc

Enemies Defeated:

4 shadowy dogfolk

1 shadowy satyr

TOTAL: 127 xp (21 each awarded)

Current experience totals 

Based on monster & misc XP from last few adventures, but not treasure.

Note - It is also worth mentioning that you can't go up 2 levels at a time - the most XP you can possibly gain is enough to be 1 xp short of gaining 2 levels. (Imagine a 1st-level fighter starts with 0 xp. If he were to retrieve a 10,000 sp diamond from a dragon's treasure hoard on his first adventure, he would end up with 4,064 xp - 1 point shy of 3rd level. The excess experience is wasted!) I mention this because you guys have a lot of treasure stashed that nobody has cashed in on yet, XP-wise. You aren't near this limit yet (that would be a huge sum) but it's something to keep in mind.

[If I don't have your character's age or any other vitals yet, please get this info to me!]

[NWI] Rooms in the Night Wolf Inn

Here is a list of the various rooms available for rent and their prices. Not all these rooms will be available at the same time.
Interested parties should enquire with Mr. Everbleed to see what vacancies are currently available.

See also A Letter from the Concierge.

[click to enlarge]

Session 7

THE FOREST OF DREAMS 3

15th Meadowlark

About eight days

Characters:

Robert the Swift, Fighter 1 (Steve)

Suba-Jin, Cleric 1 (John)

Gorr, Barbarian 2 (Chris)

Lothos the Undesirable, Elf 2 (Mike)

Eric Withakay, Cleric 3 (Justin)

Meep, Dwarf 2 (Spencer)

*****

Return to the Inn

While the group rested up in the Forgotten Village, people were getting hungry. Robert went out hunting and got lost. He avoided a group of large, floating, glowing jellyfish, almost starved, shot a huge chromatic peacock with sparkling feathers and found his way back to the village after three days.

The group prepared to return to the Inn furniture with all their loot. Lauriel (one of the more lucid town guards) agreed to be their guide back to the Grandfather Tree in exchange for the group's promise to bring back more metal weapons & equipment for the village. A few initial gifts cemented the promise, and they headed back, only deviating once to avoid another pack of 12 floating jellyfish. Robert left small stone trail markers along the way, hoping these would help them find their way back later.

Returning to the Grandfather Tree, the group listened to it ramble for a while:

"A lion & a white hart roam the woods, escaped from the Mad King's preserve. One is evil, one good, but nobody is sure which."

"Many great knights were in the Mad King’s retinue. Alart The Handsome was the greatest of them all, but I have not seen him in many years. Please say hello if you see him."

Gorr asked Grandfather Tree to create a 'perfect branch' for him to make a bow with, if he would plant its seeds in far-off places. The old tree agreed to this and some acorns clattered to the ground. It said it would take some time to grow such a branch, though.

Back at the Inn, James Everbleed told the group that only one day had passed since they entered the Forest of Dreams!

He helped the group buy some more equipment, which they picked up at the carriage house from Garden - a hulking man of few words with a hat obscuring his face, who didn't think much of the group's look. They donated Philotheos Sten's stolen harp to the inn, and James was happy to take it, but seemed to see through the group's attempt to hide their gains in a safe place. They asked him about Gordzu-Kor (the name printed on the coins they found), and he said it was the home of some of the Inn's patrons, including a member named Habakkuk.

Meep the Dwarf decided to become a member of the Night Wolf Inn Excursionist's Guild (a happier tattooing event than last time), and a small celebration was had in the tavern. Three pale, heavily-armed and tattooed warrior women were drinking heavily, singing songs about fighting wolves & beheading men. Gorr attempted to hang out with them, and could follow along with their music with a bit of effort. 

Forest of Dreams

The group managed to follow Robert's trail of small stone structures to the Forgotten Village. Shandril wasn't around, and Baran (missing his right hand, he is the head of the guards) said he couldn't spare anyone to guide them to see the Sage of Lune, and anyway it was too dangerous to go, it wasn't worth it. He was willing to draw them a crude map in charcoal of the local region, though.

Black areas are Moonlit Zones.

Grey area is the river.

The crescent is the Temple of Lune.

The group ventured out into the forest, guided only by this map. They got lost at first, ending up at the great crevasse looking over the ruined coliseum. Reorienting themselves after a few days, they came to a square structure on a hill.

[sorry about the fog of war, the picture has a cutaway view of stuff inside. You'll have to discover it yourselves!]

Venturing inside, vision and hearing were reduced to 20' by thick clouds of heliotrope incense. The smell of melons and summer rain induced a tranquil calm.

The group investigated some strange wooden boards that had been set into the wall for unknown purposes, and a fat yellow candle resting on a stone sphere. In the third room they were ambushed by two groups of shadowy humanoids: four feet high, unarmed, with the heads of dogs. Pinned in a narrow corridor, the group used flaming oil to good effect to keep the pressure off. Eventually the beasts broke and ran, but not before Eric was bitten several times. The party backed into a previous room and regrouped. 

Treasure:

none

Monsters Defeated:

9 shadowy dog-men - 90 xp

TOTAL

15 experience each

Note - For those new to the system. Observe how a life-or-death struggle against triple your numbers still gives a paltry sum of xp. Combat can sometimes be a bad idea, and the world is dangerous. For characters to advance, they must obtain treasure and bring it back home.

Players To-Do:

-Send me your character's alignment (needed from Viegar, Aladar IX, Tullius Jr), race including human subtype (Aladar IX, Tullius Jr), religion if applicable for any non-clerics, and stats (Viegar, Aladar IX, Tullius Jr please).

-Send me your character's AGE if I don't already have it. I have only Viegar, Gorr and Suba-Jin's right now. There are tables in the book HERE (page 23), you can pick something in an acceptable range, or I can roll for you.

-The first 3 people to message me with the phrase "Blue Rose" get 200 xp. [This offer is expired]

Session 6 Downtime - The Forgotten Village

Occasionally, adventurers have spare time to work on things between expeditions. These activities are called downtime actions. Anything that might be significant for the game, but doesn't involve immediate danger: buying equipment, constructing a special item, researching new spells, making friends with the locals, running a business, looking up ancient lore at the archives, asking around town for information, etc.

Normally downtime actions are abstracted - we don't care how long they take exactly, just that you get to do something before you go back to adventuring. In this case we do care, because the party is in a strange place and time is a factor.

Players in the last session told me how they're spending their downtime. If anyone else wants to do something, get back to me BEFORE next session or you missed the boat!!!

Trading

In the Forest of Dreams there isn't much of an economy. Some things are available:

Water: At least you won't get dehydrated. There is a small spring not too far from the village with the same metallic, bubbly water as before.

Holy Water (50 sp): Created in the Crucible of Solaris and preserved in a dusty clay jar.

Herbal Tea (200 sp): A collection of forest herbs and dried flower-stems in a packet. Brewing it restores some vitality: 1d4 hit points over 2 hours.

Shadow-Wine (25 sp per cup / 800 sp per cask): The same murky black liquid that Robert & Veigar tried out a few sessions ago. Aged for centuries. Has strange & variable effects.

Incense (250 sp per brick): Made from glowing forest flowers. Comes in four different colours. 

Heliotrope - smells of melon and summer rain & evokes a feeling of serene, dreamlike calm. 

Indigo - burnt leaves & smug sense of superiority. 

Buff - horseradish & warm, fond nostalgia.

Pearl - honey and dry wood & Sunday-morning sadness.

It's worth mentioning that the folk here do not have any food for sale.

Money

The townsfolk do not care about coins! They will trade for any of your metal gear (at 2x book price). Some of the treasure you've picked up on the last few adventures is interesting to them:

Any magic items, the etched metal plate (500 sp), the brick of incense (250 sp), both amulets (200 sp each), the china tea set (200 sp), those old copper helmets (10 sp each). They might also take other strange items you have picked up.

Downtime Activities

Lothos: The Starless Stars is indeed a spellbook with these spells inside: 

1st - charm person, allure, shocking grasp, jump. 2nd - mirror image, scare, arcane lock.

You can spend your whole downtime to study this spellbook, and in that time you can roll to learn as many spells as you like based on your INT.

The second book, Obliteration Without Glory will take work to decipher. Each attempt to unlock its mysteries takes 3 days of intense reading. It may require multiple sessions of study to fully comprehend. There is no telling what might happen in any case, magical traps and safeguards are not unknown in some ancient tomes. Roll a d20 at the end of 3 days and we'll see what happens. Any elf or M-U can attempt this by the way, Aladar can help if he is interested.

Liliya is willing to help. For a favour, she will assist you with one session of reading (+5 to the roll). 

Pheldrazash can help you as well. It thinks you probably have about a 50/50 chance of deciphering the book by yourself. If you consult it to help translate, I will roll for its attempts. Both of your successes are added together, so the book can be deciphered faster. Transcribing things for Pheldrazash does slow you down a bit so one period of study will take 4 days.

It wants you to fetch something for it in return, saying you should consult it when you are back in Viridistan.

The staff taken from the tower basement is a dark blue wood carved with swirling designs. It is likely magical, but a sage or wizard or some other expert is needed to learn more.

Suba-Jin: The seal of Uthummaos (black pit with purple rays emanating) strikes fear into anybody you show it to. It seems to represent some kind of evil god or demon, whose worship appeared around the time the King went mad 1000 years ago. The details are vague, but it appears to rule over shadows and darkness. 

Some of the village folk recall the two-crescent pendant as Eralion the wizard's personal seal. Several folk think it's strange that Eralion had his own fortress. In the ancient days before King Wakelinus' time, royal wizards used to retire to an island in a great lake, not too far from here.

You hear that the Sage of Lune might know more - although she asks a high price for her knowledge, so don't bother going unless your need is great.

Gorr: The amulet you retrieved from the corpse is made of tarnished silver, 2" high and cylindrical, carved all over with exotic runes, images of bones and skulls. It feels light, maybe it's hollow. One symbol stands out, but nobody around here recognizes it:

You are able to chop down a smaller tree. It does not dissolve like the monsters did, and seems to be normal wood, although strangely coloured and exotic.

The shades will let you stay in the village as long as you want. You can keep your gear here, and Shandril assures you that it will be safe while her and Baran are around.

Anybody else who wants to do stuff during downtime, or if anyone has more questions, you know how to find me. Before next game session!

*****

ADDENDUM

Gorr asked about master craftsmen in the hopes of having a bow made.

We are using these rules for commissioning splendid items and creating new magic items through mighty deeds. The leader of the guards Baran had this to say:

"Reymund the Pale was the best bowyer I ever knew. We called him that for he never ventured out to war or hunting. He loved peace most of all, and the feeling of a well-made piece of wood in his hands. A sensitive soul, not suited to the world as it is now, but a good man in his own way. I remember the last time I saw him, when he went off to join the lake-men. Not more than low brigands who call themselves 'rebels' really. We had words over it. Those of us who remain are still loyal to King Wakelinus, mad nor not, and Reymund was never one to take up causes like that. 

Might be he's still with them up by the great lake, but I heard there weren't many left after the King rounded up most and imprisoned them so's we could have some peace around here. If he's among those unfortunates, you'd best forget about him: the King's oubliettes are time-locked within the Moonlit Zones. Nobody ever gets out, and the Zones themselves are dangerous enough."

Session 5 & 6

CRUCIBLE OF THE SUN

Between two and three days

Inside the Night Wolf Inn, room I - The Forest of Dreams

Characters in Session 5

Gorr, Barbarian 2 (Chris)
Suba-Jin, Cleric 1 (John)
Robert, Fighter 1 (Steve)
Meep, Dwarf 2 (Spencer)
Lothos the Undesirable, Elf 2 (Mike)
Eric Withakay, Cleric 3 (Justin)

Characters in Session 6

Gorr, Barbarian 2 (Chris)
Suba-Jin, Cleric 1 (John)
Robert, Fighter 1 (Steve)
Lothos the Undesirable, Elf 2 (Mike)

*****


The Forgotten Village

The group's new acquaintance Shandril led them through the shadowy, ethereal forest kingdom to the nameless village she called home. Along the way, they were ambushed by emaciated grey-green humanoids covered in spikes, like living cactus-men. They attacked by firing bursts of tiny needles from their bodies. These bizarre creatures didn't last long under the hail of fire sent down by the group.

Shandril said that needlemen raids were a constant problem for her people. They lived in regions called "moonlit zones," and sallied forth only to cause mayhem.

The unimpressive village of grimy stone houses was built on a low hill, clear of huge trees. The residents cultivated fields of colourful, glowing flowers. Many of the local shades behaved erratically: standing perfectly still, circling aimlessly or repeating the same tasks. She said that some were like this always, and only the power of her deity Solaris could keep them from degenerating completely.

The sacred relic that made this possible was the Crucible of the Sun, kept in an open-air Temple of Solaris decorated with simple stone pillars and an old statue, long ago knocked over and shattered. The crucible was of intricately carved silver, and radiated a warm & comforting light. Shandril's murky form seemed more solid while she stood near it.

The group learned more of the strange settlement. Nobody could recall its name, but the inhabitants had lived there since before King Wakelinus went mad. They didn't seem to need food, and cultivated the strange multicoloured forest flowers to trade occasionally with strange visitors who used them in the creation of magical powders. 

Rumours also circulated: 

-Bandit & outlaw groups were in open rebellion, but the villagers were reluctant to discuss it. Even Shandril preferred to avoid drawing the King's wrath by dealing with them. 

-King Wakelinus' wizard Eralion had owned a fortress nearby, now fallen into ruin. It was inside a dangerous region called a "Moonlit Zone," and reported to be the home of a vampire!

The gang explored the town, visited the watch-tower to inspect its defenses and buy ammunition, and met some other residents: Baran, a sullen guardsman missing his right hand; and his lieutenant Lauriel, who wore Solaris' symbol prominently on her armour.

Shandril allowed the group to use one of the unoccupied stone houses to rest in and heal. During their sleep, they were woken by the alarm bell on the watch-tower. They assembled at the tower and saw smoke coming from the Shrine. Rushing over, they discovered that some needlemen and launched a raid, stealing the Crucible from under their noses! Without it, the whole village would fall into the soulless madness that threatened to consume the kingdom. Shandril implored the group to help, and sent Lauriel and another spry village guard along to guide them through the woods. 

She also pressed her enchanted mace Lua Saka - its head a smiling bronze sunburst - into Eric's hands, imploring him to use it to punish the needlemen and whoever else was behind the theft, as long as he returned it.


Pursuit

Led by Lauriel, party followed the needle-men's trail into an area of densely-packed trees. It was so tight that only only a narrow road through the woods could be followed. Here the soft, ethereal twilight of the forest gave way to a black & starless night lit only by a full moon glimpsed distantly overhead. They had entered one of the dread Moonlit Zones!

After an hour, Gorr noticed a side-path that could be accessed by squeezing between a few trees. His keen eyes spotted needles littering the ground, and the group deduced that their quarry had gone this way. Taking this side-branch in hot pursuit, a distant light revealed seven needlemen carrying the Crucible triumphantly. The group fell upon their foes from ambush, the first charge bowling over not a few of them. After a short battle, the enemy was destroyed, dissolved into black mists like all beings in the forest, and the Crucible was theirs.

Lauriel advocated for immediate return to the village, but the group wanted to see where the needlemen were going. A key dropped by one of them provided a clue, and after some debate she reluctantly agreed to a scouting expedition but insisted on holding onto the Crucible herself.


The Keep

The path led to a crumbled-down fortress, long ago patched and re-patched with timber and rocks. A bell-tower could just be seen over the wall. The needlemen's key opened the padlock on the door, but Gorr climbed the tower to get a better look at things. Crawling along the outer curtain wall, he was able to knock out the lone sentry in the tower, and take over the vantage point and its artillery piece for himself. Robert joined him up there to provide long-range support for the group.

The rest of the party pressed inside the tower, bypassing some green slime on the floor, and began exploring the ruined fort. They set fire to a tower with a giant spider inside. Inside a tower to the south, they found a hideous sleeping creature - like a massive human with five legs and a hideous sucking lamprey's mouth. Eric whispered "... Istus says hello" before clouting it with Lua Saka. Unfortunately not a fatal blow, the mutant jumped up and began coating itself in icy armour as the temperature in the room dropped.

The sounds of battle drew attention from below. Needlemen began to pour up the stairs. At this point the situation progressed into a general melee. The group retreated outside where Robert and Gorr could blast any needlemen who strayed into the courtyard, and the party began to lay waste. The battle ebbed and flowed inside the tower and outside as the needlemen attacked & retreated. Robert even managed to bullseye one with the scorpion mounted in the bell tower!

There was a tense moment was when a 9' tall shadowy skeleton dripping in red slime climbed up the wall. Its eyes were like two ghostly lamps. It hissed "The doom of Uthummaos shall descend on you!" as it attacked Suba-Jin and Lothos, while engulfing Gorr & Robert in magical darkness. The crew handled this foe with aplomb, as Gorr brought his Continual Light candle out to dispel the darkness and Lothos dealt it a lucky killing blow. As this strange demon dissolved into black mist, the ornate, glowing axe it had carried clattered to the floor. The last of the keep's denizens seemed to be defeated!

[DM's Note: By the end of this session, I had lost track of a few things in my attempt to keep the action moving quickly. I completely forgot that Lauriel and another villager were accompanying the party! They didn't participate in the combat at all. Oops!]


Exploring the Keep

Now in relative safety, the gang set about exploring the keep. They discovered many strange items and not a small amount of treasure:

The strange two-handed axe dropped by the demon on the roof was a sinuous epsilon shape, with an ebonywood handle. It emitted a black 'halo', like a reverse lens-flare. When Lothos tried to pick it up, his hand was blasted away by magic! Some experimentation allowed the group to pick it up with a rope, wrapping it in a cloak for investigation later.

The small chapel below the bell tower was once dedicated to Solaris. Inside stood a tall white statue of a woman cradling an infant with a sword. An elaborate, jagged yellow halo circled her head. Behind a curtain in what would be the priest's quarters was a stone chest full of coins, an amulet engraved with two crescent moons, and an enameled metal seal, depicting a black hole with purple light radiating outwards. Lauriel was frightened by this last item and said the seal was the symbol for Uthummaos, although she was vague about who or what that was. 

Gorr climbed down the well in the center of the courtyard. The water was drinkable, but tasting of minerals and strangely effervescent. Just above the waterline was a leering face carved in stone. In the moonlight, Gorr could just see a stone tongue jutting out from deep in the mouth. He tied a rope around it and pulled - there was a mechanical clank as the rope was sliced off, and the wall opened to reveal a secret room. Inside he found a huge haul of ancient & corroded square silver coins, and a metal engraving that looked valuable.

At some point during their expedition, the party discovered strange pools of rainbow-coloured liquids dripping from their feet. Using his barbarian logic, Gorr first tried to burn it off, and when that didn't work, he turned the most colourful thing he had, and ate a few cherries from the tree of Fading Beauty. The group moved on in haste, thinking it might have been something they had stepped in.

In the base of the needlemen's tower, the floor was covered in filthy carpets. Clearing these aside revealed a trap door:

In the basement was a round room filled with debris, and another trapdoor. This one was shut with silver nails, and someone had wedged silver coins into the cracks! Strange runes in flowing script were etched into the wood, and the same double-crescent symbol seen earlier. The rumours of vampires were echoed by Lauriel, but the group proceeded anyway. Removing the nails & even prying at the trapdoor failed to open it, but Suba-Jin produced the amulet found in the chapel, and it opened as if by magic.

On the second level, six mailed statues stood around a disused laboratory, tables cluttered with jars & bottles. Gorr descended on a rope, trying to reach the door, but within moments the 'statues' were revealed to be armoured zombies! He scrambled up the rope and the group threw down flaming oil, burning the zombies and creating a rancid cloud of black smoke.

The side-room was a small bedroom. A brick of incense in a large burner was still intact, and two books rested on the bedside table: The Starless Stars (looked like a spellbook), and Obliteration Without Glory (a strange tract written in code, with anatomical diagrams of human bodies & organs).

Finally, despite Lauriel's exhortations, they opened the last trapdoor. Beneath were seven tombs. On the large one in the center, a withered body lay dressed in fine robes, an amulet around its neck. It clutched an engraved staff in one hand. A shattered bottle lay on the floor, and papers drifted around. Gorr tied a rope around his waist and the group lowered him down. As he attempted to take the staff, a voice echoed round the room, as if down a long tunnel:

"Wakelinus, my liege. Is that you? It has been so long..."

"I'm here, brother." said Gorr.

"Why? After a thousand years? Oooh, so much time has passed and I ache..."

"Our old enemies have returned" Gorr improvised, while cracking the corpse's withered fingers off the staff. He snatched the amulet from the corpse's neck and frantically made the signal to be lifted up!

"Oh, my King? Is it really you? I thought... NO!" The voice changed its tone as Gorr ascended.

On the second floor, the group slammed the trapdoor shut and Suba-Jin began frantically wedging silver pieces into the cracks while the others climbed. A shadowy silhouette soon crept across the ground: first a head, then shoulders, then long thin arms. When it touched him, Suba-Jin felt the strength being drained from his body. He abandoned his task and the party fled up the ropes as fast as they could! The malignant shadow drained him again, but Suba-Jin climbed up before it could strike him a third time. 

Slamming the last trapdoor shut behind them, the party took up their treasure and fled the fortress as fast as they could. On the path back, they saw a bright light through the trees - but it was too far away to make out anything.

Return

They also noticed the strange liquid colours on their feet, dripping from their bodies at a further rate. It seemed frightening, and some wondered if all the colour was slowly draining from their bodies! Gorr ate a few of the cherries from the Tree of Fading Beauty, and that seemed to bring colours back into his body. He passed out some to the rest of the party, who all ate and were suffused with strange feelings.

Shandril was overjoyed (comparatively speaking) to see the return of the Crucible. She offered for Eric to keep the mace Lua Saka if he wanted as a reward. The party could take a well-earned rest!

Enemies Defeated

15 shadowy needle-men
1 five-legged mutant
1 shadowy red skeletal demon
6 zombies

Monster Experience: 

Meep, Eric - 214 XP each

Lothos, Robert, Suba-Jin, Gorr - 257 XP each


Treasure

The Crucible of Solaris

2 deer pelts, 2 wolf pelts, 1 lion pelt

3830 silver coins

50 gold coins

1 etched metal plate showing a child playing and a sunburst

black & purple seal of Uthummaos

two-moons amulet

brick of incense

black-haloed battle axe

carved wizard's staff

silver cylindrical amulet

The Starless Stars

Obliteration Without Glory

Session 4

 THE FOREST OF DREAMS 2

About a day and a half. It's hard to tell

Characters

Suba-Jin, cleric 1 (John)

Robert the Swift, fighter 1 (Steve)

Veigar Thricescarred, fighter 2 (Kevin)

Gorr, barbarian 2 (Chris)

*****

Exploring the Forest

After the tree-climbing adventure last session, a few of the crew took a rest at the room furniture: Aladar IX, Lothos the Undesirable and Eric Withakay (whose players couldn't make it). Suba-Jin and Robert the Swift were joined by their belated friend-of-a-friend, the Skandik warrior Viegar Thricescarred. In the wilds of the Forest of Dreams, they met a stranger lost between dimensions: the barbarian archer Gorr with his faithful horse Hep.

The four set out on foot towards the great white building spotted last session. Progressing through the shadowy, dreamlike forests brought them to the edge of a great crevasse. A crumbling, pillared stone structure rested at its edge from which dim clattering noises emanated. Approaching with a lit torch, a collection of shadows resolved themselves into armoured figures. Three men of grim aspect - their bodies pure black shadows, their weapons & armour shades of gray. They hailed the party in dark tones and invited them inside.

Inside the structure, nine shadowy warriors were setting the table for a feast. A few dark and insubstantial goat-men tapped into a barrel of dark wine. The victuals laid out looked tempting: great cooked game birds, sliced meats, oddly-coloured vegetables, pungent stews & the glowing flowers that grew throughout the forest. These shadow-people offered places to the group and a few sat down. Gorr was suspicous of the whole thing and wandered the room with Hep asking questions & looking around.

On a sunken piece of land in the middle of the crevasse towered a great ruined coliseum. A set of stairs led down to a narrow stone bridge spanning black & misty depths. The shades called it "Wakelinus' Folly" and said beneath it was a burial-place for ancient gods.



The shades claimed to serve "Mad King Wakelinus" who ruled their whole realm from his distant fortress "in the fields." Their whole world was abandoned by the gods and cursed, but they could not explain the curse's origin except to say it began with the king's madness a thousand years ago.

Soon it became obvious something was wrong - after joining in the feast, Viegar and Robert slowed down, their responses became sluggish and intermittent. Drinking the wine actually made Viegar feel two years young, but it only made Suba-Jin and Robert feel tired. Beginning to wise up, Gorr and Suba-Jin dragged their compatriots away from the ghostly feast. The revelers urged them to return but did not pursue them down the stairs into the crevasse.

Not wanting to explore the innards of the ruined coliseum, the gang climbed up the side with a grappling hook and ascended to the top, almost level with the high ground at the edge of the crevasse. Circling around, they crossed the narrow bridge connecting it to a tall tower on the side of the island, reaching down into the depths below. Strange text was carved into the floor, but nobody could read it.


The Ruined Shrines

Deep at the bottom of the tower, double doors opened into a square room with a deep black pit. A fresh wind blew in from behind, disturbing the dust on the stone floors. Past a series of barren crypt chambers filled with moldering bones, the party entered a sizable round domed chamber. A great white & gold canopic jar stood in the center and a carved marble face in one wall wept endless tears.

They were joined by another shadowy figure: a woman in worn white robes introduced herself as Shandril, a caretaker of the shrine, and asked their business. The group told her they were "just explorers" looking for information about the land's curse. Seeming more spry and aware than other shades, Shandril tolerated their presence and offered advice. She said they were in the "shrine of Weeping Beauty" although she did not know the ancient god's original name.

The next domed room had a narrow walkway surrounded by a sandy floor. A tall statue in the center depicted a warrior with his guts torn out. Shandril warned about "the test of dying strength" and the group entered to see what might happen. As soon as they did, a pack of sword-wielding skeletons emerged from the sands all around and charged! Between Suba-Jin's use of turning, Robert's scroll of protection from undead and Gorr's well-aimed trick shots the skeletons were swiftly disposed of. After the battle a red glow emanated from the statue, passing over each of them in turn.

[Each combatant has obtained a one-time blessing from the God of Dying Strength. When outnumbered in combat and less than full hit points, they can use that blessing to endure against overwhelming odds: granting themselves +1d6 temporary HP and +2 to AC & saves until the end of the battle.]

Another room held a man-sized chrome sphere on a pedestal, reflecting the chipped green frescoes on the walls. The smell of pine and a calm feeling suffused the room. Shandril said she came here for contemplation, but the sphere didn't seem to do anything and the group moved on.

The next room had a day-glo fresco of coloured tiles on the floor. Try as they might, the party couldn't make out any pattern or design, and Shandril was no help either. Touching a green glowing tile, Robert the Swift vanished from everyone's sight! Perturbed by this, the group looked into a few side-rooms. They overturned a chest full of rotted clothing but didn't poke through it much, only picking up a few odd coins that rolled out. Another room held a well-kept bed with no signs of rot or dust. Shandril said it was safe to sleep in. They looked through the large double-doors nearby, but decided they should find out what happened to Robert.

Robert touched the tile, and everyone else in the room vanished. He was alone. He called out but nobody answered. Everything else looked the same, but his comrades were gone. He looked into the side rooms and saw a well-kept bed and an overturned chest full of clothes. He called out again in the hopes that somebody could hear him.

Not sure what else to do, Gorr and Shandril volunteered to touch the fresco next. As soon as they did, they disappeared too. Each character who touched it vanished in their turn.

Robert found Gorr and Shandril by the fresco. Suba-Jin and then Viegar appeared soon after.

The group were all together again, but they were no wiser about what had happened. Tthrough the double-doors and up the stairs, the chamber smelled of rot and leaves. An apple tree grew from a mound of dirt and rubble, strong even in the darkness underground. When they entered the room, the party felt a mild trembling & vibration in the floor. Shandril seemed worried and said she had never felt that during her visits.

Robert was interested in the pile of rubble and dirt beneath the tree. Investigating with his entrenching tool, he saw a spot that looked like an old gravesite or filled-in hole. He set to digging while the others gleefully ate apples from the tree. They were delicious. After 15 minutes, Robert hit something with a clang. He uncovered a black, metallic insectile limb about the length of a sword.

While the group ate apples, the trembling grew in strength. The party withdrew to the edge of the room, leaving the strange metal limb inside as bait for any incoming monster. Instead, the roof began to collapse in a rain of stones and dirt! Thinking quickly, Gorr grabbed the insect limb before the roof buried it, suffering a glancing blow from a falling rock. The group retreated to the chrome sphere, but that room began to tremble as well and they pressed on to the first domed room just before a rain of rocks crushed the mirrored orb for good.

Shandril was a bit disturbed by all this destruction. Gorr took her aside and offered her a philter of love that he had with him. He thought it might lift her spirits since she was cursed with the same dour attitude as the other shadowy folk of this realm. She found the suggestion strange and stopped to consider it.

Meanwhile Robert, Suba-Jin and Viegar had thrown a rope over the giant canopic jar. They wanted to yank the lid off, but they succeeded only in tipping it over. With a great crash, it shattered into a million pieces. Inside, an enormous pulsing heart could be seen - once belonging to an ancient god now beating for the very last time. The heart burst in a blinding flare and from the ground sprouted a giant full-grown cherry tree, stretching up to the ceiling. In a matter of seconds the air was filled with slowly drifting, delicate pink blossoms.



Shandril was nonplussed at this last act of devastation - but the cherries did taste delicious.

The group decided to leave the ruined shrines, climbing up the tower to the outdoors. Shandril offered to lead them somewhere else so they could continue exploring the realm:

-Her home, where she lived among other shades and tended a shrine to her god Solaris.
-The Temple of the Sage, where the Sage of Lune was rumoured to have turned to madness and monsters stalked the grounds.


Enemies Defeated:

14 skeletons 

Each player - 45 xp

Treasure:

15 gilded copper helmets
Ornate china tea set
A flask of tears
old square-shaped coins - 16 copper, 10 silver

Apples and cherries
Metallic giant insect leg

Session 3

THE EXCURSIONIST'S GUILD

13th-14th Meadowlark, 4433

Characters

Aladar IX, M-U 2 (Alex)
Eric Withakay, cleric 3 (Justin)
Lothos the Undesirable, elf 2 (Mike)
Robert the Swift, fighter 1 (Steve)
Suba-Jin, cleric 1 (John)

Morning at "The Sign of Olive & Lotus"

Aladar, Eric, Lothos, Meep & Tullius felt somewhat worse for wear after their night in the most upscale club in the Emerald City. Smeared with lipstick, smelling of expensive liquor & opium fumes, they tried to reconstruct their night:

-Eric recalled wandering drunkenly through Cliffside, where he was accosted by a guard patrol for "causing a disturbance." Only by paying a fairly substantial bribe of 275 silver did he avoid a trip to the drunk tank and perhaps an ass-beating from the irreligious guards.

-Tullius Junior was too hung over to go adventuring. Everyone remembered the shouting match he got into with another patron that night. The man had a Ming the Merciless-style moustache, purple robes, a tall conical hat and a Sactioning pin indicating he was a magic-user. The last thing he said was "You whey-faced, lily-livered cur! You haven't heard the last of Unazhon Conchobar!!!"

-Meep the dwarf woke up with soreness in his lower back. As it turned out, he had commissioned a tattoo while in his cups: great gothic block letters read "DWARVES SUXXX." Perhaps there was some hidden reason for this, relating to his departure from the ancestral dwarven under-realms? Time would tell. He was also too hungover to adventure.

A few other down-on-their-luck wastrels decided to come along with the group in search of action and treasure: Suba-Jin, a Tharbrian nomad dedicated to Hextor, spreading the gospel of discipline & violence amongst the horsemen of the steppes; and Robert the Swift, a dim-witted Legion veteran.

The group recalled hearing a strange rumour from another patron during their revelry:

“A printmaker named Ultan, while laying poison for rats in the basement of his shop in the Bazaar, has discovered a door that was not there before! He claims it leads to Wishery, the fabled land of dreams. Ultan charges 10 sp a head to pass through the door - no questions asked.”

Not interested in this tale at the time, they decided instead to pursue a rumour heard previously from a farmer about a mysterious building outside the Great Wall. Hitching up their wagon, they rode out of Viridistan with dry mouths and sore heads towards the Moon Gate.

Midway through the second day of travel, the gang passed through the imposing Great Wall of Viridistan, built by the ancients in days before men walked upright. Farmers, traders, slaves & other folk of all the world's races pass this gate in a never-ending procession to and from the Emerald City.

After asking for directions, a helpful (for once) guard directed the party westward along the edge of the Elsenwood. They proceeded along a clear path amongst well-manicured lawns until they came upon a bizarre, sprawling manor house nestled back near the woods. Four stories high, bristling with towers, angular with its steep shingled peaks, useless in Viridistan's balmy sub-tropical climate. It was built of dark stone and aged wood, trimmed in brass and wound with ivy. A carriage-house and old barn could be seen on the wide lawns in the background.


The Night Wolf Inn

The front porch looked inviting enough with rocking chairs and a large, sturdy iron-studded oak door. Aladar IX displayed an un-wizardlike boldness and ventured inside first.

The entryway was decorated in rich hardwoods (another strange thing in Viridistan, where most buildings are stone, brick or adobe) and washed in amber light from stained-glass windows. A macabre fresco covering the ceiling depicts a girl being devoured by a wolf, while a woman with a sword looks the other way. In the background, an older woman with a crown of roses walks down a path while dark clouds rain bones over the scene.

Behind a broad mahogany desk lounged a handsome middle-aged man with a glass of brandy. He introduced himself as James Everbleed, and offered to rent the group a room. Much discussion ensued. Several rooms were available, of which a few were mentioned by name. Forest of Dreams, Restful Seas, and The Stygian Library (James counselled against taking that one). They asked to see the Forest of Dreams.

They briefly balked at the prices - 40 silver per person, per night! But during their conversation, James mentioned that members of the "Excursionist's Guild" get discounts. Eager to save money, the group asked for more detail and decided to sign up, which James seemed quite happy about. They were nervous about his mention of 'guild quests' but his friendly & open manner reassured them somewhat. After paying an entry fee set by James which varied for each person, he got out his tattoo kit and inked a black wolf's head on the shoulder of each of them.

The other guests in the common room were a strange and diverse lot. Some Altanian warriors in traditional garb, a few sullen and strangely-dressed southern Ghinorans, a misshapen man in robes, and a bright red-skinned man in black armour with horns on his forehead! Apparently guild members themselves, they greeted the party's induction with a cheer and bought them a round of drinks.


Room I - The Forest of Dreams

Stepping through the door in the second floor hallway, the group found themselves in another world! Finely made furniture set up exactly as in an ordinary Inn bedroom stood in the deep shadows of giant trees that shifted at the edge of sight. The vast forest's floor was illuminated by multicoloured flowers that bled into the air like paint meeting turpentine, creating gaseous halos of colour. In every direction, the Forest of Dreams was thronged by fleeting shadows. A trail of golden lily bells led away from the furniture into the distance, and a giant tree, larger than all the rest, could be seen in another direction. Bewildered by this strange world, the group ventured away from the furniture in the direction of the massive tree.

Halfway there, Suba-Jin noticed a colourful sparkle in the shadows: three shimmering, multicoloured peacock feathers. Aladar had his dog "Mincemeat" sniff one and he led the group along a winding route through the forest towards the great tree.

The massive tree stretched hundreds of feet into the air. A whisper of wind surrounded it, resolving into intelligible words as the group drew closer - the tree could speak! It desired news of the outside world and friendly conversation, but the group was more interested in finding some loot. As it happened, the great tree recalled some 'two leggeds' had left a jingling bag in its branches some days ago, but warned about the prismatic peacocks roosting high in the tree which defend their territory viciously.

Aladar summoned his familiar Yegmoz to scout the tree and survey the wider region. It reported a sack left in the branches 100 feet above, and some large colourful birds roosting 50' above that.

Aladar, Suba-Jin and Eric dared to climb the tree to retrieve the loot, hoping to avoid the peacocks' notice. After a few tense moments they found a sack full of strange bluish-silver coins and a note:

"Anastasius:
Here is payment as agreed. Make it swift, for the Horned Empire does not smile upon failure. 

-Habakkuk"

With some loot and a cryptic clue for their troubles, the group made for the Inn furniture to plan their next move in this shadowy & ethereal world.


What Yegmoz Saw

When Aladar IX asked it to fly high and survey the forest. All 'clock' references are relative to the group's facing when they came through the Inn door.

-Line of twinkling golden lights leading from the room furniture to a wide grey body of water at 12:00
-Massive, round white structure of some kind at 9:00, surrounded by an area of darkness
-Great trees and shadows as far as it could see in any direction


Inn Exploration

Enemies Defeated:
none

Treasure:
220 blue-tinted silver coins, stamped with a symbol of flame & the words "Gordzu Kor"
3 chromatic peacock feathers