Session LXVII: The Water. Don't Touch The Water

A note from the Warlock
Still catching up on our session recaps.  Making progress, soon to be completed.

Current Player Characters:

Edan (Atlantean)

Minimus (Cleric)

Su (Cleric)

Thenus (Ranger)

Wang Du (Monk)
Centari (Elf)

The next morning there was a frenzy within the Uk'Chuk clan as some of their clan members were attacked by the 'cave-god' and the party was asked to investigate.

They followed the blood and bear tracks to the cave and cautiously entered.  The Cave Bear leaped out and mauled Minimus but Wang Du was quick to react and stuned the bear with a single punch.  The rest of the party just hacked away at the stunned and helpless beast.

The clan now looked upon the party as if they were gods and when Minimus cured one of their clan members, that feeling is reinforced.  The next day the shaman gave each of them a potion and three of the clan's warriors volunteered to join the party and take them to Xlarthan's tower.

Once through the snow covered Gimm Hills, they found the trapdoor at the ruins and the neanderthals lead the party down into the dungeons below.  They came upon a room that was guarded by a grumpy ogre who asked them for the password, which of course they did not have.  But the beast wasn't a match for the party and weapons were drawn and is soon dispatched. 

Some more exploration turned up a stinky latrine with hobgoblin graffiti and in a large empty chamber, Centari found a secret door with a ladder leading down deeper into the dungeons.  Once again the Neanderthals lead the way down the ladder which descended for a very long distance.

Finally, grunting is heard and there was a foul musky odor.  Minimus droped a torch down the hole and it finally landed on a floor.  There, three curious white apes appear.  Minimus dropped a flask of oil which ignited the beasts.  The Cave Men leaped down and attacked the wounded apes but as the rest of the party descend into the chamber more apes appeared and a fierce battle took place.

When those apes are defeated even more arrived with one even carrying a sword!  Those apes too, however,  are soon dispatched with the sword wielding one just running around crazy like.  When Minimus attempted to speak with it the Ape retorted in a very un-apelike way and said it's name was Mindshiv which turned out to be the sword who was tired of being handled by the Ape.  The ape is killed and the sword is carefully wrapped and stored.

More exploration of the ape's lair only turned up a pile of coins so the party continued on exploring the dungeon finding a room whose ceiling is covered in tiny spiders (which they feared), a room with a pile of ashes and stairs leading up that appeared to be wet.  Wand Du touched the "water" on the stairs which turned out to be Grey Ooze.  After rescuing their wounded comrade and trying to attack a very dangerous foe, they decided it best to get away from the ooze.

Exploring down another passage they found a very large and empty pillared chamber.  Finding a wide passage with doors at the end, they enter into another chamber with a number of doors and an equal amount of unopened sarcophagi.  Feeling that they've gotten into some pretty freaky and dangerous shit, they decided to head back to the surface and rest for the night.

Session LXVI: What You Can't See Will Kill You

A note from the Warlock
Still catching up on our session recaps.  Making progress, nearly done now.

Current Player Characters:

Edan (Atlantean)

Minimus (Cleric)

Su (Cleric)

Thenus (Ranger)

Wang Du (Monk)

and a variety of NPCs

With the Big'uy slain and the Gnolls packing up to leave, the party debated on how to get a hold  of the suspected Beholder's treasure hidden down a deep dark tunnel and guarded by some unseen horror as reported by a surviving mercenary Biggs.

After much debate it was decided to face this mysterious foe.

Sneaking down the narrow passage, the party entered into a small cavern at the opposite side of which lay a pile of treasure.  Carefully traversing the space they felt as if they were being watched.  Suddenly, Su was attacked by some invisible creature that dropped from the ceiling.  Even unseen, the foe was no match for the aggressive party that slayed the invisible spider.

With the treasure now theirs to divide amongst themselves, the party triumphantly returns to Fishersville as heroes.  Praise is showered upon them additionally because they shared their treasure with the town.

The next day they are asked to meet with Tyrius the magician who informs the party that if they are looking for additional work, and acquaintance in the town of Berkenstoke, one Veshir Boomish, is seeking some experienced and brave souls for a particular task. So the next day, the party heads out on a journey to the small river town.  One night along the way they are attacked by a werebear whom Edan slayed but not before he was bitten.  But that disease did not spread to it's victim as Minimus cured the Atlantean of any ill affect.

In Berkenstoke they seek out Veshir Boomish who offered them a handsome reward to seek out and retrieve his family's treasured battle shield which he believed to be part of the unguarded treasure hoard of Medora the slain dragon somewhere beneath the ruins of Xlarthan's Tower. A year prior, he asked Sir Fumark, the slayer of the dragon, and his men to retrieve it but they never returned.



 After a brief rest the party crosses the River Blackmoor and entered into the  Grimm Hills seeking the ruins of Xlarthan's tower. Soon the party is surrounded by a Neanderthal hunting party and are challenged to a one on one combat with their mightiest hunter with their loss meaning death for the adventurers. Edan takes up the challenge and a long fought battle begins with the Atlantean being victorious!

The Uk-Chuk tribe, thinking the party as fierce gods, took the party in and lead them to their caves.

Session LXV: Behold: The Big'uy!

A note from the Warlock
Still catching up on our session recaps.  Making progress with a few more to go.

Current Player Characters:

Edan (Atlantean)

Minimus (Cleric)

Su (Cleric)

Thenus (Ranger)

Wang Du (Monk)

Having warned the town about the Gnolls being controlled by a Beholder in the caves of Brushwood, it was decided that a war-party be formed to deal with this menace.

The party sought the aid of Tyrius the magician in Fishersville and he lent them one of his Stone Guardians.  They also traveled to Thorngrove to seek assistance from Lillian the Druid of the wood who, regardless of the shift in timelines, was pregnant with Gnarly's child. She lent them the use of one of her Grizly Bears. Along with the two mercenaries who had rescued them on the road, the town bowyer and a couple of watchmen along with a captured Gnoll freed of the Beholder's spell, the party was set to face the "Big'uy" once more.

With Gnoll leading the way they entered the caves through a secret entrance.  Following a similar path through the caves that lead to their escape they soon came upon the empty lair of the Big'uy.  There they hid for an ambush while the two mercenaries and Wang Du headed down a side passage that the bear refused to traverse.  There in a chamber they found the Beholder's treasure.  Wand Du headed back to the party to face the menace but the two mercenaries stayed behind to attempt to gather the treasure for themselves. 

In the main cavern, the Beholder returned with his Bugbear guards and was ambushed by the party. Even with the Grizly bear and the Stone Guardian and the others, the battle went poorly from the start.  The Beholder turned the bear into a pig and slowed the attack of the Stone Guardian to a meaningless annoyance.  It was Thenus' and the Bowyer's attack with arrows that were making any progress knocking out the many eyes of the beast.  With Minimus and Edan also slowed it looked as though the Beholder and his minions may have had the day but with some forceful attacks and one final blow from the Stone Guardian, the Beholder was defeated and the Bugbears slain.

With the Gnolls freed from the control of the Big'uy, they vowed never to harass the travelers from the area and to leave the caves and left the party to their own devices which would be to attempt to gather the Beholders treasure guarded by some unseen and deadly threat.

Session LXIV: Orc is the New Black

A note from the Warlock
Still catching up on our session recaps.  Many more to go.

Current Player Characters:

Edan (Atlantean)

Minimus (Cleric)

Su (Cleric)

Thenus (Ranger)
Wang Du (Monk)

Current player map

Edan, Su and Thenus, having been captured by Gnolls, find themselves in a dark cell along with Minimus (Maximus' brother) and Wang Du. Also in the cell are Jute's father and Bonham a dim -witted warrior along with other travelers that have been asailed by the Gnolls.   Children  were corraled in a separate cell.  

During their imprisonment they heard their orcish jailers mention someone called the Big'uy. 

The only thing to do was attempt an escape by feigning that someone is sick.  An Orc, along with Gnoll guards looked in on the prisoners. After a quick attempt to overpower the guard in the cell failed, Edan and Thenus reached out of the cell and grabed the orc guard with the keys and, after breaking his arm, escaped and battled the gnolls with clubs. 

Donning the gnolls armor and freeing the other prisoners the party delveed deeper into the Gnoll caves looking to free others but soon came face to face with The Big'uy, a whinny Beholder!

In the attempt, Bonham was killed and the rest of the party along with the freed prisoners were placed back into their cells - all to be food for the Beholder who had been controling the Gnolls to be his slaves using his magic his magic.

Prisoners once again and slowly being fed to the Beholder, Miniums attempted to communicate with a rat to help gain their freedom.  In exchange for a shiny object, the rat agrees to steal the cell keys from the Gnoll guards, which he does.  Freed once again, the party rescued the children and sneaked through the tunnels, killing any Gnoll they came across. 

With freedom finally gained they work their way through Brushwood and find the north-south road between Larm and Fishersville. As the Gnolls close in to attach the party are befriended by a pair of mercenaries seeking Baron Blackmoor's killers.  The Mercenaries escorted the beleaguered escapees back to Fishersville as the Gnolls closed in.  

The town is warned about the Beholder and the Gnolls which have taken up residence in the woods.

Session: LXIII: Highway to Hell or The End of Arvin's Avengers

A note from the Warlock
Continuing playing catch-up on our session recaps.  Many more to go.

Current Player Characters:

Gnarly Blunderbrush (Druid)

Edan (Atlantean)

Maximus (Magic-user)

Su (Cleric)

Thenus (Ranger)

Tibag (Ranger)

The party once again descended beneath the ruined abbey of the Cader'ian, and ancient sect of Druids who also studied arcane magic.  They retraced their steps to each of the chambers of the hound statues. One by one the Headless Hounds are summoned and defeated but now appearing in the final chamber, atop the Iron Throne, was Xuthal the Demon Prince surrounded by his Mephit minions, behind him an open portal to some nameless hell!

Xuthal asked only for the Earth Stone which held the imprisoned souls of his enemies the Cader'ian.  There was much  debate within the party about trusting a demon (who would, really?) with Su leaning on the side of trusting the dark prince.  

Distrusting the demon, the party foolishly attacked (seriously, the demon was on the up and up)!

Xuthal reacted mercilessly!  He cast a  fear spell on half the part including Maximius and Wolf who bolted out of the chamber and down the hallway.  While the remaining party members battled the fire-breathing Mephits, Xuthal pursued Maximus, who was in possession of the Earth Stone, down the corridor and defeated the famed giant slaying wizard.  While Maximus' body was being dragged back to Xuthal's chamber, Su healed the wizard just enough for him to awaken and shatter the Earth Stone destroying the souls of the Cader'ian and sending Xuthal back through the portal. However, the vortex caused by the closing portal sucked Gnarly, Tibag and Maximus into that nameless hell as well.  

Thus fell the last surviving members who were once part of Arvin's Avengers!

The survivors, Edan, Thenus and Su headed out of the Abbey where they found that the little girl Jute had reappeared - a sign that the proper time-line had been restored.

They all left the Abbey and were making their way back to Fishersville when they were waylaid by Gnolls and captured!

Sketch of the Demon Prince Xuthal

Session LXII: Gnarly and the Three Bears

A note from the Warlock
Obviously haven't posted much for quite some time.  I've been much more busy than usual and will probably continue to be for the foreseeable future.  I've been looking to carve some time out of my week to catch up on all the session posts that I've taken notes on.  We've had some really good sessions and things have been really fun at the table and I want all you readers to catch up as well.  So here's the first of a number of recaps that I'll be posting in short order. 

Current Player Characters:

Gnarly Blunderbrush (Druid)

Edan (Atlantean)

Maximus (Magic-user)

Su (Cleric)

Thenus (Ranger)

Tibag (Ranger)

Read the session background that the players received for more details

In Fisherville, the storms have gotten worse, a heaviness hung over the town, less and less people were seen each day and the adventurers had dreams of dark death.

With the tavern of the Bearded Clam deserted, the party stepped out into Fishersville and discovered that the town was empty as well.  The only person found was a cleric named Su coming into town.

As the party explored the town looking for any inhabitants they found mutilated horses, their flesh being eaten by black shaped Soul Eaters. With the Soul Eaters in pursuit of a new meal and coming out of every corner of the town, the party high-tailed it back to the Beadred Clam and barricaded themselves inside. 

Thovin, Gnarly and Su headed upstairs and tried to attack with fire from above but ended up setting the Inn on fire.  Gnarly called forth a swarm of insects which frightened the Soul Eaters and, as an eagle, guided the swarm out into Lake Blackmoor forcing the Soul Eaters to drown.

With the Inn on fire, the party thought it best to head out and seek out the Witch of the Woods.  In the forest Brushwood they came across Thorngrove, the home of Lillian, the druid of the forest.

Lillian of Thorngrove

It is here that the party learned of the ruined temple and how it once belonged to the Cader'ian an ancient race of druids who created the Earth Stone to bring prosperity to the land but who also began studying arcane magic to fight the demon Xuthal.  The two forces were ever at war and the Cader'ian used the Earth Stone to help imprison Xuthal but in doing so trapped their spirits within the Earth Stone which Xuthal held in his possession. When the party rescued the Earth Stone and fought the Headless Hounds and all died, the Cader'ian and the power of the Earth Stone altered time until a timeline was discovered where the party was victorious.  In doing so, the Earth Stone set in motion the ways in which Xuthal's prison was compromised and a dark reign began to spread across the earth.  Only by facing the Headless Hounds again and righting the time-line would Xuthal influence be stopped - but they may have to face Xuthal as well.  (note: all this came about because I had stacked the encounter too much against the party without any way out or warning all of which you can read about here.)

After a night in which Gnarly, as a bear, mated with Lillian, who also transformed into a bear (and joined by a third) the party was given horses and a wand with which to call forth the Headless Hounds once again.  Leaving the little girl Jute with Lillian, they headed back into Brushwood and to the Ruined Abbey meeting minor resistance from some Gnolls along the way.

The Earth Stone

Session LXI: Blazing Trails

It's been a pretty sporadic year for our Swords & Wizardry campaign. We're still trying to get into a rhythm of regular sessions and I think we're finally there. I've decided to do the campaign in smaller chunks of 3 or 4 sessions and then take a break.  Trying to save myself as GM and my players from burn-out.  This way it has been pretty fun when we get back into it.

So after having 'supposedly' defeated the Spectral Scavanger and his headless dogs, our bloodied  party loots the chamber of it's treasure.  Maximus the Giant Slayer has the mysterious Green Orb in his possession. However, each member of the party has an odd feeling that things are just not quite right, that something is off with the battle* but they can't quite put their individual fingers on what that might be.

They headed back up to the main level of the ruined abbey and Maximus placed the Green Orb into the statue's hand.  Immediately, the dead vines attached to the statue began to turn green once again and very slowly spread throughout the rest of the chamber and the Abbey.  Also, a magical fountain began to bubble again and drinking from it healed all the party's wounds.

Comforting the frightened Jute, the orphan girl they found hidden in the Abbey after her family was ambushed by Gnolls, they hunkered down for the night but the night was filled with the manic howls of the Gnolls that surrounded the Abbey.

The next morning it was decided to try to make a break for it to the town of Fishersville.  Frightening the Gnolls with a swarm of insects cast by Gnarly the druid, the party broke for the forest and ran through the woods with the Gnolls in a distant pursuit.  Towards the end of the day they made it to the road but some of the Gnolls ambushed them. Defeating the beasts, Maximus cast an illusion of fire to keep them at bay.

Now on the road they hurried to Fishersville with the Gnolls closing in but the gate to the town was closed and the watch wouldn't let them pass after sunset.  As they begged with the watchmen, the Gnolls attacked.  Gnarly, fed up, turned into a bird, flew over the wall and obscured the area with a mist  and opened the gate for his companions.  Maximus finished off most of the Gnolls with a blast of lightening and Thenus and Eidan captured the Gnoll that made it past the gate.

The watch captain came up and reprimanded the his underlings for not letting the party in that were in need of aid. 

The captain led them through town to the inn, the Bearded Clam, when they came upon a mob of folks wanting to burn her as a witch for claiming that Lord Blackmoor was dead.  Apparently all the townsfolk though him alive and well as did two sellswords how were no their way to join Blackmoor's army to fight against Kushanna's forces coming out of Caladan. The Captain broke up the mob and brought the girl under her care.

The party, after dropping off Jute at the Temple of Mithra proceeded to the tavern looking for a long rest.

*At the beginning of the previous session, I didn't have much planned except for a couple of quick one-off dungeons that I put together but the final battle at the end of that session was stacked waaaay against the players.  Now, I hate fudging dice rolls which I did  a lot when I was a young GM 30 + years ago.  I vowed that in this campaign there would be no fudged dice rolls, letting all the dice fall were they may, for good or bad, for or against the players or GM.  And I stuck with that, proud to say, until that last battle in that last session.  We had a TPK.  I had overpowered the players with virtually unbeatable foes without any warning or hint as to what they might be up against.  I blame that fully on poor GMing on my part.  So after the very upsetting TPK, I retconned the battle for a redeux bringing in PC's who's players weren't present.  And after a few fudged die rolls the players were victorious.  Now,  I felt bad that I broke my own rule about fudging die rolls and I hate retcons.  So after a bit of thought I rolled that whole concept into the campaign.  Having two opposing forces of law and chaos battling through the party with law 'cheating' so to speak by bringing the party back to life, cheating death and chaos of it's victory and in the end, upsetting the balance of nature.  This helped me settle with the retcon by working it into the campaign with some negative benefits for the party and actually breaking the campaign open quite a bit from what I had lazily planned in the first place.  I don't know how much the players are aware of things but I've been giving them hints and clues that something is just not quite right.  That should break open a bit more in the next upcoming session.  I feel this was a pretty good way to handle the in game retcon and am excited to see where this might take us!