Friday, 08 October 2021 10:42

After trying to remember what we were trying to do, we headed to the next survivor.  A seamstress with a shop nearby.  It was still early morning so she was not open for business.  (Her home was over the shop.)  The Monk opened the lock and we piled in.  (No secret doors or levels found.)  Soon enough, we found seamstress, dead.  Her throat had been recently cut although the amount of blood was minimal.  We spread out and searched.  Upstairs we found a journal.  About two weeks ago, she mentioned that strangers were watching her place.  When she confronted them, they just left.  Her kidnapping took place about a week ago.  Of note, there weren’t any entries since then.  It seemed like she was pretty consistent with entries and we’d like to think an experience like that would be worth mentioning.  We check her business records.  He last job was for a ball gown for a noble woman however it didn’t seem like she had done any work since the kidnapping.  We checked her kitchen and again, there wasn’t any fresh food, signs of food prep, etc.  Her body was examined more closely.  She, like the last guy, was extra dense as if made of stone.  She had a dragon tattoo like we’ve seen a couple of other places.  So, we postulated that she had been replaced, transformed, enchanted by her experience and was posing in her old life but not living it.  But why? She was no one important.  And then why kill her?

Meanwhile the Druid, who is still pretending he’s not a Thief too, noticed a thief watching us from a roof top.  He flashed his thieves Cant and went up to talk to him.  He was told he have to pay 20% to the guild for any jobs he did while in town.  Since he wasn’t planning to do any jobs, he agreed.  The thief confirmed the disappearances but didn’t seem that worried about it.  He did say that he saw a large blueish humanoid (ogre magi) watching us as well.  But it transformed its shape and moved away.  Next on the list was the warehouse where the victims had been rescued.  On the way out, the Wizard looked for tracks.  Looking for very heavy foot prints.  He rolled great again.  The tracks went through a stone wall and lead to the very same warehouse.  The warehouse was big.  Half broke in the front door and half snuck in through a window.  It was empty.  In fact, it was emptier than when the guardsmen did the rescue.  In particular, the stone table that was too heavy to move, was gone.  Some investigated where it had been while the Wizard made another great roll.  Both concluded that it seemed to have been moved through a stone wall to the apothecary next door.  To the apothecary!

The eventual Bard decided to search the well that was outside, asking the Paladin to hold her rope.  And I guess the Druid supervised.  They found nothing.  The rest went in.  The Monk started talking.  The Wizard checked out the wall in question and found traces of dirt on the stone floor.  The Cleric walked across the large rug in the center of the room and noticed a slight density difference right about where the Wizard was.  The Monk said he had sore muscles, as if they were turning to stone.  This got a reaction from the shop keeper and she ask us to leave.  Initiative.  She started to cast a Hold Person on the 3 players but the Monk’s fists were faster.  Once again, he stunned the villain, stopping the fight short.  She was tied up.  The carpet was pulled back.  One of the elves, coming in from the well search, found a secret door.  We locked the front door and headed down.  Below was a store room connected to a workshop.  And a granite man, a swordsman and a swordswoman.  No one managed surprised so it was initiative again.

Our Wizard cast Web on two of them.  With a good strength, the swordsman would be out in turns.  The granite man had an 18 strength and got out in a couple of rounds.  Our eventual Bard did subdual on the swordswoman.  Some attacked the webbed guy.  And some came around and attacked the granite man who had a 2 AC.  Things were going well enough when two more granite men came through the walls and two cultists appeared from the south.  One of the cultists cast Hold Person and the guardsman and Monk missed their save.  They were out for the combat.  Luckily the Paladin made her save and cast Hold Person on them.  And they were out for the combat.  The rest was just combat with people beating on granite men or shooting at helpless cultists.  I don’t recall anything remarkable.  I believe we captured the subdued swordswoman to go with the captured apothecary.  I’m not sure what we can do with them.  I think there’s more to do down here but Andy and DG had to log off early.  I do not know if they kept going without us.   

Friday, 10 September 2021 10:43

We started with just the two Daves with others trickling in as they could.  Most everyone had technical issues.  Brian Wade’s were so bad, he had to reinstall FGU altogether which delayed him a couple of hours.  Anyway, we started on the boat.  There was some debate on whether we had brought the evil guy’s head in a box or both his head and the body.  Jon declared that only the head was needed, mainly to simplify things.  The Cleric cast a Glyph of Warding on the box, making up a glyph that would warn him if someone was tampering with it.  The youngest sell sword, who the Druid saved with a Goodberry, made a point of thanking him.  He seemed nervous, we figured because we were nearing the end of journey.  The Druid tried to get him to confess to being wanted in the city but he denied it.  Evidently, he was new to the guard game.  We did learn that this was a one-way job for them although he hoped the merchant would hire them for the return, once his business was done.  One morning, the Druid requested they let him off for an hour to do a Druid thing.  He and the Cleric went into the woods, seeking a tranquil pond at which he could cast a Reflecting Pool spell.  Evidently, it’s a 2nd level spell that sort of functions like a crystal ball.  But first, they came upon a camp.  Without a Ranger along, they did their best.  It was more than a dozen human types and a temporary camp that was only used for a night.  Since there was no sign of them, the Druid went ahead with his spell with the Cleric guarding him.  He saw the Wizard on the top of a tall tower in the middle of a keep in the middle of a city.  He seemed to be in good health but seeking a way down.  Some other bits and pieces were extracted but that was the meat of it.  They went back to the boat.

That night, the players noticed some sneaking around below decks.  The sell swords came up, the head guy with blood on his long sword.  The Cleric and the Druid readied for action.  At this point, KP joined and once he got his technical issues resolved, also readied for action.  The Cleric threw his new hammer which returned to him.  The Druid cast Heat Metal on all the bad guys, except for the young one he had talked to earlier.  No save, thanks for playing.  At this point, Paul joined and once he got his technical issues resolved, joined the fight.  The Paladin had trouble hitting.  The Paladina got hit with a 20 but saved against the leader’s poison blade.  The Cleric, with nowhere to go on the middeck, swung on the ropes over to the aft.  One of them was trying to break down the door to get at the ship’s crew.  The Druid just tried to dodge while his spell increased its heat.  After 3 rounds he said they were so incapacitated that they could not move.  He was more worried about lighting the boat on fire.  The rest started shoving them overboard.  The young sell sword did not attack, by the way, and helped in the end.  And like that, it was all over.  Two row boats were seen in the river but when they saw their allies flung off, they turned away.  The Druid managed to hit one boat with a Warp Wood to ruin their evening.  The young guy was questioned but he didn’t really have much to say beyond the obvious.  The merchant was indeed dead.  The captain thanked us and asked what he should do with the merchant’s stuff.  I think we advised him to contact whoever the merchant was meeting and maybe figure out a next of kin.

Meanwhile, the Wizard found a secret trap door and got off the roof.  He quickly ran into a guardian gargoyle who had orders to prevent anyone from going through the next door.  He was a bit confused since no one had come the roof way in the 40 years he’d been there.  Some discussions were had.  It knew of Hawthorne’s distant relative, Milertant Wells, by the way.  The Wizard demonstrated that he could turn on the portal and then logiked that he must have permission to pass since he had permission to use the portal.  A good roll and he moved on.  Next, he overheard the conversation between a couple of wizard students, complaining about their professor.  As he went, the traffic became heavier and at one point, he ducked into a room.  In which was the head wizard of the school and the court.  He knew, personally, each student so that claim didn’t work.  Our wizard didn’t have any spells since his books were still on the boat but probably wouldn’t have much of a chance against this guy.  So he kept talking.  Stuff was said, in the middle of which he cast a Charm but our Wizard saved.  Basically, the portals had once been used by nobles to get around the world but all the keys had been lost in time.  He was most eager to hear how and where he had gotten one.  The Wizard tried to avoid telling him everything.  He promised that when his friends came into town, we’d all talk to him.  He gave him a bed in the student dorm and let him leave.  The Wizard, assuming he was being watched, walked around the city, casually swinging by the barracks of our contact and the docks a couple times a day.  And waited.

The rest of the party got into town.  No one came to meet the boat so our cover story was unneeded.  The captain would allow us to store our stuff on board while he figured out his next move.  We decided to get some rooms at an inn in the nice part of town.  Only the best for our Paladins.  Our paths intersected with the Wizard soon enough and we compared notes.  Somewhere in there, BW called in and joined.  Also, in there, the Druid disappeared.  Evidently, he as spotted someone watching us from the roof tops.  He took it upon himself to tried to out sneak the sneakers but could not.  He tried to contact the Thieves Guild but could not.  We debated talking to the head Wizard about the head and portals, the Paladin introducing himself to the nobility, asking around the gambling halls, etc but we decided to talk to our contact first.  To try to figure out what was going on.  We did see some missing persons posters about.  With great difficulty, we let the night pass and met with the contact in the morning when he came off his city guard night shift.  We joined him for breakfast.  People were disappearing, mainly in the merchant sector.  A couple were rescued.  They were in the process of being sacrificed by some evil cultists.  I got confused in there.  Merchants were sacrificing merchants? Brain washed? In on it?

As usual, everyone wanted to head in different directions but Jon basically kept us together.  Although once again, the Druid did his own thing and tried to catch the watchers (didn’t) and contact the thieves (did).  It seemed like the roof watchers were invisible so maybe wizard school watchers? So, we went to one of the guys who was rescued.  His business and home was locked up.  The guard felt he had probably cause so we busted the door down.  The guy was dead, throat slit.  There were bloody foot prints that seemed to pass through a solid wall.  They led to the other survivor.  He was questioned.  He didn’t say much (who me?) but the Ranger noted he had blood on his shoes.  When he started to move towards a wall, people acted.  I think the Druid tried to grab him and found that he was much more substantial than he appeared.  As if made of stone? The Monk hit him and then debated whether he had monster AC or an AC type of AC10.  We were perplexed as to why it mattered since he hit.  However, with monster AC, he hit by more than 5 and therefore stunned him.  And just like that, the combat was over.  He was tied up and we stopped there.  Once again, the underpowered Monk took out another big bad villain.  6k was awarded and people leveled up.  Jon said it’ll be a while before he’d get back around to this game.

Monday, 30 August 2021 11:21

We started, still at the Trent glade.  The Druid wanted to cast a Ceremony spell to ease the passing of the dead Trents.  Unfortunately, he did not have it memorized so we’d have to overnight there.  However, unlike other games, we do not own that river boat.  It seemed unlikely the captain or the merchant would be willing to wait another day.  Time is money, after all.  While the Druid desire was reasonable and Dave’s roleplaying was applauded, it just didn’t seem practical.  DG pointed out that before the invention of the Unearthed Arcana book, we would have just said we do so.  Why couldn’t we just do that? Jon ended the discussion by saying that the Ceremony spell could be cast like a ritual a la 5e.  So that was done after which the Druid was given the bowl from last time.  Once on the boat, the Cleric gave thanks to Thor for their victorious battle.  We never did attempt to do an Identify on the bowl or the ring but the Paladin who had the ring didn’t show so we sort of forgot about it.  Identify in 1e is problematic, evidently.

We continued down the river.  The weather continued to be poor.  The Cleric had a dream about being underwater, almost drowning and following a light all during a terrible lightning storm.  He awoke to a terrible lightning storm.  This was very similar to his near-death experience in his tragic backstory so he took it as a message from Thor.  That’s what Cleric do.  The captain became worried about the storm and made for the center of the river to ride it out.  Suddenly grappling hooks on ropes appeared from under the water.  About 4 per side.  Characters with edge weapons rush to cut the lines.  Those without, the Cleric and Monk, ready ranged weapons.  The next round, lizard men started boarding.  Attacks were made.  It wasn’t too tough although the merchant ended up in the wrong place and was dropped.  There was one that was different, at the back of the boat but the Cleric hit him with a Hold Person.  The next round, the eventual Bard killed it automatically.  Two more like it surfaced and started to cast spells.  But we won initiative and our Cleric got them into a Silence spell before theirs went off.  At this point, the lizard men fled but with the harsh disengage rules, I think they were all cut down.  The two casters did get back under however.  The Cleric was told he felt he needed to go under the water so he shed his shield and war hammer and dove in.  Much to the surprise of the rest.

The eventual Bard and the Monk followed him.  The players were then reminded that we had gotten a potion of Water Breathing from the last night.  However, we remembered that the missing Paladin had it.  Jon said that the attending Paladin had it.  She took a swig, handed it to the Wizard and went in in her heavy armor.  The Wizard took a pull and started to dive in as well.  The Druid elected to stay behind and save the lives of the merchant and a sell sword.  Meanwhile, under the water, we saw a sunken column on which the ropes that had tried to secure the boat were tied.  The two casters we fleeing to a cave entrance.  The fast-moving Monk closed but when they turned and started doing claw claw tail attacks, he quickly started to fall back.  The eventual Bard was next but she got grabbed and was running out of air.  The Cleric surfaced, took the potion from the Wizard as he dove in, and swam back to the eventual Bard.  The Paladin finish off the grappler so she headed to the surface and drank the last dose of potion.  It was just the two monsters so other than the lack of air, it wasn’t too tough.  The Cleric lead the way into the cave but the Monk had to turn back as he (and the Druid) were the odd men out on the potion.

The cave led to a series of chambers that eventually ended in a room with air.  We found a ton of copper and some gems.  On the far wall was a constructed wall with a Thorish symbol on it however there was a locked gate.  Unfortunately, the Open Locks characters did not come down and the Wizard did not have his Knock memorized.  The 4 that did, tried to bend the bars but failed.  The eventual Bard went back for the lizard bodies, since evidently, we forgot to search them.  Someone else got the thieves.  They had a dicey moment or two when they ran out of air but managed to get into the chamber.  Before trying to open the lock, the Monk tried to bend the bars and made a 7% roll.  Evidently the 18/00 Paladin had loosened them.  He then opened the lock for good measure and then the Druid closed it for practice.  Eventually the eventual Bard got back and one of them had the key.  It also had 5 rings on one hand and 5 rings on its tail.  When removed from the tail, they magically resized.  Once the gate was open, the Cleric placed his hand of the symbol and a secret door was opened to the last chamber.

In there was a human body with its head crushed by a war hammer with a symbol of Thor on it.  The hammer was still there, in his skull.  The odd thing was that the body was in good shape, i.e. fresh but there was no blood from the wound so not fresh.  On the far wall was a large circular carving.  There were 12 sectors around the rim, each with what looked like a button.  No one knew the language but those that knew Dwarvish, thought it might be some sort of ancient Dwarvish.  Attention then turned to the body however several players continued to puzzle on the graphic Jon provided.  I think Paul realized that the marks were sort of words that corresponded to places on the continent.  It helped if you’ve play in this world before.  I think eventually, each sector was associated with a city or keep or such.  However, this particular place was in the middle of no where so if this was a portal network as was suspected, where were we? And it was noted that the Citadel of the Monk was identified by its original name which places this portal as being very old.  Meanwhile, back on the body.  It had nothing identifying on it.  Only that it wore what would be under heavy armor.  Eventually the Cleric of Thor could not resist the Hammer of Thor and picked it up.  The human instantly regenerated and stood up.

“Wait wait wait.  What’s going on”.  What followed was a couple hours of questioning.  I’ll try to summarize what we learned eventually.  The year he remembered was around 300 hundred years ago.  Despite his repeated denials, everyone assumed he was a vampire, however his reflection showed in the Monk’s mirror.  He did admit that he was “not dead” but did not like the term “undead”.  The Paladin said that he rated “off the scale” in evil.  The Wizard tried to Web him but he had Spell Resistance.  He said his name was Casey and worked for the Order of the Keys.  Neither of which meant anything to anyone.  He did seem to recognize our Paladin.  Odd, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Paul’s back history went back 300 years.  He said the order gathered information and sold it.  I think he admitted the portal was a portal.  He had a shadowy tattoo(?) of a key on his hand.  He wanted to just leave but we could not allow such a big evil loose so eventually we attacked him.  That was pretty futile however the Monk stunned him at which point everyone piled on and he was killed again.  The hammer was placed on his head and stopped his regeneration.  Now what?

Through experimentation, we discovered that the magic sword would also work so the Druid sacrificed his.  We tried to cut off his head but it started to grow back.  We simply didn’t know what to do.  We decided to put his body in a crate with a sword in him and take him back to the boat.  Eventually take it back to Stormgiant and hand the problem over to top men.  Unfortunately, we were currently heading the opposite direction so it’ll be a while.  We did discover that the “key” could be transfer from him to one of us.  The Wizard volunteered to try to open the portal to the place we were heading.  When he got close, the “key” became an actual key and the button was a keyhole.  When a purplish glow lit up, he stepped through.  And never returned.  Hopefully he’ll be waiting for us there.  Assuming he doesn’t go back 300 years or was disintegrated because he didn’t say the magic words.  The rest went back to the boat.  Through experimentation, we learned that the hammer was +2 and would return if thrown.  The 10 rings would give a hand-to-hand fighter magic hands of a yet to be determined bonus.  It’s pretty obvious who got them.  3000 experience was granted.   

Monday, 02 August 2021 15:23

We took a step back to Castle Stormgiant.  First of all, Jon allowed us to “train in advance” so that we could level up “in the field”.  With the rapid advancement and everyone on different charts, we just could not work with the standard advancement rules.  Next, we were re-assigned our mission by the Gardener.  The city in the northwest corner of the map was having troubles.  He wanted us to look into it and help if we can however since they were not part of our kingdom, we had to do it clandestinely.  Or at least unofficially.  He had booked us passage on a boat going down river and given us a name of a former operative of his that now lived there.  We asked some questions.  There is active trade between the two cities, mostly fish and coastal products in exchange for farm goods such as grains, fruits, etc.  When we realized the river was called the Alerun, we decided to pose as beer merchants.  In order to avoid having to carry a barge worth of beer, we’d be advance salesmen, looking to establish a market for a new brand.  The Gardener gave us a couple of pony kegs and any reasonable equipment we needed.  With that, we set out.

The road to the river was well traveled so we had no problems there.  We had a wait a bit for the boat.  The Waterlog.  An actual merchant and his guards showed up with passage on the same.  He traded in fine furs.  The captain had a couple of mates.  We took off.  There was some card playing but it turned out our Monk was just as skilled as their top man.  There were some conversations but nothing too important.  The weather was poor with off and on rain.  The captain was cautious, especially for attacks from shore.  We anchored each night in the river.  A couple days out, we saw smoke from the shore.  We could see something very large (8-10 feet tall) on fire and running through the forest.  (Trent) And other big things (Ogres), chasing it with oil and torches to keep it from the river.  The captain and the merchant wanted to avoid getting involved but most of the players voted for taking action.  Unfortunately, there was too much cover for bow fire so we’d have to disembark to get involved more directly.  The captain agreed to let us off and then get back to the center while we did what we could.  So, we charged into the forest.

There it was relatively straight forward except that we still struggled to remember/figure out the AD&D rules.  Basic stuff like is it half move and attack or full move and attack? So, all those “discussions” really bogged down the action.  First it was two Ogres which we engaged as we could.  It was rough going for our Rogue and heroic Paladin as they couldn’t seem to hit.  When 2 more showed up, the Druid hit them with an Entangle (after 30 minutes of arguing on how the spell could be targeted).  They both failed to save and were stuck for rounds.  The other two were finished off as the Trent made it to the river.  The Entangled two were finished off with bow fire although gunning down a helpless, all be it evil, opponent did not sit well with the Paladin and the Monk.  They went back to the river to check on the Trent and were hit with a Sleep spell from a flying invisible Ogre (Magi).  Both were affected but the Paladin’s goodly aura fought his off.  However, it promptly went invisible again.  The Trent was anguishing about his family.  When asked, he said his glade was just past the next clearing.

So, we charged off into the forest again.  There were another 4 Ogres plus a spell casting one.  That one attempted a charm on our eventually Bard but it’s hard to charm a half elf.  He didn’t last long, drawing a lot of the fire as spell casters often do.  The flying one showed up as well but they were all defeated.  The last one ran into the forest.  The Trent family was all dead.  Chopped to pieces.  He was understandably distraught but when asked for a reason for the attack, he had none.  The Cleric did notice that the Ogres had a black dragon tattoo which will probably mean something later.  The Ogres had some gold and the leader had some potions and a ring.  The Paladin grabbed the ring and put it on.  That prompted a discussion about treasure distribution.  The Wizard asked if we were going to be a “everyone grab whatever they want” group.  All agreed, including the Paladin, that we were not.  He’ll do an Identify the next morning but the Paladin is wearing it for now.  The potions were labeled and Jon allowed the Wizard’s magically training as justification for looking up their functions in the DMG.  Invulnerability went to the Wizard, Heroism went to the Cleric, Super Heroism went to the eventual Bard.  Those all could only be used by Fighter types.  There was a Water Breathing with 4 uses which went to the boat anchor Paladin and the 2 potions of Treasure Finding that went to the Thief.  But those are more like party items.  I think that was it.  The Trent formed a wooden bowl from his limbs and presented it to the Druid to thank us for our efforts.  He said something cryptic like “drink from it in times of need”.  We made it back to the boat and healed up the next morning.  4k experience was awarded.  The eventual Bard, the Cleric and the Druid/Thief leveled up, I think.                    

Friday, 25 June 2021 19:04

We took a late morning in the barn.  Ramadan, the female human Paladin showed up as our reinforcements.  We debated what to do and concluded that we would heal up faster here than the time it would take to get back to the castle.  The Cleric and Druid used their spells to heal people up getting them up to around half.  The Paladin kicked 6 more.  We figured we wouldn’t be able to survive the same battle, but maybe we could survive half a battle.  Although once we saw what Ramadan could do, maybe the wasn’t true.  There was some debate about our charmed goblin but we’d given our word to let him go.  The Paladin agreed with honoring one’s word.  The Druid, the Monk and the eventual Bard followed the tracks of the goblins back into the hills.  However, that was a day’s journey so they had to turn back to get back to the farm by nightfall.  The Wizard stayed at the farm and helped clean up.  The Cleric and Paladin searched around the neighboring farms.  Nobody found anything of interest however having a Paladin “on the case” seemed to raise the morale of the farmers.  We posted guards that night but thankfully no attack came.  The next morning, another batch of healing got us close to full.  (Jon also allowed a hit point for the rest although as per the rules it would require 24 hours of complete rest.) 

We decided to head into the hills, getting an early start in hopes of maximizing our daylight.  Once into the hills, we could sense someone watching us.  The Druid and Monk hung back in the shadows while the rest moved forward.  They sported some well-equipped orcs in hills.  Were they here looking for goblins or us?  Regardless, they were watching us now.  The rest of the party came to a goblin camp but it was abandoned.  The sneakers caught up and we discussed.  Since it was almost evening, we decided to camp here.  It was defensible and there were some lean-tos.  We also found a sapling of the plant creatures.  It appeared that there was once a whole patch of them here but this one was left behind.  It was crying.  The eventual Bard transplanted it into a bucket and soothed it with song.  We decided to parley with the orcs, figuring they already knew we were here.  Maybe we could live and let live and trade information on the goblins.  Some had reservations on this plan but as it was debated, the orcs attacked.

So, there were like 5 orcs with spears and 5 tough orcs with swords, one of which was slightly bigger.  The Paladin charged that one.  Unfortunately, on his warhorse, he moved 24” while the rest of us moved 12” or 9”.  He killed that guy in a round but was then quickly surrounded.  Some advanced on the rest of the party who moved up as they could.  Remember that its half move and attack so we were really moving 6” and 4”.  They were engaged.  The Cleric did a Hold Person on two of the regular orcs but the tough one saved.  Held meant automatic hit, max damage, and double attacks.  Brutal.  They didn’t last long but the tough one did.  The Druid tried to shoot his bow into the Paladin’s melee but he hit the Paladin as well.  Speaking of the Paladin, she was awesome.  But then she missed a couple of times and they hit a couple of times.  Despite the contribution of her horse, she was knocked out.  But evidently, Cavaliers can still function at negative hit points, but not attack.  The disengage rules are suicidal so after she did lay on hands to keep from bleeding out, all she could do was stay on her horse and wait for the killing blow.

The eventual Bard managed to get down there and engage one of the 4 remaining.  The Monk and the Wizard had the last of the others engaged so the Cleric was able to disengage, move to within 6” and cast another Hold Person, getting two of them.  The Wizard disengaged and enjoyed the free-to-hit and max damage on a held one.  The Druid took his place on the one.  The eventual Bard’s dropped the one she was on and the one that had been beating on the Paladin asked for a parley.  Too late! The Cleric finished him off and the last one was finally disarmed by the Monk.  After that, he was beaten to death.  The Cleric did some bandaging and use his last cure to get the Paladin above 0.  The leader had a scroll of Ice Storm in a case.  (Welcome to random treasure in 1e.)  They also had 4 elven swords that turned out to be +1 and would shed light in their name was said in elvish.  And some coins and armor.  It started to rain, ruining any chances of following the tracks of the orcs or the goblins. 

We camped overnight and went back to the castle to report, by way of the farm.  The Gardner said the swords were standard issue for elvin infantry 100+ years ago and the orcs likely found them in a cache.  The Odorous Oak was consulted about the plant.  He didn’t know anything but suggested it be raised.  Perhaps for goodness and niceness. The Druid took that on.  We then leveled up although Jon didn’t give us anything for the fight, figuring the night was not over.  The Gardener gave us another mission.  Travel to a city to the northwest that seemed to be having trouble.  They were not part of this kingdom so we had to be subtle (I’m looking at you Paladin.) but he didn’t want trouble on our boarders.  We traveled without a random encounter.  We got as far as walking into town but BTO had to sign off.  Andy also had to go so it was an early night.  4000 exp was awarded and those that leveled up, were allowed to do so despite not being in the castle.  That whole process is still being worked out.  Jon will go back to Blades next time so it’ll be at least a month before we play this again.

Sunday, 06 June 2021 17:03

Uko Saknusson

My people are from the northern hinterlands, worshipers of the Norse pantheon.  They have been employed as mercenaries at Castle Stormgiant for generations and have established an enclave in the city.  Apart but accepted.  He is from a family well known for their military service and success.  More of foot soldiers, fighters, and sergeants than noble generals and knights.  He was serving the army when there was an attempt to clear out some undead infestation of the dwarven underground that had started leaking into Castle Stormgiant’s lands.  A division of troops went in.  Uko’s company (~40 guys?) got cut off and were just hanging on when some great undead shadow demon swept in.  The survivors were killed and all were drained.  When the pale bodies were found, they were burned.  But miraculously Uko was not quite dead.  He was returned to Castle Stormgiant with little hope of recovery.  When he regained consciousness, he recalled seeing a gleaming light and had concentrated on that.  Obviously, he was distraught to learn that all his comrades were dead.  Survivor’s guilt.  Why me? For some reason, Lady Chevra took an interest in his case and when he had recovered enough, she suggested Uko work in the garden as therapy to recover his body and spirit.  The Gardener would check on him from time to time.  Eventually, he recovered, weaker in body but wiser from the experience.  However, the army wasn’t sure what to do with him.  Would you want a guy whose whole company was killed in your company? When the gardener started a new troubleshooting squad, Uko was added, on extended leave from the army.  Recently he’s come to realize that he must have survived for a reason.  And it is to serve Thor, smite evil and destroy undead. 

 

The characters

Gilda Tor, a half elf Fighter with intentions of becoming a Bard eventually played by Brian O’Neill

The Burning Man, a half elf Rogue/Druid played by Dave Shimota

Hawhtorne Wells, a human Wizard with a couple of dual classed levels in Ranger played by Andy

Aoexan Bronte, a human Monk with intentions of dual classing into Wizard eventually

Uko Saknusson, a human Cleric with a couple of dual classed levels in Fighter played by David Green

Thing 1, a human Paladin with maybe intentions of dual classing into Cleric eventually played by Paul

Thing 2, a human Paladin played by Kevin

Game 1 – 6/4

The Gardner sends the player into the farmland to quietly investigate what is happening to the crops.  Because they do not what cause a panic that the cities food source might be at risk.  They discover many destroyed fields.  At each field, there was a detonation place with what looked to be a destroyed pod at its center.  Each night brought more destroyed fields. 

The players are directed to a farm in the middle of the problem.  They staked out the farm and in the middle of the night the watch spotted some warg carrying goblins, creeping around in the dark.   There are 4 wargs and goblin riders that were taken out.  In pursuit of the last warg, they ran into 4 more pairs and some sort plant person half-buried in the field.  This second battle was tougher and the damage was adding up.  The Monk attempts to get to the plant thing but was entangled by its roots.  Players started to drop.  The Wizard’s Shield spell expired and at AC 10, despite his Ranger hit points, was knocked out.  The eventual Bard and the Druid soon followed, both bleeding out.  The Monk and the Cleric were down to a handful of hit points but they took out the last of the wargs although I think one ran off.  While the Cleric bandaged the bleeding, the Monk retrieve some oil and lit up the plant.  It went up quickly and exploded in a cloud of this damaging pollen.  The newly conscious Druid had a Precipitation spell ready which seemed to do some good. 

They questioned a Goblin.  Basically, the plan was to take over the kingdom by ruining the crops.  That seemed ambitious but it was a Goblin plan.  After some lies eventually, he confessed to there being a camp in the nearby hills.  Eventually, the Druid charmed him.    So, what to do.  It will take days to recover the hit points lost via cure lights from the Cleric and Druid.  The castle was 4 days away so that healing should probably be done here.  Hopefully, the two Paladins are on their way.  We were given enough experience to level up but that takes training back at the castle and will take weeks.  So, what do we do? Welcome to 1e vs 5e.