The party travels back to Kömür, do a little shopping in Arkon, and discover some trouble in Sigatona along the way.
We are playing Old School Essentials, which is another way of saying Basic D&D circa 1981.
The Party:
- Arrn, level 3 magic user
- Wumpus, level 3 dwarf
- Waverly, level 3 ranger
- Andrew Price, level 4 cleric
- Gordon Binghampton, level 4 cleric
- Fitzhugh Skitter, level 1 thief - out this week
- Lefsy of Hawkston, NPC, archaeologist and dealer in rare and exotic antiquities
Here's a quick summary of their hex-crawl exploration of the land of Jo'Ril as generated by HEXROLL.
Note - Be aware, we are playing full-on tomb plunderers. We are aware of and deplore the real-world issues of colonialism, cultural theft, etc. We are role-playing characters and situations with different cultural mores and norms than our own. This is not an endorsement on our part for such behavior in the real world. The orcs in my setting were created by the serpentines to wage war against the elven kingdoms in the ancient times. They are a created lifeform that knows only war and violence.
So this week was pretty much all travel and roleplay.
We picked up where we left off last week, in a hexagonal dungeon chamber filled with red and purple poppies. How do these flowers grow? How are they still alive after thousands of years in an elven tomb?
This was a great moment of cooperative improv. I described how blind albino bees could be seen pollinating the flowers and disappearing into tiny holes in the walls like mason bees. They could see the ceiling was studded with tiny cystals. When Waverly sheathed her flaming sword to put the lights out, the tiny crystals glowed faintly, creating the appearance of a night sky full of stars.
Wumpus' player called them "Star poppies" and I loved it - so that's what they were. They took a few samples, wrapped up in sacks and inside hats to protect them from the sunlight.
When they exited the dungeon, it was late afternoon. The tower where the expedition stayed was an hour away. It was too late to bring back Lefsy and her workers, so they sent Waverly and Fitzhugh back to the tower to report on their progress. The party camped outside the entrance to prevent others from entering the tomb. That night, a herd of 20 wild goats entered the valley of the tomb entrance to drink from the puddle of water sheltered in a hollow under a cliff.
The next day they brought Lefsy and her workers to loot the dungeon fully - removing statues and furniture and decorations. Arrn cast "Detect magic" and did a thorough walkthrough of the dungeon. The flowers were generated mild enchantment magic. So, too, did the dessicated body of the elven king sitting on his throne. Indeed, the elven king was ALIVE BUT SLEEPING!
This gave Arrn quite a start. He withdrew and ordered the others to seal the throne room shut with spikes, instructing Lefsy and the workers not to disturb that room.
Note - the players actually debated whether to wake him or not. The argument being that maybe the elves would welcome their reawakened king. But then they realized they were in the process of looting his resting place and decided it was best to maybe not risk it.
Having filled the caravan with loot plundered from the lost elven kingdom of Elderia, the expedition returned to Arkon, 18 miles away, pushing themselves in order to complete the journey in one day.
The party spent two days in Arkon while Lefsy arranged a boat to return to Kömür. They spent the first day resting after the arduous journey the day before.
They spent the second day exploring the city.
Wumpus traveled upriver to do some fishing, encountering a lone structure on the river belonging to a fisherman. The fisherman threatened Wumpus with a crossbow at first, but Wumpus offered to share his wine so the fisherman relented and allowed Wumpus to join him.
Wumpus' player wondered "What's that structure way up there?" I replied, "What do you think it is?" and he said "An old man's fishing shack. I want to check it out!" so I said, "You bet!"
Meanwhile, Arrn, Waverly, Gordon, and Andrew explored the Market District.
I rolled a random encounter in the Cities sourcebook from Midkemia Press.
They encountered a religious pilgrim, a follower of the Lightbringer, trying to carry a lit candle from the graveyard outside the city to the Temple of Law in the temple district. A group of street kids were pelting the pilgrim with stones and trash, taunting them with epithets. Andrew Price and Gordon Binghampton, both priests of Law, intervened and helped the pilgrim accomplish their task.
At the temple, Gordon tried to acquire healing potions but learned that this was not a service that the temple of Law provided. He should seek an alchemist or apothecary.
Arrn and Waverly continued their shopping. They stopped at an herbalist, Winmar's Weeds, to inquire about the plants. They learned they were Elven Star Poppies. They shrivel and die when exposed to sunlight. The albino cave bees harvest the pollen and make honey which, in turn, is used to brew a magic potion that allows its imbiber to sleep for thousands of years. As an herbalist, he had little use for them but purchased them for 17 harvested plants for 10gp each.
They also learned that Lefsy knew someone named Petesia of Darkhold, a woman who claimed to be a student of Aleria the Alchemist. Arrn actually knew Petesia. They had shared a romantic relationship while attending the School of the Arcana!
They went to Germar's Curiosities, a purveyor of exotic wares, only to discover Lefsy speaking with the owner. Germar specialized in items recovered from the Javelin Beaches outside of Sigatona.
That evening, after sundown, they found Milia's Dark Market in an alley. Here thieves could fence their wares. Most items were overpriced.
Note - this was a mistake for HEXROLL. Normally, individual items are listed because they're bargains. In this case, holy water and holy symbols were listed for 27 gp, 2gp more than their price in the equipment list.
However, Waverly overheard the proprietess, Milia Wanthilde, complain about the loss of her nephew.
The players groaned and rolled their eyes - ANOTHER lost nephew?
I improvised a detailed backstory on the spot based on the prompts: Nephew is missing since last week. (Secret: Held captive in the Tomb of the Lost Lich). Recovery reward is a decorated sword.
Waverly asked Milia what happened. A week ago, a strange man, pale and gaunt, wearing regal attire that was out of fashion centuries ago, entered her night market with a retinue of cloaked attendants. The man took an interest in her nephew Fertheorst. She hasn't seen her nephew since that night. She's certain that the gaunt man was the legendary vampire Baron Solomon! Stories tell how Baron Solomon travels from city to city looking for new recruits for his dark army of the damned! She's so worried! She'd be willing to offer a reward - this fabulous sword that she totally acquired legitimately and was in no way stolen!
The next day they boarded a ship laden with plunder to sail to Sigatona. The wind was good and they made excellent time.
In Sigatona, they visited the Glowing Torch Inn. They had been there before and had inquired about the Black Saints. They were recognized by one of the servers, Dadmar of Sevenhand, who was a collaborator with the Black Saints. After seeing Dadmar give them a suspicious side-eye and disappear into the kitchen, they decided to leave the establishment.
Outside they heard a herald reading a proclamation - the Archon of Sigatona had ordered the execution of a prominent member of the Merchant Guild for conspiracy to commit treason! The hanging would transpire tomorrow at noon. Their ship would be leaving at dawn tomorrow so they would miss it.
Note - this was a consequence of Gordon's interference with the status quo back in Chapter 8.
Meanwhile, Andrew Price sought out Nelsonanon Bagbradley to purchase more tonics of vitality. He also asked if he had healing potions. Nelsonanon sold Andrew what he guarantied was a legitmate healing potion. Though I told Andrew Price to record it on his sheet as Healing Potion(?).
They slept on the deck of the boat that night. However, the deck watch had too much to drink and passed out drunk during the night, allowing two masked assailants to sneak on board and attempt to kidnap Gordon as he slept. This woke up the party who quickly intervened, killing one kidnapper while the other fled, jumping into the water. Waverly handed Wumpus a throwing axe which Wumpus hurled into the head of the escaping kidnapper.
The next morning, the wind picked up even stronger! (11- near gale! double sailing movement!)
They sped along the Thousand Shrines Reef.
I rolled a random encounter - Sea Serpent (Lesser)!! Not only that, the PCs are surprised!
I set up a whole battle scene in Foundry with the ship, the sea serpent, etc.
They're sailing along at a good clip, the water choppy with whitecaps from the strong wind. They're making excellent time!
A reptilian head atop long serpentine neck rises out of the water, biting one of sailors on deck, killing him instantly, snatching him off the deck.
I ask the players to roll initiative for battle. The players win initiative.
Arrn: "Oh, that sucks for that guy! I hope he wasn't important!"
Me: "What do ya'll do?"
Arrn: What's the movement rate of a sea monster? We're making great speed! I say we sail on!"
I look up sailing speed of a sailing ship (small). 150'/round, doubled to 300'/round for near gale wind.
I look up the swim speed of a sea serpent. 50'/round.
Me (slightly defeated): "Okay then, you leave a churning red froth in your wake as the sea serpent devours its meal. I guess it can't keep up with you."
Wumpus: "So who was that guy?"
Me (rolling randomly): "He was the ship's cook."
Wumpus: "DAMMIT!"
Oddly, I have defined the prevailing winds for this region (from the northwest to the southeast), and the direction they were traveling (northwest) was into the prevailing winds, so a near gale that would help them would be anomalous. I turned this into a story prompt - a storm is coming! A very low pressure system to the northwest is causing the wind to reverse, indicating a big storm with lots of rain and high winds is approaching from the northwest for several days.
After they, they returned to Kömür, leveled up, and planned the next phase of their adventure.
To be continued!
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