Ankar, Crossroads in the Desert - The Land of Jo'Ril, Chapter 22

The party completes the Lair of the Corrupted Blades and heads to the nearby city of Ankar.

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 4 dwarf
• Waverly, level 4 ranger
• Andrew Price, level 4 cleric
• Gordon Binghampton, level 5 cleric
• Boots Stavish, level 1 half-elf
• Litera Hildetrude, a level 1 Halfling NPC hireling
• Alard Lacey, a charmed NPC man-at-arms

Here's a quick summary of their hex-crawl exploration of the land of Jo'Ril as generated by HEXROLL.

DM 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 party continue exploring the caverns of the Lair of the Corrupted Blades, a band of kobolds that have been harassing local travelers. 

1. 1 Stirge. A lone stirge perched on the wall in the cavern ahead. The party unleashed ranged attacks on it, killing it instantly.

2. A Trapped Bag. A lone bag sitting unattended in an empty room in a cavern inhabited by kobolds. The leather bag was treated with protective oils. Wumpus opened the bag but discovered the oil was a highly corrosive ointment. He failed his saving throw vs. Petrification and took 1d4 damage. The bag was filled with rocks.

3. A Trapped Barrel. A lone barrel sitting unattended in an empty room in a cavern inhabited by kobolds. Wumpus opened the barrel but discovered it was covered in the same highly corrosive ointment. The ointment failed to work and he was undamaged. The barrel was filled with rocks.

4. Trapped Jars and 3 Rust Monsters. Three sealed clay jars sitting unattended in an empty room in a cavern inhabited by kobolds. The party chose to ignore them. However, their presence attracted three hungry rust monsters from the adjoining chamber. 

Waverly blocked the choke point connected the chambers, preventing the rust monsters from advancing. She tossed her magic sword behind her. Her chain mail armor was destroyed. Unable to push past, the rust monsters consumed her iron spikes and hand axes. Waverly smashed the rust monsters with a burning torch while the others threw lit flasks of oil at the rust monsters. The flasks shattered on the rust monsters and splashed onto Waverly but she held her ground to save the others.

Two of the rust monsters eventually failed their morale checks and retreated into dug out pits in the adjoining chamber - pits the kobolds dug to prevent the rust monsters from interrupting their excavation. The third withdrew into the center of the chamber so Waverly and Arrn advanced to the next choke point while the others continued their barrage. The third rust monsters was eventually defeated. 

Waverly and Arrn advanced into the room to toss lit flasks of oil into the pits, driving the rust monsters out of hiding. Waverly and Arrn quickly withdrew to the choke point and the rust monsters were quickly dispatched.

5. Trapped Jars. Three jars sitting unattended in an empty room in a cavern inhabited by kobolds. Wumpus opened one, releasing the pressurized poison gas contained therein. He made his saving throw and survived. Another jar felt heavy and was filled with 60 gp. He took the gold, as well as the unopened jar in case they need a poison gas grenade later. They decided to take the jars from the previous room for the same purpose.

6. 10 Stirges. As they advanced down a passage, they spotted a cavern filled with stirges. They halted to discuss their options. Suddenly, the stirges flew out the chamber, catching them by surprise. Two stirges latched onto Gordon Binghampton and one latched onto Litera. Arrn put all the stirges to sleep with a sleep spell and they were quickly destroyed.

The party recovered 4 gems worth 660 gp total embedded in the rock wall.

The party busted down the rock wall the kobolds had built to keep the stirges away and exited the dungeon through the nearby entrance. 

They emerged to discover they had been underground for two and a half hours, it was mid-afternoon. They left the hills and traveled to the nearby city of Ankar, population 6552.

Ankar

Ankar was built atop a flat-topped butte and surrounded by several massive stone pillars, each a standing a thousand feet tall. The city was ancient, its walls in disrepair. The presence of pine trees and cypruses spoke of the presence of a source of water atop the butte.

They spent the afternoon in Ankar, visiting various shops and interacting with local NPCs. 

1. Altrude of Edria, proprietor of Altrude's Sparkly Things
2. Azwin of Yezud, proprietor of Azwin's Bookstore
3. Gundin of Arkonna, headmaster of the local school
4. Ramiro of Bahari, physician and alchemist, proprietor of Ramiro's Clinic
5. Percipia Hildetrude, proprietor of the local animal pound where one might obtain unwanted exotic animals. 

Arrn purchased two war dogs named "Cheese" and "Dean".

Wumpus hired an alchemist to travel with the party as well as an entourage of peasants, a new wagon, and horses. 

Gordon Binghampton hired a scribe to record his adventures.

Waverly talked Altrude into moving to Kömür where she could be closer to her lost love, the thief known as Gunso of Sibuyan. There were no other jewelers in Kömür so she would have no competition. 

So, the evening ended with much role-playing, shopping, planning what to do and where to go next, and book-keeping. 

The party decided to spend the night in a hostel in Ankar. That night, they were awakened by intruders, declaring, "This is the revenge of the Black Saints!"

As recorded by Gordon's scribe:

Today, Esquire Binghampton hired me, Shan Luneer-trained sage and scribe-for-hire, to follow him on his journeys and record his tails. Per the more than fair coin that Esquire Binghampton has paid me, he has asked me to note his fair features and generous nature. Today, we stayed at the Inn of Golden Swords, where we ate piping hot goosemeat stew with carrots and leeks, and a mashed potatoe with butter and tart berry jam. His fine compartriots wearied Esquire Binghampton with their endless haggling for sundry goods.

Eventually, it was decided that Esquire Binghampton and his party would travel to the Hairy-Finger Orcs in the Dragonskull Dunes.

In the night, I was rudely awakened by ruffians shouting, "this is in revenge for the Black Saints!", whomsoever they may be.

To be continued!