The Story of Aline

Aline the Thaumaturge

A short write up by Aline's player, Lucinda.

Aline comes from a fairly cosmopolitan and urbane town. Her parents were both half-Sylvan artisans making a comfortable, but not wealthy, living. Then they had six kids and there wasn't enough money to go around. At about the time #5 came along, Aline was 14 and showing distinct signs of magical abilities - setting woodstacks on fire, tricking her friends with shocking handshakes, that sort of thing - so when a representative of the wizards' college offered her a scholarship to study there, she and her parents agreed that it was a good idea.

Aline studied more or less diligently at the college for about 6 years but grew frustrated at the slow pace at which knowledge was doled out. There was some element of having to prove your dedication before being admitted to eldritch knowledge, which is annoying, and as at any university, what you get to learn is determined to some degree by who you know. She hungered after knowledge but did not have the charisma or patience to play politics well.

One day, she was reading a tome in a seedy off-campus tavern when she saw an old classmate roll in. Her classmate had left the university a couple years before. She regaled Aline with tales of hardship and near-death - but also of encountering wondrous magics, accruing enough gold to afford more spells for her spellbook than her scholarship had allowed and being refreshingly free of the academic hierarchy. They went out to a farmer's fallow field and she showed Aline a couple of the advanced spells she had learned. "Well fuck this then," said Aline. She returned her library books, mailed her few important possessions back to her parents, and headed off to Swallow. The rest you know. She does not take naturally to hardship the way some of us do, and would rather sleep in an inn than a cave any day, but she is learning so much nifty stuff that it's worth it. She is super excited about all the various ways there are to make things explode.

"Lodar of the Prairie Folk", Chapter 2 of The Menace of the Swords through the Gate of the Icy Spire

The King of Ice

Joroon's Dragoons explore the tower of the Ice King in their quest to rescue Princess Elsa and find a portal to a frigid world. On their way, they meet a new friend, Lodar of the Prairie Folk.

Joroon's Dragoons:

• Joroon Hicks, Hillfolk* Storyteller
• Gravy, Human Priest of Thumina
• Aline, a Thaumaturge of half-Human/half-Sylvan** parentage
• Arrn Anduin, Human Fighter and Mage-Slayer, cousin of Dornan

Introducing:

• Lodar, Prairiefolk*** Barbarian

Not Appearing This Week:

• Dornan Anduin, Human Paladin of Vengeance, cousin of Arne

* Hillfolk = Halflings from the Slopes of the Great Wall Mountains
** Sylvan = A fancy name for Forest Elves
*** Prairiefolk = Halflings from the northern plains

An Unwanted Result
The wizard Aline sat with Princess Anna around a small table in a private room in one of the hostels of Swallow. The heavy curtains were drawn, the darkened room was illuminated by small motes of magical light that drifted through the air. Burning incense created a thick sweet miasma as Aline gently passed her hands over the crystal ball in the center of the table. Aline concentrated on the lock of dark hair set on the table between her and the crystal ball. She reached out for Anna's hands to help establish the link with the princess' missing sister. The globe began to glow faintly and ectoplasm started to seep down the walls.

Aline's eyes rolled back as she was overwhelmed by a sense of falling head first into an infinite void. Ahead of her lay a cold bright light, the closer she approached, the farther away the light seemed to recede. Aline was chilled by a feeling of intense cold. The light seemed near but remained forever away. Suddenly, Aline was snapped back through the void and back into the room and into her body. She was lying on the floor, having fallen out of her chair. She got up and looked around and saw Princess Anna frantically trying to open the door and escape the room, glancing back over her shoulder in terror.

Aline asked what was happening. Anna, panting, threw open the door and ran out of the room. Aline followed but closed the door behind her. She grabbed Anna by the wrist and demanded an explanation. Anna said that as soon as she entered the trance, Aline began to chant in an alien otherworldly voice from hell. The orb began to glow red. Light and smoke swirled above the ball and formed into a small devil, an imp from hell! The imp screeched at her and turned invisible. At that point, she screamed and ran out of the room. The imp had to still be in the room!

Aline told Anna to remain calm while she dealt with the imp. Aline returned to the private room, wand at the ready. The room was empty, the imp must be invisible. She cast a web spell, covering much of the small room in thick sticky webbing. The webbing revealed a struggling shape hiding in a corner.

Aline the Wizard

Aline called out, "What are you? What are you doing here?"

The voice answered, "You tell me! You summoned me here!"

Aline was momentarily confused, "No I didn't."

"Yes you did! And now you've caught me. If you release me, I am compelled to serve you. What are your terms?"

Aline thought about this, "You must serve me forever and do as I say."

"No way! Set me free and I will perform a single task for you."

Aline was offended, "Pfft. No. Forever."

"Okay, how about a year and a day."

"Nope."

"Okay then. Here's a better idea. How about I break free and eat your face!"

The imp burst out of the webbing and attacked Aline's face. Aline counterattacked with a super-charged magic missile spell, obliterating the imp which exploded in ectoplasm, fire, and sulphur. The walls were splattered with exploded imp slime.

Aline returned to Anna to tell her it was now safe. She paid the fee for the room cleaning and purchased some cold weather clothing. She bade Anna farewell, pulled a magic river rock from her pocket, and thought of Joroon.

Meanwhile, On the Slopes of Mount Zacha
Joroon, Gravy, Arrn, and Dornan stood in the foyer at the entrance of the tower of the Ice King. The interior was very cold, as if the entire tower had been dipped in frozen nitrogen and preserved. Hoar frost covered most surfaces. Dornan was about to say something when he suddenly disappeared and was replaced with Aline.

Arrn the Wizard Hunter

Arrn, never having met Aline and believing that wizardry had just killed his kinsman, screamed and prepared his axe to strike down the newcomer. Gravy and Joroon, having been made familiar with the Stones of Transposition, quickly held out their palms and stood between Arrn and Aline. Gravy explained that she had simply swapped places with Dornan, and that Dornan was likely safe. Arrn held his hand but demanded to know where his brother was sent. Aline explained that she was just in Swallow. She expected to appear in Joroon's wagon. Dornan must have taken the stone by accident. She told Arrn that his cousin was safe and likely warm. Arrn checked his book of wizard bounties and found no mention of Aline. He begrudgingly accepted her into the party.

The dragoons explored the first floor of the tower. To the left they found a sitting room with a few books and some antique furniture. A fireplace in the corner of the room contained a bright bluish-white flame that radiated cold. Within the room was a small crystal statue of a hideous creature with the body gorilla, tentacles for arms, and the head of some creature that was a cross between a baboon and an ourk. Perusing the books, they found a few tomes on the nature of the elemental planes and the elementals, including descriptions of the five elemental princes: Ogremoch, Imix, Yan-C-Bin, Olhydra, and Cryonax. The image of Cryonax matched the crystal statue. They also found a journal belonging to Simon Petrikov, Sage. Within were notes on the sellers and prices of various antiques and relics. On on wall was a painting of a beautiful woman with reddish-brown hair, a sorceress wearing bookish horn-rimmed glasses, clad in a dark green turtleneck and a grey cloak. The plaque underneath the painting said "Elizabeth".

Across the foyer was a dining room with a long table, empty for mundane furniture and another fireplace filled with magically cold flames. Also on the first floor was the servants quarters. Within were the bodies of two servants, clad in black and white livery, having died, frozen while hiding under their beds, decades ago.

Grunther Guardians
The dragoons then heard someone coming down he stairs. The team made a lot of noise as they scrambled to hide. Whomever it was paused to listen, then hurried back upstairs. The team abandoned their hiding spots and charged upstairs.

The second floor was a magical laboratory filled with desks, tables, bookshelves, and crates filled with alchemical paraphernalia. Six brutish creatures were grabbing morningstars made of hardened magical ice, having been warned by their lookout.

The creatures were slightly larger than man-sized with broad muscular frames. They were covered in white fur, like a polar bear, and blue-skinned hands and feet and a bare face of blue leathery skin. Their legs were bowed and their arms long and dangling. Their faces were like a mix of goblin and polar bear with bearish snouts, black beady eyes, and long blue pointed ears sticking out horizontally from the sides of their heads. They wore black leather armor and carried heavy melee weapons made of magical ice. They spoke an unknown language that sounded like "Gork! Gork gork gork!" These creatures could only be the grunthers described by the Winter Wolf.

They met Joroon's Dragoons in combat. One grunther leapt on Aline while she ascended the stairs, pulling her down to the floor below and nearly killing her. Another grunther performed the same trick on Gravy.

The Rage of Lodar
Meanwhile, in a larder behind the first floor kitchen, slept Lodar of the Prairie Folk. He had entered the tower seeking shelter from the blizzard outside and had found a larder filled with frozen food. He managed to build a real fire, not one of the frozen flames burning throughout this accursed tower, and was able to cook a sausage. Afterwards he took a nap, his dreams filled with rage, hatred, and vengeance.

Lodar of the Prairie Folk

Lodar was suddenly roused by the shouts of those engaged in battle. He grabbed his magical scimitar and rushed out to see a man of the hillfolk, one of his remote kinsmen, engaged in deadly struggle alongside a female sylvan and two humans against foul inhuman creatures. He rushed into battle without hesitation, screaming "RAGE!!" and plowing through the blue-skinned white-furred creatures.

While the raging newcomer and Arrn dealt with the four grunthers in the wizard laboratory, Gravy, Joroon, and Aline dealt with the two down below. Lodar, in his rage, pulled a bookshelf down onto his opponent before slaying him with his magical scimitar. Soon, all the grunthers were dead.

The newcomer introduced himself as Lodar, from the northern plains. The dragoons explained their purpose and asked if the newcomer would care to join them in their quest. Lodar shared a similar hatred of evil wizards as Arrn and welcomed the opportunity to sate his rage killing the fiend.

Exploration
The party explored the laboratory, noting books on magical research for future use and finding several vials of alchemical frost, but found no stairs or other way to ascend to the third floor. Aline, however, spotted a magical engraving in one corner of the room and deduced its purpose. It was a kind of Tenser's Floating  Disk spell that elevated those standing on the engraving who say the magic word. She had seen such magic on display when she trained at the Roving Gortleflexion of Emiril Legasse. She even recalled the activation word.

At that, the dragoons gathered over the sigil and the words were spoken. They rose magically into the air and passed safely through the illusory ceiling to the room above.

They found themselves standing in a library with a solitary desk and chair and a single door. Aline cautiously opened the desk with a Mage Hand spell, setting off the magical ward that protected the desk, causing it to explode into splinters!

Beyond the door, they found a bedroom with more bookshelves and fine antique furniture covered in black leather. A cold blue flame burned in the fireplace. The walls were hung with ancient tapestries. They checked under the bed and found a pair of nunchaku made of ice, an odd choice for a wizard.

They found a door behind one of the tapestries that led to an adjoining study with another desk. A hatch in the ceiling was open to the blowing snow and frigid air of the magical blizzard outside.

On the desk was a note, written in the scrawl of a madman, that read "That idiot archon has stolen my Elizabeth from me! He will pay! She will be mine, one way or another! In this life or the next!"

Aline used her Mage Hand spell to open the drawers, once more causing the desk to explode into splinters.

The dragoons found another levitation spell on the floor leading to the roof.

The Guardian of the Gate
Much of the roof was covered in great spiky growths of ice. A circular disk about ten feet wide hovered vertically over the center of the roof, rotating. The disk was a link to another world, and that world was bleeding into ours. Everywhere around the tower, one could see two universes superimposed on each other. One was the blizzard of the valley, caused by super-frigid air blowing through the rotating disk. The other was a cave, somewhere else. In that cave was a monstrous humanoid being of ice.

Footprints made a clear path through the snow towards the gate. A child's doll lay crushed into the icy snow. Gravy picked up the doll, noting that the captured villagers had been taken this way and through the gate.

Gravy, Priest of Thumina

As Joroon's Dragoons stepped towards the gate, the icy guardian on the other side came to life and stepped through the portal into our world.

The company of heroes sprang into action, doing furious battle with the icy beast. It was eventually destroyed, shattered into countless icy fragments, and the heroes pushed against the icy wind and stepped through the portal.

A Whole New World
Joroon's Dragoons found themselves in a cave. A constant frigid wind blew from the mouth of the cave into the portal. They pushed against the wind to the mouth of the cave and looked out over a canyon more than six miles wide and twenty miles long, bending in the distance out of sight to the left. The mouth of the cave was located about two hundred feet up the side of the canyon wall. A path led down to the canyon floor to the right. Large boulders stood at the foot of the path.

The frigid cold air outside of the canyon drained into the portal of the cave into our world.Once outside the cave, the wind was more tolerable.

The sky overhead was dark blue, there was no sun nor were there stars, yet a dim chill illumination like bright moonlight permeated the place.

Joroon, Storyteller of the Hillfolk

Joroon produced his magical flying broom and, saying the activation word, flew up into the sky to scout around. As he breached the edge of the canyon, he caught a brief glimpse of a flat plane of ice punctuated by sharp mountains of ice before he entered an area of turbulent wind of hurricane force. He tumbled about, his face turning white from the freezing air, barely holding onto his broom. He quickly descended back into the pocket of safe air in the canyon below.

He then descended to scout the rocks below. There he spied a large white bear with a spiked metal collar. The bear saw Joroon, looked at him, and turned away. After a few steps, the bear paused and looked back over his shoulder, then walked a few more steps.

Joroon came near the bear and used his magical bardic skills to communicate with the beast. After a brief conversation, Joroon learned the bear had been waiting near the cave for several days, waiting for heroes to come through. He was to lead the heroes to his master a few miles away.

Joroon flew back to the rest of his dragoons and filled them in. They climbed down the path and followed the bear through the deep snow of the canyon floor. The journey to the bear's master took about an hour and many of the company were cold, wet, tired, and miserable. Finally, they reached a cave in the canyon wall. The entrance to the cave was covered in thick black leather skins, creating a door. The bear bade them enter.

Urglorz
Inside the cave, they found an older grunther stirring a large pot heated with warm flames, actual warm flames! The pot smelled delicious and was filled with some kind of meaty stew. The old humanoid appeared to be some kind of shaman or druid. He motioned them to enter his cave.

Joroon quickly cast another spell known to Bards, that of Tongues. The old shaman spoke in his own native language, "Gork gork gork? Gork gork?"  Joroon responded, "Yes, I can understand your language. Why have you brought us here?"

For a moment, the middle-aged grunther looked slightly disappointed, then continued. He introduced himself as Urlgorz, former chieftain of the grunthers of this valley. He spoke to the party flatteringly, complimenting them on their fearsome appearance and demeanor, muttering under his breath that they would do just fine, and offering them a warm meal of hearty stew.

When he realized that only Joroon could understand him, he looked a little relieved, then surreptitiously touched a ring on his hand. Suddenly, he was sending thoughts directly into the minds of everyone present in a language they could understand. He continued.

Joroon told Urglorz that they were here to rescue a princess and some villagers from the Ice King.

Using telepathy, Urglorz indicated that he knew all about it, and informed them that he knew where the prisoners were being held. His thoughts revealed that he would take Joroon and his dragoons to the hidden place, but first they had to provide him with a service.

He said that he had until recently been the chief of the tribe of this valley, but that his power had been usurped by his rival, Gorak, and exiled. If Joroon and his dragoons defeated Gorak and restored Urglorz as chieftain, he would help them free the captives and the princess.

After a brief discussion, the party cautiously agreed.

Urglorz was delighted, and offered his cave as a refuge where the party might rest and recover. He offered some of his stew, which he had prepared in case outsiders came. The party took a short rest and ate the stew.

Meanwhile, Aline produced her crystal ball and sat in a corner of the cave. She wished to attempt to scry upon Princess Elsa. She once more entered a deep trance. This time, she could see the princess clearly. She wore a blue and white dress and had long silver white hair in a braid. She was lying supine on the floor at the base of an icy throne, draped over the arm of the throne and staring up at its occupant like an adoring puppy. Her eyes appeared glazed and vacant.

The occupant of the throne was a middle-aged man with light blue skin and a vulture-like beak of a nose. He wore long blue wizard robes and had white hair and a long white beard. He wore an ancient gold crown on his head studded with three rubies. His eyes were cold and white.
All around them, villagers wearing black and white livery were appearing for some kind of wedding ceremony. Some of the villagers were frozen in blocks of ice, their eyes darting about in desperation. The hall was made entirely of ice and cold dim light filtered down from overhead. The entire palace seemed carved from the interior of a glacier.

She returned to her body in the cave of Urglorz to find the aftermath of a battle.

The other members of her party had just slain some kind of shadowy amorphous creature, a devil from hell! They told her that as soon as she entered her trance, her eyes began to glow and she began to chant some kind of infernal ritual. A cloud of black smoke coalesced above the crystal ball and formed into the shadow fiend. They had just slain the monster before she regained consciousness.

Aline was perplexed. She informed them of the earlier encounter when she tried to scry upon Elsa. She theorized that since her first use of the crystal ball had no ill effects, the devils must be a side-effect of using the crystal ball to scry on this world. She promised not to use the artifact again until they once more returned to their own world.

TO BE CONTINUED!

After Thoughts

The Stones of Transposition
The Stones of Transposition are a convenient device to introduce player characters who have no logical way of entering the story, and also of eliminating player characters from the middle of the story. Trevor was out sick this week and Lucinda was back, so Dornan was gone and Aline returned. Next week, when Trevor returns, he'll accidentally use the stone in his pocket to magically reappear. If no one is holding the stone on the other end, he'll just switch places with the stone.

Elsa and the Ice King? Really???
Yes. Elsa and the Ice King. It's an ice-themed adventure. Sue me.

Really, its because I bought a miniature that looked like Elsa so I painted it liked Elsa. And the Ice King just because it's funny. When they found the Ice King's bedroom in the actual game, I described it as a dude's hangout. There was a drum set, a weight set, the tapestries displayed various bards and princesses, and a Kung Fu magazine, the kind you'd find in convenience stores in the early Eighties, was next to the bed, and port was under the mattress. Few of my players watch Adventure Time so few got the references. They just thought it was strange. I rescinded the descriptions with a "Just joking" and replaced them with more fantasy world appropriate decor.

I promise that my Ice King will be actually evil and not the sad sympathetic story of Simon Petrikov from Adventure Time. He's got a cool (no pun intended) back-story and evil agenda in my world. I'm just waiting for my players to take the time to read his journal.

I thought about making the Ice King be Urgence Evergreen's pupil Gunther since Gunther lives in a time roughly contemporary with the age in which my campaign is set. But that would ruin my back-story and Simon's obsession with Princess Elsa.

"The Great Stone Head of Zothalech", Chapter 2 of The Fates of Kalmath

This week, two members of the company will perish! Who will survive the deadly Great Stone Head of Zothalech!

The Company:

Ser Valerius, Armiger Errant, Executor of Justicia (Human Level 5 Paladin)

and his Celestial Lion Mount.

Absolom, Justicar (Human Level 4 Cleric/Level 1 Monk)

Gravy, Priest of Thumn (Human Level 4 Cleric)

Balatan of Clan Brocktaw, Bronze Draconic Priest of Bahamut (Dragonborn Level 4 Cleric)

Aline, a Thaumaturge of half-Human/half-Sylvan parentage (Level 4 Half-Elf Wizard) 

Thaddeus, Under-City Scout from Swallow (Human Level 5 Ranger)

First, Some Personal Stuff
I apologize for not updating this blog much. I got a bad case of cellulitis, a type of skin infection, in my right leg in early December. This put me out of commission for several weeks. Then, after that, we had Christmas and New Years. As a result, we have not gotten together to play D&D since December 5th. I am happy to report that my leg is nearly completely healed and Christmas went very well. I hope everyone else had a happy and safe holiday season.

Prologue
Aline left Swallow on her long journey to rejoin the company. On her way, she took a detour to the cave that once belonged to the ogre that menaced a young farmer. The cave was on a ridge with a magnificent view of the lower Xanthus river valley. Mist constantly blew up from the humid jungles below. Braxton Hicks had once proclaimed that he would one day retire to this cave.

Aline took the clay jars containing the last remains of Braxton Hick and placed them within the cave. She then performed a magic ritual to cast a spell onto the cave's entrance. From this day forward, any time anyone approached the cave, a voice would proclaim, "Welcome to the cave of Braxton Hicks!"

She paused for a moment to admire the view, then turned and continued her hike to Flinch.

How Much for Your Dragon?

Dawn broke over the desert city of Horek, eastern-most city of Kalmath. Valerius and the company rose and prepared to leave the hospitality of the satrap of the city. A messenger informed them of an invitation to the court of the satrap, they accepted.

The court of the satrap was populated with courtiers, advisers, gnomes, a few dwarves, some dragonborn traders from the north, and tieflings from the southwest. The satrap rose from his high seat and approached the company. He walked past Sablius, inspecting him and admiring him like he would a horse for purchase.

The satrap asked which of them was the owner of the magnificent beast. Valerius politely responded that Sablius had no owner but that he considered himself himself the dragon's guardian.  The satrap offered 50,000 gold pieces for the purchase of the dragon. Valerius politely refused. The satrap pressed, offering slaves, land, fortresses, even offering a male winged saber-toothed dragon-tiger (an offer that made Absolom whisper into Valerius ear to at least consider), finally asking what could he offer that would change Valerius' mind. Valerius continued to politely and respectfully decline.

Seeing that no sum would sway Valerius, the satrap acquiesces, "I see there is no price that I can pay. This is a city of commerce. I am a man of honor and I recognize the ownership of property. The ownership and transfer of property is the root of trade.  You may take your leave.

The company was informed they could stay in Horek until sundown at which point their passports would no longer be valid. With that, Valerius and the company left the court of the satrap.

Princess Murti Makes an Offer
The party exited the city and stopped in the hostel and inn known as the Drunken Merchant. There they reunited with Balatan and Princess Murti, who was disguised as a simple slave girl. Also present was Aline, who had traveled from Swallow to Flinch, learned of the company's plans to go to Horek, and had finally caught up with the company this morning.

Princess Murti met the company in a private room. She thanked everyone for helping her reach Horek. She has found her secret cache of gold intact and instructed Ashlor to stand guard over it. Ashler is prepared to pay 1000 gold pieces to the company for helping her reach the city.

"However, I have an additional offer. Help me free my royal guards from the Prison of Zothalech and I will reward you with an additional 2000 gold pieces!"

The company agreed and asked for details.

"While I was in Horek, I did some research, consulting some trusted sages. The prison of Zothalech used to be an ancient fortress. It was built on the ruins of an even older fortress. Its roots run deep below the city. The fortress is today used as a prison. It is run by the gnomes of and houses both common debtors and noble prisoners.

"The prison is surrounded by a twenty-foot thick outer wall and a forty-foot wide moat filled with vicious carnivorous fish.

"The only way into the dungeon is as a prisoner or a supply wagon. The only prisoners it takes are those unable to pay their debt to the gnomes, the strategically important, relatives of nobles who are willing to pay to commute a death sentence, be more valuable alive than dead, or otherwise receive a sentence other than beheading for whatever reason.

"Normally, the only way out of the dungeon is to serve your sentence, have your ransom paid, or death.

"There are three known dungeon levels beneath the fortress. The level closest to the surface contains pens for commoners, the perimeter is lined with dungeon cells for nobles. The lower level contains oubliettes for prisoners given "life sentences". They are lowered into a pit and left to die a slow and horrible death.

"The lowest level is known as the 'crypt'. Prisoners are told that somewhere within the crypt is an exit to the outside. Any prisoner may choose the crypt over their current sentence. Should they do so, they are lowered into a pit from which they are never head again. It is not known if there is, in fact, an exit or if it a cruel lie. No one has ever escaped the crypt to confirm the story.

"I have learned from trusted sages that, according to legend, the crypt does, indeed, contain a secret escape route built by the original inhabitants of the fortress. The secret route is a hidden teleport gate that connects the crypt with the under-city beneath Horek. I have learned the location of the gate in the undercity and the magic phrase that activates it: 'Sesallah-Setah'.

"My royal guard number 100 men. They are being held in two pens with the commoners in the level closest to the surface. I leave it to you to plan the best route of entry and escape."

The company discussed their options and decided to enter via the secret route through the crypt, ascend the various levels, free the royal guard, and escape the same way.

While the company purchased supplies, Aline consulted the crystal ball in the privacy of a room in the inn in order to scry on the satrap and on the prisoners.

She saw a vision of the satrap speaking to a courtier, "I must have that dragon, do you understand?" The courtier responded, "I understand, my satrap. I will make it so. I already have agents following them outside the city." The satrap eyed the courtier warily, "Know this, if you plan on doing anything dishonorable, I don't want to know about it!" The courtier replied with an evil grin, "Of course, my satrap."

Changing focus onto the prisoners, she saw the interior of the prison of Zothalech. A hundred well-muscled men of noble bearing were held in two large cages in a chamber supported by thick columns. Guards occasionally patrolled between the cages carrying rings of keys.

Looking away from the crystal ball, she noticed that her mouth was unusually dry and her throat hoarse.

Into the Under-City

Willie and Drew

Valerius took Sablius to a livery stable that friendly to the Order of the Gauntlet.  He placed Willie and Drew in charge of his safety. Absolom gave them a potion of diminution, instructing them to shrink Sablius in case agents of the satrap came to take him. As an added measure, Valerius left his celestial lion to stand guard with the two comical men-at-arms.

Using their passports, the company re-entered Horek, passing Princess Murti as a slave. Valerius hired ten water bearers and donned common burlap tunics and wrapped their heads and necks in keffiyeh scarves so that they would blend in with the bearers.

The disguised company, hidden among the water-bearers, then followed Princess Murti into the Under-City. Stairs led down from the street to an underground labyrinth filled with people, slaves carrying amphorae filled with water, peddlers offering the crushed root of the Red Lotus, smugglers, and others on daily business. The hired water bearers broke off from the group at various points, leading potential followers on a wild goose chase.

The princess led them to the great cistern, vast chamber filled with millions of gallons of water. The ceiling high above was supported by massive columns. The architecture of past ages was visible everywhere in haphazard strata. The company hired a skiff and crossed the cistern, taking a flooded tunnel. The tunnel led to an abandoned passage blocked by bars. Valerius and Balatan easily pulled the ancient rusted bars out of the wall and they continued. The passage was moist and covered in roots and mold.

They ultimately entered a round chamber, a hemisphere, the walls of which were covered in ancient symbols. Roots and moss dangled from cracks in the ceiling. A silver disk was embedded in the floor, surrounded by arcane symbols. As agreed, Princess Murti would return to the surface while the rest of the company continued. The company entered the chamber and said the magic words, "Sesallah-Setah". The room was filled with light while glowing motes swirled around. The company vanished.

The Crypt
The company was transported to an identical room. Balatan, using his magic dwarven warhammer, could tell that they had descended from their previous location and were about two hundred feet below ground. They left the chamber and entered a wide corridor that stretched left and right. The door into the chamber was made to blend into the wall and be hidden. Valerius marked the door with chalk.

The company went left and after a short corridor found another round chamber with a silver disc and arcane text in the floor. There was one exit to the right. While holding open the entrance as a precaution, they tried unsuccessfully to open the far door. They returned the way they came.

The company found a room used by priests to prepare for ceremonies. Doors on the opposite wall were engraved with the bas relief of a great angry face. They opened the door and found a large chamber. A great stone head with the angry face stood on a raised platform against the wall to their right. Half a dozen white marble statues stood in various poses across the room, all figures captured in a moment of terror, frozen in mid-scream as they looked upon the great stone head. They carefully closed the door and tried another exit from the priests' room.

The Foiled Gas Trap
The wall of the adjoining short corridor caught Gravy's eye. On closer inspection, he noticed a loose brick which Thaddius removed with his thieves' tools. Behind the brick was a hole, large enough for a man's arm. The hole turned down about elbow's length. Wary of a trap, Aline cast a spell known as "Mage Hand" to explore the hole. Just past the bend, the hand encountered a small metal wheel attached to a valve. She turned the valve to the right until it stopped. There was no other effect.

The company opened the next door, noting that the door attached to a spring to close it automatically and was built to form an airtight seal. Thaddius used pitons to spike the door open. They entered the long corridor beyond. Halfway down the corridor, the door strained to close and a gasp of air was released into the room. The company had bypassed the gas trap by turning off the gas before entry.

Beyond the far door, the company encountered another round room with a silver disc and magical writing. This time, believing that only one door could be opened at a time, they allowed the entrance to close. The moment they did so, they were surrounded by light and glowing swirling motes and vanished from the room.

The Chamber of the Zombie Snakes
They appeared in a niche in a nondescript hallway with several other niches and doors and other corridors. They explored a path to the left, eventually coming into a large chamber filled with thousands of rasping zombie snakes, the sound of which resembled thousands of pieces of sand-paper being rubbed together. They stood on a platform in a corner of the room, stairs led down into the writhing mass. Similar platforms could be seen in two other corners. The fourth corner contained a passage.

Balatan called upon his god, Bahamut, to banish the zombie snakes. Half the snakes in the room crumbled to dust. Aline and Gravy used magic to zap some remaining pockets, but as they did so the snakes from the other half of the room began to fill in the cleared area. Valerius suggested that since this would take forever and since they didn't know if they needed to cross this chasm, they should go back and try one of the other doors.

The Great Stone Head

The company retraced their steps and took another door. They soon found themselves in the chamber of the great stone head and the frightened statues. They carefully entered the room, wary of the statues. Suddenly, the eyes of the great stone head began to glow. Thaddius, Absolom, and Aline looked at the statue and found themselves frozen in place. Meanwhile, Valerius, Balatan, and Gravy managed to avert their eyes or were otherwise not looking at the statue's eyes.

Suddenly, three of the statues came to a jerking scraping life with the sound of scraping stone. The statues closed on Balatan, Valerius, and Gravy and attacked. Aline cast two fireball spells at the great stone head, causing it to crack then explode into chunks of debris. She found herself suddenly free of the freezing grip of the statue's gaze. The remaining two statues froze in place, the source that controlled their actions now destroyed.

Unfortunately, Thaddius and Absolom had lost their fight against the magic of the great stone head. To the dismay of the rest of the company, they remained statues of white marble.

The surviving members of the company briefly discussed their options. It was clear that should this mission succeed, the its secret route would be discovered and would be sealed up forever. There was no way to save their companions. They pressed on.

They took another exit and explored a short passage. They opened the door at the end onto a large dark chamber. Pale white blind beings with long scraggy hair, beings that were once human, turned from their feeding from a font of black ichor, bearing sharp twisted teeth and hissing.

TO BE CONTINUED!

After Thoughts

The gun is good. The penis is evil.

The Great Stone Head was described as looking like the angry stone head from Zardoz. It was depicted on the table with an Olmec head figurine purchased from the pet store as an aquarium decoration.

The way it worked was anyone just looking at the head from outside the room had no effect. Once you entered the room, you made a save. Each player got to choose: Dexterity (to look away), Wisdom (for quick thinking), or Intelligence (to know what was coming). The DEX save had a difficulty of 20. The WIS save had a difficulty of 16. The INT save had a difficulty of 12. However, I didn't tell my players what the difficulties were and that, I feel, was a mistake on my part. Some players chose DEX because it was their best bonus, but had they known that INT had the lowest difficulty, they might have chosen that. As a result, Thaddius and Absolom were turned to stone.

What I now realize I SHOULD have done was either make all three saves the same difficulty or told the players up front what the difficulties were and allowed them to choose.  Ah, hindsight.

Once you started making saves, the only thing that would save you was the destruction of the Great Stone Head, which was a large stone object with an AC of 17 (for its hardness) and 27 hit points, with resistance to fire, piercing, and slashing; vulnerability to thunder; and immunity to necrotic, poison, psychic, and radiant.Destroying the Great Stone Head stops the need for ongoing saves but does not save anyone already turned to stone.

Because I felt bad for not telling them the difficulty, I had a vial of Potion of Great Restoration located within the head so that the players could choose one character to bring back to life. However, both of the players who lost a character protested! They felt that their characters' deaths were justified and added to the drama of the story, and that bringing one or both of them back would be wussing out. They said without the threat of death, there was no sense of danger. So I obliged and withdrew the potion.

"Not My Forte'!" Chapter 9 of the Lost Mines of Elder Flinch

In this episode, the team learn the value of having a healer and a defender in the party as they continue to explore the Lost Mine of Elder Flinch without the aid of Ser Valerius or a cleric. This week, they meet a deranged magical guardian, run away from a frightening apparition, eradicate a flock of bloodthirsty stirges, dismantle a troop of skeletons, barely defeat a pack of ghouls, lose one of their own against a room full of bugbears, bypass a glowing skull, and lose another of their own against the remaining ghouls.

Spoiler Warning! This is a florid retelling of the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure included with the Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition Starter Set.

The party:


Aline, a Thaumaturge of half-Human/half-Sylvan parentage (Level 4 Half-Elf Wizard) 

Braxton Hicks, a Hillfolk Explorer and Trail Guide (Level 4 Halfling Ranger)

Syral, Sylvan Assassin (Level 4 Wood Elf Rogue)

The Starry Cavern
As they stood in the starry cavern, its high ceiling glittering like the night sky, Ser Valerius bade his temporary farewell to the party. He was taking his prisoner, the Black Spider, along with the rescued dwarven survivor, back to Wyvern Tor to leave with Balaton of Clan Brocktaw.

The remaining members of the party, Aline, Braxton, and Syral, stood before the ancient sigil-inlaid door of a small stone structure. Unlike the other architecture of the mine, this structure was built for human habitation. Recalling the story of how human wizards cohabited with dwarfs and gnomes within this mine, they suspected that this was once the domicile of a wizard long dead.

Hello!
They forced the door open and saw a large floating orb. The orb was a living creature. In the center of the orb was a giant single eye and a wide mouth filled with serrated teeth. Four tentacles sprouted from the orb. As the door was thrust wide the eye opened and the tentacles sprang to alert attention. A thought appeared in everyone's mind, "Hello!" 

"Hello!"

The party was momentarily taken aback. It was Braxton that first replied, "Hello?"

"Is the battle over? How did we fare?" inquired the orb.

The party tried to explain that the battle was over eighty years ago and that no one survived.

"Oh, that's quite impossible. My master, Noh-Nah-Meh, will be along to relieve me shortly. In the  meantime, I am tasked to guard this place until his return. Hello!"

The orb began again as if the previous ten seconds of conversation had never happened. And so it went for several minutes until Aline came upon an idea.

"Hello, I am your master."

"Oh! Have I been relieved of my duty?"

"Oh yes," replied Aline.

"Excellent! Is the battle over? How did we fare?" inquired the orb.

"Not well, I'm afraid." said Aline.

"Alas. That is not good. Well, if you need me, you know how to summon me!" and with that, the orb tore open a purple burning hole in reality and slipped back to its home dimension.

"Is the battle over? How did we fare?"

Within the room, the party found several old book filled with technical formulas and charts of the properties of various metals and materials, most of which were written in arcane code and far above the understanding of anyone in the party.

In addition, the found a mace with a head shaped like the sun and a suit of armor adorned and emblazoned with a serpentine golden dragon. Aline determined both to be magical, along with the gauntlets and wand both found earlier.

The party proceeded down some stairs cut into an escarpment that separated the large cave into an upper half and a lower half. Below, the found another square building, a domicile like the previous structure.

Mormesk the Bitter
The roof of the structure was sagging and in poor repair. As they forced open the broken doors, they found the remnants of a room that had been blasted by an explosion eighty years ago. Across the room they could see a treasure chest and a shelf of books, well preserved despite the destruction. Aline used a spell to manipulate the chest. She found it filled with coin and too heavy to lift.

As Braxton cautiously entered the room, alone, to retrieve the chest, a ghostly wraith materialized out of the floor next to him. "You dare violate the abode of Mormesk the Magician? You dare invade my domicile searching to steal my treasures? Fools!"

The party attempted to bargain with the wraith for its possessions. "You may have one treasure if you fulfill for me a single task. You must KILL that fucking spectator next door!"

"But, why?"

"Because it belonged to that asshole Noh-Nah-Meh! And I always hated Noh-Nah-Meh! I despised that asshole! What a dick!"

The party explained that the spectator has already been returned whom whence it came. Mormesk said, "Good! Well then, I guess you have nothing else to bargain with. Therefore, your life is forfeit, and your deaths belong to me!"

Not My Forte'!
Mormesk the wraith became a frightening visage of terror. The party bombarded Mormesk with attack spells and arrows. They shouted for Braxton to engage the wraith in melee. Braxton attacked with a weak, half-hearted strike. Sensing the disappointment of his companions, he defensively shouted, "Not my forte!" and turned to run.

As he turned to flee, the wraith reached into Braxton and grabbed his heart! Braxton froze as he felt his very life essence being pulled from his body. Suddenly, just as his soul was pulled nearly completely out of his body, he regained his composure and willed himself to live, pulling his soul back and throwing Mormesk away. Braxton scrambled and ran out of the room with his fellow companions not far behind.

They looked back to see Mormesk's gaunt skeletal face filling the entire doorway, his piercing scream blasting them with cold necrotic wind. The doors, once broken off their hinges, slammed back shut on their own accord, leaving the cavern in eerie silence.

Spores!
The party continued southwest and entered into a medium-sized cavern filled with giant mushrooms. The mushrooms were giving off an eerie green phosphorescence. There was little space to move through the room so they walked gingerly, careful to avoid stepping on a mushroom. It was Braxton who accidentally brushed against one of the massive fungi, causing it to release its spores. The event triggered a chain reaction. In a blink of the eye, every mushroom had discharged its spores, creating a thick choking miasma of glowing green motes.

The party ran from the cavern, covering their eyes and mouths and choking. Braxton barely made it out, but they ultimately escaped unharmed.

Stirges

They continued west, entering a four-way intersection of rough-hewn mine with a high dark ceiling. Suddenly, a flock of bat-winged creatures descended upon the party, hungry for blood. Aline, thinking quickly, waited for them to close and unleashed a clap of magical thunder. The shockwave instantly killed the entire flock! Ten rat-like bat-winged creatures with long blood-sucking proboscises fell dead to the mine floor like so many bags of wet clay.

Stirges!

Assay Office
Exploring a passage to the south, they entered a door to the right, finding a room with a long counter and a wall filled with several rows of small niches. Within each niche was an ancient piece of parchment covered in dwarfish runes. All papers that Braxton touched crumbled to aged flakes. Behind the counter Syral found a strong box. Without thief's tools, Syral was unable to open the box. They decided to take it with them, piling onto Braxton's already laden pack. 

Guard Room

Across the hall, they entered another room. A portion of the ceiling in this room had collapsed and the floor was littered with the bones of various victims, orcine and dwarven. When they entered the room, the bones began to assemble into makeshift skeletons of amalgam bones. The skeletons moved jerkily. They lurched forward towards the intruders. The party easily defeated the clattering horde with little trouble.

Lost in the Mines

The party found where they originally entered the mine. Having made a complete loop of the perimeter, they decided to head inward. Ignoring the door near the four-way intersection for now, they explored the passages to the northwest. They soon found the labyrinthine mines difficult to navigate and impossible to reconcile on their map. Ultimately, they found a set of rough hewn stairs headed north and climbed them.

Eaters of the Dead!
They found themselves in a vast cavern, over a hundred and fifty feet across and a hundred feet high in places, with a sunken rift in its center. Lurking near a large stalagmite and column were seven hunched humanoids, some dwarven and some orcine, with pale eyes that glowed in the darkness.

Wary, the party stayed near the exit. Suddenly, five of the figures burst forth, charging the party! They were ghouls, immortal Eaters of the dead! Syral fought a retreat, his elven blood immune to their potent paralyzation. Aline cast a spell that filled the entrance and the area beyond with magical spider webs, slowing the ghouls as they ran back into the complicated passages of the mine.

Defensive Position

After running blindly through the corridors, they found themselves having run a loop and in sight of the passage with the stairs. The sound of ghouls running down the passage could be heard. Aline and Braxton took position in a doorway and prepared ranged attacks in case any ghoul came their way. Syral guarded their rear. The ghouls emerged from the passage and took random paths. Two came towards them and were attacked by Aline's eldritch blasts and Braxton's deadly arrows. The rest, hearing the death screams of the others, came running. Aline, Braxton, and Syral were able to fight them two at a time and, in so doing, were able to defeat five ghouls. Two of the ghouls hung back, waiting around the corner. As the battle ended, they fled back up the stairs.

Two at a Time!

A Brief Reprieve
Wounded and frightened, the party retreated from the dungeon, climbing the rope out of the sink-hole and returning to Wyvern Tor. There they reunited with Ser Valerius and Balaton, along with the prisoner, the Black Spider, and the dwarf survivor. They studied the mace, armor, gauntlets, and wand, becoming familiar with the abilities and limitations of each. That night, they rested and recuperated.

Back Into the Mine
The next day, Ser Valerius and Balanton instead took the survivor and the prisoner back down the mountain to Flinch. Meanwhile, Syral, Aline, and Braxton donned their gear and descended the pit into the mine, hoping to complete their exploration.

They carefully retraced their steps back to the great hall, which they found empty. After thoroughly exploring it, they took a passage to the north. There they found a stout door covered in claw marks. Syral tried to open the door but met resistance. He shoved with all his weight and managed to burst the door open despite its being barricaded from within.

The Sad Demise of Syral the Assassin
Inside they found five bugbears, brutal agents of the Black Spider assigned to guard the door. They had been interrupted in the midst of an argument over what to do since they found several of their brethren killed with no sign of their leader. Faced with an immediate enemy, the bugbears rushed the intruders.

The fight in the doorway was brutal. A lucky shot took sent Syral to the floor. One of the bugbears dragged Syral's unconscious body into the room, separating him from his companions. Although many bugbears were killed, Braxton soon found himself at death's door as well. Finally, Aline was able to defeat the remaining two bugbears with a magical blast of thunder.

Acting quickly, she rushed to Syral's aid, but it was too late for the sylvan assassin. She quickly ran to Braxton and saved him with a healing potion. The pair laid their fallen companion on one of the stone slab beds, vowing to come back for him.

The party explored east and found a large chamber containing a complicated mechanical apparatus, a water-powered blast furnace used to smelt ore. The floor was littered in the long dead victims of that elder battle. Above the blast furnace hovered a floating skull, wreathed in green flame.

The pair carefully backed out of the room, unnoticed by the arcane sentry.

The party traveled back south, through the great hall, and down the southeast passage. There they found an old pantry, its goods long ago rotted into dust or evaporated into the air, leaving empty bags and casks.

The Gruesome Death of Braxton Hicks
The party came to the last unexplored room. They opened the door and spied five hunched orcine and dwarven humanoids with grey clammy skin and gaunt fanged faces. They were faced with five more ghouls!

The ghouls rushed the door. Braxton immediately ordered Aline to run, proclaiming that he had a plan!

Swarming the door. What's that fifth one doing?

The ghouls swarmed over the diminutive archer, clawing him, pulling him into the room, screaming.

Aline shouted, "Was that your plan?"

Braxton cried out, "No!"

The Gruesome Death of Braxton Hicks!

Before Aline turned the corner at the four-way intersection, she looked back. The last image she saw was Braxton being dragged into the room by three ghouls while a fourth slowly closed the door, watching her, holding his finger to his mouth as if to say "Shhhhh...". Braxton's muffled screams were all she could hear as Aline fled back to the sink-hole.

Aline Escapes

Meanwhile, the fifth ghoul had exited through a side door and was trying to sneak up on her. She ran for the rope and pulled it up behind her. The fifth ghoul ran out and jumped for it, but missed. It sat there watching her. She hurled a witchbolt at it and it ran away.

At the top of the sink hole, Aline realized. All the party treasure was now in that room.

TO BE CONTINUED!

After Thoughts

This is what happens when you try to take on an undead-themed dungeon without a fighter front line and without a cleric for healing and turning. Scott's paladin, Ser Valerius, is currently fulfilling both roles admirably. Unfortunately, Scott was in Florida this week and the rest of the party decided to carry on without him.

To their credit, they knew when they were in over their heads and fled when they could. Their goal was to scout the dungeon, eliminating the opposition when they could, noting it when they couldn't, and come back later with their paladin and cleric.

Speaking of cleric, we were really hoping Jeffy, who plays Balanton and has been absent from our group for many months, would be rejoining us tonight. He had signified his intent to join us. Every car that drove by outside got us excited, then ultimately disappointed. A large portion of the decision to continue was based on the hope that Jeffy's cleric would show up any minute now. Unfortunately, Jeffy was unable to make it.

The death of Braxton was brutal. Woobee really had a plan to save Braxton. He just wasn't counting on me to roll two critical hits in one turn. Ouch.

Aline is heading back to Flinch, hoping she'll be able to recruit more adventurers to clear the mine. The next time the party returns, Trevor is hoping to bring back Thaddeus the Urban Ranger and Woobee is still thinking about what he wants to play. He's leaning towards a dragonborn fighter.

We're not gaming next week. Our next game is scheduled for October 24th. Then a week off for Halloween. The week after that is November 7th.

Lucinda, who plays Aline, is pregnant and is due November 8th, so she may or may not be there and even if she is, it will be her last game for a few months.

However, about that same time, Dodd will return and he'll be able to play Gravy, once and for all!