Three Specters - The Land of Jo'Ril, Chapter 20

The party once again returns to the Tomb of the Lost Lich, where they barely escape the deadly touch of three specters!

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 3 cleric
• Gordon Binghampton, level 4 cleric, out this week
• Boots Stavish, level 1 half-elf
• Hildetrude, a level 1 Halfling NPC hireling
• Aerert, a charmed NPC man-at-arms
• 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. 

After resting overnight at the Wight and Crying Queen Inn, the party reunited with Gordon Binghampton and returned to the Tomb of the Lost Lich, this time without Boots.

1. Random Spitting Cobra killed Aerert.

2. 3 Specters. The door was cold and stuck. Forcing it open revealed a chill room. The partyh's breath was visible. Two ruby hearts were placed on iron bars atop an altar. Three warriors had commited ritual suicide before the altar. Wumpus took the hearts and triggered three specters to arise from the bodies. The doors magically slammed shut. Wumpus forced open the east door. The party fled from the deadly specters. Gordon Binghampton lost a shield to one of the specters. The party escaped, closing the door behind them. The specters did not pursue.

3. Dead Goblin. Room full of cages large enough to transport humanoids. A dead goblin lie on the floor. Looting the body revealed stolen expensive jewelry.

4. Random Pit Viper. Room with a large bear rug. The body of a dead human lie on the rug. Andrew Price searched the body, revealing a hidden pit viper! The pit viper struck, somehow ruining Price's shield. The party retreated from the body, leaving the pit viper alone.

Wumpus scouted the next room to the east and spotted some coffins and a ceiling covered in bats. He quietly returned, whisphered what he had found, told the others to remain silent, and that they would be leaving to the south.

5. A Stuck Door that no one could open and a fruitless investigation of the dead end hoping to find a secret door.

6. Encountered Waverly (who's player had just shown up).

7. An Old Laboratory, used for the exsanguination of victims. On the floor was the body of an orc. Looting the body revealed 210 gp, two gems worth 110 gp, and a useable pole.

8. An Old Library with a barrel on the north wall. Wumpus opened the barrel, breaking a gas-filled bladder that spread poion in a 10-foot radius. Wumpus coughed but survived. (Wumpus saved vs poison). The barrel contained 200 gp.

9. 18 Rats. A small shrine with 18 rats feasting on the corpse of a goblin. The rats were quickly killed. The goblin had two small gems worht 36gp sewn into its eye sockets. 

10. A Known Room. A locked door revealed this room, covered in rose petals. They had been here before. They exited to the east.

11. Mushrooms. A room covered in green and purple bioluminescent mushrooms. A dragon skull sat in a large basin surrounded by cloves of garlic. A large bag lay in the corner. Wumpus carefully avoided the mushrooms and retrieved the bag with his 10-foot-pole. The bag contained custom-fit armor bearing the seal of House Solomon. The party took the dragon skull and the garlic. No mushrooms were eaten.

12. Strange Vines grew over an arch. The vines contained hanging fruit resembling dark red jellied eggs. Each fruit contained the dark form of a tiny humanoid creature. Bits of flesh and bowls of blood were left as offerings around the plant. The dead body of an orc lay sprawled at its base. One of the eggs fell to the floor, bursting. The tiny monstrous creature rolled over and crawled towards the flesh and began to feed. 

Waverly said, "NOPE! Burn it with oil! ALL the oil! I'm using all my remaining flasks of oil!" The others followed suit, burning the vine as the eggs popped with tiny hideous screams.

The body had 10 gp, a dagger, and a key.

13. An Old Torture Chamber, the floor covered in blue and red bioluminescent mushrooms. Searching a shelf revealed a key.

14. 25 Rats. A Library, the books rotten and useless. A crate on the west wall contained 220 gp. A concealed door in the southwest revealed a secret room filled with rats. The rats were quickly killed. A goat skull hung on the wall. Hidden within the skull was a key.

15. Prisoner. A locked door opened by one of their keys. A room containing a prisoner - Gebehrt Wanthilde, nephew of Milia Wanthilde from Arkon. Andrew Rice pushed a crate on the north wall with his 10-foot pole, activating a trap causing heavy stones in the ceiling to fall. The crate contained 40 gp.

16. 9 Kobolds. A room filled with kobolds carving graffiti onto the walls. The kobolds were as surprised by the party as they were by the kobolds. The kobolds scurried into defensive positions, waiting to see what the party would do. Wumpus attempted unsuccessfully to communicate with them, eventually resorting to pointing and waving his hands. They got the message and evacuated the room via the door to the east. Wumpus saw them approach a set of wooden stairs down the corridor. They avoided the stairs and instead climbed the sheer wall to escape. 

The room was otherwise filled with small cages, large enough for children, goblins, or halflings. 

17. 5 Goblins. While searching the room, a concealed door opened in the southwest corner. Goblin faced peeked out to see if the coast was clear. Upon seeing the party they quickly closed the door. 

The party formed around the door. Wumpus quickly determiend how the door opened, revealing five goblins which were quickly dispatched - but not before causing some serious wounds to the party.

The goblins carried 5 gp. A pile of bones in the corner of the secret room contained a key. 

18. Secret Door. While carefully examining the utilitarian wooden stairs, Wumpus found the words "Darkened Heart" painted on the ceiling. Litera noticed a symbolic heart carved into the wall nearby. 

19. 36 Rats. While touching the heart, they said "Darkened Heart", revealing a concealed chamber. The chamber was filled with rats, which Arrn put to sleep with a spell. Inside were 4 gems worth 180 gp. 

DM Note- when using sleep vs. 1 hp rats, I had Arrn's player roll the number of HD = 9, Then roll 9d8 to determine how many 1 HP rats he put to sleep.

20. 3 Spitting Cobras. Wumpus and Waverly returned to searching the stairs. Wumpus became impatient and climbed the stairs, triggering the attack of three hidden cobras! Wumpus was bitten once but survived the poison (Wumpus saved vs. poison).

Arrn put the snakes to sleep with a spell and the party left the dungeon. 

They returned to the Wight and Crying Queen Inn to rest and recover. 

DM Note- Andrew Price and Godron Binghampton leveled. 

 

Return to the Tomb of the Lost Lich - The Land of Jo'Ril, Chapter 19

The party returns to the Tomb of the Lost Lich. Is this too much dungeon for them?

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 3 cleric
• Gordon Binghampton, level 4 cleric, out this week
• Fitzhugh Skitter, level 2 thief 
• Hildetrude, a level 1 Halfling NPC hireling

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. 

After resting overnight at the Wight and Crying Queen Inn, the party reunited with Arrn and returned to the Tomb of the Lost Lich, this time without Gordon.

1. Two Troglodytes. The party, certain of the presence of a secret door in this corridor, returned to try again. This time, they found it after thirty minutes of searching. They entered and spotted the troglodytes using their mimicry ability to set up an ambush (neither side was surprised, thanks to the Waverly's ranger abilities). The troglodytes were quickly killed and looted, producing 16 gems worth 815 gp in total and 20 jewelry items worth 4,550 gp in total. It was later determined that the troglodytes were guards placed in a magical form of suspended animation.

2. Seven Pit Vipers. A room with lit by a single candle lit in a sconce. The center of the room was covered in a large pile of debris, loose bricks, large rocks, etc. A human man was chained to the wall in the southwest corner. Wumpus went to his aid, then called Fitz over to open the manacles. Fitz inspected the manacles, they were held by a cotter pin. She removed it and glared at Wumpus. As she trudged back to the southeast corner of the room, she stepped over the debris pile. A venomous pit viper, hidden within the loose stones and bricks, struck her. She staggered before falling to the ground, dead. (Failed Save vs. Poison).

Wumpus quickly killed the viper while Waverly doused the entire pile in oil before setting it ablaze. The pile burned. Six more vipers emerged from their hiding spots, fleeing the flames.

DM Note- By my original design, had they just avoided the pile of debris, they wouldn't trigger any vipers at all. However, setting the pile on fire did one round of burning damage to the vipers but forced them out of the pile. They're animals so I rolled reactions for each viper to see if they'd just flee or attack. 

Two slithered towards Wumpus and Waverly, biting but missing. Arrn cast a sleep spell and all the vipers fell into torpor. They were quickly dispatched as the flames died down. The party quickly dispatched the remaining vipers. The room produced no treasure.

3. Five Robber Flies. A secret door in the northwest corner kept opening, then closing, then opening, then closing. It was soon discovered that one of Arrn's invisible guards had been pressing on the floor plate in the previous room, opening and closing the secret door.

DM Note- the real reason was I said, "Oh wait, you stepped on the plate, the door is open!" and opened it in the VTT, then immediately remembered, "Wait, that was yesterday, the door is re-closed. No, it should be open." and I literally kept opening and closing it in the VTT. Wumpus' player said "Which is it?!" and I came up with the story about the guard stepping on the plate over and over again. 

Inside the secret room were five yellow-and-black insects, each the size of a large rat! Were they hornets? Bees? It was difficult to say. They leaped onto Wumpus and Waverly and began biting with their mouth parts. 

DM Note- one of the bees bit Wumpus HARD twice! Once for 8 damage and once for 7 damage!

The lack of stingers told Waverly these were robber flies, insects that resemble killer bees. The insects were soon dispatched.

A lever was located in the secret room. Waverly pulled the lever but it was blocked. Suddenly, a spitting cobra slithered out from under the lever! 

DM Note- I had rolled the cobra as a wandering monster, and this was a perfect place to fit it in!

The cobra was quickly killed before it could do any harm.

Waverly pulled the lever with no immediate effect.

The human captive turned out to be a half-elf from the city Arkon. He introduced himself as Boots.

DM Note- we used the captive as a way to introduce Fitz's new replacement character.

4. 76 Bats. Wumpus forced opened the door to this room to find dozens of bats flying hanging from the ceiling. The opening of the door sent them into a swarm, filling the room with a cyclonic cloud of flying bats! Arrn cast a sleep spell and all the bats fell to the floor. The room produced no treasure.

DM Note- I wasn't quite sure how 7HD of monsters equated to 76 bats each with 1hp. In retrospect, I should have had Arrn's player roll 7d8 and that many bats would fall asleep. Whatever, they're just bats.

A secret door to the north was open, revealing a hidden niche filled with bat food. 

The door to the west was locked but a key the party had earlier found fit and the door opened.

5. Four Killer Bees.  An altar contained four large yellow-and-black flying bee-like insects. These attacked immediately, stinging Wumpus multiple times (Successful Saves vs. Poison). That these had stingers and died after using them told Waverly they were giant killer bees. The bees were soon eliminated. The room produced no treasure.

The party thought about continuing north but, out of holy miracles and arcane spells, and low on hit points, they decided to retrieve Fitzhugh's body, retreat to the entrance, and return to to the Wight and Crying Queen Inn. There Wumpus buried Fitz with a dwarven funeral dirge.

Back at the Inn

DM Note - We had about thirty minutes left to play so we did some interaction with some NPCs at the inn. I used donjon's random inn generator to create some more guests. 

Wumpus met a male dwarven storyteller and his male travelling companion. The storyteller had been cursed by a necromancer in the city of Tybor int he neighboring land of Urazar. The travelling companion was a drunkard trying to scam people out of free drinks. Wumpus also met a female dwarf travelling to Kömür to earn money for her hold - her clan's mine had dried up and they need some more money to survive a few more months while they dig deeper, hoping to find a lost vein of gold. Arrn offered her money but she angrily snapped, "A dwarf never accepts charity!" 

DM Note - That's where we left. What will happen next week? Will they return to the obviously deadly Tomb of the Lost Lich for some more punishment? Will they seek a gentler dungeon? Will they travel to Ankar? Who knows? 

The Tomb of the Lost Lich - The Land of Jo'Ril, Chapter 18

 

The party ventures into the Tomb of the Lost Lich, meet their match, and decide to withdraw.

We are playing Old School Essentials, which is another way of saying Basic D&D circa 1981.

The Party:

• Arrn, level 3 magic user - out this week
• Wumpus, level 4 dwarf
• Waverly, level 3 ranger - showed up two hours late
• Andrew Price, level 4 cleric
• Gordon Binghampton, level 4 cleric
• Fitzhugh Skitter, level 1 thief 
• Hildetrude, a level 1 Halfling NPC hireling

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 party, minus Arrn (whose player is on vacation) descend into the tunnel beneath the privy of the ruined Castle Solomon. Within, it is rumored, dwells the vampire of Baron Solomon himself!

1. Some gnolls can be seen in the next room, arguing over treasure. They advanced to the corridor and wait for the gnolls to notice them.
2. Three gnolls arguing over some treasure, spot the party and charge to fight. They engage at the entrance to the room. All three are quickly dispatched. They return to search room 1. 
• The gnolls had 8 gems worth 630 gp in total.
• Two cages containing long dead skeletons flank the stairs at the entrance.
• Skeleton of an orc near the entrance impaled against the wall by a sword, 20gp in a bag. 
• A key hanging on a hook on the wall earns much suspicion but no trap is found. 
• Some cracked tiles on the floor are removed to reveal another key. 
• A phrase is painted on the ceiling in the ancient runes of the Priests of Law: "Magical Bones". 
3. The room is barred from the inside. Waverly forces it open. Three crypts and a pile of gold. Wumpus enters. Glowing green and blue mists emanate from the crypts, coalescing into wraiths! The clerics attempt to turn undead but fail. The party withdraws to the door and begin hurling flasks of holy water - remarkably effective against the wraiths. Wumpus and Andrew each lose a level! The party withdraws to room 2 but are pursued by the lone remaining wraith. It is eventually defeated by holy water. The party takes a much needed ten-minute rest.
• Treasure pile contains 5,250 gp.
4. The party encounters a lone bee the size of a large rat. It watches them. They watch it. They move near it - maybe its a druid? They try to talk to it. The bee attacks them but is quickly dispatched. Waverly the ranger determines it is a type of wasp called a Robber Fly - they look just like giant killer bees and hunt them as prey. The party is warned - there may be killer bees about.
5. While traversing this corridor, Waverly could smell a foul odor, like a skunk, emanating through the wall. Wumpus could hear the guttural hissing reptilian speech of troglodytes behind the wall. Despite an organized search of both walls, no secret door could be found.
6. Five gnolls are sitting in a room cleaning their weapons. They hear the party approaching. A battle ensues. One gnoll panics and flees through the east door. Waverly chases the gnoll down and kills it. The other gnolls are soon dispatched save one who surrenders. It is allowed to flee without its weapon. 
• The walls are encrusted with hundreds of humanoid skulls.
• A wooden plaque is fixed to one wall, on it are painted the words "Magical Spirit" in the ancient runes of the priests of Law.
7. Curious to where the other gnoll was fleeing, they find a locked door. The key from the hook works! Within they find a desiccated orc lying on wood planks on the floor in the center of the room. The floor is covered in dried rose petals. Wumpus uses a ten foot pole to push the orc body off the planks. Picking up the planks reveal a deep pit covered in spikes. Wumpus and Waverly moves the planks aside to reveal the pit and inspect the orc's body.
• 20gp
• a warm cloak
• a sling
• another key
  
• The walls and floor and ceiling are covered in dried orc blood, the spray pattern indicate an explosion of blood from a point in mid-air ten feet above the ground. There are two "shadows" where no blood spray touched the floor. Are there TWO vampires?
• The doors to the north and the east are locked or barred and cannot be opened.

8. After a short ten minute rest, the party returns to the corridor to try to search for the secret door they KNOW is there! They give up after spending nearly an hour searching. 
9. The party spends some more time searching for a secret door in this dead end.
10. Another floor covered in rose petals. Waverly inspects a pile of sacks in the corner, poking it with her sword - one of the sacks explodes with poison gas. Waverly makes her saving throw and covers her mouth, coughing. She is safe. The bag contains 20gp. A wooden sign on the west wall contains the word "Magical ___" with a blank space. Gordon remembers the phrase "Magical Bones" painted on the wall at the entrance and "Magical Spirit" in room 6. Gordon touches the sign and begins pairing "Magical" with various body parts - "Blood, Muscle, Sinew", etc. He eventually tries "Magical Bones" and the wall turns, revealing a hidden alcove. Within the alcove he found:
• a long leather bag containing a custom-made sword. On the bag is embossed the name "Luda Framtrude of Arkon".
• The sword was curved like a claw and decorated with pointy bits reminiscent of teeth.

The party, wary of another encounter like the wraiths, or heaven-forbid a vampire, decides to exit the dungeon. It is mid-afternoon. They return to their temporary base of operations, the Wight and Crying Queen inn, three hours away. They arrive just after sundown. 

Where will they go next week? I have no idea! It's a HEX CRAWL!