The Caron Campaign

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 3 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 3 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 3 Mage), Rir (Lvl 3 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 3 Rogue)

Friday

The Ripper Five try to track down who has written the article in Under

the Heel. They find that Eccle the carter delivered the newspaper a few days

ago. He cannot recall what job he did a few days ago, his log is empty for

that day, and his wife recalls that he did get paid. They discover that random

people deliver the newspaper each day, no office can be found, and no one

knows where it is printed.

Rivery visits the prostitutes for the evening. He asks them about

Under the Heel. They know nothing, but in eight days they will have something

for him.

Aislyn asks Darthia about Under the Heel and she repeats the rumor that

the Mage's Guild produces the newspaper. Thus there may have been no one watching

their adventure with the Ripper, they may have used magic to either view the events,

or interogated them and caused them to forget. While this explains the "omniscient"

nature of the newspaper sometimes, it is not clear why the Duke tolerates its seditious

ranting. It is valuable for desiminating information and cuts down the spread

of rumors and speculation.

Saturday

Rivery awakens early and stakes out the carters day labor hut. He finds

nothing as Under the Heel is not published today.

Berana asks Uthnel about Dr. Copelius. He tells them that Copelius is

a genius and creates all manner of constructs. He has a rolling library, and

often is accompanied by mechanical bodyguards. He is a member of the Mage's

Guild (Rivery is paranoid about them at the moment), but has taken a less

active roll. He does seem obsessed with his work.

Stopping by the Ten Bells they see that it remains a crime scene.

Aurelia did ask after Biassay and found him sleeping.

They go to Copelius. They meet his mechanical butler and tell him

that they are the Ripper Five and are investigating the robbery at his house

of a few nights ago. The butler invites them in, and returns with a crystal

ball. Copelius talks to them, and invites them back to his lab. They see

some of his creations (cleaning bots, etc.) and see him working on a very large

metal construct. On the way they notice a pawn piece in a curosity cabinet

with other objects of art. They bluntly tell him that they will investigate

the attempted robbery in return for the piece. He agrees and promises to send

his "Chief of Security", Livy, a Silk Gollum with claws, along with them.

She is powered by a cat brain, needs to be repaired with fabric and thread

(roll d20, 1-5 = 1/4, 6-15 1/2, 16-19 3/4, 20 full repair adds for knowing

how to sew, she carries her own repair kit. For full repair she has to go

to Dr. Copelius and it takes at least a day), is immune to most magic,

very light, fast, jump and climbs easily, and is vulnerable to fire.

She does need to be wound up every twenty four hours, with a special key.

What is Dr. Copelius interest in the piece? (1/20) None at all. As long

as they have dealt a blow to those who attacked his house he is happy

to give them the piece. He notes that he needs something smarter than

an animal to run his larger creation. The Ripper Five do not volunteer.

Livy tells them that there were 5 to 6 black cloaked attackers,

who came up via a drain in the courtyard. They entered the house where

they were met by the bodyguards and forced to retreat. They killed one and found

a disecated human, some sort of undead. They see some constructs that are

reparing the courtyard.

Using their pieces they realize that there is piece under the low

city below the level of the sewers. They also notice that the Halder's

Gap piece is still behaving strangely. Entering the sewer's as close as

they can to the piece the begin to wander. They find a rats nest and kill

four giant rats. They stumble upon the entrance to Drakthar's Way.

They read grafiti at the entrance, "Drakthar is dead. Long live Drakthar."

Within they fight with the entrance guards using a sleep from Berana

to dispatch them. They kill two guards on the tunnel, are incompetant

at finding the treasure room, kill a sleeping goblin, and kill one of the

warg riding goblins. Hearing the howls from down the tunnel they retreat

to explore more of the old Dwarf work.

[cinabro]

Good session dominated by role playing. A good change of pace from the last few. They begin on Drakthar's Way from Shackled City. The town from

Shackled City came as a shock as it looks much like Caron being centered on a volcano with a round lake in the middle. I thought of Caron back in the

early 1990's. My players spend most of this session threatening to turn me in for plagerization every time something goes bad for them.

Who is Zagyg, the "rogue" mage? The answer is still not clear. The party should finally encounter him at our next session which I hope against hope will happen on my visit to Chicago next weekend. He was originally meant to be the Zagyg of Castle Zagyg, but I had to improvise something

else while waiting for Castle Zagyg to be released.

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 3 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 3 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 3 Mage), Rir (Lvl 3 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 3 Rouge), Livy (Lvl 1 Cloth Golum)

Saturday (continued)

The party fight the Adepts, one escaping, and capturing

one who suicides. They then smash up the Goblin Skirmishers, capturing

one. He tells them Drakthar is a powerful sorceror, but that he need

to sleep. They conclude he is a vampire, and decide they need to recover

their spells before taking him on. They leave the Drakthar's Way with

their prisoner.

They go to the South Tower and ask them to look after the goblin

prisoner. They say they will be back tomorrow and speak with Captain

Andretta.

They speak with Dr. Copelius. He continues to support them,

will repair Livy, and ID's their potions with a device he manufactured

for such purposes. After they leave he talks with Livy and realizes that

they need some sort of sun light to deal with the vampire. He begins

to add to her a sort of flash bulb system (3 bulbs that burn out after

use). (Call Light of the Sun 1d6 within 30 feet - bulbs that burn out

and are time consuming and expensive to replace.)

Rivery goes to find Osburn and find that the shop is closed, and

Osburn has gone home for the evening.

They overnight at the Temple of Athena and tell them that they

are facing a vampire. Biassay gives them the Cross Bow of Perkin which

is Holy Weapon (+2 Magic when wielded by those of Pure Heart, does 1d6

extra damage to evil and sucks one level/hit). There are 10 bolts.

They also gather lots of holy water.

Sunday

More Drug related deaths in Caron. News reports everywhere and Town Guard crack down.

14 total deaths attributed to the unusual drugs.

Story on events in Botkinburg in the Caron Chronicle.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Caron Chronicle

Ripper Five Defeat Red Hats in Botkinburg

=========================================

The Ripper Five, who exploded on the Caron adventurer circuit by

defeating the copy cat serial killer known as the Ripper just days ago,

apparently have also been active in the lands around Caron. The village

of Botkinburg lies just south of the Middle Scarp and guards a pass

through that Scarp. Over the last months the Botkinburgers

had been struggling with raids by the notorious Red Caps. The

Red Caps are a marauding band of fell creatures believed to be head

quartered in the northern mountains, or perhaps beyond in the Wild Lands.

They are known to be active south of the mountains, but only recently

have their predations reached south of the Middle Scarp. The Vale Lords

of Botkinburg tried to deal with the problem on their own, but were

forced to report the problem to the Guardians where it appeared on the

Trouble Board. Apparently this is where the Ripper Five learned of

the difficulty, and they took themselves to Botkinburg arriving a week

ago.

Apparently they spent some days in the area. They rescued

a halfling, Waddo Brikker, from the clutches of a fiendish ogre

in his underground lair. Brikker

had been traveling in a caravan from his home in Luddensheim towards

Botkinburg when the caravan was raided by the goblins of the Red Hats.

Brikker managed to elude the goblins, but he was then captured by the ogre

who held him in a sort of larder. Brikker thinks he was a captive for

a week, but became weak and delirious before he was rescued by the

Ripper Five. Brikker thanks the Ripper Five and is certain he would have

been ogre consumed if they had not rescued him. It is not clear if the

ogre had anything to do with the Red Hats.

Some days later the Ripper Five found an underground complex

full of the Red Hats. The complex had more than 50 Goblins plus

small numbers of more fearsome creatures such as gnolls and bugbears.

The Ripper Five accounted for nearly 20 of the goblins plus small

numbers of the larger types. They rescued two young Botkinburg halflings

who had foolishly went hunting for the Red Hats and a dwarf and human

who had apparently been captured in Red Hat raids. They also found

a shrine to the dreaded Horned One. The Horned One is a notorious

Fell Lord who the Elves claim held sway in the Galban Hills before

the coming of Humans. They also claim he is a Twisted One. While

this is disturbing it is not unusual that Fell Creatures active

in the Galban Hills to make exaggerated claims about the Horned One.

Pausing to recover their strength and raise the Botkinburg

militia the Ripper Five and the militia returned later in the day.

Leaving a nasty trap behind the Red Hats had apparently fled to the

north apparently to their unknown lair. Within the complex all that

was found was the evidence of the hasty retreat by the Red Hats and

some remnants for the more ancient evil that once held sway in these

lands. The Botkinburgers have since sealed the complex to insure that

Fell Creatures will not be able to make use of it again.

The Botkins, the Vale Lords of Botkinburg, are pleased to report

that over the last week no raids by the Red Hats have been attempted

south of the Middle Scarp, and that they now are maintaining a careful

watch on the pass to insure that no Fell Creatures will be able

to make use of it in the future.

Apparently it was on their return to Caron after the events

in Botkinburg described above that the Ripper Five had their encounter

with the Ripper as has been reported elsewhere. Clearly they have

had a successful adventuring career before they were noticed here in

Caron, and we wish them an equally successful future.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rivery speaks with Osburn. He knows of Drakthar's Way, which

the Thieves Guild uses for smuggling. Rivery seems suprised that

they deal with goblins and vampires (hey, get a clue, we are evil)

but Osburn tells them they have a lucrative arrangement (1) No

questions asked, 2) Drakthar is happy to make sure anyone turned

over to him will disappear, 3) Theives Guild makes sure that disappearences

in one section of the low city are not investigated.) Osburn is willing

to let Rivery know the outside exit of Drakthar's Way for 10kGP or a share

of their treasure. He suggest that the party can disguise themselves

as smugglers to gain entrance. Rivery and the party demurs. Osburn does send them

a smuggler who describes them what the warehouse looks like and says

that there are usually five guards and that he noted that they avoided

going up one part of the tunnel in favor of another.

They go back in and note that little has changed. They spend

some time exploring the defiled temple and are freaked by the library.

They encounter the Goblin, exchanging bow shots with him as he flees

down the cave. They head down the cave and walk into the ambush.

Using lots of magic they kill the skirmishers, sneakers, warg rider,

and warg, but the two adepts go invisible, launch some spells burning

ray, very effective ghost sound, aid, and flee. As the party is

recovering Drakthar shows up. He Dominates Aurelia, and begins

to drain her. The others douse him in holy water, Livy flashes

him twice, and Berana uses the sword and ring. He goes gaseous

retreating to fight again.

[cinabro]

Very good session with the party realizing how difficult vampires can be. Good mix of action and role playing. Drakthar's Way is proving to be

lots of fun. Looks as if we will get three sessions out of it. Livy becomes a

semiregular, played by the niece of one of the regulars.

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 3 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 3 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 3 Mage), Rir (Lvl 3 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 4 Rogue), Livy (Lvl 1 Cloth Gollum)

Sunday

The party uses their pieces and notes there is one near, but in the opposite

direction as Drakthar apparently fled. They move down the branch of the tunnel,

and fight with the two adepts. One burns Livy badly, but they kill one and capture the

other. He tells them that Drakthar has probably withdrawn to his throne room, where he

has a throne of human skin and keeps a very large bat as a pet. Down the main tunnel

is the way out, and they should avoid the right hand turn as there is a trap. They

explore, faced with a locked room they head back and rifle the bodies finding some

potions and keys, they find a storage room with more boxes and casks with the cage symbol,

leave the adept locked in there, and then stumble upon the ghast and his black

robed friends. A tough fight with Rir vaporizing a skeleton with his Luminous Lance,

a ghoul paralyzing Rivery, Livy vaulting in and killing the halfling zombie and a

skeleton. The others kill the ghouls, but the ghast grabs Livy and tries to

bargain, "What I have for the girl," but the party will have none of it.

A scrum develops with Aislyn, Aurelia, and Rir wrestling with the Ghast

who finishes off Livy, telling them that, "My master will make you pay."

Eventually they capture him, note that he was an elf, and in a rage, Aislyn

finishes him off. They find a pawn and gold coins from Venga on the ghast.

After some debate they decide to leave the dungeon back the way they came

in. They have no trouble getting out and head to Dr. Copelius. He is distressed

to see the broken Livy, and can repair her in eight days. He is happy to give

them the piece that he has, but wants to know more. He points out that major

magic is swirling around the pieces, and it is forcing him to pay attention

the to the outside world which he has ignored for some time. He gets something out of

Aislyn, Aurelia, Rir, and Rivery. They mention Kuttner and the Elven prophecy

of the One. He knows something of the former, but nothing of the latter. They

ask after the Mage's Guild specifically Under the Heel. He tells them that the

Mage's Guild does indeed publish the newspaper to relieve tensions in the city.

Likely the party's disturbance of the Undine's prison caused them to query

the party about what happened, but he does not have an explanation as to why

the detailed story appeared in print, beyond that it makes a good story.

He notes that Zagyg is not likely to be the source of the undead, but that

the pieces are likely to attract the attention of powerful magic users such

as Zagyg and others. He says that he does need to re-engage with the outside

world and will attend the next Mage's Guild meeting, which takes place every

full moon. That is likely to to cause some consternation.

They go to the Temple of Athena, to get repaired and healed.

All goes well and they note that Aurelia is under the domination of the

vampire. They immeadiately confine her and begin an excorcism ritual

which will take six days. Master Tercival offers them advice on

vampires.

Rir visits Fahet and sends a letter to his father. He tells him that he is

doing well, finding pieces of the machine, and that the Luminous Lance works well.

He has known scary times, but he has mostly had success. He mentions the

Prophecy of the Return.

Aislyn visits Darthia. Vampires are very bad. They think there is

an Elvish vampire operating to the north. She knows of rumors of Drakthar,

but knows nothing about the cage symbol.

Rivery sells some loot. Much stuff from the warg riding goblins and

adepts that have the motif of the Horned One. No one seems distressed at this

point about the Horned One as the Fell Creatures have been talking his return up

for some time.

They do visit the South Tower of the Town Guard who tell them that based

on their information from the goblin captive they left behind that they are planning

to raid Drakthar's Way. The party tries to warn them off, mentioning that the

leader below is a vampire.

Monday

Town Guard/Guardian/Mage's Guild assault on Drakthar's way.

Tuesday

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Caron Chronicle

Town Guard Shuts Down Smuggler's Sewer Route

============================================

Acting on information gained from the famous adventurers the Ripper

Five, the Town Guard yesterday launched a raid on a underground passage

used to smuggle contraband into Caron. The Ripper Five apparently stumbled

on the passage in connection with their investigation of the attempted burglary

of Doctor Copelius' home and found

a goblin infested passage connecting to the Caron sewer system. The adventurers

dealt the goblins a grievious blow, killing many, and capturing one. They

turned a goblin over to the Town Guard who acting on the information

gleaned from interogation of the prisoner

organized an expedition into the sewers. Captain Runcton of the Guard led

the expedition which included a contingent of the Guardians of Galba.

They found more horrors still occupying the passage and drove

them from the section of the passage connecting to the sewers. Under

constant assault from the evil denizons, sappers collapsed the upper

portion of the passage, severing the smuggling route. Captain Runcton

pronounced the expedition a success, as the way was closed, but did

lament the loss of two guards and one guardian who fell during the

operation.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Under the Heel

Town Guard and Guardians Bumble in the Sewer

============================================

The Town Guard, supported by the ultimate tool of the Duke's

opression, the Guardians of Galba, spent much of yesterday wandering about

Caron's sewer system searching for a putative smuggling route into the city.

Apparently they were acting on information from the Ripper Five who had

apparently learned of the route during their encounter with the notorious

Red Hats. Captain Runcton of the Guard claimed success, but at the

cost of the lives of three young soldiers, although all we could detect

was a blockage of a main sewer line that the Guard claimed had cut

off the route. We note that smuggling besides bringing in illeagal

substances also avoids the large tax on on goods entering the city and thus

is the main source of low cost food for the citizens of Caron.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday

Aurelia's brother Bancel seeks to visit her. He asks why

she has spent so much, why she has not visited, and congratulates

her on the credit she is bringing to the family. He knows nothing

about the inner workings of the Guardians, etc.

Inatia recieves the following note, and some jewels from

Alwine from Graham. She will try to contact Rivery and get

money from him for the contents of the note.

Inatia

I cannot come back as I promised. Take this,

forget me, do what you will with what I left

behind. Do not come here. He has punished me,

and I am lost.

Alwine

Thursday

Kalabash awakens from Baneberry poisoning. He speaks with Berana and

Uthnel. They tell him of the Prophecy of the Return, and that Berana

is apparently The One. He is incredelous, but sees their logic. He

tells them that he found the piece in Koda, and he used its Blink

ability as part of his Kalabash act. He knows nothing beyond that.

He has no clue why undead would want to kill him.

He tells them that he has to find Berana's mother. He suspects since

no word of her has been found, that she has been exiled beyond the

Western Ocean. He wants to journey to Marnor, and catch a Kodan

ship across the Western Ocean, and look for Berana's mother as sureptiously

as possible. He wants to travel to Yggsburg and catch a ship down

the Nor in 10 days.

Friday

Party able to visit the Ten Bells and see its condition. Much of the basement is not accesible.

They

go to the office of Unclaimed Real Estate. There they present letters from

the Town Guard (Captain Andretta), the Temple of Athena (Master Biassay),

and the Mage's Guild. They are told to fill out form 893456/8 and to

turn it in Tuesday morning as the office is closed for staff development

on Monday and they only give out forms in the afternoons, and collect

them in the morning. Rivery tries to bribe the clerk which only makes him

mad. He notes that back taxes are owed and that there is a lein on the

property to Riggit's Bank. Upon accepting the form, then a hearing will

be scheduled.

Sunday

One of Rir's lightstone lanterns burns out.

Aurelia is successfully broken of the domination of Drakthar

by a ritual at the Temple of Athena. They advise her to avoid the

vampire as she will be susceptible to his domination.

Rivery gets 100 GP from Osburn for sale of Bitter Root.

Prostitutes of Caron have information for Rivery on Under the Heel.

Rivery gets a note in a perfumed

envelope with a salacious drawing framed by a heart:

Hi Big Boy

We all miss you and wish you could visit to entertain

us every night. A mage called Sarsden also visits us,

but is much less entertaining than you. He claims to

be the person who is responsible for getting Under

the Heel distributed each day. While men say much

to impress women, we are pretty much sure things

thus we suspect his boast is likely to be true.

You owe us one. A big one, but that goes without

saying.

Alsiga and Adeliza

Tuesday

Party visit Dr. Copelius and find Livy restored to working

order. They tell them that they plan to head to Graham to investigate

the connection with Zagyg, and want Livy to accompany them. He is OK

with that. and gives them three extra bulbs for her Sunlight Flash

ability.

[/u]

[cinabro]

First session after a bit of a break due to summer travel and vacations. Another good session. I had great trouble managing the confused melee between the party and ghast, ghouls, and skeletons. At one point I had to backtrack which got Aislyn's player very mad at me. This worked out as she was so angry that she killed off the surviving ghast, thus saving me from having to deal with an interogation of him. I point out that some times mistakes get made when I have to run an entire universe and the players bascially only have to keep track of one being. They forgive me. The party also takes the

bait and plans to go to the Dark Chateau which I locate near Graham which is taken from Castle Zagyg: Yggsburg and Environs. They are also getting

set up for a trip to Yggsburg from the same source.

As I clean up from this session and decide what will happen next the dice give rise to an improbable event. Someone new is interested in the pieces, and I begin to create a sub-plot that will keep us busy for a few sessions down the line.

Drakthar's Way from the Shackled City is excellent. I never weaved in more adventures from that campaign. Besides the first one I think they are very good. At my level progression we would never be able to complete that campaign in anything like a reasonable amount of time.

Finally some real world news. We are going to have a session Sunday.

Our last session was in March and I hope to get out of the dungeon crawl we have been slowly dealing with and get on to the last act of the campaign. I will be posting on that session in a week or two.

[Treebore]

Good read. So I have a week or two?

I like how your working Dark Chateau into things, and how you used the Vampire part of the AP. I only have the Dungeon part, not anything published. Shackled City is the published one, correct? IE the first AP?
_________________
The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 3 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 3 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 3 Mage), Rir (Lvl 3 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 4 Rogue), Livy (Lvl 2 Cloth Gollum)

Wednesday

They ask Dr. Copelius about a better way to hide the pieces.

He says a bigger, thicker chest is the simplest way, but then they

could not carry it around. He will look into it (5/20), but not

come up with anything. He does note that their chest is unusual.

It has some magic on it, which is strange since lead objects are

not easy to magic.

As they leave Dr. Copelius they are ambushed by the assassins

sent by the Vale Lord of Luddenshiem. The fight is short and sharp,

with the Berana, Aurelia, and Rir felled by the magic user, who was

killed by Rir with a critical, and the cleric. They also take down one

of the rogues. The assassins move off when two of them go down, one runs,

and the guard comes. The party angers the guard and are hauled off to the

station. They spend most of the day there, but fortunately a passer-by

observed the ambush and confirms their story. They are asked

to inform the guard if they leave town and note that a wagon was

left behind by the ambushers. The guard (2/20) makes no progress

on a further investigation. They Speak with the Dead of one of

the assassins. They learn that they were associated with Baldrus,

the man they rescued from the Varglog near Botkinberg.

Kalabash tells them that next week he would like to journey

to Yggsburgh to catch a ship down to Marnor. They agree to escort

him and decide to head out to Graham tomorrow.

Rivery talks with Osburn, mentions troubles with Baldrus (9/20)

which will lead to nothing, and discovers that Paralyzation Poison,

as used by the assassins, is quite expensive.

Wednesday

Traveling to Graham. Encounter some pilgrims coming back from

visiting a shrine to Hephastus, aka The Great Smith, maintained by

the Dwarves. No news.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Caron Chronicle

Ripper Five Disturb Peace in the Upper City

===========================================

Revealing the dark side of the adventuring business the Ripper Five

were at the center of an incident in the Upper City yesterday. Apparently

some enemies from their past attempting to settle a score ambushed the

Five as they walked the streets. Perhaps we should say that the Ripper

Six since they have been seen lately in the company of one of Doctor

Copelius' magomechanical creations, and the incident happened near Doctor

Copelius' home and workshop. The Town Guard and locals report that

five or six humans including at least two magic users began hurling

spells and poisoned tipped missile weapons at the Six. Three of them went

down, while two of the would be assassins were felled by the determined

defense of the Six. Fortunately members of the Town Guard were attracted

by the ruckus and their arrival sent those assassins still standing fleeing.

The Ripper Six then had the temerity to question the effectiveness

of the Guard's response and were taken in for questioning. Fortunately for

them members of the public witnessed the unfortunate events, and the Six were

released. This newspaper does question why they were not charged with Disturbing

the Peace. We assume that the Town Guard has given them a break due to their past

service to our beloved Duke and the City. Clearly while the City loves them,

as shown by the actions of the Town Guard, the Six do not return that adulation,

as shown by their disturbance of the peace and their disdain for the Town

Guard.

While we welcomed their appearance on the Caron adventuring scene,

we have to question if the Ripper Six actually have the city's best

interests at heart. Like most adventurers they inevitably bring a

degree of chaos to whatever they do; it is part and parcel of their

business. We hope that this incident is only a youthful indiscretion,

and it is not a sign of a future direction. Do we have to remind

our readers of the eventual fate of the Federline Force?

The Town Guard reports that those who attacked the Ripper Six

were well known vagrants and homeless. Twelve usual suspects have been

sent to the mines. At least some good has come of this unfortunate

incident.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday

Invitation to the Caron University Charity Ball arrives for the Ripper

Five.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Regents of the Caron University are pleased to invite you and

a compainion of your choice to their annual Charity Ball on Friday. This year the Ball will be held at the Temple of Apollo in Caron and

their High Priestess, Giorna Kal, welcomes you to their humble place of

worship. Chancellor Cavanaugh reminds you that donations in support of

faculty research, student scholarships, and the general fund are greatly

appreciated. This year those who donate more than 100 GP are invited to

participate in an exclusive behind the scenes of the University offered

on the day after the Ball.

Temple of Apollo, Caron

5:00 PM Doors Open to Guests - Food and Drink will be Served

6:30 PM High Priestess Giorna Kal on the Education Mission

7:00 PM Chancellor Cavanaugh Remarks

7:30 PM Presentation of the Donations

Next Day: Main Gate, Caron University

10:00 Start of Exclusive Tour

Formal Dress is required for entry into Charity Ball.

Good walking shoes are recommended for those participating

in the Tour.

Caron University Attendees

Charles Cavanaugh, Chancellor and Professor of Alchemy and Transmutation

Jacobus Pauley, Vice Chancellor

Kevrick Halstromm, Professor of Abjuration and Bookbinding

Ivara Carnen, Professor of Enchatment and Alchemy

Ablin Highhill, Professor of Divination

Dejah Corellis, Professor of Conjuration

Malvina Zevlin, Proferror of Evocation

Dimble Galemott, Professor of Illusion

Alton Lorock, Professor of Necromancy

Vermmon Haguus, Professor of Transmutation, History, Metallurgy, and Alchemy

Odilia Halsromm, Alumni Relations and University Scribe

Jaylin Vaas, Assistant to the Chancellor

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurelia's armor ready.

They arrive at Graham. At the tavern, they are directed to

Alwine's house. They find the half insect/half man who Berana

webs in, and they kill. He begs them for death and tells them that

"He is coming". They are then chased into the river by a swarm

of out sized hornets. They are rescued by locals who use fire and

smoke to drive off the swarm. Inside they find some change and

two dessicated bodies who the locals ID as Alwine's mother

and father. The locals say that Alwine returned a few weeks

ago, but they have not seen him or his parents for the last week.

They spend a night in the tavern.

Friday

The next day some town leaders approach them and ask

what happened. They are focused on Zagyg. They are told

that as far as they know his house has been unoccupied for

more than ten years, they do not keep any sort of watch on

it, locals do head up there and occasionally disappear.

It is definitely dangerous.

They head there finding the disused road, and

note that someone has been up there in the last week.

They note the arrow slits and move to flank the barn.

As they move towards it the goblins come out to attack,

with the orcs shooting from the cover of the barn.

The orcs shoot well, but a Sleep from Berana, and

a Command from Aurelia sends the goblins fleeing.

One is killed by Livy, but one escapes.

Rivery tries to sneak around the back, but alerts

the orc leader. In the end the party's fire power

knocks them out. They find some change, magic sword

from the orc leader, and the magic saddle.

[cinabro]

We begin on the Dark Chateau with a good session. Also they are being

set up for Unhallowed Halls and a trip to Yggsburg.

Yes, Shackled City is the Adventure Path originally published in Dungeon and compiled into a book from Pazio. Drakthar's Way is the second adventure and, I think, did not appear in Dungeon, but was added to the book.

[Treebore]

I've read enough threads about Drakthar I could probably run the scenario anyways.

I thought you said I would have a week or two?
_________________
The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 3 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 3 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 3 Mage),

Livy (Lvl 1 Cloth Gollum), Rir (Lvl 3 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 4 Rogue)

Friday

They decide to head back to town to recover spells. There

they find Angus, fairy champion from Botkinberg, who tells them that

a Dark Fairy who is really nasty has showed up around Botkinberg

asking after the "big Elven Queen". Frosty Flower's fairy's

are OK, but they thought that Beranna should know that someone is

looking for her.

They head back to the house and tour the grounds. They fight

and destroy the Giant Weasel. They encounter some Goblins who claim

they are coming down to relieve the others. They follow Goblin tracks

going and coming from the north. They go into the house via the veranda

and encounter Wicked the talking cat. She tells them that she was

created by Zagyg to lead all the cats in spying, but that it did not

work as the cats were too stupid and too easily distracted to do any

useful work. She tells him that Zagyg has left here for another home,

but she does not know where it is. Also she says that Zagyg is "not

himself" and they figure out that he has multiple personalities. He

has been here recently and he had a vistor. She does not know much

about what else is in the house. There is a ghost and the basement

is dangerous. She would like to leave, but not with Goblins and has

been unable to go on her own due to the giant weasel.

They encounter the ghost of Nestor, Zagyg's brother, in the

library. He gets them to read him some stories and rewards them with

the key to the front door and some scrolls. They decide not to

touch the pictures, and fight with a rat swarm in the kitchen, and

find the magic cleaver. They find the door to the basement, but

decide to explore upstairs. They pop in on the library and try

to rifle the desk, but Nestor is awakened and starts throwing

books at them. They leave and head up stairs.

The explore about and animate the Owl Bear in Zagyg's

bedroom. They manage to defeat it with the help of Angus's

arrow of sleep. They find the key to the attic and a scroll.

They head up to the attic and find the scare crow, the scary

box with something magic and evil inside, the Caron's Mage's

Guild newsletter, and the locked, trapped chest. Rivery tries

to disarm and poison gas is released. Inside they find two

of Zagyg's old spell books (level 1 and 2) and a third that

is blank.

They decide to head down to the basement.

[cinabro]

Short session due to real world interference. We are enjoying Dark Chateau.

What I thought I wrote is that in about a week I will be reporting on a session we have on Sunday. This session thirteen took place in August of 2006 and I still have a bunch of 2006 sessions to get through. Unfortunately the number of sessions dropped to almost zero in 2007.

Still no one in the Detroit area has gotten in touch. I am willing to be Keeper. I am reminded how much fun this is as I review my campaign diary here.

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 3 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 3 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 3 Mage), Livy (Lvl 2 Cloth Gollum), Rir (Lvl 3 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 4 Rogue), Angus (Lvl 2 Fairy)

Friday

After some dithering they head to the basement. They

are afraid and send Enya to explore. She sees the well, big

statue of Hecate, oddity shelf, pentagram, and then gets caught

in the Mirror of Life Trapping. Beranna looses contact with

her, but does not feel that she has died. They head down the

stairs and notice the trash pile with rats at the bottom.

They decide to jump over the pile. Rir and Aurelia fall in and

a rat bites Aurelia. Wicked is sent to catch a rat, which they

then have Livy throw in the pentagram. Nothing happens. They

explore some of the storage rooms, gather the stuff on the shelves,

icluding three pieces,

and see the left overs in the preparation and potion rooms.

Aislyn gets caught in the mirror, followed by Rivery, and Angus.

The others begin bargaining with the goblin and eventually

break it realeasing every one. They capture the goblin and

truss him up. They decide to hold him and release when they

get out. Rivery wants to kill him. They take his "Two Daggers"

hat and tell him that anyone openly bearing this item will

be immune to attack by the tribe. He agrees to this bargain.

They ask him about mages from Caron spying on Zagyg, but

get no answer.

They explore the crypt and take Nestor's gift. They

see into the mine tunnels beyond. Enya is again sent in to

explore and she sees the odd symbols, dead goblin, cross bow,

web, and trash pile. They are very desperate to find the

green stone, but Enya does not get that far. They are

too scared to explore the mines. They waste some time battering

at the extra bound door and note that it is magical.

Finally they spend some time with the statue. They

find the drawer and Rir is pounded by the hand. Rivery is

very desperate to get the gloves as the goblin tells them

that Zagyg uses them to hold "hard to hold things". They

develop a strange plan with multiple people trying to open

the drawer and run away with the gloves, and the others standing

off with missle weapons. The arm pounds the drawer opener,

Rivery grabs the gloves and tries to run off, a magic missle

from Berana plugs Angus, and the arm grabs Rivery shakes

the gloves loose, throws Rivery in the corner, and returns

the gloves to the drawer.

After Aislyn chatises them, especially Rivery, for

coming up with such a bad plan, they decide to leave. They have

no trouble getting out, release the goblin who runs off to the

north, and head back to town. It is very late, but they rouse

the priest of Posiedon, and between him and Aislyn they are

able to heal up. Aislyn and Rir still have some infected

wounds from the poisoned orc arrows from early this day.

The town folk are frankly suprised to see them return as

when they were gone for so long, they assumed they were dead.

They go to sleep.

Saturday

Characaters awaken at lunch time planning to head

back for more. Angus decides to head back to Botkinburg.

[cinabro]

We finish off Dark Chateau. Very good module, but I did seem to spend a lot of time flipping pages. One step below Shadows and Blacktooth Ridge and as good as DCC Ripper. Four modules that are very good or excellent and nothing worse than that is making for a very enjoyable campaign.

The players of Aislyn and Rivery are married. Their interactions during this session as they began bickering over how to recover the gloves were a great source of entertainment to everyone else.

The party is about to get caught up in unexpected events in the next session.

We had a good session on Sunday as we move towards the end. The players are eager to make progress and are planning to come to Detroit

in September to get in another session.

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 3 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 3 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 3 Mage), Livy (Lvl 2 Cloth Gollum), Rir (Lvl 3 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 4 Rogue)

Saturday

An argument ensues about whether to return to Zagyg's house

or head back to Caron. Rivery is fixated on recovering the gloves,

but the others, especially Aislyn, feel that they have recovered the

pieces and want to get back to searching for more. They decide to

head back to Caron, and Rivery itimates that they are cowards.

Just out of Graham Aislyn notes that something is wrong, and

just as they begin to head back about a dozen goblins spring an ambush

on them. There are 8 archers firing from dug in positions on either

side of the road, and 4 warg riders bearing down on them with large

spears. Rivery notes that one of the goblin riders is bearing the head

of the goblin they released from the mirror. They run back towards Graham,

with Aislyn taking an arrow and plugging one warg with an arrow in response.

Suddenly the goblins are attacked from the rear by the Skaven. They

see oversized rat creatures standing on their hind legs, in armor, and

bearing hooked swords. The attack opens with Warp Fire grenades which explode

among the goblins and send them scattering. Then about two dozen Skaven descend

on the goblins wreaking havoc. As the heroes stand dumb founded looking at

the carnage they see one of the rats rise up, raise his sword and tell them,

"Prepare to die, man-things!" The party quickly heads back to Graham.

There they find Ed Twing, informal town leader, and tell them that

they were ambushed by goblins and Rat folk. He tells then that the Skaven

are legendary creatures from the Chaos Wars, and that he thinks they are

working too hard. Nevertheless he calls out the town militia and tells the

people to have the fishing boats ready in case they have to retreat to them.

He plans to have the militia watch the tree line. The party sends out Enya

who flies about. At the sight of the ambush she sees nothing but some burned

areas. She sees no concentrations of the rat folk. Back at Zagyg's house

she sees trenches and some sort of tube like contraption on the balcony

defending the approach to the house. Based on this disturbing information

they decide to head back to Caron as soon as possible, bearing a plea for

help from the town.

They head out of town, pass a tinker that they convince that it is

dangerous to head to Graham who turns around, and some freighters that decide

to press on. They arrive late at an inn and mention Rat Folk. They again

are thought to be insane.

Full moon. Meeting of the Caron Mage's Guild. Copelius is

unable to attract any attention from the Mage's Guild that

something is going on. They have not noticed that anything

is going on.

Sunday

Back to Caron. They head first to the Guardians tower, but find it

closed and a notice directing them to the Duke's castle. There they are

recognized and brought to a lieutenant who takes their story although

he is skeptical. He does promise to send a squad to Graham to help defend

it.

They head to Dr. Copelius who can fix Livy's minor damage by

the next day. He tells them about the mage's guild meeting. He is

fascinated by Wicked and they convince her to be tested by Copelius.

He learns a great deal (17/20) and does no damage (9/20). They get

another lead box from him and divide their pieces into two parts.

They all get invitations to the Uiversity Charity's Ball. Uthnel,

an alumni, will investigate why the Charity Ball is in the Temple of Apollo.

He knows no more about the Skaven.

Rivery spends the night with some girls in a Low City brothel.

Aislyn asks Darthia about the Skaven. She does not know anything,

but will look into it.

Fahet knows something about Skaven. He says that the Dwarves

have consistently encountered them in the Underdark. They are very bad.

Monday: 5 May 980

Rivery and his girls are awakened early in the morning by

some thugs who hood and drag Rivery off to someplace where Osburn

shows up. He tells him that something black and horrible attacked

the bookshop last night, killed at least two, and wants to know where

Rivery has been and what he and Alwine were up to or else he will

be thrown into the lake. Rivery starts singing like a bird. He tells

Osburn that Alwine was working for Zagyg, was mutated, and has been

killed by Rivery and company. Osburn tells Rivery that Zagyg is not

sane, they have worked together in the past, locating things for him,

but that he is not consistent. Rivery tells him all he knows about

Kuttner's game, that he and his friends have been gathering pieces,

and at least two someones, Zagyg and someone else, are also trying to

gather some. Rivery thinks it is better for he and his friends to

have it, and that it could be very valuable. Osburn tells Rivery

that it is best if he got out of town for a while.

The rest of the party gathers in the morning, but Rivery is not

there. They go to his apartment where they are told that he visited

yesterday evening, and then boasted about going to a brothel. They

go there, where a bouncer shoes them away telling them that he is not

there, and finally they end up at the bookshop which is closed with a

number of people waiting on it to open. Osburn shows up and tells them

that Rivery is OK and they should go look for him somewhere else.

They find him back at his home curled up on his bed. He tells them

that they should get going escorting Kalabash to Yggsburg right

away.

They use their pieces and note some changes. The ones at the grocery

store, one in the University, and the one that was behaving strangely at

Halder's Gap are missing.

They go to collect Calabash and there ask Uthnel to hire a lawyer

to deal with the Ten Bells. The Factor Amaer is known to Uthnel and they pay

him 50 GP. He tells them it should take about 1 month.

They stop by Dr. Copelius'. He has fixed Livy, but he is

very distracted and the characters hear the yowling of cats in

the background. How does he do? (16/20) Very well.

They journey down the regions major overland trade route to the

town of Clifford. There is the NE limit of navigation of the River

Coniston and so goods to and from Caron are transhipped here. It is

a town of warehouses and docks, but not very pretty. They easily

find an Inn and Rivery bargains with a mage about items from Zagyg's

house. He finds that the scimitar is a +1, and various other stuff.

Tuesday

They catch a river barge to Yggsburg. The boatmen direct

them to Riverman's Tavern to find further river travel. They

pass through the main square and note that the fountain has a gold

chalice on it. They learn that the local Vale Lord leaves them about

for the use of the public. When one was stolen, one local was killed,

two, two, etc. Eventually the locals made sure that no one even looked

twice at the chalice's.

They leave the city and go the Boatmen's finding a board

with a listing of river travels in the morning. Kalabash is easily

able to book a barge leaving tomorrow morning for Marnor. There

are boats back to Clifford and one to Venga. They speak to the

Vengans, note that they seem to have a slave in attendance, and Aurelia

mentions that they are interested in stopping one mile north, the location

at which they have a hit from their pieces. The boatmen tell them that

they usually do not do this, but for extra money they would.

They are told that there are mines and such to the north and some

boats do go there to bring ore down to Yggsburg and supplies up to

the miners. They are told to look for the sign of the flying boat

in the town square if they interested in exploring the region around

the town.

They head back in the city and go to the shop of Gnigul

the Dwarf with the sign of a boat with wings. He is there and willing

to transport the characters tomorrow. He has a trip for someone else

first thing in the morning. He will charge them 10gp/person for a

sight seeing trip around the city. He notes that he used to be in

their business, but upon finding the flying boat he decided to settle

down in a quiet spot. This is a very quiet spot with the Elvish lands

across the river, and far from the northern mountains and the Cracktow.

They spend the night at the Riverman's Tavern.

[cinabro]

This session was a great deal of fun for the Castle Keeper.

The players were terribly

frightened by the Skaven who I have stolen from Warhammer. I did

buy Warrens of the Ratmen from Sword and Sorcery, but it was not very useful and I basically made everything up on my own. They were not

in the original story line, but showed up as it developed as an outside

force that took an interest in what the party was up to.

Events in Caron fall nicely into place to keep the party off balance

and on the move.

Graham and Yggsburg are from Castle Zagyg Environs and both

are excellent and smoothly fit into my homebrew.

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 4 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 4 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 3 Mage), Rir (Lvl 4 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 4 Rogue), Livy (Lvl 2 Cloth Golem)

Wednesday

They spend some time shopping in Yggsburg. At the magic shop they

buy stuff to manufacture the invisibility potion whose recipe they got

in Zagyg's house, but blanch at paying for the components for the Wolf Ward.

They go the south park and see the funny statue, the gazebo, Rivery notices

a trap door, and all ask questions to the statue. Berana asking about

what she needs, sends the statue to weeping.

They take the flying ship meeting the Dwarf and his body guard. Using the

pieces they are able to locate the mine that interests them, and for a small

extra fee the dwarf is willing to drop them near by. They refuse to pay

a larger fee to be picked up. The mine looks disused.

Inside they use Enya to scout ahead. They see the illusion of the

firing and fleeing dwarves. They head off to the banquet hall scouted

by Wicked and using

sleep and command they wipe out the banqueters noting that they can go

invisible. The salamander is killed by Berana wielding the wand

of Frost Bolts from Zagyg. Using a web they ensnare the remaining. They

capture one and using a command from Aurelia force him to answer. He

reveals that there are 25 Red Dwarves, and that they are here to serve

their god. When he stops responding they kill him. Rir does recognize

him as a Red Dwarf since he is paler than normal, and seems to have the

power to become invisible and illusion. They gather up their armor,

gold bars, and the leaders unusual looking weapon.

Wandering about heading towards the god's chamber they encounter

a mephit who grabs the exploring Enya, spits mud at them, but is then

killed via a command. They convince Wicked to explore and she tangles

with some bats.

They dither a good while and decide to leave the dungeon and

walk back to Yggsburg. There they find the armor is quite valuable,

and get a good offer for the axe which has a crystaline claw motif.

They see the armor and hold on to the axe.

[/u]

[cinabro]

Good session as the party explores Yggsburg and does one of the

side adventures of Castle Zagyg Environs. Great book.

Excellent for pacing as the players relax after the shock in the last session. Little do they know what is about to happen.

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 4 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 4 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 3 Mage), Livy (Lvl 3 Cloth Gollum), Rir (Lvl 4 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 4 Rogue)

Tuesday

Back to the Riverman's Tavern and turn in for the night.

Skaven attack on Yggsburg. Quite a fight with the party killing

five clan rats and a rat ogre. Two more clan rats are killed by the family,

but four kitchen staff are killed. Five tower guards are also killed.

The fleeing skaven try to fire the Tavern, but a concerted effort by

the town folk put out the fire. The Inn is badly damaged. Rats also

fired the draw bridge over the moat. Party is temporarily led to

the casino next door for the rest of the night.

Wednesday

In the morning they are asked by the locals to stay in town.

They talk with the Striped Mage about stuff they gathered from Zagyg's.

While researching their stuff he recognizes their provenance and refuses

to buy the more unusual items. He warns them to be careful, and suggests

that they can be sold at low prices at the Second Hand shop, or in

Caron where there are people who are less afraid of Zagyg. They buy more

lead boxes and separate their pieces into them.

Guardians from Caron arrive led by Sir Charles Thornsby, Colonel.

He questions them and realizes that the Skaven attacks are connected with

the party. He will not let them wander away and for their safety and the

rest of the town's safety puts them up in the Citadel for the night. The

party eventually admits to him that they have part of a powerful magic

item and it could well be that the Skaven are after them because of

it. They suggest that the Skaven are working with Zagyg, but offer

no proof. Faced with this he tells them that tomorrow he will escort

them back to Caron. They agree, but ask for an extra day to explore

the mine, and learn more of this mystery. He agrees and will send

some soldiers with them. Using their pieces they see no piece where there

was one before.

He tells them they have found a tunnel leading to a set of

tunnels under the city apparently run by the Thieves Guild. They

have blocked the tunnel, and cleared out the Thieves tunnels.

Response to Aislyn from Thorakil.

------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Aislyn

I am so pleased that you have made so much progress

on our enterprise. It is quite interesting that so many others

are trying to pursue the same goal. The Dwarves, while crude

in their methods, can accomplish much by shear determination

and persistance. The followers of Athena present a very benign

face to the outside world, but when mysteries such as the one

we are pursuing are involved they can be as ruthless as any orc.

It is curious that this item has attracted the persistent attention

of a common thief. I would guess that there is much more to his

story than simply a desire for profit. The half elf seems to have

stumbled into this, but nothing involving this item happens

completely by chance. Again there is probably much more to this

story. The forces that are swirling about you and your work

are growing much more powerful. My attempts to learn more about

the items have not gone well. While their magical power grows

they both attract more attention and become more difficult to

penetrate. I am not suprised that something dark and sinister

is resisting your efforts. I foresee that things will

become more difficult in the future. Operate with the utmost

caution, but do remember your ultimate goal. What you seek can end

our uncounted years of suffering, before the unending cycle of

woe, which is due to turn again soon, takes its inevitable toll.

Letting this item fall to something that does not have the best

interests of the elves at heart would not only doom our race, but

may plunge the whole world into the darkest midnight.

Thorakil

------------------------------------------------------------

Response to Rir from his father.

------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Rir

How pleased we all are to have received your letter. Your

mother is especially thrilled to hear that you are doing well. She

sends her loves and urges you to continue to be a credit to your clan.

I am so pleased that you are making progress on your work. You seemed

to have lerned much. Obviously the machine is more complex than

I had envisioned. Such things are likely to be dangerous, thus it

is not unexpected that you are facing frightening things that are

also pursuing your goal. I do not know much of Elvish legends.

All I can say is that they are frivilous and the machine is

far too complex and intricate to be their work. They are also

greedy for power and think they know best for everyone.

Do not trust anything they may tell you about the machine.

Do take care. If the machine is powerful it will attract the

powerful, and some of ther are likely to be very dangerous.

All ready you are following the road to success and bringing

credit to your family, clan, and race. Keep up the good work.

I am very pleased that the Luminous Lance has proved

useful. Also give Fahet my regards. Thank him for the help

he has rendered you. He continues to be a good apprentice.

In a bit of news the Goblinoid's seem to be having

a spot of trouble. We have seen some of them fleeing from

the Wild Lands trying to head south through the mountain passes.

Also from the Underdark horrible things have been turning up

in our deepest mines. Probably there is a civil war among

the Fell Creatures. We have doubled the guards both on the

surface entrances and the connections to the Underdark.

Your Father Mir of the Lightstone Clan

------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday

Back to the mines of the Red Dwarves. They find it empty, and the

bodies of 15 or so Red Dwarves and a salamander. They find the underground

pond is drained by an apparently new connecting tunnel, which they are

afraid to go down due to the mud. They do note that this is still an

active gold mine, and Rivery suggests that they file a claim.

Traveling back to Caron with a troop of about 40 Guardians.

Stop in Yggsburg to file a claim to the Red Dwarves mine.

Without trouble they get to Clifford.

Friday

Back to Caron without incident. Thornsby suggests that they

meet for dinner at the Guardians tower that evening. He leaves guards

with them as they visit their respective friends and patrons.

Find Dr. Copelius working with wailing cats. He agrees to join them

this evening. Uthnel tells them that the University Charity Ball is at

the Temple of Apollo because the High Priestess likes the Chancellor and

they are trying to promote some new seer from the country. He too will

join them for dinner. Biassay at the Temple of Athena will also join

them. Darthia at the Temple of Artemis has learned much of the Skaven.

Apparently they conrol the slave trade and have a nest under Caron,

where they transport slaves up to Venga via an underground way. A lead

to the next here is Gottlieb the Innkeeper. She will accompany them

at dinner. Rivery sees Osburn who is distressed by his Guardians

friends. He tells them that he knows of Gottliev as a person who

would make someone disappear, but nothing beyond that. Aislyn and Rir

collect their letters.

They arrive at the meeting and find Thornsby, High Priest of Zeus,

Master Ingram of the mage's guild, and someone from the Guardians who was

at Graham.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday

"Skaven" Assault on Graham

In a tale from the legends. the town of Graham, noted as the

home of the famous, unstable, powerful mage Zagyg, turned back an

assault by creatures from the wild lands. The town has long been

plagued by goblins, and strange creatures that escaped from Zagyg's

disused home, but on Wednesday as darkness fell the townsfolk claim

that Ratmen, also known as the Skaven, surrounded and attacked the

town. The story apparently began some days earlier when the famous

Caron based adventurers, the Ripper Five, arrived in Graham apparently

to explore Zagyg's home. After a likely successful foray into

the house, as the Five made their way back to Caron, they were

ambushed. They claimed that the ambushers were the Skaven, but no

proof could be found. Whatever the case, the town did call for

help, and a detachment of Guardians arrived within a few days.

Defensive measures were taken as evidence was soon noted that

Goblins were on the move in the area around Graham.

At sundown on the 6th, the long awaited attack came. Fortunately

the preperations were well done and the initial assault was turned

back. A good fraction of the town was burned down and a large number

of defenders were horribly burned as the attackers used fire grenades

and some sort of fire projector. Ed Twing, the leader of the small

town said that the town folk were well prepared for fire as whatever

attacked the Ripper Five did use fire, and precautions were taken.

The initial assault led to messages for help to nearby towns and prompt

action by militia and detachments of Guardians brought relief columns

converging on Graham. Upon their arrival before dawn on the 7th, the

attackers broke off their assault. There were also reports that a large

flying beast, some said it was an acid spitting black dragon, was seen

circling the town making an aerial bombardment on the attackers. We note

that one of the most famous incidents when Zagyg used to be based in

Caron, was when he attended a meeting of the Caron Mage's Guild

accompanied by a black dragon which he tried to bring into the

Mage's Tower leading to a animated discussion between Zagyg and other

members of the Guild. Zagyg left Caron soon after this incident.

While the defenders claim that the attackers were the legendary

Skaven, there is no proof. The Guardians involved were circumspect,

suggesting that likely the local Goblins were disguised as Skaven to strike

terror into the townfold. Ed Twing was similarly circumspect, saying

that he never got a good look at who or what was attacking the town,

and that he too was quite skeptical that the legendary Skaven were

involved. On the other hand many of the surviving defenders noted

that the attackers definitely had tails.

We commend the valient defenders of Graham, and the prompt

action by the Guardians. While it is beyond belief that the legendary

Ratmen have returned, this incident does seem to indicate that

Fell Creatures are stirring in the lands of our beloved Duke.

We urge constant vigilance. Watch the mountains.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[cinabro]

The Castle Keeper puts the party between a rock (the Skaven) and a hard

place (the Guardians). They were geniuinely terrified by the Skaven

attack in Yggsburgh and distressed that the authorities were on to them.

Setting up for Uhallowed Halls.

Castle Zagyg Environs including Yggsburgh and Grey (Red in my homebrew) Dwarf Dungeon gets an excellent.

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 4 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 4 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 4 Mage), Rir (Lvl 4 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 4 Rogue), Livy (Lvl 2 Cloth Gollum)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday: Under the Heel

DOUBLE TERROR ATTACK HORROR!!!

In a stunning development in two widely separated incidents Fell

Creatures have struck deep into the heart of the Galban Hills. The small

village of Graham, noted as the home of the famous wizard Zagyg, was surrounded

during the night and assaulted by shadowy creatures from the abyss. Only a

desperate, but sadly costly, defense saved the village from complete destruction.

A day later the second city of the Galban Hills, Yggsburgh, was similarly

struck by creatures who had tunneled from below, thwarting the famed defenses

of the city, and slaughtering unsuspecting citizens while they slept.

Typically the Guardians of Galba claim that their timely action

saved Graham from an even worse fate. It is hard to imagine how things

could get worse with the village left a smoldering ruins. Whatever attacked

the village wielded powerful magic as one citizen was horribly mutated

into a half man-half insect thing who madly attacked the citizens defending

the town and had to be dispatched by his horrified companions. Nearly half

the population of the village were killed during a desperate night time

defense. The unseen attackers only broke off their assault with the coming

of dawn and the belated arrival of reinforcements who had been urgently

summoned by the gallant defenders.

In Yggsburgh a smaller, but somehow more terrifying, assault

was carried out the next night. They had tunneled miles to assault the

city and ruthlessly killed the guards of the famed fortifications

without raising any alarm. With impudence the attackers then turned their

attention to an apparently random nearby building which they entered,

slaughtered the inhabitants in their sleep, and fired. As silently as

they arrived, they fled, leaving the city paralyzed with fear.

The Guardians release only the barest of details on these two

incidents. A whisper campaign informs us that in both cases the attackers

were the mythical Skaven. Clearly this is a cover story to obfuscate the

even more terrible truth, whatever that may be. These incidents are a

clear indictment of the Guardian's ability to defend our nation. We call

for a full investigation into these frightening incidents, with the aim

of increasing the security of the long suffering people of this land.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday

Rivery visits Alsiga and Adeliza, prostitutes that he

visits regularly. He invites them to the Charity ball giving them

35 GP to buy clothes that he tells them to attract attention, but

not too much attention. 5/20 - They do not do very well and end up

looking very slutty.

Meeting at the Guardians Tower. Topic 1) What happened.

They hear from Walter of Eyas who tells of the events in Graham.

The party tells of their activity in Yggsburg. Thornsby tells them

of the subsequent events in Yggsburg, pointing out that the party

seems as shocked as anyone, that they are gathering a magic device,

and have generally been cooperative. General conclusion that

the device is attracting the attention. In general there are some

incosistencies in the parties story, but they seem

to have been a source of good.

Topic 2) Nature of the device. Master Ingram of the Mages

Guild suggests that the device be turned over to them, but Thornsby,

Skyfather of Zeus, and Dr. Copelius disagree with this pointing

out that the device seems to be gravitating towards the Ripper 5 and is

decidedly hiding from the Mage's. Copelius also points out

that he tried to inform the Guild of Kuttner's device only a

week ago and they chose to ignore him. Biassay tells them that

Aurelia is searching for Kuttner's device which is said to be

a healing device, but that clearly does not make sense. Rivery

claims that it is some sort of teleport device, and many question

how he knows this, but he does not say. Aislyn reveals that she

has been sent by an Elven mage to recover the device as the Elves

think it might be valuable. Rir muddies the waters by claiming that

the Dwarves have a "table" that is likely the board for Kuttner's

game. Basically no one knows.

Topic 3) Zagyg and the Skaven. Possible that he attacked

the Skaven outside of Graham, but no clear conclusion. Virgo

Lister notes that the Theives Guild has worked for Zagyg in

the past, but recently he has become too unstable. Alwine, who

was working for Zagyg, did try to take over the Thieves Guild,

and that his shop was attacked by something horrible in the

last few days. The mages point out that Zagyg is not a necromancer,

and the half mantis that Aslwine turned into is more his style.

Skaven fit that too, but no clear conclusion can be drawn

about the Skaven working with Zagyg. Darthia does implicate the

Skaven in the disappearance of elves around Caron, which the

trees have told them did not travel to Venga over land, and

guess that they went via the Underdark. Here they implicate

Gottlieb the Innkeep who is known as the person to see if

someone is to disapper. Lister confirms this, but knows of

no connection to the Skaven. Thus they conclude that this

is a good lead to pursue.

Topic 4) What to do? General agreement to let the Ripper 5

pursue the lead, with the Mages Guild dissenting. Thornsby provides

two mooks, Joe and Fred, to help and equips the party with healing

potions. They plan to jump off tomorrow and spend the night in

the Guardians Tower.

Saturday

Party finds Gottlieb the Innkeep in a flop house in the

Low City. They end up paying him 600 GP to be shown the way in.

He tells them that no one ever comes back.

They go in and have a tough time at the beginning.

They wipe out the Cleric and friends in the first room,

take out the guards in slave cages, and the guards in the

next room, but the Dying One hurts them bad, before

being driven off. One of the mooks is killed by the rogues

who ambush them after the narrows. They escape.

They manage to get the boat to the dock, and

have a tough time on the scaffold and bridge, but with

liberal use of magic they get past the rats and guards.

They rush down the stairs taken in by the illusion, and

are caught in the web trap and slept by gas gernades.

Monday

They awaken to the sounds of the second mook,

being tortured to death. They have collars that prevent them

from using magic. They manage to escape through

the back wall of the cell and are carried down the river.

The manage to arrive at a tunnel leading away from the

river. They fight their way through the rat maze and

explore the Dying One's lab. They recover their non-magical

stuff and are disuaded from setting off a fireball trap.

They surprise the reveling rats and annihilate them.

They fight it out with the three guardians of the rod of

earth shaping and open entrances to the torture chamber,

killing the torturer, and the main dungeon. They

go on and get through the giant rat trap. There they

confront the Rat King and twelve giant rats. A tough battle,

but eventually they prevail and get to his treasure chamber

recovering their pieces plus five more, and get into five

of his six safes. He does curse them at death. They

climb out and come out to the sewers of Caron.

[cinabro]

Defintely a return to the days of our youth as we spend an entire weekend doing a role playing intensive meeting with the movers and shakers in Caron and then the Dungeon Crawl Classics Revenge of the Rat King.

Very enjoyable time with this excellent module.

I begin to realize that we have got to start moving towards the end. We have two more months before I go away and three things that have to

be done. Unhallowed Halls, confrontation with Zagyg, and the final mystery in Venga. Loose ends, such as the A series and the Skaven, will simply be forgotten about or dealt with by deus ex machina. The Skaven were a giant distraction costing 3 or 4 sessions, but their appearance came via the dice.

We also had a great deal of fun with them; they were worth it.

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 4 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 4 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 4 Mage), Rir (Lvl 4 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 5 Rogue), Livy (Lvl 3 Cloth Gollum)

Monday

They come out of the sewers. Rivery looks ill and lapses into

unconscousness. They go to the Temple of Athena and try to have

him cured. They fail, and suggest they get to the Guardians Tower.

Biassy speaks with them. Aurelia is very relunctant to talk about

them being captured, and leaves that part of the story out. They go

on to the Guardians Tower with Rivery in a litter. The doctors there

note that he has been magically poisoned, and that he is likely to recover

in some days. They expect he will regain consciousness tomorrow.

In discussion with Colonel Charles Thornsby they say that they

fought and defeated many Skaven, and killed the Rat King. They admit

that they cannot be sure that they cleaned out the nest, and they say

they were lost for a day in rat filled maze. They have found more of

the magic item that they were looking for, but still do not know what

it does. He tells them that he is still concerned about the Skaven

threat, and would like to go back to clear out the nest they found.

While the party would like to go back themselves, especially to recover

the orb, they do agree to act as guides for a large Guardian expedition.

He tells them to report back here at 6:00.

When they return at 6:00 they join a troop of about 50. The plan

is to secure both entrances and go through the sewer entrance. At the

sewer entrance when the door is opened to the ladder way down smoke

pours out, and it is clear that they cannot enter. As they retire Thornsby

tells them that Gottlieb the Innkeep is missing, and they think that

he left hastily. The party elects to stay at the Guardians Tower while

Rivery is recovering. They use their pieces and note 2 at the University,

1 at the Duke's Castle, 5 in the Craktow, and 5 in Venga.

Tuesday

Rivery awakes, but is in no shape to do anything. He asks the

party to let Adeliza and Alsiga know that he is hurt. They come to visit

him, but he is no shape for their sort of comfort.

The others prepare for the Charity Ball. The only interesting

thing is that Aislyn has difficulty finding proper attire. She ends

up finding something that is a fashion mistake. They do decide to see

the prophetress at the Temple of Apollo when Rivery is mobile.

Wednesday

Visit to Juliana the prophetress of Apollo. They ask as a party

about what they seek, and are directed to the end of their quest. Berana

asks and is told "He who should not be, seeks you that has not been."

Again they are directed to a city on a lake, with a statue over looking

the water, and a pillar of smoke. As they leave Juliana slips Aislyn

a ring from Caron University, which she finds later. The party is confused.

Rir invites Juliana to the Ball; she declines.

Thursday

Rivery told that he is persona-non-grata with the Thieves Guild by Osburn.

Aurelia and Berana used the week to learn some new spells.

Friday

Charity Ball for Caron University at the Temple of Apollo.

Party arrives fashionably late. They make a donation and mingle.

They over hear professors and the librarian, Adla Yreck, that there is a

funding shortage, but that the charity balls have gone very well. They

hear that Professor Haguus has been fired after disrupting the last Charity

Ball, and having a dispute with Chancellor Cavenaugh. They hear that orc

slaves have been sold to the University by a Dwarf trader called Ferocass

Grimm who is providing them and also arcane components. They meet the slutty

wife, Odila Halstromm who is the University's Factor, of one of the professors

and one of the professors, Ivara Carned, who was sleeping with a student who has

disappeared. They note that they prefered when the Ball was located

at the University. They also accuse the chancellors assistant, Jaylin Vaas,

of having an affair with him. They also talk to some students who tell them

that three students have gone missing, more about Professor Haguus, and that they

have seen dangerous experiments loose in the tunnels under the University.

The vice chancellor, Jacobus Pauley, hits on Aislyn whose dress scares away

the chancellor's pregnant wife, Ellayne. Alsiga and Adeliza recognize the

vice-chancellor who they call Lars. Rivery mentions to Jaylin Vaas, the

chancellor's asisstant that she is sleeping with the chancellor. She is

indignant and embarasses Rivery in response.

When the speeches begin Professor Haguus has crashed the

proceedings and delivers a tirade about the lack of funding, missing

students including his nephew, dangerous experiments out of control, and

grows increasingly incoherent as he accuses Chancelor Cavenaugh of being a

demon or being possessed by a demon. Eventually he is bundled out. The

high priestess of Apollo, Giorna Kal, introduces the Chancelor with effusive praise.

The Chancellor gives an excellent speech, and the party begins to break up.

The party notes that two people are missing. Doctor Copelius is not here,

the husband of the slutty wife is also not here, they discover that

he, Kevrick Halstromm, is one of the most respected members of the faculty,

along with the Professor of Necromancy, Alton Lorock,

As they leave the slutty wife hooks up with Adeliza and Alsiga,

and they leave together. Rivery declines to accompany them.

The party gets the address of Professor Haguus and goes there.

They find him there and he is only semicoherent basically accusing the

chancellor of being in cosort with demons and having magically tricked,

or possessed the high priestess of Athena.

When they arrive home they have a message from the Temple

of Apollo. Juliana has gone missing. Investigating they learn

from her confessor, Abelard, that she has been having nightmares for the last

few weeks since she came to the city. In her tent they find a drawing

of taloned creatures in front of a tower that they recognize as being

part of the University. They also find some grey threads that they

connect back with students at the university. They decide that they

will investigate tomorrow when they tour the university.

Saturday

Tour of the University. A dour student leads the tour. They see

the walled compound, the main building with class rooms and offices,

a student services building with a dining hall etc., a main hall which

they note could have easily hosted the Charity Ball and has a bell

tower, a tall tower where the main library used to be, and the warehouse

and barn where they are told there is a connection to the tunnels.

Here they see a dark figure moving around an orchard adjacent

to the barn. Rivery is able to get behind it and the party is able

to subdue it with a Command from Aurelia and capture it. The find

a creature covered in black fur,

rat-like facial features and green glowing eyes. It can only growl, but

they are able to figure out that it was a student, but not which one,

and that he blames Chancellor Cavanaugh for his plight and that there

are more underground. To try to learn more Berana and Aislyn go to

the Professor Lorock of Necromancy office. He was missing from the Ball last

night. On the way they encounter Vice Chancellor Pauley who continues

to put the moves on Aislyn. He escorts them to the Professor's office,

but the door is locked. Aislyn notices scratches on the floor and asks

the Vice Chancellor to open the door. In return for a dinner date, "what

is a little privacy violation among friends," he opens to door.

Inside they find a mess and the headless body of the Professor.

They find a diary page indicating that the Professor has uncovered

information about the "Nightling project" of the Chancellor. He has

apparently been using Warpstone to transform victims, students apparently,

into some sort of creature. Also he is trying to extract money from

the Chancellor to pay for his debt for the "Monk Arm" project. He claims

to have a partly tranformed Nightling in his lab.

Aislyn wants to tell the authorities, while the Vice Chancellor

agrees he does mention that the Chancellor has to be told, and rushes off.

Aislyn and Berana head back to the party in the barn, joining them.

[cinabro]

Unhallowed Halls requires a great deal of effort to make work. Many, many

NPC's to keep track of; more than appeared in my diary. We do

have good fun with lots of role playing at the Charity Ball. Either the

mystery is too obvious or my players are too good. They figure it out and

we stop with a cliff hanger as we head towards the conclusion.

My optimism will get dashed as things go wrong in the next session.

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 4 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 4 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 4 Mage), Rir (Lvl 4 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 5 Rogue), Livy (Lvl 3 Cloth Gollum)

Saturday Continued

Rir and Rivery gather some weapons from storage in the barn

and warehouse. As they do so a group of bandits appears from a

hatch in the floor and begins to pelt them with crossbows. The

party eventually gets the upper hand, felling two bandits, but

the remaining withdraw into the hatch. The party declines to

follow and make their way towards a back entrance. They find

some guards who tell them they must wait in the University. A

battle breaks out when Berana Sleeps the guards. The guards

are subdued and as the party goes out the gate it begins screaming

at them. They run to the Guardians Tower, and see Colonel Thornsby.

He is flabergasted by their tale, but a Guardian magic user is

able to communicate with their captive Nightling and confirm

the truth of their tale.

Thornsby gathers a troop and moves on the University. They

find it strangely empty. He divides his forces and tries to take

the three known entrances to the tunnels below. A stalemate

develops at the Main Building, the Guardians win at the Barn,

and they are turned back from the Chancellor's mansion. Thornsby

is exasperated especially when the party mentions that there are

missing students and talk of slaves going into the University.

He calls for reinforcements which arrive. They methodically clear

out the main building, and then assault the mansion. They

then move into the tunnels and flush Cavanaugh out. Things

go well until Skaven intervene allowing Cavenaugh to escape

into the Underdark.

In the pens below they find the University community.

Missing are the Chancellor, his pregnant wife and child, his

assistant Jaylen Vaas, and a contingent of guards. Most

are completely stunned, but some are saying "I told you so."

Vice Chancellor Pauley is exceptionally shattered and says that

he was working to understand 20kGP in missing funds.

Using their pieces they see 2 pieces moving east.

Rivery spends the night with Adileza and Alsiga. The others

spend the night at the Temple of Athena.

Sunday

Zagyg attack on the Duke's Castle. Skaven (19/20) respond

quickly and come up out of the sewers to join the fight.

Zagyg takes piece and Duke to his tower on the edge

of the Cracktow.

The party minus Rivery joins a contingent from the Temple Athena

who tries to retake the gate to the Duke's palace but run into Skaven

who withdraw and disappear in the moat. Aislyn sees a Black Dragon

fly off with a mage in a mage costume and a man in fine pajamas.

Soon the party is summoned by Charles Thornsby who asks them

to leave right away to try to recover the Duke. He will be along as

soon as possible with an army. The party visits Dr. Copelius to

recover Livy. He tells them that he has made great progress on his

creations and that he could not have done in without studying

Wicked. He also points out that he has repaired Livy. Apparently

the Skaven had altered her such that she could not do harm to a

Skaven or rat.

Using their pieces they see six pieces moving rapidly east.

They leave around noon for the Cracktow.

Monday

Someone from Yggsburg, the flying Dwarf Gnigul, to Caron to talk

to the Ripper Five about their valuable claim. Talks to their

factor Amaer. Amaer also gets a note from Odilia Halstromm asking

to set up a meeting with the Ripper 5.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday: Under the Heel and Caron Chronicle Special Joint Edition

Weekend of Woe

Events on Saturday and Sunday have shaken two of the most important

pillars of our community. While these two newspapers normally take opposing

views on the events of the days, these dire circumstances have led us to

unite for the greater good. We urge all citizens of Caron and the Galban

Hills to forget their petty differences and rivalries as we have done to

ask not what their city and nation can do for them, but ask what they can

do for their city and nation.

On Saturday a disturbance broke out on the campus of Caron University.

The Guardians of Galba responded to reports of an infestation of fell creatures.

Under the leadership of Charles Thornsby the Guardians found that fell creatures

had taken over numerous buildings of the University and had apprently taken many

of the University community hostage. As the Guardians searched the grounds

pitched battles between the Guardians and an unusual sort of fell creture broke

out. These creatures were created by a University experiment that evidently

went horribly wrong. The creatures are some sort of hybrid between a rat and

human dubbed Nightlings. A determined effort by the Guardians

restored order in the University. Sorties into the extensive tunnel network

under the University found a large nest of Nightlings.

In the desperate, but ultimately successful, struggle to clear out

the Nightlings prominent members of the University community are missing

and presumed dead. University Chancellor Charles Cavanaugh, his wife and

child, his assistant Jaylin Vaas, and much of the University security staff

are missing. Professor Alton Lorock, three members of the University

security staff and six Guardians are confirmed dead. An unknown number of

students are also missing. Odilia Halstromm, spokesperson for the University,

said that apparently Cavanaugh, an alchemist, and Lorock, a necromancer,

were studying a very dangerous magical substance and that had led to their

knowledge of things "man is not meant to know", and their descent into madness.

She denied that Chancellor Cavanaugh had embellezed funds and that the University

faced bankruptcy. She noted that the University had cancelled classes Monday

and Tuesday, but that the faculty and students were determined to carry on the

proud tradition of the one of Caron's oldest institutions. She thanked

the Guardians for their prompt actions in support of the University, and

urged magically talented young people to continue to apply to study at one of the

world's finest institutions of magical learning.

These fantastic events followed what is usually one of the highlights

of the Caron social scene. The University of Caron's Charity Ball was held

at the Temple of Apollo on the evening before the tragic events. By all

accounts that affair was very successful. The Temple of Apollo declined

to comment on any of these events.

While the above would normally be the most important events of the

weekend a similarly disturbing event occured the next day. At dawn on Sunday

morning Caron was disturbed by a large beast flying towards the center of the

city. The beast, reported to be a Black Dragon, landed in the court yard of

Castle Caron. The Guardians were unable to dislodge the beast from blocking

the entrance to the Castle Keep, and many clerics, warriors, and magic users

from the Temples and institutions along the Corniche assembled to assault the

beast. As they gathered for their assault, a troop of Nightlings boiled out

of the Castle's moat and pitched battle broke out around the entrance

of the Castle between the horrors and the assembled attack force. In the

midst of the battle the beast rose up spit acid on the fell creatures

as it flew off to the east. At this point the fell creatures hastily

retreated back into the moat.

Representatives of the Guardians of Galba denied that the beast was

being ridden by the famous Mage Zagyg and that the dragon and mage had

departed in the company of the Duke. They had no explanation for the

beast's appearance and attack on the Nightlings, and whether there is

any connection between the events at the University on Saturday and at Castle

Caron on Sunday. They speculated that the events were some sort of

out break of chaos from the Cracktow or the Wild Lands.

In response to these events the Duke of Galba announces the following

measures that will be in effect for the foreseeable future. The city

of Caron is under curfew from the hours of 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM. No one

is allowed out of their homes between these times without written permission

from the Guardians of Galba. The city gates will be closed between the hours

of 8:00 PM and 8:00 AM. All citizens are urged to be vigilent and report

any unusual activities to the Guardians or the Town Guard.

Our newspapers support these drastic measures. This weekend's attacks,

by unknown possibly related assailants, on two of Caron's most important

institutions, call for a vigorous response to insure the safety of our

city and nation. We urge all citizens go about their normal business

and cooperate fully with the authorities. Together we will put the disturbing

events of this weekend behind us and enter a peaceful and prosperous

future.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday

Rir's Lightstone lanterns burn out.

Wednesday

Party fights with Yuck Squirrels and tangles with the Black

Dragon at the Cracktow. The Black Dragon casts Corrupt Water on

them (Strength = 12) wrecking 1/2 of their Healing potions. The

dragon hits them with his acid breath and plugs Berana with a

magic missle, before flying off after being hit by Rir's Luminous

Lance, a magic missle from Berana, and some arrows from Aislyn.

They find some loot in the muck and enter the Palace

of Shadows.

[cinabro]

Sorry for not posting anything last week. Very busy in real world.

This session went very wrong. The players declined to take the bait

and enter the tunnels. They then cleverly get out of the University and

call for back up. They were distressed that they did not have their

regular equipment. Thus they are spectators for the climax of the

adventure.

On to the Palace of Shadows.

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 4 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 4 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 4th Mage), Rir (Lvl 4 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 5 Rogue), Livy (Lvl 3 Cloth Gollum)

Wednesday Continued

They decide to go through the blue door and see

the pool and robes with potions. They drink the potions and

head into the water. At the bottom they follow the woman

in distress and square off versus the Locathahs. They

dispatch them and the mermaid Alise tells them that further

on is a Sea Hag who is charge of this place. She is guarded by

many Locathah. Down the other paths is a monster with big claws,

and more Locathah. They face the Sea Hag who tells her Locathah

minions to stay out of the fight. She tries to enfeeble Rir, but

misses. Berana tries to sleep her, but she is immune. Finally

she uses her Horn of Blasting and gets Rir and Berana, before the

swarming party dispatches her. As the Locathah move menancingly

forward, Alise dispatches one with a magic missle, and claims

rulership of this realm. She rewards the party with a piece,

healing potions, and some gold, but claims the Horn of Blasting

for her own. Alise flirts with Rivery.

Next they hit the silver door and are confronted by the

Brass Golem in a red room and gargoyles and ivy in a green room.

As they explore the green room, the gorgoyles come alive and the

the Asassin Vine falls on them. It wraps up Rir as the others

dispatch gargoyles and finally the vine. They see a chess piece

shaped hole in the floor appear and a secret door opens up

beyond. They see a beautiful woman dancing with a transparent man

with an orchestra of self playing instruments. They stop and ask

the players why they are disturbed. They players say that they are

gathering pieces. The pair tell them that Zagyg holds them imprisoned

and to get to the tower they have to gather five pieces to open

the locks. They give them another piece and point to the lock here.

There are doors beyond that lead to new rooms with locks. They

suggest that the party go away and return when they have gathered

the rest of the keys. They surround and attack the Brass Golem

and are distressed when it bleeds molten brass on them. They

dispatch it and see the key hole.

They check out the green door, and see the garden. They

check out the red room and get an uneasy feeling about the first

room. They go through the gold door and see the rakashasa disguised

as a lamasu. It tells them he holds a key and he will gladly give

it to them when they are worthy of getting to the tower, that is when

they have gathered the remaining keys. He tells them that a Treant

is the guardian of the garden and he can be bargained with. The

Guardian of the lab, on the other hand is very nasty and should be

dealt with harshly. They party decides to head into the garden.

[cinabro]

The Palace of Shadows which is a pure dungeon crawl. Definitely old school

with stacks of random monstors all held together by a contrived quest.

The module gets the job done, but is a cut below the Troll Lord stuff and

the Dungeon Crawl Classics. A special disappointment to me since this was

meant to be Castle Zagyg in my original plan for the campaign.

In the real world this was our last session in 2006. From now on the campaign slows to a crawl. So far we have gotten two sessions done in 2007, and I think we need about four more to get an end. We should finish some time in the first half of 2008.

[cinabro]

Party = Aislyn (Lvl 4 Ranger), Aurelia (Lvl 4 Cleric), Berana (Lvl 4 Mage), Rir (Lvl 4 Fighter), Rivery (Lvl 5 Rogue), Livy (Lvl 3 Cloth Gollum)

Wednesday Continued

They explore the garden of the Palace of Shadows. They fight and defeat

the Flesh Crawler, the Manticore, and the man eating plant. They gather

some of the mushrooms and enter the maze where they fight some ants.

They decide to avoid the Acheroi and talk to the Treant and the Satyr.

They get healed and rested by the waters to get ready to fight the "mole".

They answer 4/5 of the Satyr's riddles. They rest for 8 hours to recover

spells. They fight the Bulette and drive it away. Oakheart the Treant

rewards them with a piece/key.

Thursday

They go on to the lab. They leave a rope across the rolling platform, but

leave the door open causing the platform to speed up while they are

away. They fight the golem, kill it, and take its medallion. They get

10 potions from the potion machine. They enter the mirror maze and send

Wicked to scout ahead. She is turned to stone by the Gorgon. They enter

the maze and defeat the Gorgon. They prepare to enter the next room.

[cinabro]

Crawling through the dungeon in our first session in three months. Session is also short due to real world considerations. By the end of this one I want the Palace of Shadows to end as I have gotten sick of its repetitive nature and want to move towards the end of the story.

As I prepare for the next session, the dice are not kind, indicating that something bad happens back in Caron while the party is away. The wheels begin to turn as I prepare to buffet the party yet again with something unexpected.