Post by GRWelsh on Jul 26, 2022 8:11:29 GMT -5
Last Saturday, we finally resumed the AD&D game.
- Aeray, 3rd level paladin of St Cuthbert
- Dain, 4th level cleric of Pelor
- Tory, 3rd level magic-user
- Balul, 4th level mountain dwarf thief
- Krak, 4th level mountain dwarf fighter
- Laetrix, 2nd level high elf magic-user
- Tanathil, 1st/1st level high elf fighter/thief
- Cassandra, 1st level fighter
- Titus, 1st level cleric of St Cuthbert
- The Traveler, 1st level cleric of Fharlanghn
Reaping 22, 575 CY: After driving off and destroying many skeletons, the party was thanked by the farmers of Bronstead in the Stark Mounds who had been besieged there by the undead for a couple of days. The party helped fortify the steading and their campsite by digging ditches and setting up barricades. They found the body of one of the farm dogs nearby dead from what looked like frostbite. Later in the day some of the party went up the hill where the turned skeletons had retreated to, and where they had glimpsed a stone table, or cromlech, in the distance. Tory sent her crow familiar up to fly around the top of the hill, and it was able to relay what it could see. On top of the cromlech were inscribed three portentous runes and glyphs: darkness, evil magic power, and ice/cold. The crow was also able to spot a hole lower down on the other side of the hill. Going over there, the party found what looked like a recent excavation into a hill with discarded picks and shovels nearby, and an archway leading into a tunnel of worked stone. Since they were missing a few party members on this exploration, they decided to retreat and rest, and come back the next day.
That night Tory, Balul and Dain each had dreams... Tory dreamed of being in a dark forest, and approaching a small cottage, where she met an old woman with only a few teeth who introduced herself as 'Old Gran' before Tory abruptly woke up clutching her black dagger (cursed); Balul dreamed of putting the gold rings on again (cursed) and of seeing a red eye in the darkness; and Dain dreamed of seeing a sunbeam shining down through the clouds with a winged being giving him portents from his god in the form of quoted scripture: "The hammer of spirit can be superior to the hammer of iron" and "light can be a great ally in the darkness." They also had a random encounter, which I determined was a giant bat, to give a bit of misdirection... It didn't attack, but fluttered around in the darkness above them before flying off!
Reaping 23, 575 CY: The party woke up to a warm summer day but with thunderheads blowing in... Wasting no time, they made their way from Bronstead up to the barrow entrance, and determined their marching order and began exploring the barrow. They'd heard rumors that barrows and tombs were often trapped, so Dain had prayed for find traps and cast it to scan ahead as they moved along. They found a dead body of a previous explorer with silver arrows in his quiver, as well as a pit trap they avoided. They moved through a maze of tunnels until eventually they heard a cry for help which sounded like a boy... Down some stairs, in a large hall supported by four pillars, they could see a stone sarcophagus and next to it a boy in peasant garb chained to a wall. As they entered to help, over twenty skeletons emerged from alcoves as well as another undead form that appeared skeletal but with skin that looked blackened and withered from frostbite as well as cold, gleaming eyes. The paladin and three clerics attempted to turn undead, but only Dain succeeded, and he only turned five skeletons. "Your gods and saints cannot help you down here, in the dark!" the black skeletal form hissed at them. Laetrix cast a dancing lights spell above the skeletons to help the party see better, and Dain cast a light spell above the black skeletal form with the cold eyes, which made it hiss and draw back for a time. Eventually, the party fought through the skeletons enough that they were able to advance upon the black skeletal form and when they got within 10' of it each had to save versus death magic or take cold damage. Normal weapons did not harm it. Krak was able to strike it with his magic battle axe, but the Traveler went down from the cold damage and felt drained. Dain cast a spiritual hammer to attack it from a distance, and Tanathil and Cassandra shot at it with silver arrows. As Cassandra shot the killing blow, the skeletal form turned to its skeleton minions and hissed "Shoot the boy!" The skeletons shot at the boy and hit him but the party was able to rush forward and save him with cure spells, and break him free of his chains. The Traveler was a 0 hit points and unconscious, but alive. Only five skeletons remained, and they were still turned, facing away from the party at the northern wall. The party opened the stone sarcophagus as a gust of charnel air came out of it, and in it they found hundreds of electrum and gold coins, as well as many gems, gold rings and jewelry. Tory used her wand to detect that one of the rings was magical.
Notes: Since it was close to 1 AM we called it a night. The players had a lot of fun in this adventure. The melee with the skeletons was a slog, but I had assumed more of them would be turned. The black skeletal form was an undead monster I made up that I called a stark wight, as it was from the Stark Mounds. The players thought it was going to either be a vampire (because of the bat encounter the night before) or a lich (because of the cold damage). The stark wight radiates cold, and does additional cold damage with its touch, and that cold damage cannot be healed normally. It has a weakness to sunlight, and retreats from magical light. The cold damage is permanent until a cleric casts bless, resist cold and cure light wounds in that order.
- Aeray, 3rd level paladin of St Cuthbert
- Dain, 4th level cleric of Pelor
- Tory, 3rd level magic-user
- Balul, 4th level mountain dwarf thief
- Krak, 4th level mountain dwarf fighter
- Laetrix, 2nd level high elf magic-user
- Tanathil, 1st/1st level high elf fighter/thief
- Cassandra, 1st level fighter
- Titus, 1st level cleric of St Cuthbert
- The Traveler, 1st level cleric of Fharlanghn
Reaping 22, 575 CY: After driving off and destroying many skeletons, the party was thanked by the farmers of Bronstead in the Stark Mounds who had been besieged there by the undead for a couple of days. The party helped fortify the steading and their campsite by digging ditches and setting up barricades. They found the body of one of the farm dogs nearby dead from what looked like frostbite. Later in the day some of the party went up the hill where the turned skeletons had retreated to, and where they had glimpsed a stone table, or cromlech, in the distance. Tory sent her crow familiar up to fly around the top of the hill, and it was able to relay what it could see. On top of the cromlech were inscribed three portentous runes and glyphs: darkness, evil magic power, and ice/cold. The crow was also able to spot a hole lower down on the other side of the hill. Going over there, the party found what looked like a recent excavation into a hill with discarded picks and shovels nearby, and an archway leading into a tunnel of worked stone. Since they were missing a few party members on this exploration, they decided to retreat and rest, and come back the next day.
That night Tory, Balul and Dain each had dreams... Tory dreamed of being in a dark forest, and approaching a small cottage, where she met an old woman with only a few teeth who introduced herself as 'Old Gran' before Tory abruptly woke up clutching her black dagger (cursed); Balul dreamed of putting the gold rings on again (cursed) and of seeing a red eye in the darkness; and Dain dreamed of seeing a sunbeam shining down through the clouds with a winged being giving him portents from his god in the form of quoted scripture: "The hammer of spirit can be superior to the hammer of iron" and "light can be a great ally in the darkness." They also had a random encounter, which I determined was a giant bat, to give a bit of misdirection... It didn't attack, but fluttered around in the darkness above them before flying off!
Reaping 23, 575 CY: The party woke up to a warm summer day but with thunderheads blowing in... Wasting no time, they made their way from Bronstead up to the barrow entrance, and determined their marching order and began exploring the barrow. They'd heard rumors that barrows and tombs were often trapped, so Dain had prayed for find traps and cast it to scan ahead as they moved along. They found a dead body of a previous explorer with silver arrows in his quiver, as well as a pit trap they avoided. They moved through a maze of tunnels until eventually they heard a cry for help which sounded like a boy... Down some stairs, in a large hall supported by four pillars, they could see a stone sarcophagus and next to it a boy in peasant garb chained to a wall. As they entered to help, over twenty skeletons emerged from alcoves as well as another undead form that appeared skeletal but with skin that looked blackened and withered from frostbite as well as cold, gleaming eyes. The paladin and three clerics attempted to turn undead, but only Dain succeeded, and he only turned five skeletons. "Your gods and saints cannot help you down here, in the dark!" the black skeletal form hissed at them. Laetrix cast a dancing lights spell above the skeletons to help the party see better, and Dain cast a light spell above the black skeletal form with the cold eyes, which made it hiss and draw back for a time. Eventually, the party fought through the skeletons enough that they were able to advance upon the black skeletal form and when they got within 10' of it each had to save versus death magic or take cold damage. Normal weapons did not harm it. Krak was able to strike it with his magic battle axe, but the Traveler went down from the cold damage and felt drained. Dain cast a spiritual hammer to attack it from a distance, and Tanathil and Cassandra shot at it with silver arrows. As Cassandra shot the killing blow, the skeletal form turned to its skeleton minions and hissed "Shoot the boy!" The skeletons shot at the boy and hit him but the party was able to rush forward and save him with cure spells, and break him free of his chains. The Traveler was a 0 hit points and unconscious, but alive. Only five skeletons remained, and they were still turned, facing away from the party at the northern wall. The party opened the stone sarcophagus as a gust of charnel air came out of it, and in it they found hundreds of electrum and gold coins, as well as many gems, gold rings and jewelry. Tory used her wand to detect that one of the rings was magical.
Notes: Since it was close to 1 AM we called it a night. The players had a lot of fun in this adventure. The melee with the skeletons was a slog, but I had assumed more of them would be turned. The black skeletal form was an undead monster I made up that I called a stark wight, as it was from the Stark Mounds. The players thought it was going to either be a vampire (because of the bat encounter the night before) or a lich (because of the cold damage). The stark wight radiates cold, and does additional cold damage with its touch, and that cold damage cannot be healed normally. It has a weakness to sunlight, and retreats from magical light. The cold damage is permanent until a cleric casts bless, resist cold and cure light wounds in that order.
