Rappan Athuk Session Log 2/19/2023

[Scott]

Godsday, Coldeven 3rd, 578 CY
Maylin the mage and his henchmen, mounted on Griffins, depart from their castle on the edge of the Welkwood forest southwest of the town of Narwell. Their destination is the dungeon known as Rappan Athuk, where it is rumored that followers of the demon prince Orcus gather and grow in strength.
The party flies mostly south, following the edge of the Welkwood forest until late in the afternoon. As dusk approaches the look for a spot to camp. The see a small settlement and land outside the wooden walls and approach the gate. A guard calls out to the asking their business. They respond that they are just travelers looking for a safe place to rest. After speaking to the guard for a few minutes they find out they are in the thorp of Fort Grog and they can try the Ash and Elm Inn. The party locates the inn, but they are told there is no way their griffins would be allowed in the stable with the horses, but since the party has gold, the innkeeper, Jonus has connections, and the griffins spend the night in a small storage building. After securing rooms the party spends some time at the bar. After a few rounds and a few generous tips, Maylin started asking the innkeeper if he had heard any rumors related to Rappan Athuk. Jonus shared a rumor with him, “Not too long ago another adventurer passed through here on his way to Rappan Athuk, a warrior named Corondel. Later we heard he encountered a green dragon in the forest near the dungeon. Corondel fought and defeated the dragon. Later Corondel disappeared while exploring the dungeon, but it is rumored that the dragon was not killed, just badly wounded and has now recovered and it still lurks in the forest killing anybody that strays too deeply into the woods.” Maylin thanked him for the info and soon after the party went to the bed for the night.

[Scott]

Waterday, Coldeven 4th, 578 CY
The party is up and off again at dawn, flying southeast, and then following the coast road south. Around mid-afternoon they reached an estuary. The party turned west and followed a small river for a few miles until they spotted a small settlement, Zelkor’s Ferry.
Zelkor’s Ferry is a small trading post built within the walls of an old ruined castle.
The party landed outside the walls and approached the gates. A number of humanoid skulls were nailed to the outside of the wooden gate. Guards carrying crossbows yelled down from the wall asking what they wanted. Maylin responded, “We are no threat. We are looking for shelter. We have come to explore Rappan Athuk.”
One of the guards yelled down, “open the gate, it’s more adventurers.” The way he said ‘adventurers’ made it sound like a derisive label. As the party approached the gates they heard another voice from the wall, “Dead men walking”.
The gates swung open and the party were greeted by another pair of guards. After looking the party over one pointed to a building against the south wall. “There’s the inn, but you an’t keep those beasties there”, he said motioning to the griffins. The inn was just a short walk from the gate. It looked like it had seen better days. A wooden sign with faded, peeling paint picturing a wild boar posted next to the entrance read ‘Bristleback’s Inn. Inside there was a small barroom where several patrons sat and drank and ate. The barkeep, Odo Bristleback, was the owner of the place. Maylin inquired about rooms and stabling for the griffins. The rooms were cheap enough, and for a small daily fortune he said he could find room for them in the base of one of the towers. Maylin made some small talk with the Odo and then started asking if he heard anything about Rappan Athuk. Odo responded, “We don't hear too many rumors about the dungeon itself, since most of the adventurers who go there don't come back. But there is a place a couple miles south of here known as the Mouth of Doom, a carving of a demon face on a hill side. It's an entrance to a dungeon, and it's rumored that somwhere in the dungeon there is a passage that leads to Rappan Athuk.” Next Maylin asked about the green dragon story he heard. Odo said he believed the dragon was dead, there hasn’t been any recent sightings. Its lair was in a small forest called the Forest of Hope, but more commonly referred to as the Forest of Horrors these days. The party spent a little more time at the bar. They decided to investigate the Mouth of Doom the next morning. After one more round they retired for the evening.

[Scott]

A few notes:
I had my days off. The previous info was on Godsday.
Coldven would be March. For weather I do not use the random generator. I use the latitude and geography to locate a real world location similar to where the party is, and look up real world historical weather data. For this adventure the location would be similar to South Carolina/Georgia. Ror Zelkor’s Ferry/Rappan Athuk I’m using the record for Lagrange, Georgia.
The Party:
Maylin: 14th level, lawful good, human, magic-user.
The rest are henchmen:
Volgar: 8th level LG human fighter
Ronan: 8th level LG human cleric of St. Cuthbert
Mirzod: 8th level, LG human monk
Elmir: 2nd level NG human ranger
Magadin: 2.2 CG high elf fighter/magic-user
Waterday, Coldeven 5th, 578 CY
The party rose early and prepared for their expedition. Odo had given the party directions to the Mouth of Doom. The party decided to walk the 2-3 miles to the dungeon. Once spells had been memorized, packs packed, etc. the party left Zelkor’s Ferry and headed southwest, following a rough train that followed a dead, wide stream. The temperature was in the low 50s, the sky clear, But it did rain overnight and the path was wet and muddy, slowing travel. Once out of sight Maylin called Dahish the efreeti from his bottle and had him take point. Abot 30 minutes later the party was trekking southwest, the stream to their right, a wooded hillside on the left. Suddenly Elmir called out, “there’s something just in the trees following us.” The party turned to look where the ranger had indicated. Five gnolls, scouts for a larger band, had been stalking the party. Now seeing that they had been detected, they emerged from the tree line with longbows ready and aimed at the party. Maylin told Dahish to take Volgar and fly to the gnolls while the party followed. Dahish’s usual sarcastic reply, ‘as you wish, my liege.” He scooped up the fighter and flew towards the humanoids. The gnolls fired a round of arrows as they approached, hitting the efreeti a couple times. The gnolls dropped their bows and drew poleaxes as Dahish and Volgar landed. Two gnolls quickly died, Dahish took a slash from a bardiche. Realizing the futility of the situation the gnolls decided to flee, but were killed before they could get away. A quick search turned up a few coins. The gnolls did not appear to be standard tribal gnolls and showed no signs of being equipped by any organized force. The party considered trying to track them back to where they came from, but decided against it and continued along the path.
About 30 minutes later the spotted a ruined stone cottage off the trail ahead. This was a landmark provided by Odo. From here they should be able to see the Mouth of Doom, and looking to the southeast, on a rock protrusion on the side of as hill rising above the trees they could see a large face carved into the stone. The curled goat horns, demonic features, etc. identified it as Orcus, the mouth open wide in a roar or yell. Maylin told Dahish to fly up and scout the area. “I live to serv, my liege.” The efreeti took off towards the stonework. A short time later he was back. “No signs of activity around the statue. Inside the mouth there is a small chamber with steps leading down into the hill. The party left the trail and headed into the woods and started the climb up the hill. Several minutes later there were standing in front of a huge carving of Orcus’s face, the open mouth a passage entrance. After settling on a marching order the party entered and started descending the steps.

[Scott]

I don't think I'm going to write up the dungeon adventure part of this. Doug intentionally looked for a low level area to get some experience for his new henchmen, but he does not have the patience for that. After exploring for a bit and beating up some low level monsters Doug/Maylin said, "screw this, we're going down the Well."
The Well is a feature in the graveyard at the main entrance to the dungeon where rumors state nobody that has ever gone down the well has ever returned.