Session Report 4/17/2020: The Ring of Kamorhaz

The Ring of Kamorhaz.

Persons mentioned in the text:

• BOCCE, a level 1 Barbarian
• ROBERT, a level 1 Fighter
• KYLE, a level 4 Halfing; a hero of the Battle of Fennburgh, horribly disfigured by frostbite
• ORION, a level 1 Elf
• ERIC, a level 1 Cleric of St. Bartholomew the Just
• ARMAND, a level 4 Cleric; a hero of the Battle of Fennburgh
• BILL, a level 1 Fighter

The time:
    11 Bloodstone 1120 Anno Daedalus


THE PLACE:
    A shrine to the ancestor spirit ROLLO THE STRONG, near TRISKELE, capital city of the frozen hinterlands known as the THUNDERMOOR

    Our Heroes set out again for the shrine, determined to finish their map and loot whatever treasure that could be found from the northeast wing. When they crested the dell in which the shrine sat, they saw two small camps situated near the fire. As Our Heroes approached, they heard the short blast of warning horns and a representative from each camp rode up to meet them.

    One representative introduced himself as a member of the Black Owl clan; the other, a member of the Red Elk clan. The Black Owls had heard about the shrine and wanted to take it over for their ancestor spirit, Haetha, but the Red Elks had also been alerted to the shrine’s presence, and wanted to protect and restore it, as they also feted the ancestor spirit of Rollo the Strong. However, the strong presence of undead in the shrine made both camps nervous about clearing it out themselves. Both of the men wanted to know what Our Heroes aimed to do with the shrine.

    Our Heroes explained that they were simply explorers, come to map out the shrine, and keep whatever they found. The Red Elks bristled at this; they believed whatever treasure was in the shrine was left as an offer to Rollo the Strong, and wanted it undisturbed. The Black Owls decided a map would be useful, and offered two of their finest destriers for an accurate map. The Red Elks counter-offered with two mounts of their own, as well as some fine hides got from a hunt. Our Heroes excused themselves to mull the offers over.

    Our Heroes decided to play the clans against one another, separating them and privately promising each a map. The plan was, after fully mapping the shrine, to rendezvous with a representative on the opposite side of the shrines, out of sight of one another, and abscond with their reward before either clan realized what was happening. They explained the need for a rendezvous point to each representative in private: they were worried the other clan would come after them if they knew they had decided to sell the map to their rival clan. The representatives agreed, but there was still the matter of treasure: the Black Owls wanted a hefty cut of whatever Our Heroes found in the shrine, and the Red Elks wanted Our Heroes to leave it undisturbed, period. Our Heroes agreed to have their bags searched before entering and after exiting the shrine, privately planning to hide whatever treasure they found and come back later to collect it.

    The clan representatives stood aside and allowed Our Heroes to pass. Upon entering the shrine, Our Heroes went to the center room, where they found some Critterlings re-building the plinth of the shrine. Our Heroes followed the Critterlings back to their dormitory to speak with the Critterling leader, asking them about the northeast section of the shrine. The Critterling leader said that the acolytes of Rollo lived in the wing to the northeast, and that although the door was locked, it was probable that an acolyte would pass through. To show their gratitude for clearing out the Fleshrippers the week before, the Critterlings also showed Our Heroes the engraving in the Critterling leader’s private room, which Our Heroes had not yet seen. It was a simple engraving, of Rollo the Strong using a greatbow to slay a giant, but it was brilliantly rendered. Our Heroes thanked the Critterlings and moved along to the northeast wing.

    Outside of the entrance to the acolytes’ wing, five Zombies were shuffling around. Armand pushed his way to the front of the group and called forth a wave of divine energy that obliterated the undead. As the remains lay smouldering, the door creaked open and a timid acolyte peeked out to see what happened. Kyle assuaged his fears and told him that they were a group of cartographers come to map the shrine. Although Kyle’s monstrous appearance frightened the acolyte, Kyle’s tales of how he accrued his battle-scars impressed him. The acolyte introduced himself as Zagreus, and invited Our Heroes into the sitting-room to talk more. The sitting-room was adjacent to the dormitories, as well as a stockpile of food and a prayer room. Our Heroes took turns telling Zagreus about their adventures as he listened raptly.

    With Zagreus sufficiently impressed, Kyle asked if he wouldn’t mind telling them about the layout of the acolytes’ wing, so they could complete their map. Zagreus agreed, and told them about the dormitories, stockpiles, and prayer room, but Kyle privately noticed that there was a small, 10’x10’ room unaccounted for southeast of the stockpiles. Bob offered some rations to Zagreus, to store for the other acolytes, and Zagreus was grateful, and offered to accompany him to the stockpiles. While in the store-room, Bob noticed that there was a large larder in the southeast that Zagreus seemed to want to steer Bob away from.

    When Bob and Zagreus returned to the acolytes’ sitting-room where the others were, Kyle asked Zagreus to show him his dormitory. Zagreus agreed, on the condition they were very quiet, so they didn’t wake the other acolytes. When Zagreus let them in, Kyle distracted him while Bob slipped away. Bob headed back to the store-room and pushed the larder aside, revealing a small hidey-hole filled with treasure: some silver, holy water, and a mummified hand with a bizarre ring on it. Bob pushed the silver into his bag and destroyed the hand, and then slipped the ring onto his own finger, where it stuck fast. He put his glove back on, covering the ring, intending to walk out with it on.

    As Bob pushed the larder back into place, it made a noise, which startled Zagreus. Kyle leapt onto Zagreus’ back and wrapped him in a headlock, choking him until he passed out. Bocce volunteered to watch over Zagreus’ unconscious body while the others poked around, in case Zagreus came to. Immediately after the others left, Bocce cut Zagreus’ throat. Our Heroes found nothing else of interest in the acolytes’ wing, and decided to leave. They split the silver they had found among one another’s bags to disguise it from the clansmen as they left, figuring they wouldn’t notice an additional 20 silver each, as they had hefted their coin rather than counted it.

    Their plan worked, and Our Heroes rode away with new mounts, some fine hides, and a wondrous ring that pulsated on Bob’s hand, throbbing with a great and terrible energy...

Session Report 4/10/2020: The Drowning of the Fleshrippers

A Fleshripper.

Persons mentioned in the text:

• BOCCE, a level 1 Barbarian
• ADORRA, a level 1 Cleric of St. Katharine the Merciful
• KYLE, a level 4 Halfing; a hero of the Battle of Fennburgh
• RANDY, a level 1 Elf
• ORION, a level 1 Elf
• ERIC, a level 1 Cleric of St. Bartholomew the Just

The time:
    The month of BLOODSTONE, third month of the year 1120 Anno Daedalus


The place:
    TRISKELE, the capital city of the THUNDERMOOR, nestled where the RIVER GREEN meets the RIVER UR
    A SHRINE in the THUNDERMOOR, a frozen wasteland in the southern reaches of KATHON

    Kyle survived his ordeal, but suffered horrific deformity: he lost his nose, ears, and a few of his fingertips to frostbite. Undeterred, he swore to return to the shrine and loot every last nook and cranny. Sitting two astride each mule, Our Heroes rode North and came across the shrine a little after the sun reached its zenith.

    Our Heroes spent a little time poking around previously-explored areas to make sure their map was accurate. Eric the cleric made quick work of a roving band of zombies, rebuking them with an incantation to St. Bart. Satisfied that their map was accurate, Our Heroes moved to the northwest area of the shrine and timorously made their way to a door they’d inspected last week.

    As Kyle the Halfling listened at the door, it swung open to reveal a totally nude man covered in viscera and wielding two flensing knives. Behind him, a scene of indescribable charnel debauchery unfolded, with a dozen other men partaking in a grisly orgy. Horrified, Our Heroes slammed the door shut and leaned against it as Orion the Elf frantically spiked it shut. The man who had opened the door managed to slip through before it was shut, but slipped on some gore and cracked his skull on the floor of the shrine.

    As Our Heroes caught their breath and processed what they’d just seen, they heard a shuffling and groaning coming from the other end of the hall. Expecting a zombie, Eric the Cleric raised high his holy symbol and banished the undead, but a flash of holy light revealed it was not a zombie he turned, but a ghoul. In the meantime, Our Heroes had devised a plan to deal with the men in the locked room…

    In the room to the northeast, there was a frozen lake with a small perimeter of walkable area. Most of Our Heroes would be hiding out of view on this area, while Kyle would lure the men from their room into the “lake room.” As Kyle would shed his armor and belongings, he felt would be light enough to slide across the ice without risking breaking it, at least enough to make it to another safe area. As the men piled in after him, Adorra would bring her hammer down upon the ice to shatter it, drowning the men.

    Our Heroes helped Kyle out of his platemail and bid him good luck before heading to the lake room to hide. Kyle ripped the spikes from the door and sprinted down the hallway, chased by a gaggle of gibbering, naked men with knives. As Kyle neared the lake room, he heard Bocce the Barbarian roar for him to “JUMP!” so he did, and narrowly avoided being tripped by Bocce’s greatsword.

    Kyle sprawled to the ice and slid across to safety, while his pursuants tripped over Bocce’s sword and fell onto the ice in a heap. Adorra and Eric brought their weapons down on the ice and cracked it, and with a loud crack it gave way, dumping their enemies into the freezing waters. Bocce dispatched the stragglers, and on one of them was a lovely cloak and scintillating amulet, which Our Heroes pocketed.

    Our Heroes visited the Critterlings again, to update them on how their exploration was going. They got what information they could about the naked men - Fleshrippers, as the Critterlings called them, and headed back to the north-west corner of the shrine. In one room, they found a small group of Fleshrippers feeding carrion to ghouls encased in ice. They overwhelmed the Fleshrippers and dispatched the ghouls, and headed to the last room they had not yet explored in the north-west wing, where they found a group of bandits who the Fleshrippers had been slowly flaying alive. Adorra brought the mercy of St. Katherine to all but one, who was still healthy enough to be left alive. He introduced himself as Caine, who was grateful for his freedom and pledged to spread tales of their mercy and strength, and convert to the faith of St. Katherine.

Session Report 4/3/2020: The Shrine of Rollo the Strong

Kyle the Halfling, drowning in freezing water.

Persons mentioned in the text:

• BOCCE, a level 1 Barbarian
• PERSEPHONE, a level 1 Elf
• KYLE, a level 4 Halfing; a hero of the Battle of Fennburgh
• RANDY, a level 1 Elf
• ORION, a level 1 Elf
• BUSSY, a level 1 Cleric
• ERIC, a level 1 Cleric of St. Bartholomew the Just

The time:
    The month of AMETHYST, second month of the year 1120 Anno Daedalus


The place:
    TRISKELE, the capital city of the THUNDERMOOR, nestled where the RIVER GREEN meets the RIVER UR
    A SHRINE in the THUNDERMOOR, a frozen wasteland in the southern reaches of KATHON

    Our Heroes set off for a nearby shrine they had learned about when they arrived in Triskele the week before. When they arrived, they spent a couple hours exploring the perimeter and making a careful map of the potential exits. During the mapping expedition, they were waylaid by zombies, to which they lost their cleric, BUSSY.

Our Heroes decided to explore the south-east portion of the shrine, three totally empty rooms that appeared to have been looted already. They found engravings on the walls that gave them some clue as to whom the shrine feted: a tale of a great and terrible general betrayed by his lieutenant and concubines. Of particular note was a ring that appeared on the hand of his traitorous lieutenant in the scenes depicting the beheading of the general.

They made their way to the center of the shrine, and found a large effigy of a four-armed man with a dog’s head, wielding a greatbow and greathammer; the general from the engravings, they assumed. There as well was ERIC, a Cleric of St. Bartholomew. They set fire to the heretical ancestral effigy. As the fire blazed, a group of diminutive creatures that looked like a cross between a chameleon and a parrot appeared from where they had camouflaged themselves against the walls and skittered away. Panicking, Our Heroes gave pursuit, fearing the creatures were raising an alarm of some kind.

They came across a nest of the creatures, who called themselves Critterlings. Their leader spoke common, and the charismatic Elf Persephone smoothed over the situation, agreeing to help clear out the shrine of “bad men” who had moved into the north-west of the shrine.

Our Heroes explored the north-west wing of the shrine very carefully, listening at every door they came across. They opened the door to a silent room and found the floor was completely ice, and in the center of the room were two large sacks. Their caution that they had been exercising up til now vanished in the presence of treasure, and the halfling Kyle scurried across the ice to the treasure. Adorra followed, clanking along in her plate armor. They found that the sacks were full of copper, about eight stones’ worth. They hefted the sacks and started walking back…

What they didn’t know was that the sacks were situated on a column, and our two Heroes were weighed down with treasure and plate armor; as they walked off the column and onto unsupported ice, it gave way and they plunged into freezing water. As her dying act, Persephone threw her sword to safety. By a miracle of tenacity, Kyle was able to escape the freezing water by clambering up Persephone’s sinking corpse, and grab onto Bocce’s sword, cutting his fingers and palms deeply as Bocce pulled him out.

Our Heroes swaddled Kyle in a blanket and took him to the room where they burned the effigy, warming him by its embers as they continued to smoulder. They rode back to Triskele, Kyle fading in and out of consciousness. He lived, but barely, and was a few fingers and one nose short when he finally recovered.

Session Report 3/7/2020: To Triskele

Kenneth the Thief, immortalized in stone.

Persons mentioned in the text:

• KENNETH, a level 4 Thief; a hero of the Battle of Fennburgh
• PERSEPHONE, a level 1 Elf
• KYLE, a level 4 Halfing; a hero of the Battle of Fennburgh
• RANDY, a level 1 Elf
• ORION, a level 1 Elf
• BUSSY, a level 1 Cleric
• ARMAND, a level 4 Vicar, a hero of the Battle of Fennburgh
• BOCCE, a level 1 Barbarian

The time:
    The month of AMETHYST, second month of the year 1120 Anno Daedalus


The place:
    FLORYMONDE'S TOWER, the crumbling tower of a long-dead sorceress, situated beside the RIVER GREY and near the town of FLUME
    The THUNDERMOOR, a frozen wasteland in the southern reaches of KATHON

    Our Heroes climbed to the top of Florymonde’s tower and found a huge nest filled with what appeared to be giant snake eggs. Kenneth was gripped with a powerful antisocial urge and smashed the eggs. A chilling screech heralded the arrival of the cockatrice whose nest he was destroying, and Our Heroes fled down the staircase, but not before Kenneth was bitten by the cockatrice’s snake head. As Our Heroes slew the cockatrice, Kenneth turned slowly to stone. With a heroic effort of will, he curled his fists into a crude gesture before he was completely turned to stone.

    Our Heroes cut the clothes from Kenneth’s body and took his weapons before continuing into Florymonde’s magic armoire. The armoire led to a cold, black tunnel that spit them out in a modest, comfortable hut built into the side of a mountain. It overlooked a snowy valley through which a large, black river cut. Opposite the river was an evergreen forest. On the horizon they could see a town. They climbed down the mountain, avoiding an encounter with a white ape, and followed the river upstream until they found Triskele, built where the river Green flowed into the river Ur.

    They met a Barbarian who called himself Bocce and learned they were hundreds of miles south of Greymarsh, in the hinterlands called the Thundermoor. Here, bands of barbarians rode horseback and fought for resources in the harsh, frozen plains. Triskele was a rare outpost of civilization, ruled in name by a Duke who was on a pilgrimmage, but de facto by a group of sorcerers who were said to consort with an ice dragon.

    Our Heroes realized the Dwarf they met a few months ago was from the Thundermoor, and spent the next week traveling back up the mountain and through the armoire, and then to Fennburgh to rescue the Dwarf and bring him back home. Although it was a century since he last set foot in Triskele, and everyone he knew was long dead, the Dwarf was grateful to be returned to his homeland.

   

Character Sheet for my Lovely Players

 Character Sheet