**PCs:**
Brother Berthold (Cleric Ll - RIP killed by flying demon)
Sporith the Gambler (MU Ll - RIP killed by Osan's arrow)
Osan (Elf F/MU L1/1)
**Hirelings:**
Caris (Sellsword - RIP killed by an Orcish arrow)
**NPCs:**
Blunt, (Rowboat ferryman - RIP killed by a wild boar)
**LL Notes:**
This was an entertaining session featuring an NPC who was killed,
brought back as undead and killed again, all within a few rounds. It
was also nearly a TPK - the surviving PC, Osan, had a few lucky
rolls near the end that saved him.
**Session Notes:**
The party enlisted the aid of Blunt to return upriver to the dungeon
the next next day. They made the trip in Blunt's rowboat without
incident, but upon arriving at the beach near the dungeon entrance,
they were surprised by an Orc with a bow, who took pot shots at them
from shore. The Orc was wounded by Osan's careful aim with his bow,
but not before Caris was slain, an Orcish arrow through his neck.
Sporith commanded Blunt to row towards the island, even as he dug
out his scroll of ‘animate dead'. As the boat pulled ashore, Caris
the zombie arose! Caris's tenure as an undead minion was
short-lived, however, as another Orcish arrow ended his
un-life. Osan finally killed the Orc with another well-placed arrow,
but even as the Orc fell, five more Orcs appeared on the beach!
To make matters worse, the party, now on the island, was attacked by
an angry warthog, who charged at them through the underbrush, goring
and killing Blunt, and wounding Berthold. Sporith decided he had had
enough of the Orcs and cast sleep, putting all of them into an
enchanted slumber. Meanwhile, Osan and Berthold ganged up on the
warthog, killing him. All was finally quiet. The party quickly rowed
across the river to the beach, where they searched and killed the
sleeping Orcs.
The island the party was on was not large, and was wooded with rocky
soil. They did a loop around the island, returning to the southern
tip, where Osan's Elvish senses detected something amiss with an oak
tree by the shore. A careful of the tree examination revealed a
secret door in the trunk. The door opened into a hollow, with a
winding stair made of rough stone headed down. Sporith lit a torch,
and the party descended.
The stairs opened into a stone chamber, with a wooden door on the
opposite wall. Berthold opened the door, and could see they were
looking over a well-lit room. In front of them was a balcony, with
stairs down to the room proper. Berthold could see two people
talking in front of a large set of double doors. As he stepped out
onto the balcony, they looked up - he could now see one was robed,
and one armored. The robed man yelled "Intruders! Get them, Bjorn",
and as he did, he ran out the double doors. Bjorn, meanwhile, drew
his sword and ran up the stairs, towards the party.
Berthold and Osan met Bjorn on the stairs, while Sporith dropped
down from the balcony railing, intent on seeing where the robed man
had gone. In the battle with Bjorn, Berthold was wounded, but he and
Osan managed to subdue Bjorn, knocking him out. They tied him up
while Sporith examined the doors - they were of red metal, trimmed
in gold, a golden handle on each. However, there were no locks, and
the doors could not be opened. Sporith thought them to be
wizard-locked.
Berthold and Osan questioned Bjorn after rousing him. He was
defiant, mentioning his master Quix, and provided no other
information. Tiring of the questions, Bjorn stood up - hands still
tied - and ran up the stairs. He did not get very far. Osan ran
after him and hacked him down, this time killing him.
The party searched the room, finding nothing but an odd circular
carving on the balcony floor, and a gold ring worn by
Bjorn. Thinking that Bjorn may have been running towards the stone
circle, Berthold took Bjorn's ring and touched it to the circle's
center. Sporith and Osan gasped mas Berthold disappeared! They both
followed suit, and all three party members could now see that they
had been transported to another place, perhaps elsewhere in the same
dungeon - but they had no way to know for sure.
The room they were in was long, with a black marble floor and white
marble pillars lining both walls. At the far end was a demon idol on
an altar. Berthold moved closer to the altar, but as he drew near,
he was surprised when the demon spread wings and flew off of the
altar, attacking from the air. The battle was on as Sporith moved in
to help Berthold, while Osan fired his bow from afar.
Here the party was not as lucky as with their prior battles. A stray
arrow from Osan killed Sporith outright, while the demon killed
Berthold and was finally brought down by another of Osan's arrows,
even as it flew towards the Elf. Osan had to think quickly - he was
alone, in an unknown part of the dungeon. A quick search revealed an
exit to a cloak room, where Osan rested for a bit, before continuing
on, in search of a dungeon exit or stair.
It was slow moving, as he was dragging the bodies of Sporith and
Berthold, and at one point he had to hide and narrowly avoided being
discovered by two acolytes, but he eventually discovered a stair up
to level 1. He dragged the bodies up to the top of the stairs,
leaving them for the moment in an empty room. He explored south,
after a short while coming across a circular room. In it were two
robed acolytes and two skeletons armed with scimitars. The two
acolytes, one with a silver medallion, chased Osan, but did not fare
so well as Osan turned and drew his axe. He killed the one wearing
the medallion with a single blow, and the other fled north, escaping
down the very same stairs Osan had just come up. Osan gathered the
silver medallion and moved back towards the skeleton room.
He crept into the circular room, intent on the one exit. The two
skeletons were immobile, but as soon as Osan passed them, they
animated and attacked. Luckily he was able to defeat them quickly,
and the exit led to an area of the dungeon he was familiar with. He
dragged the bodies of Berthold and Sporith along until finding the
exit by the beach. He exited and headed back to Larm in Blunt's
rowboat.
