# The Chronicles of Nolenor – Play Report #1

Real date: 8/26/17 In-game date: August 28, EY632

## PCs:

Ambrose (Veteran – Fighter L1)
Asher (Apprentice – Thief L1)
Ustos (Acolyte – Cleric L1)

## NPCs:

Gruk – (Barbarian – Fighter L1)

## Hirelings:

Thom (torchbearer)

Ambrose, Asher and Ustos explored beneath a ruined tower some six
leagues southwest of Frostmark. They were accompanied by Gruk, a
Barbarian from the Wild Northlands who had a map showing the
location of th ruined tower, and Thom, a hired torchbearer. Asher
was on a secret mission from Rake at the Empty Purse to recover a
statuette from an adventurer said to have disappeared exploring the
ruins.

The party descended a long stair beneath the ruins to a damp entry
hall, where they were pelted with broken rock fragments from the
cracked walls, seemingly flying of their own volition. Dodging
serious injury, they continued exploring and discovered a curious
room with seven demon idols lining the walls and a pentagram on the
floor. The statues displayed evil grins full of gem-encrusted
teeth. Several of the gems were freed by Ambrose, but after freeing
each one, the statues delivered an electric shock and some small
quantities of silver coins from their mouths.

Not wanting to tempt fate, the party continued on to a cold and damp
corridor haunted by floating torches, all emanating a blueish
light. The torches came at anyone within striking range, but stopped
short of following Ustos into a room beyond the corridor, an old
library. There Ustos discovered a scroll (invisibility) and two
books still in good condition, however one of the books (titled
'Burg's Lament') was cursed and, when examined, remained stuck to
Ustos' left hand no matter what he tried. He was joined by the rest
of the party after he knocked away the floating torches with his
cursed tome. Once in the library, Asher searched an area of wall
between some bookshelves and discovered a secret tunnel leading from
the library out to the hillside beneath the tower ruins.

Returning inside, the party continued exploring, coming upon a room
with a locked portcullis, and a crumbling wall above a deep pool of
dark water. 'Secure the Amulet' was written in Gnomish on one wall
in coal-black lettering, as translated by Ustos. The lock on the
portcullis eluded Asher's skills, so Ustos bravely swam under the
wall and thankfully emerged on the other side of the portcullis
unscathed. The others soon followed. The corridor beyond led to a
crypt, where the party disturbed an enchanted skeleton warrior,
which they were able to defeat and afterwards secure its magical
shield and a treasure hoard of gold coins. The party loaded up and
headed back to town to enjoy their spoils. Ustos visited the local
Temple of Soldra, where the Patriarch Sunamel took possession of the
cursed book, in return laying a quest upon Ustos.

## Referee Notes:

Some of the ideas for this came from the Zenopus' Archives Holmes
Ref [0], specifically the one-hit point monsters list. I used them
to add flavor, as they were not any great threat to the party.

The cursed book added a bit of humor when the player of Ustos
decided that if it was stuck to his hand, he could use it as a
weapon. Why not? I ruled it would be a bit clumsy in his off-hand
but still do 1-3 damage on a hit.

The locked portcullis proved intractable to the party with some bad
lock-pick rolls by the thief. I've learned from past sessions never
to have just one way to do something, especially when doing that
something relies on chance. In this case a bit of exploring allowed
the party to proceed onward, even though the perceived risk was high
(swimming blindly under a crumbling rock wall into murky water).

Back in town, because the party did not have enough gold to pay for
the remove curse spell, I thought of the cleric casting quest
instead. That eventually leads the party on another series of
adventures.

[0]: https://sites.google.com/site/zenopusarchives/home/holmes-ref