Session 15: “Lessons in mountaineering nomenclature”
The party finally learned the name of the Orc companion who survived the Cult of Evil Chaos with them: Hibub Karate.
They gathered their belongings and set off back to the keep. On the way they surprised another group of ambush mice folk, who apologized and the party let them go. They saw a naked svelt flying boy named Enies and chatted with them. He made a clever pun about how the Keep was “keeping it cool” which totally went over the party’s head. They chatted with him a bit, talked about the Caves of Chaos. He seemed interested, and when he flew off he’d altered course back the way the players had come.
Upon reaching the keep the party discovered it was experiencing an unseasonable winter. As in: it was currently high summer, but the keep was covered in ice and snow. The party made their way in, got some winter gear (disguised Hibub), met with the local cleric to hand in the broken face of the Abbot of Evil Chaos. They paid 750 gold for a potion of Remove Curse to allow Glint to speak again, and paid 2,000 gold to throw a big fuck-off party for the whole town. It was nice. They called it Christmas in July.
Finally they set about to investigate what the heck a doodle doo was going on with the winter. Turns out the local wizard, Fon, had set about opening a second portal. Like the first it was enclosed in a cage, but as soon as the portal opened blizzard-force winds burst out of it. Fon was sent flying, cracked his head, and is currently in a coma. Nobody can close the portal, so these freezing winds have chilled the whole keep. The party outfitted themselves for winter, and boldly went through the portal. There they found themselves at the base of an icy coulior on a mountain. After a treacherous 8 hour climb (during which Hibub slipped and took 2 damage), the party made it to a cirque with a cyclopean mosoleum on it.
The party moved to push open the door, but doing so activated a trap door beneath their feet. Only Hibub made his save. The rest of the party plummeted into a dark chamber below.
Session 16: “Stertorous Recapitator is hard to say.”
Wob, who had not been in the previous session, was allowed to make a saving throw to avoid falling in the trap door with the rest, and made his save. Together with Hibub he was able to experiment with the door sufficiently to gradually wedge it open, and throw down rope to bring the rest of the party up from the depths (which remained basically unexplored). Through the front door were slabs, on which the corpses of 16 large humans lay. All tattooed, two with heads fresher than their bodies. The party experimentally stabbed one in the chest, causing all 16 to wake up. Rapidly the party moved towards the stairwell so they couldn’t get surrounded. Wob enchanted his net into a 3d8 grappling creature. (And, on a later round, improved it to 4d8. This will last 1 game day.)
The undead split into two groups: half attacked from the front, while the other half went down the other set of stairs, presumably intending to come up behind the party. The undeads strategy was to grapple people, drag them away from the party, then hold them pinned and cut their heads off. The first step done, but never managed to put knife to neck before the party pulled them off. Two thrown healing potions dealt a massive amount of damage to the first group, and allowed the party to get them under control in time to turn around and prepare for the second wave coming up behind them.
The party moved the second battle out amongst the slabs. The second wave employed the same tactics as the first, and actually managed to cut into Hibub’s neck (reducing him to 2hp from his max of 5) before the party overcame them. With a combination of pinning grapples, Wob’s grappling net, Ecco’s grappling snake staff, the party managed to create a situation where all remaining undead were helpless, and there were still two party members free to walk around and hack them into useless destroyed little bits. The party left one of the two with a fresh head alive: a man who seemed at least somewhat in command of his senses.
Glint offered the man his word that he would get last rites according to his beliefs, and the man said he wanted his head reuinted with his body, and set out to sea where it could be consumed by gulls. (Apparently this mountain is on an island?) Once this oath was made, the man was willing to tell all he knew of the place. He revealed that this was the tomb of an ancient Elven butcher who had comitted genocide against the native island humans, that he’d come here to loot the place and desecrate the corpse by forcing Elves to look upon it and acknowledge death. He explained that the tattoos on the undead bodies indicated that they were at lest 1000 years dead, and that they did indeed cut off the heads of intruders to replace their own heads with fresh ones, but that the fresh heads had no control over the body’s actions.
The session ended somewhat mid-interrogation as folks had to get on with their days, so next session can begin with any additional questions that need to be asked.
Session 17: “Doing it backwards.”
Having managed to enter through the front door, the party came at most problems in the dungeon from behind, which made them much simpler to overcome. Also, the ref forgot that the Spectral Inoculator was supposed to spawn, so that made things a lot easier too.
The party discovered the hidden panels on the Sarcophagus, ventured into the Sub-Crypt, and to the parlor. They looted all three, built themselves a ramshackle sled out of the couches, and descended the coulior to the village below with their treasures, and the body of the man they’d sworn to give burial to. They located a local village, and communicated that the ancient Butcher had a tomb up on the hill, but also to warn them that it was a deadly trap that should be avoided.
The session ended with the party safe, and wondering whether they should stay to pursue adventure here on the island, or return through the portal to see what they could do about the winter faced by the folk there.
LOOT:
Old School Rulebook for “The General’s Command,” 1000g 6 Cases of Custom Miniatures For The Game, 3000g Gold Ring From corpse of Lt. Gheevis, 700g 2 ampoules of white mineral powder. 400g Coins, 4129g Necklace of White Jade beads, 400g Amethyst bookends carved like enslaved dwarves, 500g Silver goblet, 500g Satchel of strange smelling herbs (400g)
Sword carved with Dwarven war-odes. Clearly magical, but of mysterious purpose. Ring with something living inside it. Must learn its name to reach out to it. 2 Uniforms of the Elven General Urn of the Elven Butcher General
That’s 11, 029 gold, which comes out to 2757 gold & experience each!
Session 18: “Interrim”
Unsettled though they islanders were by the grim news of their ancient foe entombed on the mountains above them, it was good to have a body returned, and to have news that much of the tomb’s evil had been neutralized. Even better was that the party seemed to want to spend much of their treasure on throwing a big ol’ carousin’ party.
During the raucous fun: Wob saw himself, standing there, as if from another time or another world. It unsettled him, and he suffered -1 to his saves for the next week of play. Glint knocked the lid off an old well, and released a spirit of unknown means or purpose. It is free now. Addy got drunk and accidentally told a brain eater about how smart her girlfriend is, and where her girlfriend lives.
In the morning the party availed themselves the finest hangover cures the Islanders could produce, then ran home once Addy realized how much danger her girlfriend was now in. Fortunately, they discovered that the metal cage built around the portal was kept sealed, and carefully guarded. They filled the guards in on what they’d found on the other side, and were allowed entry into the keep once more.
Wob went to the wizard, Fon, to see if he could release the wizard from his coma. Using the potion which causes a person’s fingernails to alter their color, the Wizard was able to communicate through his coma, and guide the party into where to find a rejuvinative potion. Once he was awake, he taught Wob how to fix this sort of portal emergency, and altered the recently opened portal so weather could not come through it.
Now safely in the keep, the party comissioned a statue be built of their fallen hireling who, despite dying almost immediately, is being remembered as the hero who ended the eternal winter.
Adelaide also took this opportunity to hire a young lady named Ornoc who hates her parents and seems to have a sadistic bent.