Equipped with new maps and new party members, Eveningstar’s third-best adventuring party sets out for the Haunted Halls. In the distance ahead of them they can see that Ivy Almyr’s party is also hiking up Eveningstar Gorge today, although as they are on the east side of the Starwater they must be headed towards one of the Caves of Chaos rather than the Halls.
Elm Ringlad, Ranger 1
Oak Ringlad, Ranger 1
Flarkin of Toadmarket, Dwarf 3
Dunsell the Daring, Paladin 1
Deyla & Stonescale, Beastmaster 1 & 1HD crystal lizard
This will be Dunsell and Deyla’s first adventure. Dunsell is an idealistic (if unimpressive) young man with nothing but his sword, shield, and unswerving zeal, while Deyla is an old woman who took up adventuring late in life after adopting Stonescale, her pet crystal lizard. Crystal lizards need to eat gems and valuable metals in order to grow, and Deyla wasn’t likely to find many rubies or emeralds as a charcoal burner’s widow.
THE LOG
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| The 5-minute adventuring day |
The Silver Daggers’ goal is to explore the northeast corner of the map. Elm and Flarkin are in the lead, while Oak and Dunsell flank Deyla in the 2nd rank. Oak has his bow, and Dunsell has Elm’s old spear. Deyla has the lamp.
TURN 1 – A3: Forechamber
TURN 2 – A6: Guardquarters
TURN 3 – A24: Ambush Elbow
They spend a turn locating the now-familiar secret door. The kobolds appear to have gotten tired of repairing the crossbow trap and withdrawn from this section, although nobody has been over to the guardpost at XX to see what they’ve been up to in months.
TURN 4 – Hallway
TURN 5 – S11: Bedroom: “Three makeshift beds are lined against the south wall. A table with three chairs, and a huge stew pot sit near the fireplace. A tub filled with water and dishes is also near the fireplace. The walls are covered in portraits and other scenic paintings.”
A trio of three-headed draken are making soup and arguing when the PCs barge in. The over-eager Dunsell, upon seeing their horns and black scales, yells in horror and hurls his spear. It goes wide, and the creatures attack.
The draken (re-skinned "ubues" from Palace of the Silver Princess) are dangerous opponents, with 3 HD and two attacks each. However, they have a 1-in-6 chance of spoiling their turn each round if the three heads fall to arguing, and they have an absolutely rock-bottom Morale score of 3.
In the first couple of rounds Elm and Flarkin take some damage. Stonescale darts between everyone’s feet, nipping at the draken’s ankles and dealing more damage than anyone else with his fiery bites. Then Dunsell draws his sword and joins the fray, crowing with triumph has he slays his first monster, and the other two draken break and surrender.
“Give us your treasure, creeps!” demands Flarkin, but Dunsell charges the cowering draken. “I’ll not suffer these fiends to live!” Rather unchivalrously, the party cuts down the draken as they try to flee.
TURN 6 – S11: Bedroom
They search the room and find a small chest containing 40 gp.
TURN 7 – S7: Sitting Room: “Several chairs and tables circle the fireplace in this room. A worn rug lies rolled up in one corner, and 3 knitting baskets sit beside it. On a small table near the fireplace is a small tea cup and saucer.”
Four kobolds were searching the room here and heard the sounds of combat next door. They’ve prepared an ambush, which could be particularly nasty as one of the kobold slingers is armed with a jar of green slime.
The kobolds let fly with a hail of missiles as the party bursts into the room. A stone bounces off of Elm’s helmet (3/8 HP) and the jar of slime smashes against Flarkin’s magic shield, where it begins to smoke and sizzle as it eats into wood and metal. Three of the kobolds are killed in the first round of combat. The four tries to flee and the party spends another round chasing it around the room, whacking at it, before it finally drops.
Flarkin drops his shield before the slime’s acid can eat through it and into his arm. Elm fumbles around trying to light one of his torches in a hurry, but can’t manage it. It seems that the shield will be destroyed until Deyla orders Stonescale to bite the torch, and his internal fires ignite the oil-soaked rags at its end. Elm rolls really well on the torch’s d4 damage, destroying the slime with just one round to spare before the shield would have been rendered completely useless.
TURN 8 – S7: Sitting Room
They search the room. The kobolds had 6 sp and 4 cp. Fortunately, they also find a crystal flagon and a magical singing teacup. With Elm wounded and fragile treasure in hand, they head for the exits.
TURNS 9–13
The Silver Daggers retrace their steps and get lucky on their wandering monster rolls.
THE TALLY
3 draken – 150 xp
4 kobolds – 20 xp
Green slime – 25 xp
40 gp – 40 xp
Flagon – 120 xp
Teacup – 200 xp
The party receives 111 xp each. Level ups still seem as far away as ever. The Silver Daggers do not see Ivy's party on the way back - presumably they are still exploring the Caves, and Flarkin is barely over half way to the 2,000 gp he needs to quit the adventuring life and go into business with his cousins back in Toadmarket (an outcome I'm pulling for, as Eveningstar doesn't currently sell dwarf-sized armor, but the hapless dwarf's stats are so bad that it doesn't seem very likely).
Back in town, they sell the crystal flagon to the Silver Branch, Eveningstar’s jeweler, and the singing teacup to Elfarran. The 170 gp she pays is a bit of a reach for her modest funds, but the teacup is an interesting magical object and appeals to her humor.
I don't plan on writing up every NPC adventure that I play through, but in the next couple of sessions I expect that knowing exact HP totals and who was where at what time will become important.
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