August 3rd
Gimwort, Tansybell, Eldred, Old Dolf, and Mell return to the Haunted Halls. Trigg remains behind, still recovering from wounds taken fighting the basilisk on their last expedition.
As a reminder, I’m rolling on this wandering monster chart.
I filled in the Haunted Halls’ many un-keyed rooms with rooms from the first level of B1: In Search of the Unknown, with a 50% chance each for a monster and treasure from the relevant tables in that module.
Rooms marked “A” are keyed in The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar. Rooms marked “B” are from In Search of the Unknown. “S” rooms are from level 2 of Palace of the Silver Princess.
Our Heroes
Trigg Sunbold, Fighter 3
Tansybell of Merry Meadow, Halfling 3
Old Dolf, Thief 4
Eldred the Enchanter, Illusionist 2
Mell of the Moonwood, Fighter 1
THE LOG
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| The party's route |
TURN 1 – A3: Forechamber
Not wanting to brave the newly closed doors and their lightning trap, the party decides to head north. There’s a lot of dungeon beyond the trapped hallway they found on their first adventure that they haven’t explored yet (it was unkeyed at the time).
TURN 2 – A6: Guardquarters
TURN 3 – A24: Ambush Elbow
Dolf triggers the triple-crossbow trap from a safe distance with Shimmer, his magic spear. They open the secret door.
TURN 4–5 – B24: Mistress’ Chamber: “There is a large walnut bed against the west wall, rather ornately carved… Next to the bed is a small table/nightstand with a single drawer… In the drawers are an assortment of leather items, old clothing, and personal effects like combs, brushes, and hairpins”
A search of the room uncovers a silver-plated comb worth 5 gp. Dolf pockets it and they move on.
TURN 6 – B3: Dining Room: “The room is moderately decorated, but frugally so, since there appear to be no items of great value which are part of the decor.”
A single zombie, dressed in rotting nobleman’s clothes, stumbles about the chamber, clattering into the chairs. Mell shoots it with her crossbow and Gimwort finishes the job with his axe. They cut four garnets from the creature’s robe.
TURNS 7 – B2: Kitchen: “Long tables line each wall, and there are scattered containers on them, some upturned, with spilled contents moldering on the table top.”
A pack of giant rats has made its nest here amongst the broken crocks and crooked shelves, and are angry enough to defend their lair. They launch themselves at the party from all sides, chittering madly.
TURN 8 – Combat
Mell misses her first shot, and then the rats are upon them. Everyone is bitten at least once in the chaotic melee that ensues. Vermin encounters have been pretty dangerous for the party, as swarms of small creatures can easily disrupt their two-rank fighting formation, but luckily only Dolf is seriously wounded in this battle. Mell scores her first kill in close combat, spitting one of the rats on her shortsword.
TURN 9 – B2: Kitchen
Searching the room afterward, Dolf discovers a battered magic wand in a jar of kitchen utensils, which he gives to Eldred.
TURN 10 – B38: Access Room: “This room is filled with piles of rock and rubble, as well as mining equipment: rock carts, mining jacks, timbers, pickaxes, etc. It is apparent that there has been no mining activity for quite some time.”
As the party pokes through the rubble, six skeletons emerge to attack, wielding the picks and shovels that they held in life.
TURN 11 – Combat
The party makes short work of the undead. One of Mell’s heavy bolts shatters a skull, and then Tansy and Gimwort wade in. Their axes rise and fall. Bones are scattered.
TURN 12–13 – S1: “After a round the players will hear scuffling and fighting noises from the other side of the east wall door. Phrases like “Come on Briardoor, I got her,” “no Joshua, not him” and “take that you filthy worm,” will be heard intermixed with the other noises. If the players open the door to investigate, bright light will fill the hallway, and all that will be seen are three swords fighting each other as if by themselves. It is an illusion..”
The party are alarmed by some illusory swords, then annoyed as Eldred spends some time examining and commenting on the magic.
TURN 14 – B12: Library: “The floor…is a beautiful and shiny surface of polished red granite…Small cages inset into the north wall contain numerous fire beetles, and these unusual insects give off an eerie, glowing light from their bodies…”
The party has stumbled into a nest of fire beetles! It seems that the creatures were bred here at one time, possibly for their illumination, and after growing large enough to break their cages they have been able to roam free. Seven of the glowing bugs scuttle to the attack!
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| The face of death |
TURN 15 – Combat
The beetles quickly overwhelm Tansy and she goes down. Gimwort and Dolf fight furiously, trying to keep the beetles from devouring her. Eldred looses his Color Spray spell, buying them a moment of reprieve, but the swarm is too large. Gimwort and Dolf take further wounds before Eldred blasts the beetles with another precious charge from his wand of ice, killing the lot.
In the aftermath, Mell slings her crossbow and picks up Tansy’s unconscious body. Dolf finds a few scrolls amongst the chewed paper and rotting books, and Gimwort borrows Tansy’s magic axe.
TURN 16 – S1: Ghostly Swords
Our heroes encounter an NPC party, the Silver Daggers – the ranger brothers Oak and Elm Ringlad, Flarkin the dwarf, and cleric Pious Oddle. The Ringlads and Flarkin helped the PCs clear the evil temple back in The Quest For The Cursed Relics, and are concerned about the party’s wounds. The two parties hold a brief parley. The party describe what they’ve found, and the Silver Daggers report that the path to the exit is clear, realizing that they must have been following in the PCs' wake.
TURNS 17–22 – Escape
I still rolled for wandering monsters, but they got lucky.
THE TALLY
1 Zombie – 20 xp
6 Rats – 30 xp
6 Skeletons – 60 xp
7 Fire Beetles – 105 xp
Silver comb – 5 xp
4 garnets – 400 xp
Scroll of Web
Scroll of Read Languages
The PCs gain 124 xp each.
Tansybell made her save vs Death at 0 hp and rolled Disfiguring Scar on my wounds table: –1 HP, –1 Charisma.
THE SILVER DAGGERS
I played out the rest of the NPC adventurers’ dungeon delve.
A29: Forgotten Gear: “This room contains a 12-foot-long wooden pole, one end blackened by fire. It lies atop a leather backpack. The pack holds a tinder box, two candles, five days worth of rations (cheese, sausage, dry biscuits, and date-paste, all still edible), two skins of wine (each holding a gallon), a blanket, and a pair of high boots.”
They poke through the junk. Flarkin takes some of the food and the wine. They consider trying to sell the boots but decide it is beneath their dignity (Flarkin privately concludes he’s unlikely to get a good price for them).
B33: Barracks: “Scattered throughout the room are about 40 common beds, and about half that number of chairs and stools. There are several large wooden tables along various walls, and at the south wall is a large wooden chest of drawers which is empty except for a few old socks…”
The basilisk denned in this chamber until it was slain a few days ago, and its stink still permeates the room. With the basilisk dead, there is little danger here. The Silver Daggers loot its nest of 500 gp, a potion of growth, and a scroll of summoning.
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| These guys hit surprisingly hard |
Pious Oddle is struck down by the doppelganger that lurks among the statues here, but survives with a Heroic Scar. The Ringlads and Flarkin are able to hunt the doppelganger down before it can successfully retreat and take on a new shape out of sight.
Retreating, the party encounters a group of four hostile living statues, led by a huge carved figure of some pagan goddess. Flarkin, who was supporting the wounded Pious Oddle, fails a morale check and runs, dropping Oddle and taking the party’s only light source with him. The Ringlad brothers have little hope of fighting four statues in the dark. Faced with death or dishonor, they run.
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