Haunted Halls Delve 8, pt1 – Swords Against Darkness

Order of Battle

The three parties, assembled, constitute a large force.

Our Heroes:

• Trigg Sunbold, Fighter 2 (+1 sword "Scalebane", +1 mail)

• Gimwort of Greydelve, Dwarf 2

• Sassaran, Elf 1

• Tansybell of Merry Meadow, Halfling 2

• Old Dolf, Thief 3 ("Shimmer", his +2 spear)

Ivy’s Party:

• Ivy Almyr, Fighter 2 (+1 hand-axe, +1 shield)

• Flarkin of Toadmarket, Dwarf 3

• Oak Ringlad, Ranger 1

• Elm Ringlad, Ranger 1

• Alho Rengate, Fighter 1

• Welleran of the North, Fighter 1

Flarkin is lightly armored but carries a big two-handed axe. An unexceptional dwarf in late middle-age, he has survived to 3rd level by taking on easy work. The Ringlad brothers are untried rangers, eager for adventure. So far Ivy has led them to victory in battle against the goblins, where they rescued some prisoners and enjoyed high praise. Oak wields a bow while Elm guards him with spear and shield. Alho and Welleran are former caravan guards who joined the party in gratitude after Ivy rescued them from the clutches of the goblins.

Berrybert’s Party:

• Berrybert of Molehill (shield +1), Halfling 2

• Leegild of Molehill, Halfling 2

• Elfarran, Half-Elf 2

Leegild is Berrybert’s cousin and torchbearer, lured to Eveningstar by Bert’s promises of easy money and descriptions of the jewels he’d already won. Elfarran is equipped with crossbow, mace, and heavy armor.

There is also Taravol (Elf 3). Taravol is not permanently attached to any party but has temporarily joined the PCs out of his attachment to Sassaran.

The plan is to split into two groups and scour the temple for the relics. Berrybert doesn’t trust Trigg and insists that his party joins the PCs, so he can keep an eye on any treasure acquired. Sassaran carries a scroll of Bless, and Taravol a scroll of Remove Curse, both written by the Abbot. To destroy the evil relics their curse must be lifted and then the objects immediately blessed to prevent their evil from returning.

Haunted Halls Delve 7 - Ogre Battle 64

Gimwort, Tansy, and Dolf set out early on the morning of the 26th, guided by the dwarf Flarkin, an NPC from one of the other adventuring parties. Their goal is to make a lightning raid on the empty ogre cave, lift the treasure, and be gone before any goblins notice they’re there (or their respective party leaders notice that they’re missing).

The characters have heard that Berrybert of Molehill and his two new party members killed the ogre on a recent adventure in the goblin caves, but were forced to retreat before they were able to raid its lair. Nobody likes Berrybert very much (he stole Dolf’s prized golden bowl), so they’re eager for a chance to steal a march on him and get some free treasure.

Before playing this out I rolled a series of questions using my basic oracle die: high for yes, low for no. Has anything moved into the ogre lair? Was it the goblins? Did they remove the treasure? Have they set any guards? Have they laid any traps?

The answer to all of those questions was “yes”.

In hindsight this all made sense: the goblins worked with the ogre, they knew that the ogre had been killed, they knew that the ogre had treasure (they paid him in bribes to fight for them), and they knew that there was a secret door connecting his cave to theirs. After generating these results I spent a few minutes looking over the map of the caves, tallying the goblins that had been killed on previous expeditions here, and deciding what kind of plan the goblins could’ve thrown together in a day or two.

THE LOG

TURN 1. The robbers approach the cave. Dolf lights his lantern and examines the cave entrance. All quiet, seems empty.

TURN 2. Flarkin enters the cave, setting off a disguised tripwire hung with bells that Dolf failed to spot. The secret door at the back of the cave swings open and two goblins with crossbows shoot at the intruders! One goes wide, and the other thuds into Gimwort’s shield.

TURN 3 – Combat.

Round 1 – There’s a cry of “BREE-Yark!” and a hail of thrown spears as goblins pour into the cave. Gimwort and Flarkin are wounded. Under-manned, out-numbered, and unprepared for the fury of the goblins’ defense, our heroes turn to run.

Goblin reinforcements will arrive soon.

Round 2 – The goblins send more spears and crossbow bolts after the retreating characters. Flarkin is wounded again, and the fleeing Dolf is struck twice in the back but staggers on, grateful for his heavy pack (and for the big HP bonus he got for hitting level 3 last session).

Round 3 – The PCs escape and return to Eveningstar with the goblins’ hoots and jeers ringing in their ears.

Downtime 7

June 27-28

Trigg and Ivy are furious with their respective party members for risking their lives and jeopardizing the tenuous alliance with Berrybert and his party. This misadventure will cost them days that they can ill afford.

The PCs purchase flasks of holy water, a suit of halfling-sized mail for Tansybell, and an old pole-axe for Gimwort (I rolled separately to see if Eveningstar had armor in halfling and dwarf sizes available; Gimwort still can’t find mail to fit him). Ivy outfits her party with helmets, mail, and weapons for the two former caravan guards that she rescued from the goblins on her last adventure. Alho Rengate selects a sensible spear and shield, while Welleran of the North chooses a greatsword.

Tomorrow: the attack on the Temple of Evil Chaos.

Downtime in Eveningstar – Stages of Grief

June 25-26

A sorrowful party returns to town and decides what to do about the recent death of Eldred the Enchanter, their wizard.

Eldred’s funerary expenses are paid for out of his share of the treasure, and his body is taken by the monks of Lathander for washing and laying out. His few personal effects are distributed amongst the rest of the party. Notably, Trigg now carries his mentor’s spellbook. Sassaran leaves Eveningstar to seek out the elf Taravol, last seen wandering the hills outside of town and dealing with the recent deaths of his own party members in elf-fashion. As Eldred was the party’s only other speaker of Elvish and Sassaran does not know more than a word or two of Common, nobody is able to explain human customs to her and the others aren’t sure if this is a permanent departure or not.

While standing vigil over Eldred’s body at the abbey, Trigg speaks with the Abbot who tells him that the Enchanter might be returned to life if Trigg is willing to accept a dangerous quest. Deep within Starwater Gorge is an ancient tomb: once the resting place of King Rivior Blackstar (a petty warlord and robber knight who ruled here before Cormyr was unified), now infested with evil spirits, unquiet dead, and worshippers of the Ruinous Powers. They have in their keeping a set of ancient bronze vessels that carry a terrible curse. Destroy those vessels and the dark power that haunts the gorge will be crippled. The Abbot warns him that if this task is not completed within 8 days then Eldred’s spirit will pass on and nothing will be able to call him back to life.

Trigg talks it over with the other characters, who agree to take on this quest. They all feel that Eldred would have done so for them. They first seek out Sassaran and Taravol and explain the situation to them (Taravol speaks the Common Tongue). The quest requires someone capable of reading the clerical scrolls of Bless and Remove Curse that the Abbot has agreed to outfit the party with (Sassaran and Taravol are both Wood Elves, and use the cleric spell list). The elves agree, but Sassaran plans to leave Eveningstar with Taravol afterwards.

"I'm putting a team together"

Next Trigg sets up a meeting with Ivy Almyr and Berrybert of Molehill, the leaders of the two other parties of adventurers in Eveningstar. Both have recently formed new parties and returned from successful expeditions to the goblin caves in Starwater Gorge. Ivy agrees immediately: she has sworn an oath to drive the evil from Starwater Gorge, so the notion of destroying evil relics that draw monsters to the region appeals to her. Furthermore, on her last adventure her party rescued some prisoners from the goblins and were richly rewarded: a merchant from Toadmarket and his wife gave them a purse of gold and a magic dagger, while their former guards (Alho Rengate and Welleran of the North) agreed to join her party. She’s feeling confident and is eager to follow up on that success.

Berrybert takes more convincing, but ultimately agrees on the condition that his party receives first pick of the treasure. Trigg agrees to the terms.

Meanwhile, Gimwort has been drinking with Flarkin of Toadmarket, a fellow dwarf and member of Ivy’s new adventuring party. Flarkin has heard that Berrybert’s recent trip to the goblin caves wasn’t as successful as he has been making it out to be: the halfling’s party fought an ogre there and were forced to retreat. The ogre was supposedly slain in the battle, however (evidently their half-elf cast some kind of fire spell from a scroll and blew up half the cavern), which means its treasure must just be lying there for the taking. Flarkin has recently been to the goblin caves himself and thinks he saw a side door… Why, they could be there and back again before anybody even notices they’re gone!

Haunted Halls of Eveningstar Delve 6 – The Death of Eldred the Enchanter

"When his mound is raised, women then shall weep"

The morning of June 25th finds our heroes are back on the road through Starwater Gorge that leads to the Haunted Halls. Having recently gotten engaged to Emelda of Eveningstar, Trigg is looking to raise 5,000 gp to pay for a wedding and a small farmhouse. Given the paucity of treasure recovered from the Halls so far, he’s weighing the need to take more risks – heading deeper into the dungeon, or mounting an expedition to the Caves of Chaos to do battle with the monsters there.

As a reminder, I’m rolling on this wandering monster chart.

My procedure for the Haunted Halls’ many un-keyed rooms is to drop in a random room 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.

OUR HEROES

Trigg Sunbold, Fighter 2

Gimwort of Greydelve, Dwarf 2

Sassaran, Elf 1

Eldred the Enchanter, Illusionist 1

Tansybell of Merry Meadow, Halfling 2

Old Dolf, Thief 2

The party's route

THE LOG

Eveningstar PC Update: Delves 1–5

I thought I’d post the updated character sheets for the PCs in my solo game, now that they’ve survived five adventures with (shockingly) no deaths. Eagle-eyed observers may notice that some of their stats have gone up since the start of the game: when a character levels up I roll a d20 against two stats of my choice and a third, randomly selected stat. If the result is equal to or greater than the PC’s current attribute I raise it by 1.

Their level 1 character sheets from session 1 are available HERE

Trigg Sunbold

Fighter 2        HP: 14        AC: 18        XP: 2,752/4,000        GP: 56 g

Str 16, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 15

Gear: Scalebane (longsword +1/+4 vs reptiles), shield, leather armor, helm, mail +1

Trigg takes his responsibilities as party leader very seriously and considers it his job to keep everyone safe and to make sure that their adventures continue to yield a good return in treasure. To that end he is studying accounting and mapmaking with Eldred. He recently got engaged to Emelda Inlow, a young woman of Eveningstar, and is very nervous about it.

Gimwort of Greydelve

Dwarf 2        HP: 12        AC: 15        XP: 2,672/4,400        GP: 96 g

Str 14, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 10

Gear: axe, shield, helm, rope

Gimwort is dependable and unambitious. He is fast friends with Trigg, his fellow warrior, and with Tansybell, whose small stature and hot-headedness remind him of his nieces. Would love to buy some armor, but Eveningstar's smith doesn't make proper dwarf-mail.

Sassaran

Elf 1        HP: 6        AC: 14/15        XP: 2,352/3,000        GP: 96 g

Str 11, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 7, Wis 11, Cha 5

Gear: bow, arrows (20), longsword, buckler, helmet, flute, ivory bracelet (100gp)

Spells: Cure Light Wounds

Languages: Elvish

Sassaran is something of an enigma. While attached to the party through Eldred, the more experienced NPC elf Taravol appears to be courting her and she is currently weighing the decision about whether to leave with him.

Eldred the Enchanter

Magic-User 1        HP: 2          AC: 11          XP: 2,487/2,500

Str 5, Dex 13, Con 4, Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 15

Gear: staff, spellbook, lantern, potion of healing (x2), ring of shocking grasp

Spells Known: Dancing Lights, Color Spray

Languages: Common, Elvish

Striving to live up to Trigg’s belief in his powers as a wizardly mentor, Eldred has stepped into the role of Party Dad, acting as quartermaster, lantern-bearer, translator, and kindly counsellor. For a character with only 2 HP, Eldred is arguably the heart of the party, keeping them all together.

Tansybell of Merry Meadows

Halfling 2        HP: 11        AC: 15        XP: 2,662/4,000        GP: 96 g

Str 10, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 9, Wis 8, Cha 10

Gear: shortsword, helm, shield, hand crossbow, venomed darts (3), cooking gear

Young Tansy is a hobbit adventurer in the classic mold: almost completely unexceptional but incredibly brave. While she’d be more effective as an archer, she finds that idea less heroic.

Old Dolf

Thief 2        HP: 4        AC: 10        XP: 2,362/2,400        GP: 96

Str 7, Dex 11, Con 8, Int 6, Wis 9, Cha 9

Gear: stick, dagger, lockpicks, lantern, rope

Scars: missing eye

The other PCs have grown to rely on Old Dolf. While stinky, frail, and only indifferently skilled as a professional treasure-hunter, Dolf is also seemingly unkillable. His expert lantern-carrying skills are a vital asset, and he has revealed himself to be a brave warrior at a pinch: both Trigg and Gimwort owe their lives to Dolf’s assistance at a crucial moment.

Downtime in Eveningstar – Two Deaths and an Engagement

 June 22-24

Back in town, the party tallies up their meager take. The small garnet and handful of old books didn’t sell for much: after lodging, provisions, identifying Eldred’s magic ring (a Ring of Shocking Grasp, as it turns out) and some new equipment – lamp oil, arrows, leather armor for Tansy, leather and a helmet for Dolf – their last expedition cost them 138 gold pieces.

Trigg visits the home of Emelda Inlow (the girl who sewed him a feastday shirt after the party’s first truly successful treasure hunt) and apologizes for his negligence and asks her to wed him. She accepts, but tells him that her parents will never agree to a match with a vagabond sellsword, and that after the fight with her brothers the rest of the Inlows consider him to be some kind of bandit. Trigg will need to raise at least 5,000 gp (2,000 for a wedding feast and 3,000 to raise a modest farmhouse). Although neither of them knows it yet, Emelda is pregnant from their dalliance after the feast.

At this point I rolled up stats for Emelda and her brothers. Although they’re all level-0 humans and are unlikely to go on any adventures, I thought it would help me characterize them.

Emelda of Eveningstar

Str 8, Dex 9, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 16

Errol Inlow

Str 11, Dex 7, Con 11, Int 9, Wis 6, Cha 12

Garlan Inlow

Str 12, Dex 14, Con 8, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 16

The Inlows are apparently a handsome family! None of them is particularly strong, which is interesting considering the two brothers beat poor Trigg up last time. I’ll say that Emelda is petite but hard-working, while Garlan is tall and willowy. Errol is something of a black sheep, clumsy and hot-tempered: attacking Trigg was probably his idea. I’ll also say that he got a scar from Trigg’s knife and still holds a grudge, while Garlan is more easy-going.

I guess I’ll find out where these threads lead as I play. It’s interesting to have a big goal on a timer for Trigg: given how little treasure they’ve found in the Halls to date, this might lead him to take some more risks (IRL I’m about 5 sessions ahead of my play reports and I’ve been playing Trigg and Emelda as knowing that he needs to get this done before her pregnancy begins to show, but after checking my calendar I realized there’s no way that she would even know about it yet. Maybe she’s afraid of the possibility, or they’re just impatient). If the whole party gets wiped out then perhaps Trigg and Emelda’s child will take up her father’s sword and start a new adventuring party a generation later. From not having rolled the Fallen In Love event, does that mean Trigg is in love with Emelda, or is he simply trying to do the right thing as he sees it? Will Trigg settle down as a family man and militia captain? Will his daughter grow up a fatherless bastard? Who knows!

"Alas! My axe is notched: the forty-second had an iron collar on his neck."

On June 23rd, the party of NPC adventurers returns to Eveningstar. Disaster has struck! Root the Wanderer (Druid 3), and the young thief Dagger (Thief 1) fell in battle against the orcs of the Caves of Chaos. Although they return to Eveningstar with a great haul of treasure (including an enchanted shield and a scroll of Fireball) the surviving party members have a falling-out. Taravol (Elf 2) takes to wandering the hills around Eveningstar, lamenting. Berrybert of Molehill (Halfling 2), now sporting a magnificent jeweled ring to go with his silver belt, is seen talking to two new adventurers in the taproom of the Lonesome Tankard. Ivy Almyr (Fighter 2), the party’s former leader, has sworn a deadly oath to drive the monsters from the Caves of Chaos and is also trying to gather new recruits.

Haunted Halls of Eveningstar: Delve 5 – Another Bug Hunt

 

After a few eventful days in town, our heroes are once again on the trail from Eveningstar to the Haunted Halls. Their goal this time: head due West down the main hall beyond the great bronze doors that mark the entrance to the Inner Halls. With Eldred the Enchanter only 50 experience points away from level 2, one modest treasure haul could see them getting a big boost to the party’s capabilities.

OUR HEROES

Trigg Sunbold, Fighter 2

Gimwort of Greydelve, Dwarf 2

Sassaran, Elf 1

Eldred the Enchanter, Illusionist 1

Tansybell of Merry Meadow, Halfling 2

Old Dolf, Thief 2

Gimwort and Tansybell have a bet to see which one of them will kill more monsters on this expedition.

The party's route

THE LOG