Matt
- Morrin Elderbrook, Explorer 1 (Pathfinder template)
Brooke
- Fennick Fawks, Crusader 1 (Pilgrim template)
Panem (August) 15, 1181 EC
In the Wolf Wood south of Briarglen, a minor noble by the name of Adalmar Schmit sought the help of adventurers. It seemed the small piece of land he’d inherited contained an old Rythan manor house, which he hoped to restore. The only problem was, a mysterious scraping sound which echoed up from the hearth - out of a chimney which extended downward, although there was no other apparent way into the basement.
Only two desperate fools accepted his generous offer of 100 gp to climb down and put a stop to the noise permanently: a nervous pilgrim and a grim explorer.
Questioning Adalmar, they found out that the noise got louder and then faded away again every hour. After inspecting the floors and fireplace, they cut branches, made a bundle to wedge across the hearth, and secured a rope to climb down the chimney.
At the bottom was a study with a large oak table and standing mirror. The layout was like a clock face with 6 sections, a central circle, and an outer rim with the same sections. On it were four game pieces: a wooden beetle, a glass spider, a plant-gum goblin and an ivory phalanx.
Morrin immediately experimented with the board, and ended up leaving the beetle in the spider’s room.
The pair explored west, finding a storeroom of mundane supplies and mead in small jade barrels, and heard raucous gaming in goblin in the next room. Already they noticed the rooms following the course of a circle. They set up an ambush using lamp oil on the floor and a barrel of flour, then knocked on the door.
Luck was entirely on the PCs side in this fight. They surprised the goblin at the door, made an explosion with a cloud of flour and oil, and killed three goblins before they knew what hit them. The remaining three were cut down in the first round, without striking a blow. Notably, Fennick the cleric used a sweep attack - a new mechanic in ACKS II - to cut down two goblins with one blow (low HP roll for the goblins and a max-damage attack made it possible).
In the aftermath of the fight, the scraping sound went past the west door. The party waited. In the meantime, Morrin moved the beetle around more, to no effect, then moved the glass spider to the outer rim.
After the scraping sound passed, the party looked out and saw the retreating back of the phalanx - a group of heavily armored skeletons walking in groves in the stone floor. Their legs had been reduced by about a quarter of their length, and the raw steel of their greaves scraped the ground with each step. At the back, two long poles held glass balls which shone with dim light.
The party followed the skeletons around the outer rim and entered the spider room to the south. There they found a room full of stone oxen with gem eyes and gold filigree. There was also the dead body of a man, freshly killed by a giant spider bite. Here the party put together the fact that they’d moved this man (the beetle token) here, and caused him to be killed by the spider, then moved the spider away.
In the attic of this room they found a crawlspace leading back to the study. They took the body there to inspect it in the mirror, but saw nothing of note.
Enemies defeated: 6 goblins
Treasure: lots spotted, none removed to safety yet
XP: 30
15 per PC
Current XP totals:
Fennick 15 / 1500, level 1
Morrin 15 / 2000, level 1
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