Middle Plains Campaign Session 23

 New party

Andrzej

• Aihsz th’Baigh, Explorer 1 (Mariner template)

Brooke

• Arvellas, Elven Spellsword 1 (Swordmage template)

Matt

• Mando Kant, Mendicant 1 (Custom class)

Panem (Aug) 15, 1181 EC

Outside the town of Briarglen, an old farmer by the name of Wilhelm Franke has been desperately asking around town for brave volunteers to delve into a mystery: a spiral stone staircase in the middle of his field. He swears it was never there before, and he's terrified of what may come up. He can't offer any reward aside from the right to keep anything found down there, so he hasn't found anyone willing to help - except for three misfits who are just desperate (or in Mando’s case, pious) enough to give it a try.

Our three unlikely characters received a hero’s welcome from farmer Wilhelm, despite not having done anything. The mendicant accepted this praise with humility, the jaded explorer met it with indifference, and the cocky spellsword demanded an even deeper bow as the bare minimum due to her esteemed personage.

With the party’s pecking order established, they approached the steps. Finding them as the farmer had said, they descended without much further ado. Three storeys below the earth they debouched into a large room decorated in the style of a hunter’s hall, with a floor covered in heavy pelts (ancient and rotten) and a fireplace with a proud set of antlers above it. At the far end there was a stone pool with a central statue of a man wearing an ornate crown. Clear water ran from the man’s hands, but the pool was stained with blood. Arvellas identified the subject of the statue as the Arch-Warlock Ix, conqueror of the Old Auran Empire and founder of the evil Cthonic religion.

As they inspected one of the doors out of this room, another opened and admitted three gnomes, nervously skulking with arrows nocked. Both parties were shocked at the other’s appearance, but Mando seized the opportunity to parlay and immediately put the gnomes at ease (seriously, this was a natural 12 with a +2 on the reaction roll). Before long they had struck a deal with the gnomes to loot the place and split the treasure.

Zilzu, the lead gnome, then explained that they were a small group of explorers from the gnomish town of Grindledeep, who happened across this area while tunneling. They suspected it of being a Cthonic temple of some sort due to the prominent statue of Ix. He said they’d fought some Kobolds but couldn’t get further into the complex due to locked and stuck doors.

The gnomes proceeded to show the party a section of the area which they had explored. Behind a set of iron bars, animated skeletons were manacled to the wall. Down a certain passage they warned of giant bats. And behind a secret door they showed a room with what appeared to be tree roots hanging from the ceiling and among them a bag of coins hanging from a string.

“Don’t touch that, it’s just too obvious a trap,” said Zilzu. So of course the players immediately made a plan to touch it.

Mando reached out with his shepherd crook from the edge of the room and pulled on the bag, hoping to be out of range of whatever trap was there. But he wasn’t. The room filled with paralyzing spores and the mendicant collapsed. Aihsz managed to drag him out by the feet, leaving the coins scattered on the floor, and they retreated to the gnome campsite to let Mando recover.

It took about 40 minutes for Mando to recover enough to set out exploring again. The party headed east, to a doorway the gnomes hadn’t explored. An inscription on the door in classical Auran read “Armory.” Arvellas opened the door and found skeletons waiting. After a quick fight where the party took down the first skeleton, the gnomes cast an illusory wall across the doorway, fooling the skeletons into returning to their posts.

Mando disguised himself as an undead wizard using the newly acquired skull, and entered the Armory. Inside he noticed more marked doors: “Nave” and “Vault.” He commanded the skeletons to leave the room, and they broke down the Nave door to do so.

Time: 10:30 am

Enemies defeated: 1 skeleton

Treasure: none

XP: 13 (split with 3 gnomes)

3 per PC

Current XP totals:

Aihsz 3 / 2000, level 1

Arvellas 3 / 4000, level 1

Mando 3 / 1250, level 1

Middle Plains Campaign Session 22

 The Flour Power Pals

Matt

• Morrin Elderbrook, Explorer 1 (Pathfinder template)

Brooke

• Fennick Fawks, Crusader 1 (Pilgrim template)

Panem (August) 15, 1181 EC

We picked up with the Pals inspecting the body of the mysterious man who’d died in the stable, and noting a slow transformation taking place in his body - his skin began to harden in places and turn brown.

After some time checking details of the goblin room and watching the skeleton phalanx in the outer ring, the players came up with a new plan to disrupt the skeletons. They moved the game board onto the floor and moved the heavy oak table to block the skeleton’s path. With the table wedged across the outer hall and through the game room door, they settled down to eat and wait for the skeletons.

But they had some unexpected company before the skeletons arrived. Morrin just barely caught the sound of scuttling feet and readied himself before a huge crab spider crawled over the table and into the game room. Despite her initial surprise, Fennick proved herself in the fight by cracking the spider’s head with a max-damage quarterstaff hit. Fennick was scratched by a fang before Morrin finished off the spider, but she wasn’t poisoned.

In a game room now crowded with the horrific dead bodies of a beetle-man, a goblin and a giant spider, the party waited to see what the skeleton phalanx would do. When they arrived, the armored undead shoved the table aside until it jammed in the doorway, then began hacking at it with spears, trying to clear the way.

Morrin shot an arrow at the Phalanx, and to the party’s surprise, all 10 skeletons turned and poured into the room to kill them!

Luckily, they’d left a rope when they climbed down from the crawlspace, and now they fled back up it. After some ineffective exchanges of arrows and thrown spears, the skeletons marched out, climbed over the table and resumed their patrol.

Gathering themselves, the party decided to explore the east side of the dungeon while the skeletons patrolled the west. They circled around, finding two more rooms with closed wooden doors.

At 4:30 on the clock face, they found what appeared to be a bedroom. In the four-poster bed was a wooden form-fitting coffin, and under it, embalmed goblins. The privy appeared connected to the room to the north. In the corner was a stand mirror similar to the game room, and on the desk silver embalming tools, a silver goblet, a journal and a large hourglass.

The hourglass was edged in ebony and ivory. The sand sat in the ivory bottom, and the ebony top had “sleep” etched in it. Lifting it carefully, Morrin saw that it said “arise” on the bottom.

The journal contained a wealth of anatomical notes, interspersed with rants about Sierk the Wizard. The writer evidently wished very much to kill Sierk, to dissect him and to take the “wizard flower” from his brain, but was afraid to.

After inspecting these, Morinn and Fennick debated what to do about the coffin. They were afraid of a vampire or mummy, and ultimately decided to set the bed on fire. It burned quickly, and they noticed that the coffin had been empty all along.

They then backtracked to the room at the 2:30 position. This room was flooded with foul water. The walls were covered in old mosaics depicting a wizard and warrior defeating various monsters. Half submerged in water was an elaborate coffin with an armored skeleton. The skeleton’s greaves were rusted, but her hands held a sword that shone despite being dipped in the water.

The party tried to drag the coffin away, but accidentally dumped the sword into the water. Morrin reached in despite the eels, and retrieved the blade.

Enemies defeated: 1 crab spider

Treasure: none

XP: 65

33 per PC

Current XP totals:

Fennick 48 / 1500, level 1

Morrin 48 / 2000, level 1

Novalia Lore - The Witch Moon

The Witch Moon

When the three moons of Kedu are new, the magical protections of the surface weaken. Monsters swarm in the darkness, peasants keep vigil by candlelight, and chapels echo with unceasing prayers of protection. It is a night of fear for all - except those sworn to the powers of darkness.

The Light of Kedu or the Light of Ammonar?

There is indisputably some power which protects the surface of Kedu from the evil that lurks beneath the ground. But where this protection comes from is hotly disputed.

The Empyrean Church teaches that the light of Ammonar, the sun god, protects his people. Thus his light keeps away the forces of darkness during the day, and at night does so indirectly through the dim reflections of the moons. This explains why the Witch Moon is the time when evil flourishes, free from the suppressing light of Ammonar.

The Church of the Compact teaches that the Light of Kedu is a foundational law of the cosmos, established by the Firstborn who built it at the Creator’s command, and therefore beyond the power of anyone, even the Ascendants.

What is certain is that creatures of darkness cannot willingly cross the threshold of the surface except during the witch moon, or at places of particular corruption and evil. On the night of the Witch Moon, the wild places swarm with monsters.

The Light of Civilization

It appears that civilization is a further deterrent against the incursions of the Dragon’s minions. Citizens of Sudet City and Evoristan sometimes dare to walk the streets in defiance of the Witch Moon. The knights of Prince Reeve III Wolfe openly patrol the surrounds of Summa. But in the Borderlands, none venture forth after dark. Town garrisons keep watch from fortified shelters, surrounded by bright bonfires.

On the outskirts of civilization, border towns are surrounded by armies of goblinoids, ghosts and demons prowl the streets, and people quake with fear in their homes. 

The thresholds of homes and occupied buildings seem to offer a powerful defense against the darkness on the Witch Moon. However, they must be kept lit through the night. A well lit house with its master keeping watch is almost always safe, although the sounds from outside are often harrowing. In the countryside, farmers will gather their livestock into barns and keep vigil with lamps and candles all through the night, lest they awake to find their flocks slaughtered or stolen.

Beastmen and Chaotic Men

The Witch Moon is a common time for attacks against civilized areas by Chaotic armies. Wild men of the Titan Hills, steppe barbarians and surface-dwelling beastmen like orcs, bugbears and gnolls are the most common aggressors.

When surface-dwellers join the attack, hiding in a lit home is no defense. If chaotic surface-dwellers breach the perimeters of lawful civilization, goblinoid creatures will soon follow. Force of arms will then have to repel beastman and goblinoid alike.

Wizards of Novalia

Shaded Magic

In the very first issue of Axioms magazine, Autarch introduced the concept of shaded magic. It’s a great addon that marks certain arcane spells as black or grey, and penalizes mages with corruption if they abuse such power. In exchange, wizards gain a significant set of new class powers which compensate for the limits on spellcasting. This system is also present in the ACKS II Judges Journal, with updated rules for applying similar codes of conduct to custom classes.

In my setting, Novalia, I’m using in my own version of shaded magic that I've modified to fit my cosmology.

Here it is, with the custom encounter table redacted as a DM secret.

Google drive link: Wizards of Novalia pdf

Contents:

• Lore: The Arcane Contract
• Shades of magic: White, Grey, Black and Ethereal
• Ethereal encounter system
• White/Grey and Black arcane spell lists
• Modified Wizard class, updated for ACKS II and Novalia
• Updated elven racial features
• Quick updates to Elven Nightblade, Elven Spellsword, Nobiran Wonderworker, Gnomish Trickster

Middle Plains Campaign Session 21

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

Middle Plains Campaign Session 20, Panem 12-14, 1181 EC

 Matt

• Huzn Erste, Dwarven Fury 3
• Denis, Crusader of Phanriel 3
• Meinard, Fighter 2
• Gustav, Mage 1

Brooke

• Swanhild of Eldeskhur, Barbarian 2
• Hilda Zorig, Barbarian 1

Mike

• Snak, Barbarian 1
• Gerrit, Fighter 1

Panem (August) 11, 1181 EC

After some discussion (and the influence of their moral compass, Denis), the party decided to come clean about the bars of gold they’d found. Meinard, more familiar with noble customs, went to the Count with the information and apologized profusely for the tardiness. His apology charmed the Count so much that he levied only a 10% tax on the gold, leaving the party with a significant chunk of money.

Panem 12, 1181 EC

On the morning of the 12th, the party made ready and set out into Truber Forest to look for the home of Ehsan, the Rythan wizard. They traveled through the forest uneventfully until toward sunset they came across a large chunk of black basalt. About 100’ long and 20’ high, it jutted out of the forest, totally out of place with the surrounding terrain.

After exploring carefully, Snak discovered a glowing crystal in a nook in the rock. He broke it off and took it.

Panem 13

Midmorning the party stumbled into the nesting grounds of six eagles which swooped in the attack. The party slaughtered the raptors with only a few scratches, and proceeded to cook them.

Later in the afternoon, they heard the sound of a cart. They met a man with a mule-drawn cart heading south. He was wary initially, but calmed down after seeing Denis the crusader and realizing the party were not bandits. After a short discussion, Swanhild asked him about Ehsan. For a bribe, he gave directions to the wizard’s compound. The party immediately changed course.

Toward evening, they had another strange encounter. An armed troop of elves crossed their path and the leader stopped to parley with them. He spoke to Denis in terse celestial, only long enough to ascertain that they were no threat. The party wanted no trouble, so the elves jogged off on their way.

Panem 14

The party set off, nearing their goal.

Swanhild’s sharp eyes spotted something strange - in the hollow of an old oak, a small wooden box nearly buried in leaves and rot. Inside they found an old vellum map showing a section of the Titan Hills. A location was marked, but no further information recorded.

About noon, the party found what appeared to be the compound. A small collection of wooden cottages and gardens enclosed by a wooden palisade. At the gate, a bored spearman snapped to attention and challenged them. When they asked for Ehsan, he told them to wait at the gate and sent a gardener running for him.

Ehsan was a man of Rythan ethnicity, with curly, long hair and beard of pure white. He wore a gold-fringed robe and carried no weapons. He greeted the party politely and asked if he could be of service.

When Swanhild laid out that she was looking for Adan Rosul, her father, he invited the party into his hall. Over wine, he explained his history with Adan.

Ehsan had come to him about 6 years earlier, desperate for help with a cursed sword that was so deeply attached that even magic had failed to remove it. Ehsan had offered a solution, but one that required a rare ingredient - pure etherium. Adan had struggled to find it, but three years ago he had disappeared.

Treasure: 1 glowing crystal, 1 strange map

Enemies defeated: 6 large raptors

XP: 36

12 per PC

6 per henchman (Meinard and Gustav stayed behind)

Current XP totals:

Huzn: 7466/12400 (level 3)

Swanhild: 3696/5200 (level 2)

Snak: 726/2600 (level 1)

Denis: 3632/6000 (level 3)

Meinard: 3020/4000 (level 2)

Gerrit: 330/2000 (level 1)

Gustav: 150/2500 (level 1)

Hilda: 156/2000 (level 1)

Middle Plains Campaign Session 19, Panem 9-11, 1181 EC

Session 19

• Matt
• Huzn Erste, Dwarven Fury 3
• Denis, Crusader of Phanriel 3
• Meinard, Fighter 2
• Gustav, Mage 1
• Brooke
• Swanhild of Eldeskhur, Barbarian 2
• Hilda Zorig, Barbarian 0

Panem (August) 9, 1181 EC, 2pm

Having routed the goblins behind them, and with the black knight ahead, the party continued their retreat and left the dungeon. On the way out, they heard the two goblins who had fled before them splashing in the flooded chamber east of the sinkhole. The party left without further incident and returned to Priorsford (and scored the XP that I accidentally gave after last session).

On the way back they pondered creative ways to destroy the goblins, including alchemical poison gasses.

Upon arriving, they ran into a commotion with two wagon teams entangled, and limestone bricks spilled across the road. After calming the tensions, the party helped clear up the mess and talked to one of the wagon drivers. He was bringing limestone down from the town of Altberg (yes, berg, not burg) to the north. Altberg was familiar to Huzn as the closest human settlement to the Dwarves of Bronzegate, his home.

Back in town, Huzn solidified his plans to begin a massive house over the Shrieking Hollow, complete with a stone basement enchanted with Protect Dwelling from Evil. He put down the majority of his remaining gold (5000 gp) for it and began hiring workers.

Meanwhile, Swanhild took their potions to Searlus, who luckily was able to identify all four. They sold one to Searlus and two to Count Schulte, and kept a potion of extra-healing.

Meinard and Gustav went to Riele Horn’s house, and Gustav smoothly convinced Sir Niklaus to allow him to search the wizard’s laboratory. The two spent three days going over the laboratory with a fine-tooth comb, and came up with two more interesting finds.

Swahild, meanwhile, tracked down rumors of ‘Ehsan’, the name mentioned in Adan Rosul’s journal. Uwe, the bartender of the Broken Wheel, told her that Ehsan was an old Rythan Wizard who lived in the Truber Forest to the east. He kept to himself due to the general prejudice against Rythans in Ostheim. Her father had known Ehsan, but Uwe didn’t know if they were allies or not.

Panem 10

Meinard found small bars of gold hidden in a hollowed-out book, and like with the earlier potions and scrolls, he hid the goods and took them.

Panem 11

Gustav finally found a mechanism to open a door behind the south bookcase by tracing a particular rune. The door opened to a staircase, which went down below the ground level. The two opted to report this finding to Sir Niklaus and not explore further themselves.

Current XP totals:

Huzn: 7454/12400 (level 3)

Swanhild: 3684/5200 (level 2)

Snak: 714/2600 (level 1)

Denis: 3626/6000 (level 3)

Meinard: 3020/4000 (level 2)

Gerrit: 324/2000 (level 1)

Gustav: 150/2500 (level 1)

Hilda: 150/2000 (level 1)