Stone-Hell on the Borderlands Session #13, 23 OCT 2023

 

   Got off to a slow start this evening and had a missing player. That stopping in the Dungeon is becoming a regular thing and creates this PC is now an NPC situation at the beginning of the next session. Age old problems during Flu Season. I find this sometimes gets your paving and timing off a tad bit but this evening we were pushing for some exploration of Stone-Hell.

   We stopped after the end of a battle at the end of the last session. To facilitate a missing PC I rule a piece of masonry falls from the ceiling after the Orcs fled and strikes Octavious rendering him unconscious. There is the required 1 Turn rest after any combat. They opt to fall back as they are wounded and the total number of Orcs is unknown. Having to fall back do the chain lift they spend a few Turns getting everyone up and into the Ghost Beggar Caverns and return to Kendall Keep. While camping at the area they call Bivouac Two they hear noises in the late evening but Stonus hurls a bit of wood into the darkness and the figures retreat towards the Fens. 

  A moment from behind the screen. I had rolled a rare wandering monster for the party this evening and it was 8 Lizardfolk. 6 uncertain and interaction or negotiation reroll resulted in Leave. A large fight avoided which I should award some XP for but keep forgetting. XP with critters is avoidance and sneaking as well, chucking a stick into the darkness like an episode of Squatching with Stonus, questionable.

   Returning to the Kendall Keep the party members who leveled go through their training and new FTR Options are acquired. The Silver garnered from the Orcs is barely enough to cover their board at the Travelers Inn and they opt to return to Stone-Hell in post haste to attain great riches they believe are just out of their reach.

   Stonus opted to take Toiling Dirge  as his FTR Option and it allows for greater overland travel and reduced need for rest and respite for travel. They make almost as much overland travel as if they still had their purloined horses. They rest in an open field and in the morning hours I roll a random encounter again. They've been wandering monster lucky this entire campaign. I top to roll on the Wilderness Chart and get, Dragon. Rolling on the Dragon sub-table it comes up Gold Dragon. So, I have an old man just outside of the party's camp watching while smoking a pipe. He is invited to the camp and honestly I avoid giving a name as I am coming up blank, totally blank on a name. I describe him as a seemingly impossible to determine his age Half Elf with a short beard and wry smile. Breakfast is shared and I allow the party to learn 3 rumors from the NPC Critter. A few from the upper levels  and one from the lower levels about 4 armed mummies. They spend a bit of time RP'ing then depart for Stone-Hell. Making a note for future Gold Dragon Rolls will be the same one and other types rivals in the greater area.

   Your Random Encounters and Rolls grow and develop your regions, there is actually less need for making a notation for every single thing in your gaming area than you think. Let the dice design your world as you play Y'all.

   Returning to Stone-Hell Valley they observe that Snorri Broadshoulders and his Dwarf Cohort have moved into the North Arch area and set up their banners. Donkeys graze outside in the grass near the ruined foundations of the former gaols buildings of the Valley. Party opts to head straight into Stone-Hell, no encounters rolled crossing the Valley.

   Descending into Hell's Antechamber (Section 1A) they discover fairly recent spilled blood at the bottom of the long entry stairs. Stonus directs the party north through the Ogre Arch and reinspects the cavorting imp hall. There is some discussion on direction as Ailil wants to discover Kobold Korners and they turn around and head South into the Contested Halls (Section 1C) seeking a way there. They pass the entry to the Open Sore Orc Tribe Lair and revisit the mildewy rooms. Piles of bone mark where the fallen orc were devoured by the giant Toads who watch the PCs intently but do not leave their chamber. Obviously bloated from the carrion feast left by the party previously. 

  I have started assigning a period of d4 rounds when the party comes to arguing or debating on what todo and where to go in the dungeon. They are obviously not on the same page and so must be discussing changing their course of actions in the dungeon. This takes dialogue and time which I keep track of for illumination durations and wandering monsters. It also spurs them to movement most typically.

   They had eastward ever searching for Kobold Korners as the Kobolds had said East of the Mushroom Caverns. They are blocked by a Portcullis blocking the corridor. Stonus & Ailil lift it after they cannot find an obvious lever to raise it. The party scurries into the next chamber and Benn seeks to spike the Portcullis in the up position. I rule a d4 round and a roll for Wandering Monsters as it makes a bit of noise and something may come and investigate. Several members pass into the hexagonal room decorated with frescoes on the walls of a forest with peaceful glens. A single Kobold beckons at the Party to follow him and heads south. Ailil follows ....

   The party divides itself as the Elf Ailil calls out to the lone Kobold who waves him to follow while they others spike the Portcullis in the upright position. It is odd there is no obvious lever to raise it. South of the party another hexagonal room but this time it is in a mountainous motif of frescoes and a plinth with just the feet of a missing statue. The kobold beckons Ailil to follow him further south, grinning. Ailil defers and returns to the party.

  After securing the Portcullis the Party heads towards the Mountain Motif room but trigger a Pit Trap in the Hall between the two rooms and all but Ailil plummet into its depths leaving Ailil alone above. While they are recovering their footing as it is difficult as the War Dog Gravy and the Donkey Biscuits have fallen with them the lone kobold pokes its head around the corner observing their misfortune and is rubbing its hands together while grinning silently. Its broken jagged fangs yellow in the dim light cast up and out of the pit where the torch as fallen with the majority of the party. Ailil begins to cast Sleep. 

   I have to take a moment and doo some google research and think about if the creature is affected. It's not a Kobold at all but a type of simulacra which I rule is not affected by sleep as it does not require rest in the same manner as living creatures and it feeds not off of food but something else.

   The lone kobold seems startled by the spell casting but grins maliciously and creeps backwards out of sight and disappears to the West. Ailil takes up a rope cast up by Stonus and secures it to one of the Portcullis nearby and the party ascends up and out of the pit. There is a roughly 18" lip to the pit trap and I force a morale check on the War Dog and Donkey to traverse the ledge around it. They enter and explore the Mountain Motif room. Daagun inspects the plinth with his hands lingering a bit too long on the feet. Caressing them and really inspecting them. Benn draws forth is Flaming Elfin Blade and lights it up by command. Ailil protests searching but for a second and Stonus looks down the West Hall through the portcullis also blocking the West East axis in this chamber as well. Ailil heads southward seeking to find the lone kobold but suspecting it was not a Kobold at all since it was not affected by his Sleep Spell.

   Ailil discovers a room full of Open Sore Orcs observing some sort of spectacle to the East of their room but quickly notice the Elf and point towards and past past him noticing the light North of their Chamber now. The Elf flees northward with arrows glancing off of his Plate Armor. Taking cover behind the plinth in the Mountain Motif room the rest of the party advance under arrow fire towards the Orcs. It is a pitched battle with Ailil using the Donkey Biscuits as cover to slowly rejoin the party in melee with the orc host. I make a ruling that using the Donkey as cover means any misses on Ailil will be applied to hit the Donkey with the roll made by the Orcs. Several arrows are sticking out of the gear stored upon the Donkey at the end of the battle but it fails its morale and will not advance towards the orcs after the first volley of arrows. The battle takes several rounds but eventually the Orcs are defeated and several cut down when they finally break and attempt to flee north.

   It is a good time to call our session this evening and the party gets some basic over view of the chamber and it is another motif room with a theme of Meadows and Halfling homes. The Orcs are Open Sore Orc Tribe and it appears one of the Many Arrows Orcs has joined their tribe and shows early signs of developing pustules and sores he was picking at when the party approached. Through the Portcullis to the Eat the party spies upon a group of 6 kobold in a life and death struggle with a giant shrew. The spectacle the Orcs were observing.

We will pick up right here in two weeks ...

 

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