Stone-Hell on the Borderlands Session #23 (1 APRIL 2024)

    We returned to Kendall Keep on the Borderlands for this week's Monday session and it was a fun one. At least I think it was but I am biased. This session picked up within the Keep and added another player. A scruffy looking adventurer staying at the Traveler's Inn. Nash is quickly promised an equal share and they headed off towards Stone-Hell Valley.

  I set the mood with the current weather that was going outside of my window. Heavily overcast with a large dangerous storm coming. I rolled a rare Wandering Monster Check near the Fens south of Kendall Keep, and not surprisingly it was Lizardmen. I roll a Monster Reaction Check and it comes up hostile enough for an ambush. Easily justifiable with the previous encounters with lizardmen having left them with a taste for Elf Flesh. It s a few rounds of Javelins inflicting damage spread over the Coddiwimplers but with a casting of Sleep by the intended meal several Lizardmen fall into the magical slumber and the rest Failing their Morale Check flee back into the Fens. There is some disagreement on returning to the Keep to heal up before returning to the Dungeons of Stone-Hell and they fall back for a few days.

   Upon their return to Kendall Keep they are met with some derision and joking from Rufus and the Gate Guards but upon hearing that it was a Lizardman ambush; I roll a Reaction Roll for those informing the guards and get a 12, on the road the Inner Baily Troops are notified and a mounted patrol rides out to check if there are anymore gathered along the route. The party is thanked for the information and t he scene of the battle confirms the ambush, a bit of the PCs inventories are lost as missed attacks into a swamp make recovery of Spear or Arrows difficult or impossible. PCs never said either way so I note that those are lost.

   The second foray out to Stone-Hell Valley has not Wandering Monster Checks being successful so its uneventful. I note the atmosphere of the Old Military Road for the new player and the forlorn aspect of the Swamp bordering the Trollscrag Mountains where the Valley is and then describe the approach to the Ruined Gate-House. Also making note to redesign the outdoor map to match the one I deleted awhile back as this one I used as a stop gap does not feature the Southern Road nor the Old Ruined Tower at the Crossroads either. The Coddiwomple Company stops over at Snorri's Redoubt to drop off the mules to the Guards there as they have an understanding and it is mutually beneficial with Snorri's Cohort making a bit more coin by simply keeping an eye on the PCs mules while they delve into Stone-Hell. I think it is important to go over the descriptions of the region and sometimes drop in subtle changes from  the last time you described it and maybe your Players will notice and investigate but usually it is just the rush to get to the "where the gold is".

   They have no encounters in the Valley and descend into Hell's Antechamber via the Main Stairs. I had not bothered to make a restock roll but after finishing this recap I am definitely doing it. They head directly for the stairs they had found previously and descend into the Asylum. The entry area was simply bizarre stick figure drawings and a tricycle with a basket holding an old torture device and fingerbones which had been bored into with some sort of finger screw. They take the torture device and leave the fingerbones. Exploring the corridors tot he West they listen at doors and find a room with an odd assortment of larger humans with deformed features and skin armor being faces of other creatures or even former adventurers. They are mostly put to Sleep with the Elf Estarion's magic while another is slain outright by Stonus and the last remaining cretin is subdued after he surrenders. Some questioning reveals not much information as they prisoner is of limited intelligence so to quiet his crying and pleading they apply the Scold's Bridle but rather than calm down it causes the poor wretch to panic and attempt to speak more resulting in an ear constant flow of blood to pour from under the mask. He is dispatched to spare him the self inflicted agony, well sort of self inflicted. 

    They travel south of this obvious some sort of guard room and investigate a secluded room whose walls are covered in bizarre writing and diagrams. While several stand in the Hall and guard the new guy Nash searches for secret doors and hidden compartments while Estarion the Elf tries to decipher the writing and is forced to a make a Saving Throw versus Spells which he Fails resulting in the loss of d3 WIS Points as the revelation of the mad scribblings causes an esoteric meltdown of his sanity. This spooks the party and they explore north and find a chamber filled with the deformed cretins of the Asylum. There is a Monster Reaction Roll and the PCs are told in no uncertain terms to leave and that includes the children of the brood hurls scat at the party, they choose discretion over valor and slam the door and retreat to the entry chamber noting that the largish oafs look out the door at their retreat but do not follow.

   Just beyond the entry area the PCs find a skeletal form slumped against the wall with scrawling in Common reading "My Mother Never Loved Me". This leads to some interparty jokes about childhood trauma and orc raids for some reason. They advance on, choose a simple right hand turn at a intersection and find a giant statue head laying in a side room with a picnic set up on top of it, a simple door is beyond. The room beyond is filled with containers all holding foul liquids and some have urine. After investigating several they pour some out and discover coins hidden within so all of the containers are broken or pored out over 2 Turns yielding a sizeable return.

  Enjoying their good fortune they find another intersection that leads to a door inscribed with an ominous warning "Disturb Not the Slumber of It" so they kick the door down. A coffin with nails roughly holding it closed draped in old garlic bulbs and a cairn of masonry stacked on top of it sits in the center of the chamber. This gives the PCs pause but eventually Stonus orders his Retainer Braxx to open the lid after he himself had kicked it over spilling the masonry upon the floor. Ok, Since they are unaware of the danger but not wanting to have PCs use Retainers as fodder I make a loyalty check to see if Braxx is keen on this idea and it succeeds so he complies. This triggers a magical trap wherein 3 Magic Missiles strike the offender. I have Stonus roll the damage and Braxx is instantly slain. There is a momentary stop in action and then the PCs declare to burn the coffin and then later search for treasure in its confines, they continue on after securing Braxx's corpse in the stone head room previously searched. 

   Pushing a bit further they find a strange room where they can hear strange whispering. Estarion feeling either brave or foolish listens to the whispers while the others plug their ears with wax or begin singing to drawn out the sounds. He fails a WIS check and is granted a gift of madness which equates to a Commune Spell. Inquiring about the surrounding area he learns some useful information but not before they are interrupted by a Wandering Monster which attacks the Retainer Zalfer in the Hall along side Nash. This brief exchange results in Zalfer being dissolved by a Grey Ooze but with the Coddiwomplers being victorious. They opt to flee since all of their Retainers are slain and they have 2 large bags of treasure.

   There are no Wandering Monster Checks that result in critters so we end the session in the confines of Kendall Keep. Average session with high retainer fatality. Decent session, Fun times and lots of laughs.