The Restenford Journals #10 (13 MAY 2024)

    So the original plan of alternating around games on Monday for a variety of players in a pair of games set in the same campaign world has kind of fallen through. But that is OK and we do adapt. A recurring weekly game for Restenford Journals has triumphed in a ttrpg game of natural selection. I have a few days in the week I could possibly shoehorn a later evening game into but I am unsure if I will do so t this time but for now lets go over the further exploits of the Jonkheers of Falcon's Rest.

    Having returned to Falcon's Rest the previous session the Jonkheers were planning on ridding the lower crypts of the foul undead encountered previously and exploring the Pit. Yalta the Priest from Restenford had agreed to journey to their Keep as they were in need of a holy man to deal with the foul undead. This seems to be a temporary position for Yalta as he is Lady Fairwind's personal advisor and the only face of the Church of Ygg in Restenford at this time. Having gone over their plan for dealing with the Zombies in Old Temple of Nergal they descend the long climb upon the iron rungs, except for Davon who steps off the side at the top and floats down using his Ring of Feather Fall. 

    Opening the Temple Doors the Elf Retainer Afamrail Fayra is rendered immobile by horror upon feeling the lingering power of Nergal emanate from the shambling dead. He is moved to the rear by the other Elf in the Jonkheers Eldrin. A bottleneck is formed at the door and Yalta's attempt to Turn these Fell beasts Fails; the strength of Nergal is too strong in this chamber and Turning is not possible, so on the following round Davon covers the Undead in a Web. I Rule they can attack from the edge while the Zombies struggle to escape but on a miss of 4 or more their weapons become tangled in the webs and unusable. This applied only to that front rank of zombies though. The Ogre Zombie being a large creature begins tearing the webbing apart from the second rank and in 4 rounds it will be dismantled enough for regular melee to commence again. By the end of the 4 rounds Tushuab is forced to wield his dagger in melee and Yalta is using his Staff of Striking. The undead eventually force their way into the Hall and are eventually defeated. This becomes an example of The Dice are Trying TO Kill You as the PCs rarely rolled above single digits for the longest time making this battle longer than it normally would have with Armor Class 8 being as effective as magical Plate & Shield!

    After the Battle the Undead dissolve in a black ichor upon the floor leaving only bones, tattered robes, scythes and a single Scythe Pendant that was worn by the Ogre zombie. Beyond they explore the Old Temple and find a 5 foot tall Bronze Statue of Nergal attached to a sacrificial altar stained with blood. A Brass Door with three locks at the North which Eldrin attempts to pick and fails and unfortunately falls to a comatose slumber filled with writhing and horrid visions of Doom. Yalta prays over him but is unable to do anything about the poison coursing through his veins but they wait patiently and after 3 hours he recovers stiff and sore. They fall back up to the Keep and rest for the evening in their beds and some on cots.

    Nothing has really been upgraded from the conditions of the Bandits outside of what the 6 freed slaves now turned servants have done so it is pleasant. PCs are avoiding sleeping in the room with the pit atm as well. They return to the depths the next day.

    At the last moment they decide to try a previously door which they avoided because of the sound of slurping from beyond and they force their way into a large tomb. Murals depict a tall man in plate fighting evil looking villagers and sacking villages. A stone slab holding a tall figure in Black Chain with Black Shield and a long sword grasped in its skeletal hand while a scroll lays upon its chest. Various mold and lichen can be seen in patches long the wall. They enter cautiously and immediately see several 1 1/2 foot to 2 1/2 foot long green slimy slug-like creatures with large eyes and sucker mouths come scooching down the far wall in the south east corner and gathering on the floor while 7 similar creatures fall upon them at the door. One attaches to Tushuab and begins sliding its tendrils around its sucker like mouth slurping and sticking to his shoulder covering him in a foul fecal smelling slime.

    Now, this another one of those combats that stretch out waaay longer than it should have since the target armor class was only 8 but terribly low rolls are the standard this evening. In game it can be attributed to the horrifying or disturbing nature of the foes the PCs are fighting. The Turd Slugs as I have decided to rename the Skum Creepers at the last moment and add more nauseating features such as excessive slime production and sucking annoying screaming sounds plus they smell like shit. Davon hurls daggers at the Turd Slugs in the corner and one joins the battle after its agonizingly long scream as it crossed the chamber, goes through the melee to get to Davon and is eventually killed by Him and Eldrin after attaching itself to him and coating him in slime. Yalta and Afamrail engage the Turd Slugs in the corner and they all join into the combat with the Jonkheers eventually emerging victorious. inspecting the slimy remains they notice scrawled in slime in the far corner where several of the Turd Slugs gathered are the words "We Are Human". This gets that rare gasp you get from PCs when something hits just right. This is quickly followed by "Oh No" and general laughter.

    During combat Davon had looked a the scroll upon the skeletal forms chest and it was blank. Eldrin comes up with a plan to loop rope onto the sword and shield and drag them to the door. After nothing of note happens he takes the armor from the skeletal remains and leaves a jumbled pile of bones on the stone bier. Questioning Yalta they discover that the Chief Captain of Lord Falcon was reportedly a Tall Powerful and Cruel Warrior which matches the description of the skeletal remains. They return to the Old Temple as Davon had memorized Knock for the Triple Locked Door.

    I allow a single casting to Knock to Open the Triple Locked Brass Door. Beyond they find murals depicting a tall grim man seated atop a throne being worshipped by a throng of people. Atop a Black Bier rests a skeletal figure in Black Plate Mail Armor clutching a scroll in one hand and a Shiny Silver bastard sword in another, its hilt bejeweled. The grapple hook and drag method from the door is used to drag the Sword over and it is a work of art and seems extremely valuable. Then the body in Plate is d ragged painstakingly across the floor, it never loses its grip on the Scroll However. Eldrin pries it dead hand open and Davon scoops it up a nd reads it, A saving throw versus Spells is called for at -2 to which Davon fails and is transformed into a Turd Slug similar to the ones just slain in the previous Crypts. A Magic Mouth forms on he skull of Lord Falcon's remains says "The Curse of the Falcon Upon You All ! " and then cackles ! This puts a wee bit of a damper on the evening and the PCs retire to the upper levels planning on returning to Restenford to entreat Peltar to Remove this condition as he is the most powerful Spell Caster in the Region they are aware of but first they reexamine Millards room and the Pit, this is when they remember the blue chalk circle and investigate the Scythe impression. Inserting and Turning the Silver Scythe Pendant it reveals a hidden cavity which is filled with treasure. They load it all up and return to Restenford over the next three days. 

    I allow a simple Reaction Roll with a +2 Bonus due to Yalta making the request to gain audience with Pelltar at his residence. He appears annoyed but after the PCs lay out the recovered treasure he examines the Bastard Sword more closely and asks what they want of him. They produce Davon in a large glass jar with his name scrawled on the side to which Pelltar sort of chuckles. They offer a magical dagger to which he refuses but agrees for the  Mithril Silvered Bejeweled Bastard Sword. They also request he identifies the magical items they have recovered but he dismisses such an idea as unworthy of his talents but will direct his apprentices to the task over the next couple days. The PCs remain at the Inn of the Dying Minotaur and Davon is returned to his natural state albeit covered in slime and reeking of a foul fecal aroma. Pelltar ushers him out of his home in great haste ...

    Its a  good point to stop and its exactly at at our 1030 PM Hard Stop. There is allot of treasure and they recovered the lost Treasure of Lord Falcon and now have a handy dandy secret hard to open hidey hole as well. While in Restenford they are planning to do allot of shopping and ordering supplies for their Keep. All in All it was a fun and exciting session with a fair bit of laughter. 

    Anyway more to follow in a week