The Restenford Journals #11 (20 MAY 2024)

    Okie Dokie, so we got a late start but it was only a few minutes so no big deal. As usual I was feeling exhausted which has become a regular state of affairs when dealing with my CHF. I always feel this affects my DM'ing but my PCs disagree so it is just more of that second guessing we all have as a Dungeon Master I guess.

     The Jonkheers of Raven's Peak had settled in to Restenford at the end of last session to take care of logistics for their newly acquired Keep. Missives for a Research Library were sent to the Elfin lands from which Eldrin hails from and after an arbitrary dice roll it would be 3 months for it  to arrive in Restenford. Carpenters and Craftsman were hired to add a loft area above the rooms in the Keep as it had very high ceiling with room for a second level but none present. Tushuab busied himself hiring Men-at-Arms to staff the Keep as well and in about a month had the twenty men he sought. Future plans to add a smithy and Blacksmith to the Stables were mentioned but not executed due to funds running low. Davon paid for several additions, wagon and Draft Horses to move it, to the company but otherwise mulled over fine wine and his Spell Books. This was pretty much handled between sessions via discord but the finalities were taken care of in the opening of the session.

    Yalta whos main duties were as advisor to Lady Fairwind, who was recently seen wearing a Bejeweled Circlet that had been picked by Yalta as a pick of treasure in lieu of a magical item, sent word to the Temple of Ygg which was located off of the Isle of Lenard for a suitable advisor for the Jonkheers. A 3rd level Cleric would arrive in 3 months as well from the mainland via ship as a Retainer for Davon. Their current retainer & liege status being temporary. They return to the Keep and have no Wandering Monster Encounters.

    Work is begun immediately & I rule that it takes a full week to make the adjustments to the interior of the Keep. They also decide to enter the Pit and discover its contents and thus would conclude their current dealing with Yalta. It is a simple plan, Open Pit and toss a Fireball down the sloping passage then descend to battle whatever remains. There is a bit of lack of planning on the method of descent with Tushuab & his Retainer Afamrail so they slide down a rope held by Eldrin for the round after the casting of Fireball. arriving at the bottom Tushuab immediately yells for aid as they face three Wights !

    The three brigands dealt Davon's Justice of being tossed down the put bound have become Wights after being slain by the monster in the pit, a Wight. One was slain by the fireball but two survived as well as the original occupant. A melee is joined and Davon slides down with his Wand of Magic Missiles in hand to deal with threats immediately slaying one upon his arrival the next round leaving Eldrin tieing the rope to something secure above. Eldrin joins the next round and eventually the PCs slay the foul undead and loot the small amount of treasure located in the fiends sarcophagus. This is a major victory for the Jonkheers and one that made them quite nervous because all #ttrpg players absolutely love energy drain.

    The end of the week has the Jonkheers returning to Restenford. The Wandering Monster Check Chart was particularly kind to the PCs but they did end up having an encounter with a Pit Viper upon the Mountain Road. The returning Carpenters and Craftsman take this is an ill omen. Arriving in Restenford they are dismissed and Davon pays them a Bonus. Not sure on what to do the PCs debate waiting on the ship to return with their goods and retainers as Yalta departs their company to return to "advising" fair Lady Fairwind. Allowing more rumors to be learned and making note to expand the chart with actions of the Player Characters as one rumor is heard of Ghouls killing Children because of Evil Adventurers ! They opt to travel the road towards Garotten and explore the surrounding hills and perhaps scout the upper works of the Ruins on Bone Hill.

   Wandering Monster Checks this session are non fruitful but hey see allot of nature, make notes of the terrain and flora of the Kelman Hills. After a few days on horseback they arrive at the edge of the Dead Forest and the Ranger takes note on the lack of animal life outside of an abundance of insects so they camp at the bottom of Tri-Top one of the Hills of the Barony and hear the howling of Wolves at night, near but not near enough to be a problem. This confirms some rumors heard in town but they opt to explore Bone Hill as they are in need of treasure to pay their staff. 1/2 mile hexes make for a minor bit of Hex-Crawl so checks one of those old school boxes for a well rounded campaign imo

    Having to make rulings on the fly I change the one check per turn in the Dead Forest to a check every hex traveled on the road. AS they exit the wood I describe the terrain of Bone Hill trying to instill a sense of foreboding and am partially successful as Davon is wanting to wait on his Retainer and is fearful of more undead. There are whispers of Ghouls amongst the party but as they travel up the slope discover the remains of the siege they had heard in rumors of the Ruins. Bones bleached by the sun and the lack of vegetation make the ascent chilly for this time of year as  there is nothing to lessen the wind and then  they come into full view of the ruins. Vultures rest on the broken crenulations of the gate house bobbing their heads in excitement on the approach of the Jonkheers.

    Now, here is where the party gets a hint of how much I have changed the Ruins on Bone Hill as it is fully 250' wide on one of the narrow ends. I make some rolls to see if they are observed and they are not as the orc guards are lazy, replacing Bugbears with weaker opponents from the original source material. I note the gaps in the walls and that the Gatehouse is basically razed with the formerly ornate gates thrown down onto the ground. There is a ruined siege tower with skeletal remains poking up out of the dirt here and there. Rusted weapons laying half buried in rubble near near 20' high walls with several very tall menacing towers stretching upwards but obviously in very poor condition.

    Now this is where I  believe a DM should have a large vocabulary for describing scenes like these. I encourage folks to read pulps as they are very verbose and provide lots of prime examples of how to 'lay it on thick' so to speak. There is again talk of falling back as this seems, a bit much for them at the moment. Talking up the edifice has forced a MORALE CHECK ! lulz

    They opt to close with the larger section of broken wall on horseback. Observing the collapsed section of wall is easily scalable, noting there are bits of bones sticking up out of the rubble as well, but their horses may have a hard time traversing it and the slope of the other side being unknown they trot over to the gatehouse and ride through the ruined gatehouse which leads into a vast open flagstone covered courtyard. The inner keep having all of its tall stained glass windows broken and its broad marble steps bloodstained leading to a pair of massive doors flanked by 16' tall statues with blood stained hands as well. They decide to avoid that and see entry to towers in the corners near them as well as other broken sections of walls. Various foundations for exterior buildings are visible amongst the flagstones and a gaping hole as well.

    Maintaining their place in the saddle bows are pulled forth for ready use. Trotting slowly across the open area they head toward a broken section of the Western Wall but as they near the large hole not it is ringed with sporadic bloodstains on the large stone flagstones. Davon dismounts and walks over to the edge to look down securing a Continual Light Torch to a 50' Rope. They do not scan the walls to their rear to note they are being observed by Orcs who have been alerted to their presence by them trotting around on horseback. The Orcs do not interfere but begin moving towards the Tower they occupy in the South West Corner. I roll for Surprise ....

    Both parties are surprised as a very loud roar erupts from the depths of the hole. Davon observes the hole opens up into a dungeon chamber some 35 feet below and rubble is scattered about. I get actions from the PCs during my Declaration Phase and then roll Initiative. I allow them to observe that the Orcs whom they ere unaware of are now running as fast as  they can towards the door of the tower and hammer their fists upon it in great haste. Davon is the first to see why as a large lion bodied beats with a spiked tail and an ugly human looking head charges into the chamber below and takes flight flying up past him in to the sky before loosing a volley of its tail pikes. They have disturbed the lair of a Manticore !

    The Jonkheers of Falcon's Peak are spurring their horses to get to the far breach in the western wall. Why they did not head for the ruined gate house which would have provided cover from the air is beyond me but possibly because the breach was in full view of them. It does in my minds eye seem like it would make sense in a moment of panic. A few arrows are loosed and nothing hits while tail spikes rain down on the party wounding some horses. Getting to the far wall they find threat going over the top would be going into the unknown so a few dismount and use their horses as cover while preparing to cast spells the net round. Tushuab & Afamrail peel away and the Manticore focuses on the stationary targets hiding behind their horses. I make few rulings that any shots that would target the PCs hiding would instead be rolled against their mounts noting no one invested in barding either. Long Bows cannot be fired from horseback and that negated Tushuab firing at the beast and that you cannot cast spells from the saddle so that is why Davon and Eldrin chose to dismount. They won initiative that round and Davon fused his last charge on his Wand of Magic Missiles which I decide to describe as bursting into magical flame and burning to cinder like a cheap fireworks & this is where I left he session on a cliffhanger ;)

    They are hoping to win Initiative and cast Light to Blind and Fireball to injure. The strength of Short Bow for mounted combat is noted by the Pcs and I expect some tactical changes or lots of different Bows being carried by pack animals. They know they have alerted other denizens of the ruins to their presence but desire to know if the Beast has a horde and they have not even slain it yet ! The attack rolls for the Manticore have been abysmal and damage very slight so I allow them to note that the Tail Spikes' are small and newly regrown resulting in the lower damage threshold they have been experiencing. They fully expect to loose all of their horses and the vultures above the front gate suddenly seems even more eerie.

    Episodic serials and tv shows were great inspiration for our ttrpgs folks. Embrace it and cheese it the nine hells up. Game Well, Game Often and more importantly enjoy yourself as best you can Y'all