It all began
in a tavern, because I love that cliché, I really do.
To be more
specific, it all began in the “Flask and Scroll Tavern” inside the walled city
of Muntburg. One Zazik [not his real name, but mages who study at the Tower of
the Silver Pentacle always take on properly acroamatic names upon graduation]
was discussing a business proposition with a slightly-built thief named Killian
Goodpipe [who insisted that everyone call him “the cave snake” for reasons
known only to himself]. Besides the two PCs, the bar was populated with a small
crowd of late-afternoon drinkers; farmers, lumberjacks, and other lower-class
types.
A roll of
the dice also indicated the presence of a named NPC, an arcanist named Climent,
who was sipping wine and eavesdropping on aforementioned PCs. [The boys decided
that their characters knew each other from past business dealings. Killian was
in the business of acquiring illicit relics, and Zazik is the type of guy who
thinks history is far more important that gold]. As they were speaking fairly
loudly in character to one another, I decided that Climent wouldn’t have any
trouble discerning that they were planning a trip to Dwimmermount. At the first
lull in their conversation, he made his way to their table and introduced
himself.
“I beg your
pardon, my friends, but I couldn’t help but hear you talk of Dwimmermount. That
strange place has been a very common topic of conversation of late. If the
rumors are true, what once was locked and sealed has now been opened. Just last
week, a group of heroes calling themselves Typhon’s Fists made their way
through Dwimmermount’s front doors. They returned richer, but fewer in number
for their efforts.”
Climent
offered his services to the party, as they were obviously planning their own
trip to the mountain fortress. They could not afford the 50gp retainer that he insisted he receive up front, however, so they
had to decline his offer. Climent seemed amiable to working with the pair in
the future and told them to look for him at the Green Dragon Inn.
While they
couldn’t afford Climent, the PCs knew that they needed a larger party if they
were going to explore Dwimmermount [with a bit of prodding from me, of course, impartial referee that I am]. Killian jumped up on a stool and addressed
the entire bar, offering the promise of gold and fame in exchange for a few days
of work. Zazik, meanwhile, did his best to qualify some of the thief's bolder promises, downplaying the danger to their prospective hirelings. Three of the patrons showed some interest and, after some haggling
[and Hireling Reaction Rolls], the PCs managed to secure the services of two of
them. Thus, the party was joined by Bael, a gambler who desperately needed gold
to pay off a mounting debt, and Garhet, a farmer looking to feed his family
after two seasons of failed crops. Not exactly the trained warriors they were
hoping for, but these two 0-level humans had more HP then either PC. Bael was particularly eager to join the group, especially when Zazik offered
extra gold up front. [I rolled a 12 on the hiring reaction chart, giving Bael a
+1 morale. The guy really needs to pay off those gambling debts, it seems.]
By the time
they equipped their two new henchmen with a set of hide armor [the only set available
in the Class V Market of Muntburg at the time], a couple of clubs, and a
dagger, Zazik’s purse was feeling pretty empty. He squeezed out a couple more
coins for a private room at the Green Dragon Inn and prepared for a journey to
Dwimmermount in the morning.
* * *
The old
trade route that led to Dwimmermount seemed like the perfect place for bandits
or other, more dangerous things to prowl, but the party made it to the foot of
the mountain without incident. They debated whether or not they should search
for the back entrance that Killian’s former mentor had talked about, but ultimately
decided that hiking around the perimeter of a mountain would be too much
trouble without knowing specifically what they were searching for. Instead,
they began the climb up the long stairway that led to what Climent the Arcanist
had called “the Red Doors.” Here and there, the group paused to search some of
the crumbling fortifications that guarded the various switchbacks along their
ascent, but found nothing more interesting than a few curious runes. Zazik took
note of a few specific runes, discovered on an archway carved into the mountain’s
face, which he recognized as the symbols of the planets Kythirea, Aereon, and
Ioun.
The strange,
red metal doors at the top of the stairs opened easily enough. The rumors, it
seemed, were true; Dwimmermount was no longer barred. Torches in hand, the
party descended into the ancient fortress for the first time. In the beginning, they
poked around in mostly empty rooms, progressing slowly as Killian carefully
mapped their surroundings. They found a room of statues whose heads had been
replaced by new heads and spent some time there rotating the marble heads in
hopes of discovering a secret door [but found nothing of note].
Next, they wandered into a room where a group of 7, pig-faced humanoids [orcs, they presumed] were making camp. When
the humanoids rose in menacing fashion, Zazik attempted to parley with them.
Luckily for the heroes, the biggest of the creatures seemed to speak Common [I
gave it a 2-in-6 chance] and was willing to accept some of the cured meats he
was carrying as a bribe [Zazik had insisted on buying the highest quality iron
rations he could find]. The monsters, now assured that the party feared them, waved their axes in great, menacing gestures as the party made their escape.
After
avoiding a potentially deadly fight, the party was eager to
find some treasure. They discovered a room filled with old crates of food and other
perishables that had long since turned to dust. Poking through the old crates
and barrels stirred up a big cloud of dust that sent Zazik into a furious
coughing fit. All the noise apparently attracted a creature, a green slime
[wandering monster roll], that dropped from the ceiling right onto Gahret’s
head as the party exited the storeroom. Thinking quickly, Zazik grabbed Bael’s
torch and attempted to burn the slime away before it could eat the henchmen
[and the hide armor that he had paid for]. The tactic worked, but poor Gahret
was burned in the process and passed out from the pain [he was dropped to
exactly 0 hit points]. Although Gahret recovered, he had fallen hard onto the stone
floor and smashed his knee [a roll on the Mortal Wounds chart in ACKS]. The henchmen decided then and there that he was
done with dungeon exploring [hireling moral roll, failed], but he was in no shape to make the journey home
alone, so he reluctantly committed to staying with the party until they left Dwimmermount,
limping along using Killian’s 10-foot-pole as an improvised walking stick.
Finally, the
PCs discovered a room that seemed to hold some kind of potential treasure.
There were a number of metal masks, shaped like fearsome demon-faces, mounted
on the wall of a large chamber. One of the masks was lying on the floor next to
the skeletal remains of a long-dead explorer. For good measure, Zazik smashed
the skeleton’s skull with his quarterstaff while Kilian examined the mask next
to the remains. Deciding that the items were harmless, Killian volunteered
to take one of the additional masks off the wall. [Zazik’s player, to his
credit, almost spotted the trap here. He asked a few questions about the
condition of the remains, trying to determine how the man had died. Just as
Killian was pulling a mask off a wall, I could see the wheels turning as he put
two and two together, but he was too slow to act]. Killian pulled the mask
from the wall and was blasted full in the face by a cloud of green gas.
Gasping, Killian grabbed at his throat and fell to the ground, dead [he
received a Saving Throw, but rolled a 2].
With the
death of the thief, the party decided that it was time to retreat. They
gathered up Killian’s body and headed back to town, hoping to rebuild their
number and return to Dwimmermount as soon as possible.
Next: Thoughts on Running the Game
