Encounter 0
Team Red led by Crystal the Astrologer. Knowledgeable and buffed. Reads everything.
Team Green led by Caleb the Unnecessarily Bold. It's all in the name, folks.
Team Blue led by Coolie the Luckbound. An orphan and vodka entrepreneur.
The mob gathered at the base of the hill. Even in the midday, Molan's Keep exuded deep pitted terror. They shared what they knew about the keep. The North and East Walls were crumbling or missing. A large circular tower was located in the south east that was said to lead to a dungeon below. A gate house, flanked by battlments, was in the south west.
The discussion turned to other things that they learned about Molan's Keep.
Team Green recalled that someone told them that "some of the villagers kidnapped in the night return as feral, bestial monsters." Specifically the mayor who was kidnapped, who then the returned the next night as a snake headed monstrosity.
Team Blue recalled from someone's uncle's best friend's hostler to "Look for treasure in the keep’s sole remaining tower. A wealth of gold is hidden there."
Team Red recalled from someone's grandma to "Beware the well! It has swallowed many a poor soul."
Encounter 1 The Devil's Causeway
The mob followed the overgrown road to the keep. Up ahead they could see the South Wall of the keep, with the Tower to the right and Gatehouse to the left. A ravine bordered the wall and two large planks were lain across it that led to the gatehouse.
Between the ravine and the mob was a peculiar warning of sorts. Two bodies hung from a makeshift gallows, their bodies writhing in the wind. The Halflings with their superior sight could tell that the bodies were infested with vines that animated the corpses. Coolie released his duck towards the vine bodies. A single vine lashed out towards the duck, and missed, as it flew towards the vine and circle back to Coolie. So that was something to worry about.
Coolie and the gang decided to look to get Betsy, their cow, across the ravine. Rather than using the plank bridge ahead, they found a place where it narrowed to the west of the keep. Caleb, Crystal, and the rest decided to stay on the road, but keep their distance from the vine thing. As Coolie came back towards the Keep on the other side. Caleb took his pony across the plank bridge without incident. You guys brought several other emotional support animals, including a goose and a mule.
Encounter 2 Gatehouse
Going single file over the plank bridge and approaching the gatehouse, you guys noticed the sound of sniffing from above on the wall. Caleb could also hear the sound of hooves on stone. Murder holes were spotted while passing through the gatehouse, as the mob passed the outer portcullis. The sound of hooves above could still be heard. As the last person was passing through, the portcullis came down with a crash, impaling poor Davis the Halfling and pinning his carcass to the ground. The Keep had taken its first victim.
The sound of hooves could be heard rushing from the Gatehouse towards the Tower.
Merc the Dwarf from Team Green was able to loot Davis' body. Luckily the Halfling's equipment was intact. "He owed me money," grumbled the disappointed Dwarf.
Encounter 3 Courtyard
The 11 remaining members gathered on the other side of the gatehouse within the Keep's Courtyard and took stock of the situation. A large well, equipped with a block and tackle attach to a chain, was directly north and further north of that was a crumbling wall. To the northeast was a missing gap in the Keep's wall. Directly east was the burnt out remains of a chapel. Southeast was the Keep's only Tower.
Coolie began to walk north towards the well "That well will swallow your soul!!!" Warned Crystal. So Coolie thought better of it and returned to the group.
Encounter 4 The Charnel Ruins
Crystal and Coolie walked over to the remains of the stone, soot-covered chapel. The Astrologer studied its large bronze doors. They were barred from the outside with a piece metal. Demonic faces were engraved on the door with a skilled hand, although Crystal couldn't decipher which demons they were. The word "REPENT" was crudely written on the door, probably with a chisel, defacing the diabolical artwork. Crystal placed an ear on the door and listened. The door was oddly warm, but she could hear nothing.
Meanwhile, Coolie headed northeast towards the empty gap in the east wall. The ground under his feet started to feel hollow, like he was walking across a frozen lake. Up ahead he could see a large sinkhole with mist rising from it. Coolie could swear that he saw demonic faces in the dissipating mist, or was his mind playing tricks? He didn't stick around to find out and carefully back tracked.
Encounter 5 Tower of the Beast
The mob reunited in the middle of the Courtyard. After exhausting all apparent options, they decided to open the door to the Tower. A sudden concern for their menagerie of animals came over them and they tried to release the cow, the mule, the duck; but not the goose. The duck flew away, yet the cow and mule decided that their best chance to survive was with the mob.
Caleb the Unnecessarily Bold lived up to his name and insisted on going first through the door. Crystal stood behind his left shoulder and Pliney stood behind his right shoulder. Caleb open the door onto a hellish scene. His fellow townsfolk were chained to the wall, beaten and exhausted. The smell of filth and abject terror filled his nostrils. One prisoner made eye contact with Caleb and shook his head. The clatter of hooves, talons, and feet were heard before beastmen invaded the room.
Caleb backed off and four of his fellow townsfolk joined him. They formed a horseshoe around the doorway. Rage-filled monstrosities rushed into the Courtyard; one had a falcon's head, another a rat; and yet another was just a malformity of fur, pointed teeth, and fleshy flaps. The peasants wielded their pitchforks with alacrity as they picked off the beastmen one by one. Finally the bull headed leader wielding a greataxe entered and was promptly skewered. Well that was easy.
The mob armed themselves with looted spears and the greataxe. The interior of the Tower's ground floor was explored and the townsfolks' manacles were broken, freeing them. The mob explored the south wall battlements. They raised the portcullis, unpinning dead Davis the Halfling.
The freed townsfolk were given the mob's animals, except the goose. They were instructed to head back to town, but warned to be sure to avoid the Vine Corpses. Nothing was heard from the departing peasants and animals again.
Encounter 6 Trail of Gold
Caleb led the group single-file down some winding stairs leading underneath the keep. They came to a passage where some gold coins were scattered. Caleb spotted a gap, indicating a concealed door, on the left wall and a rough hewn passage to the right; while the main passage continued north. The mob decided to explore the concealed room first.
Encounter 7 The Empty Vault
A room with some coins on the floor and three opened chest. They quickly discovered the chests were empty, but Coolie realized that the second chest had a false bottom. Dude with a 10 foot pole was called in and he began poking around. He managed to slide a door open on the false bottom, which triggered a blade trap. His 10 foot pole was now a 9 foot pole.
They found two silver rings set with emeralds (worth 15 gp each), a silk tabard stitched with the sigil of Chaos (worth 5 gp) and a steel vial containing two doses of black lotus oil (never consumed). [Spoiler: Characters imbibing the lotus oil gain 1d10 hp for 1 hour, but at the end of the hour lose any hp gained from the oil and must succeed on a DC 10 Fortitude save or take 1d4 points of damage.]
Encounter 8 Tomb of the Fallen
From the main passage, the mob explored the passage of rough cut stone. They followed it for twenty minutes until they came upon a stone door with glowing writing on it. Crystal did her best to interpret the writing, but came up a little short. Of the six lines, all she could understand was "the baleful storm, heedless to supplication." Given the sinister reputation of this place, the mob decided to leave this alone and back track to the main passage.
[Spoiler: The six lines on the door...
the burning purge, which scours the earth
the hardened glamour, stilling life
the baleful storm, heedless to supplication
the raging tempest, devourer from within
banes four I place upon this gate:
Fire, Ice, Storm and Hate]
Encounter 9 The Dread Hall
From the main passage, the mob continued north and found a door. Someone listened at the door and could hear the dripping of water (presumably). Caleb shouldered the door open after a couple of attempts.
"Wide stone steps descend into a long hall. The walls are decorated with elaborate tile mosaics depicting foul ceremonies to horrific and baleful fiends. The walls are slick with condensation and black algae. The condensation runs in rivulets and collects in a long, brackish pool set in the center of the hall."
The mob spread out into the room. They found four tattered cloaks with the Chaos symbol on the back. One of Crystal's buddies was suddenly graced with a divine force and he was compelled to search the pool and retrieve something from it.
He waded into pool and discovered that there was a steep drop off near the center and so he paused, peering into the dark water. A human skull floated to the surface, its eye sockets had a whitish unearthly glow. He picked up the skull
"Avenge me!" The unvoiced skull yell in his head.
"Who are you?" The peasant asked.
"A challenger" it answered. Nothing more was said.
No one wanted to do a deep dive into the pool, so the mob continued. The passage was wider here and they could easily walk 3 abreast. The stairs turned to the right two times, so that they was facing south. It open up to a small beach with a stone monument on it.
Encounter 10 The Starless Sea
"The wide stone steps run down to the dark-sand beach of a vast underground sea. Far out across the water, you can make out a golden glow through the gloom. An enormous menhir stands at the water’s edge, dark waves lapping at its intricately carved faces.
Past the towering standing stone, a dragon-prowed longship emerges from the darkness, its hull scrawled with forbidding sigils and runes that glow a sickly green in the dim light. The ship draws to a stop some 50 feet offshore.
The beat of distant drums and far-off wails of terror mixes with the quiet lapping of the waves."
The mob started with exploring the stone monument (aka menhir) at the water's edge. Crystal followed the carved steps up the monument and tried to interpret the swirling lines that were engraved on it. A spirit trapped in the menhir, with a will of its own, invaded her mind. She watched herself as she attempted to skewer Caleb standing next to her. When the spear was knocked from her hands, she saw her hands grab ahold of his neck and throttle the life out of him. Eventually she was able to regain control without further damage.
As Caleb recovered his wits, Coolie climbed the steps without reading anything. Blissfully ignorant, he found a half melted candle in a bowl. He took it. They lit the candle, which drew the longship ashore. Everyone loaded on the ship and it headed for pyramid shaped island in the distance. Not-Davis the Halfling took out a spyglass [WTF? A spyglass? Sure why not.]
He saw that the island was a ziggurat with an altar on top. Beastmen with torches were gathering townsfolk up the ramp. Cloaked figures (human?) stood at the flattened peak. They stood around a fire that sprout from within the structure. Townsfolk and treasure were being thrown into the fire.
Encounter 11 The Leviathan
About half way there, the self propelled longship stopped. Six giant tentacles sprang forth from the water. Giant eyeballs and mouths with needle sharp teeth protruded along their sides. Most disturbing were the dead human sized faces. The faces animated in unison, and like a Greek Chorus, made the Tentacles' demands known:
"The pact has been made. The price must be paid. In blood or gold. The Dark Pact must be maintained"
The mob began divesting themselves of any coins and throwing them overboard.
"Totally lame"
"LaAame"
"Brah, not even close"
The Tentacles, having made their displeasures known, were becoming agitated; until Caleb the Unnecessarily Bold boldly stepped forth, goose in hand, and made the sacrifice in blood.
"You shall pass. Just chill brah!"
"DuUude... too far"
"Fool ganked his own goose! Damn!"
And, so our stalwart mob arrived at the ziggurat unharmed.
Encounter 12 Temple of Chaos
The mob quickly sensed what to do. Four of them put on the tattered Chaos cloaks, while a fifth person put on the silk Chaos tabard. The others posed as prisoners and they attempted the classic Star Wars "we're bad guys like you and just escorting some prisoners" ruse. It worked.
The mob followed the tail end of the procession of beastmen and prisoners. A ramp wound its way up the ziggurat. At the top, a ritual was being performed. The Halfling with the spyglass estimated that there were around two dozen beastmen on the ziggurat.
Wanting to get the jump on their foes, the mob decided to attack the last of the beastmen as they turned the corner. This would prove premature and fatal. Facing two to one odds, the mob did pretty well at first. It took some time for the lead beastmen to realize that they were under attack. They were also slowed by all the prisoners blocking their path. The Near Heroes fought well and cut the enemy numbers. That's when the dice turned. Within twenty seconds, the party was hacked to pieces.
So, the Lord of Chaos was reborn and the townsfolk of Tasser were no more; either sacrificed to Nimlurun, the Demon of Disease and Filth, or turned into beastmen.
Thus ends the tale of the DM's second TPK ever.
What? You thought this was about you guys?
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