Session 14 - Wherein Paige gets bit..

Paige 8

Forget the knee it doesn’t hurt anymore.  Or if it does it’s not getting through the fog in my head.  If I turn too quickly everything wobbles.  If I get up too quickly I’m suddenly on the floor again face first.  I have this huge bump that someone is constantly hammering onto the side of my head and I feel like I’m going to throw up the breakfast or lunch or whatever food that Quill made.  My helmet doesn’t fit anymore and I fainted when I tried it on.  I have to think in short bursts so the thoughts don’t slip away.

Sometimes when I look around I’m in the village and sometimes I’m in the woods and there’s always at least two of Yannick and sometimes I forget their names.  I can’t remember what happened and most of the time since I woke up on the floor of the dungeon is a dark foggy mess.  There are squeaks and screams in my head rather than actual real memories and I don’t know if either or both are mine.

I lean on Halessa a lot and Thowick’s looking after me and covering me with blankets and looking worried.  I tried frowning but it almost knocked me out with pain.  Anything headwise is painful enough to make me think twice.  There’s something wrong with my leg the one that had the good knee.  It doesn’t bleed but it itches inside and it’s starting to burn.  Hlessa tries to stop me scratching at it but I go right back at it to try and make it stop.  Quill says it’s healed and looks at me like I’m crazy but it. is. not. right. and I am scratching it right now when Hlessa’s not looking because when I stop it starts hurting again.

Quill says I’m possessed by a rat but you’d think that would shut my mind up and let the rat take over.  Hasn’t happened.  Still here just foggy and scratching at whatever’s in my leg. It’s bleeding now and I’m about to faint again I can see it all getting darker at the edges.  Hlessa’s going to shout.

The Judge

A mostly quiet session, the party spent some time 'investigating' the pit trap they discovered at the end of the previous session managing to open it and Quill spent some exciting minutes dangling above a dark space with liquid at the bottom and some menacing skittering.

They explored the area of the dungeon formerly inhabited by the bandits and discovered a store room containing old and broken mining equipment and some newer trade goods that appear to have been looted by the bandits.

As Paige's account above shows they encountered some Giant Rats, which unfortunately for the party thief managed to bite her and infect her with a disease, the saving throw for which she duly failed. Time's a ticking for Paige. Will she survive?

Paige 7

Everyone’s more or less back to full health now, aside from my knee (aches, still won’t bend properly, not quite shaped right) and Verdugo’s eye (horrifying, haven’t mentioned it though I’m sure he’s caught me staring).  The village folk are fairly friendly now that things have settled down, and we’ve moved into one of the empty houses and have tried to make it a bit more homely by adding things like walls and a roof.  It’s hard to believe that it’s been about six weeks since I first stepped foot on Thyle.   I last saw my home in Thembria full of blood and metal as I grabbed what was nearby and ran for the docks, so my new home on the island’s a real step up.  Or will be, when the roof’s finished.

I’ve felt capable of moving around for the last week or so, and made myself useful with odds and ends – giving the women a break by teaching the children their letters, or how to tell the difference between the tracks of an owlbear and a deer.   Halessa prowled around looking at defences and sight lines in case the bandits (or dogfolk, or man-eating insects) decide to attack again, and Thowick set himself up in a corner of the house to patch up clothes.  There was a steady stream of villagers waiting with worn out socks and shirts, which has kept him busier than I’ve managed.

The best part of the two weeks spent in the village was when Bomani joined us, having travelled from Sunstep with the latest supply caravan.  The villagers were pleased to see the wagon arrive with food and drink and tools.  I was pleased to see my comrade and friend back on his feet and back in the party again.  We didn’t waste much time after that, and headed back to the dungeon to see what was left.

Most importantly, the dogfolk have left.  We haven’t checked downstairs on the rats, but the rooms and corridors which were full of barking stone-throwers beforehand are quiet as a tomb.  It’s beautiful now that we have time to look past the dogfolk filth and take it in – mosaics, tapestries, huge rooms with pillars and statues, and even though it’s all decaying and flaked it’s not hard to imagine it as it was. 

We’ve explored the section which was used by the dogfolk and found some coins and gems, and some huge maggots which I’m glad sprang out on someone other than me.  Fighting dogfolk and bandits is one thing – huge pulsating maggots bursting out of a corpse is something I’d quite happily miss out on, even if they’re full of gold coins (these ones weren’t).  It looks like the dogfolk chieftain set himself up in the main bedroom of whoever ran this place, and kept the loot locked up in a room.  Luckily for us, I found the keys along with Quill’s fancy sword back on our first visit and generally forgot I had them until we found a locked door.

Aside from that, there’ve been lots of empty rooms full of dogfolk junk.  We found what looks like a pit trap at the end of a corridor, and some tracks of dogfolk which presumably fell right through it.  As much as I like Quill and as much as she and her religion fixed me up when I felt on the verge of death after the insect attack, what she wants or needs is a fanatic, not a companion – unsurprisingly Ildis didn’t fancy jumping up and down on the pit trap when Quill suggested it.   I think we’re going to look behind the door of Crushing Rocks next, and hopefully the roof won’t land on Yannick’s head as it did last time.  We’ve got a chest full of copper coins to take back with us when we’re done, but with previous trips having ended in lost eyes and bad knees, having everyone fit and upright is something we probably shouldn’t waste while we have it.

Session 13 - The Kobold and the Brave.

Yannicks Tale

When the days come to tell children of the life of adventure I led, never from my lips will they hear that I nearly lept in Kobold-shit to be devoured by demon-worms.

And so we rested again, frail bodies nursed back to health by Quills healing hands and caustic tone.  We did what we could to pass the time: hunting, praying, citing the land for what defences could be errected in preservation of this poor village that has become our haunt.

Me, I would be in favour of a watchtower to spy the approaches... but such things must wait until we have a roof above our heads.

Still the villagers work as they do and the hunting fills the pots.  Paige joins me as she recovers, her bow striking beyond my spear... and the food was hearty, when not cooked by Quill.

Bomani and Cromwell joins us again, good to see him up and about though I hope that if he's made use of his other recovery he's put it better use than Cromwell.  Still, with Verdugo's last slouching recovery we are read in company to strike again at the foul depths.

And so we do, passing through the barricades to explore the lands of the Kobold, as I am now told they are spelled.  The rooms proved interesting to our sight, but no more full of treasure than when we exited them in haste.  The defended parts we found abandoned, with nothing but traces remaining of the vile beasts.  We searched what seemed like a wing of the building with nothing found to be of note, save for two things of note and the cliffhanger I shall leave you on...

First of note is the "treasure" room, filled with valuable goods such as they were... locked and denied to the scuttling vermin since Paige siezed the keys from their leader upon our first battle.  Some rugs, tapestries and cloth... salt and copper locked tight in a chest.  Books mouldered on a shelf of ages, cloaks rotted on a stand... but the bed was good quality, though the straw matress would need burning many times over.  We took what was easy to carry and left the rest under lock and key.

The other matter was more promising: a wide room of treasure and dripping coin: gems galore and bejewelled chests sitting majesticly in their midst.  Three bodies lie before them, chests rising and falling in deep slumber but we gave them little thought as our eyes widened... Samis was the first forward and I pressed to follow, but Bomani's hand strikes out faster than I and holds me back as the image shifts and blurrs beneath Samis's hands and reveals the biggest pile of shit, vomit and bile that the Saints have ever shown me.  Strewn across the room under the illusion that no longer masks the horrific scent.

We all look rather embarassed at this point and Bomani looks smug for a time.  With no treasure in sight and little incentive to shuffle through a Kobold latrine in search of coppers, so we turned what was left of our waning (and gagging) attention to the three unconscious guards, wearing the uniform akin to those of the conscripts... Ildis confirmed that he had served with one and I went to rouse them to speak of how they had been kept.

some warning twitched in my mind as the body rolled, I think the breath heaved wrong perhaps but truely I know only at a vile worm lept from it... perhaps a foot or more in length with teeth far above its need, spurring forward from its last meal onto the blade of my hastily-drawn dagger.  More and more of the things lept in unseemly manner from the three very dead men and soon we were all gathered around cutting and chopping at the evil mites.

That truely settled our desire to leave that room and never speak of it again.

With the obvious courses taken, we sought to follow the beasts through the route they had fled.  One of the side passages looked promising and had the tracks of beasts in it... we pursued them to an end that saw us baffled, for a great door lay against what we knew to be a wall upon the far side.  The tracks we followed seemed strange: to approach the door yet scrabble around and vanish.  We suspect foul play, yet to discover their destination we must step forward... and that is when I see it.

Amid the flagstones there are many rises and falls, yet one line lies true past many stones in centre of the passaageway... right beneath my feet...

Session 12 - A slaughter

Paige 6

The ecstasy of heroic glory didn’t last for long – but while it did, standing in the middle of a melee alongside my battlesister Halessa while others fell, slashing to and fro with the sword I’ve barely had out of its scabbard since I stole it, my head shut up and I just attacked, the world faded into the background and I was a bringer of death and panic and blood and revenge. And it was terrifying.  Heart-stoppingly terrifying to be stuck in a crowd of barking stabbing hip-high evil. I can see why Yannick has turned out like he has, and why he now wears his huge loud metal armour everywhere.

Just as one of the last groups of dogfolk turned and ran towards the shadows, abandoning their kin to my sword, I turned to guard Halessa’s flank and take on the next stunted abomination and... well.  And then I have no idea what happened.  Everything went dark, again.  Add another few minutes of no memories to the Sol-knows-how-many days I lost after we last set out from the village to chase down the bandits.  Last time I’m told that giant flying murderous insects tried to eat me from the inside before killing Bomani, so perhaps having my knee chopped out from under me with a butcher’s knife while my comrades survived isn’t so bad.
That insect attack in the woods led to a few days of my life which I can’t remember, and an unwanted amount of bloody screaming pain while I was dragged back to Sunstep alongside Bomani’s corpse.  The day we got Bomani back is another which lives in a misty background part of my head that I can’t quite focus on.  I remember grudgingly letting go of one of my gems to the head priest of Sol in return for his offer to bring Bomani back, thinking we’d never see the gem or Bomani again, and then after a moment of blinding pain he set me to rights as if I’d never been hit.  It’s not really my style to be stared at while someone calls for their god to pay attention to me, but I’ll take embarrassed and whole over unnoticed and half-dead thank you very much.

Then the real miracle happened.  Bomani’s corpse was carried out in a shroud, set down in front of the priest who chanted and waved his arms, and a few seconds later my friend sat up, alive and healed and back from the dead.

At that point, I abandoned my plans to steal the gem back from the priest’s tent.

…

Halessa, full of descriptions and phrases which always include camels and the desert, said I was paler than the sand when I woke up after Quill put my knee back together.  I suppose they don’t get much snow in Stygia, or just choose not to compare folks to it if they do.  I don’t feel much better now, though I’ll be damned if a bad knee’s going to slow down our journey back to the village so that we can rest up again in our new home.  One of Yannick’s dogs is in a bad way, and there was a long silent moment after I argued for Verdugo’s life when I was screaming inside my head for Yannick and Quill to agree with me and I thought they’d let him die.  Thankfully they heard sense and we’re all upright other than the dog, who one of Yannick’s men says should recover in time.

The underground temple should be more or less clear of dogfolk after my killing rampage.  Some of them ran before we left, so the rest might follow before we return rather than face us again.  There’s a big family of unnaturally big rats down there, but they seem to stick to their own part of a lower level and they might just carry on staying out of our way for now; even if they do head upstairs, the mess we left at the top of the stairwell should give them a healthy fear of what we’ll do if they get in our way.

When I can ignore the aches and stabbing pains from the knee, my fingers itch a little at the idea of what’s left to find in there; the gems and coins we found previously were great, but now I have Halessa and my packman Thowick to pay rather than just topping up my arrows and hoarding the rest.  I still have the rusty key which I took from the dead dogfolk chieftain, so somewhere there should be an old chest big enough for Yannick to sleep in, bursting at the seams with portable treasure and just waiting for me – us – to turn up and find it.

That may have to wait a few days while my knee heals and Verdugo wakes up, and maybe we’ll bring Bomani back out for the next trip.  A little while spent in the village between four solid walls and under a partly solid roof is a sight better than the week of pain, lost memories and terror that I’ve just had, so I don’t suppose I’ll complain and start suggesting that we go to claim our treasure just yet.

Yannicks Tale:

A painfully familiar victory.

It was Mister Fluffypants who first noticed our watchers... a furry snout that poked out from around the corner from time to time, taking in our presence and keeping watch.  While Paige investigated the sunken room, I watched for our observers and saw them sneak a glance at us.
When Quill spotted the staircase in front of us I worked out why the rat-things hadn't moved on us yet: we weren't in their terretory.  This was a byway, allowing the creatures to access the entrance without crossing the barricades or, aha... crossing the smeared line into rat-man terretory to the south.
Paige inspected the tracks: largely discovering that of ten humans and two dogs, but also taking in the differences between rat-man tracks (heading south) and Kobald tracks heading up the stairs.  It was the Kabolds with whom we had spilled blood before and who had taken from the cart.  These sub-human bandits would be first and we had a route up into their sanctum... out course was clear.
We moved up out of the staircase to see them turn from the barricade in surprise, slings moving in their hands as we charged.  We unnerved them enough that most of it went wide and soon we were strung out along the corridor with kobold bodies strewn at our feet.  Yet the warning bark echoed...

All at once, Miserable little midgets were jumping out of the woodwork to die their well-deserved deaths.  Quill sought to stem the tide, joined by Verdugo and I as we reaped a bloody vengeance upon their forms while Paige and my warband held stern against the rear attack... Grey Wind tore a bloody swath amid the creeps from behind and pursued them back through their secret door.  Yet it closed behind her with an ominous click and her yelps pained me as much as the stones that pelted Verdugo and I from the rear.

Another band moved to our rear with only Illdis's shout to warn of them, skewering one as it assaulted us.  I turned my fury on them and reaped a bloody toll from their hides as my warband (less Greywind, still fighting in pain) closed in to re-inforce.  First Verdugo dropped, outflanked and open to a bitter cut across the jaw, then Illdis was felled, his leather failing against the rusty arrow-head that a foul creature drove into his leg.  I cut again and hewed down a mighty beast, but my shield was lured aside and with a mightly leap I saw a dagger plunge into my chest.

> Don't worry: that wasn't the end of me. 
> I mean, if it was I wouldn't be here to tell you this, eh?

I awoke with a vision of Sol herself before me, radiant and reaching her hand down to me.  Her voice called out "ARRISE YOU BLOody idiot, we're still fighting here!" becoming less impressive as the Saint faded out into an image of Quill reaching down not to help me up, but shake me to awareness again.

Narvay and Helena battled the last of the band, with Mister Fluffypants beside them, blood on her lips.  Quill moved quickly on to Paige and I stood as commanded and hacked down the last of beasts with my dagger.
Paige was hurt, Illdis was barely conscious and Verdugo likely to shuffle off without a poultice of Comfry that Quill rapidly set to brewing and Grey Wind was ominously silent.

As we watched, counting the thirty or more beasts that lay dead around us Paige found the switch to the door the ambushers had come through and closed again.  There we found Grey Wind, bloodied from where the beasts had surrounded her and cut her down but they had fled before finishing her off.  Worm went to her with the genlteness one would expect and gave me hope that she would pull through.  Provided we could find our way back.  There was a fountain there that Quill and Paige assured me was spewing wine.  Good wine at that, though made me question their sense for drinking it.  We found a room with another barricade, a stairwell up and the barred doors to the main corridor now ajar.

We left... too many people stumbling on their feet, too much pain and blood behind us.  But still we called it a victory, again the beasts lie dead and we walk away.  Next time we will exterminate the cowering remains and track down the damned stolen supplies.

Next time, eh.

Session 11 - Return to the dungeon.

Yannicks Tale

A day of rest and recouperation, I think... Bomani seemed thoroughly drained and took to his bed without so much as a second Ale.  We'd see how he felt after a day off.

It was probably about time we started asking around... we were hardly the first to arrive and those who had been here longer were sure to know something about something.  Our miracle and the High Pumbah's show had gathered quite a crowd and our faces were now known enough that Quill could ask her fellow Solists who the slain priest was.

They didn't know, but while I was discussing the matter of where we had been with Rufus the subject of our predecessors came up and he knew of them.  Names were spoken, including one that had meaning to Rufus.  The others may have missed it but I did not, though I didn't speak out for I too have lost kin and have no urge to cause him further pain.

We spoke of the travels and trevails, my potential dragon sighting to the north and the fate of adventurers: scared to death on the edge of the Swamp to the south-west.  I became more convinced or Rufus's sincerity, for all he was a man of books, and we established that in two weeks time we would return to guard the next shipment to the villagers.

The dead priest's name came up and armed with this, Quill returned to the enclave and heard of his misssion: to uncover a relic of Sol from an old temple to the North.  It spoke of further north than we were, though, so what the poor fool was doing in our dungeon I do not know.  We all agreed that should such an item be found none of us would contest Sol's ownership of it and Quill seemed contented with that.

We also found virtue in Paige's new Hireling, who revealed a map purported to lead to her family estates and an heirloom she had hoped to regain for the ghosts of her disstant kinsmen who fled the isle without it in the distant past.  Or something like that, but largely I was interested in the fact that she didn't want any of the rest of the loot or know where the map started.  So again, good plan in principle but it didn't help us much right now.

Alas, neither did Bomani... he was still as drained as before, though infinitely better than he had been when wrapped up in that blanket, eh?  He couldn't see himself leaving his bed any time in the next week or two and even if we carried him out, the village would have little to offer his recouperation.  So with Cromwell left to tend him, we set out once more to kill subhumans and make the village safer.

On our arrival at the village, we discussed the ongoing arrangements with the new headman and struck up a bargain with him... we cleared out a ruined house for the use of our party and struck a bargain.  When their own houses were ready again they would fix up ours good as new, or mayhap as good as old since it was a ruin.  We'd have to get back their supplies, especially their ale, and chip in for a barrel of nails such as they might run short of with all the works.  Even without a roof, walls keep wind at bay and the night was a little better than it could have been.

My thoughts on the dungeon remain clear: to enter freely we must own the entrance and to do that we must clear out the creatures who react to our entry... the remans of the Kabolds and the giant rats we heard chittering beneath the stairwell.  Only then could we safely access the area that the Bandits had been using, short of exploring twisted passageways until luck brought us back around.

We heard the barricade manned-or beinged, at least- and the stuck door before the corner continues to refute casual opening despite having creatures within that are smart enough to shut up when noise comes past: more vermin to be disposed of.

On my urging we step downstairs to investigate the Rats and hear them more numerous than we had thought... we risk alerting them by opening a door into a dank, half-flooded area and I am hard pressed to explain the risk without making as much noise jawing as they we would splashing.  Our chance to assault the Rat-things relies upon stealth: if we cannot take them by surprise then we will suffer much harsher battle with them.


It hangs on Quill's decision...

It's gonna be wet...

Judges Perspective

Another 'off combat' session. We seem to be alternating these, as the players get into a fight one week and spend the next week regrouping and planning their next move. I think a part of this is the nature of the mortal wounds table and the lethality of combat. There's definitely a sense that 'If we get in a one fight and anyone gets wounded we're pretty much screwed until we heal up again'. And this was echoed in a G+ discussion about the logistics of getting back to town to heal and recruit new hirelings.

This is, I fully accept, something of a problem - and it's one of my own making. The dungeon is a good 2-3 days away from the town, and although there's a village (well, hamlet) closer, the village lacks the adventuring amenities such as a cleric with healing spells (let along Restore Life and Limb), a tavern, or a comfortable place to sleep and rest. That said, the party should have something resembling a home base in a few in game weeks.

Meanwhile, back in the dungeon, after what was actually a very clever bit of play involving a secret door to avoid the 'Greeting message' played to new visitors to the complex, the party has discovered a flooded area downstairs, and they can hear big (human-sized?) rats in the darkness behind them. Will they explore forward and get wet? Investigate the ratty noises? Or go back up the stairs and carry on exploring the first level of the dungeon? Stay tuned my single loyal reader!

Session 10 - They LIVE!

Yannicks Tale

Ah, the joys of running with the warband through the wilderness, keen eyes out and spears ready.  Running the byways of familiar terrain, navigating by the landmarks in lighting raids on a neighboring Dun... well, none of that works here.  We don't know the terrain, these lands are wild and full of beasts and our wounded can't run.
Frankly, we can't even follow our own trail back.

There's nothing to do but set out east, find the river and follow that South... but even then I wasn't prepared for how damned slow it would be.  I'm aching, aye, but a Thembrian hillman walks it off or he falls behind the dogs... we have a slip of a girl without a firm grasp on her lungs and someone who wont be walking again any time soon.  We cut staves, bound them with rope and blankets to make sleds and we dragged the fallen with painful slowness east over several days until we found the river.
There was a tense moment on the way South beside the river... we saw nothing but there were a number among us who swore we were being watched.  Yet nothing disturbed us until we hit a fork in the river.  Bugger.
Not a crossing point in sight and we knew we had to follow the Eastern arm.  I was determined to get the band across and we were talking strategies of forging across to tie rope and I had a feeling we needed to move quicker, then up pops Narvay with a savvy plan.  Them of us who are fit could spend half a day ranging south for a ford across the Western fork and still make it back before we'd be missed.
Not an hour south, we come across a ford and push sharp east from there, finding the river again and forcing march until the lights of the Town.  I gave the band some cash to keep them in ale and we occupied a building on the edge of town, a vigil over the body while Quill kept Paige as eased as she could with those problems.

In the morning I scrubbed up as best I could and Quill put on some fancy robes, but they were put all to shame by the man we were to meet later.  I fetched Rufus and when money was mentioned he agreed to introduce us to the very impressive clergyman.  Whatsisface, high priest of the Imperial expedition (Readers Note: The Illuminatus Grex*, Luka Cozades), was having a very nice breakfast when we were shown in and on finding out cause worthy, as expressed in fancy ways by Quill, he calls for a big meeting at noon to cast his prayers.

Everyone was there, from the Expedition, big important folks in fancy robes and men, or bands of men, in the service to one or other; all joining in to worship Sol.  She's one big saint among the many, but I couldn't see following her exclusive, like.  Well, couldn't see it until now.
There was a tale told, then lights and images I don't dare to dwell on burned around him... Paige was thrown back off her feet cleanly as the light shot into her.  Yet she got back up stronger than she went down, maybe stronger than she'd been the last month or so.
Bomani now, I didn't want to know what he looked like after five days in that blanket... but he surged upright like he'd been napping when his turn came around.  Felt his junk up right afterwards, too, and must have liked what he found seeing as he smiled like a crazy man and said prayers right there.  The camp was in awe, and I was a mite shaken as well, so we retired to the inn to plan our next move.

Heard a name, too... they're calling this place Sunstep.  It'll do, I think.


* Readers Footnote: Illuminatus Grex - a fancy title that essentially means 'The Illuminated One, with duty to the People'

The Judges Tale:

I shall keep this short as I'm running again in about 30 minutes. Last session saw me trying to apply the wilderness travel rules. They worked, mostly, but the application was very slow and I managed to suck most of the fun out of what should have been a tense journey through the unknown with a corpse and a cripple. Lessons to learn there, but it was mostly my own fault.

When they finally got to the town however, things picked up. The party finally got to meet one of the leaders of the Imperial Expedition, who looks like this:

and they paid him to cast a couple of Restore Life and Limb spells with an extremely valuable gemstone. And, fortuitously it worked! Bomani rejoins the living world. But at what cost?

ACKS - Sessions 8 & 9

With GenCon, Larp events and Business/Holiday trips to the USA a couple of my players have been unavailable recently so we've had to skip a week and had the party Thief babysat by the party Barbarian for a couple of sessions.

On the upside, this meant that when the party retreated back to the nearby town to hire more meatshields and do some shopping the Thiefs player didn't miss much.

On the downside, it also meant that when the players encountered their first wandering monster the Thief nearly died and the player wasn't there to participate. Oh the angst (on the part of the other players. Not me. Mwahaha)

Session 8 - We need some more men!

Reeling from the loss of Ramiri, Tonf and Narmak - the 3 hirelings who died to poisonous spores - the party initially retreated back to the village to lick their wounds and plan what to do next. The rest of the hirelings decided to stay on, with the exception of young Landersluth (the 10 year old alcoholic torchbearer) who did a bunk in the night. Who knows if they'll ever see him again!

The silver coins were shared, but none of the players mentioned the gems they had found to their minions. It turned out the gems were pretty valuable, 3,000gp valuable!

The money was sufficient to encourage the party back to the town to stock up on supplies, new equipment and more hirelings. Yannick (the Barbarian) hired on 2 additional torch-bearers, largely on the premise that they both had dogs with them - An Illyrian Bearhound called Grey Wind and a Santalan Deathsniffer called Mr Fluffypants. He also hired another man at arms.

They also reported in to Rufus and revealed to him their cunning plan to take another cart of supplies north disguised as guards and then counter-ambush the bandits when they attacked! Rufus agreed to the idea, and as luck would have it he had scheduled another wagon north for the following day!

Oh, the party also saw the local blacksmith (on Rufus' recommendation), who told them that the strange sword they had found (called the Profane Blade by Quill, the Sunspear of Sol) was very well made and worth quite a lot of coin!

Session 9 - If you go down to the woods today.... 

As agreed, the party disguised themselves as guards and escorted a cart and some mules north to the village. They were expecting bandits, but no bandits appeared. They were slightly vexed. However they did get to give the villagers a nice supplies! (Blame Quill for that gag..)

The decision was made to return to the dungeon but, instead of venturing back inside they opted to find and follow the tracks made by the bandits. With Paige (the Thief) making some stonking tracking rolls they proceeded to follow the bandits trail for many miles through this hilly and forested countryside. On the first day the most interesting thing they found was a dead mule, butchered for its meat. On the second day.. well, I think at this point I'll insert the play report from Yannicks player.

Yannicks Woe

It all happened so fast.
One moment we were travelling, hunting the human brigands two days west as they bolted... the next we were listening to the last breath rattle in Bomani's throat as Quill and Sol battle for Paige's life across a battleground of stab wounds and gaping cuts where a woman's rib age should be.

It seems my instincts had been right and the brigands fled from our discovery, taking the cart with them and probably the human's share of the supplies.  They certainly hadn't bothered us as we trekked nervously up the road with the next weeks supply run... and so we sought to follow.
The nights were cool and the food was poor, but there seemed little to do but follow on after our prey, though they may have outnumbered us a tad.

Here we heard the humming and thought Aha! there was a chance to kill is few of them left behind on watch, eh?  But when we got closer we saw the humming was made by insects, vile and not at all small.
Had they treasure, I asked myself, had they beaten and eaten a parcel of banditry that we could pick clean the pockets of, I thought.  We had to know and so I asked Paige to get closer... I suggested stealthily, but once more the forest floor refused to cooperate.
They turned, vile and mean and we turned tail as one and sprinted for the rest of us.  Saints hear me I swear I thought she was right beside me, but as I turned to face them with the band I saw her borne down by two of the creatures.  Then my attention was taken as one of the creatures saw fit to try and take my face off, even as another stabbed at Bomani and bore him down.  I swatted my attacker hard and dealt with his kinsman, while my warband and saw to the thing that sucked the life out of our leader.  Quill rushed from body to body while I rallied the troops to clear first one, then the other of the vile things that remained.

Then it was over and all that was left was to fight for Paige's life.  We took a day of it and it's clear she'd never recover from the wound without higher powers and we had almost resolved to bury our man and set Paige up as best a retirement as we could when Quill's thought rang out... The Bishop!  Rufus talked of such a man and Quill swears that through him Sol could restore life to the dead or vigour to the wheezing.

All that remains is to get them back there and admit to the gems we hid from our men.
Let's get to it, eh?
*************

And that was the first player casualty of the game so far, and my first player kill in many many many years. It was a random wilderness encounter - 5 Giant Carnivorous Flies. The flies were initially unaware of them, and the party could have simply avoided them at that point, but curiosity dictated they take a closer look and Paige fluffed both a move silent and a hide in shadows roll to get closer. The flies saw lunch and a fight ensued.

The flies initiative fell right between the Barbarian and the Thief and two of the beasts took Paige from 2 hp to -5 in that first round. Another landed on Bomani (the Fighter) and with a critical hit took him straight down to -5. Quills player did the right thing (if slightly metagaming) and attempted to treat the wounds during the combat. Sadly Bomani needed to be healed to 1hp within a round or die and the best Quill could manage was 2hp when she needed 6. Oh for 2 levels or a healing potion!

Recognising she could do nothing Quill dashed to Paige. A much more fortunate roll on the Mortal Wounds table meant that Paige needed to be healed to 1hp within a day or die, this gave Quill the time to prepare a poultice of Comfrey and apply her Healing proficiency over the course of the next day. It was still touch and go of course, but Quills player rolled 3 on each of the d3 healing rolls and Paige was saved. She's pretty crippled though.

The party has decided to once again retreat and go in search of 'the Bishop'. The wilderness is scary and full of death. The dungeon looks a more attractive prospect... which is saying something.

Final Thoughts
Bomanis death and Paiges near death were unfortunate, but served to highlight how deadly combat can be in ACKS. The flies are 2HD monsters with a high move speed and good damage (1d8) so they presented a credible threat to a party of 10. Lucky rolls on my part meant I dished out 21 points of damage in the first round and then my luck evaporated and I didn't hit at all for the rest of the fight. I also forgot that the flies, behind 2HD, can cleave. Probably for the best!

Next session I anticipate using the Restore Life and Limb spell for the first time... could be fun!

Session 7 – Wherein the Healer proves that she has a not so gentle touch...

This session was... interesting, and on reflection I have one major regret. However, more on that in a moment.

When we last met, the party was just about to charge through a double door, beyond which they believed were bandits that needed righteous smackdown.

So, they threw open the doors and... got confused.

The room beyond the doors was a theatre, complete with tiered seating, stairs down the sides and a stage at the far end. On the stage was a play in mid-scene. A number of bodies were lying amid pools of blood, and a pair at centre stage were enacting a bloody execution. One had his head on a block and the other was raising a headsmans axe.

As the party scrambled to prevent the execution, they were set upon by zombies hidden in the aisles. A melee ensued in which zombies proved to be tough customers, one dropping Narmak (one of the hirelings) and then dropping Bomani himself the next round before being dispatched by a thrown spear!

After the fight was over, Quill hurriedly examined the wounded. Narmak was in shock and had suffered a severe back injury whilst Bomani had, unfortunately, suffered grievous genital damage. Oh dear.

The actors on the stage had disappeared during the fight, and Paige discovered an area backstage which appeared to be safe. They made the decision to use this room as a safe spot, and leaving Bomani, Narmak and 2 of the other hirelings here the others opted to continue exploring.

Whereupon they discovered a large chamber that was completely overgrown with strange molds and fungus. Believing that the room was potentially dangerous, Yannick proved braver than most and ventured carefully across the room and Paige followed even more carefully. Quill went back and told Bomani what they’d found. Between them, Paige and Yannick discovered a number of skeletal remains beneath a stand of giant mushrooms, and a haul of silver coins (and 3 gems), which they duly looted.

Then things went horribly awry. The rest of the party turned up and started to walk across to Paige and Yannick, kicking up a cloud of spores. Unfortunately, this included poisonous spores from the myriad of species in the room, and 4 (I think) of the characters (all hirelings as luck would have it) breathed in the deadly air. 3 of these failed their Saving Throw and began to choke to death.

Here’s where I feel I made a mistake.

I had the affected hirelings choke to death within a few minutes, and although it led to an extremely surprising event, I feel it could have been handled much better if they’d had a long lingering death, where it wasn’t at first clear what had happened. Everyone had breathed in spores, so it would have produced more tension if everyone was coughing those that had been poisoned had started to show more symptoms. Hey ho. Lessons for the future I guess.

As it was, Bomani and his hirelings escaped the chamber as quickly as they could (but not quick enough to save Narmak from a horrible suffocating death a few minutes later).

Quill meanwhile, realising that nothing could be done to save her men (A natural 20 on a healing check), opted to spare them from the suffering she knew was sure to come and under the guise of trying to help them, got them down on their hands and knees to vomit out the poison. Then she stabbed them in the back of the neck as quick as you like, slaying them both, instantly. (This took me by total surprise and was absolutely hilarious.. Remember kids, clerics are good guys!)

The third of these hirelings (the 3 spearmen the party had recruited in the village some sessions before) completely freaked out and attempt to kill Quill, who eventually disarmed and calmed him down.

Unfortunately we ran out of time to explore what happens next so we’ll have to wait until the future for repercussions. Suffice to say I’ll be making some rolls on the Hireling Loyalty tables...

Paige 5

Adventure and exploration is great, don't get me wrong - I wouldn't swap any of what we've seen here for any part of what I had back in Thembria, even back in the tunnels when we were outnumbered and on the back foot when Narmak went down clutching her neck. This whole thing, searching an underground lair for hidden treasure, is everything I wanted. It's awful, though, when all of what I wanted to find ends up with other people being killed. But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

The village was deserted. It's funny how the ruined buildings looked more like ruins without the chatter that we found when we arrived here last time. I tracked the villagers to the caves at the back of the town square, where we found some bodies of two villagers and one bandit. The village headman had been killed as well. No sign of the other bandits, who seemed to have withdrawn when they met much resistance. 

Most of the others were hidden inside the caves, and gradually made their way out after I called for them. There's no way that I'd head into those caves with a dozen nervy people inside - I don't much fancy an accidental death on the end of a woodsman's axe - but in their place I think I'd have taken a while to believe that the bandits had gone, just as they did. 

They were predictably terrified. Unlike us, they didn't sign up for this. While my friends made themselves useful or recovered from their injuries I looked after the kids,  who understood even less than their parents about how all of this happened to them. All I could think of was how clever we felt when we persuaded the three spearmen to come with us rather than stay at the village. I'm not convinced they'd have fought them off, but better that they died than any of these farmers. 

Anyway. Enough. We stayed overnight and Bomani tried to get them into some sort of shape for next time, then made our way back to the tunnels. I don't know about the rest of them, but I want to add another notch on my bow. I want to do to each one of these murderers what they did to the villagers. I want them to feel utter terror and realise that they can't defend against us, knowing that they won't live to see another dawn. Big words, I know, when really it'll be Bomani, Quill and Yannick who lead us in. Still, if I find one alive, I'll be quietly putting daddy's lessons to use.

Session 6 - The after effects of a bandit attack.

It’s been a couple of weeks and we’ve had 2 sessions since, one a fortnight ago and one last night.

Here’s the lowdown on what happened.

The party started the session gazing down at the smoking village and quickly reached the conclusion that it was the bandits they’d previously fought in the dungeon. Advancing cautiously and expecting attack they made it to the village unimpeded and saw that several of the newly repaired buildings had been put to the torch.

They also found the severed head of Drimbur, the village headsman (pardon the pun) stuck on a spear in the centre of the village.

Paige did some tracking, whilst someone (I forget who) noticed some movement further up in the hills to the East. Paige discovered that around half the villagers had fled North, towards some caves, pursued by bandits.

A little further North they came across 3 bodies – one of the bandits had been slain, and axe in his chest, and two of the stout men of the village had been killed. At this point the bandit tracks turn around and head back in the general direction of the dungeon.

What happens next is that the villagers reappear (from the caves, and from the hills) and explain to the party what happened (the bandits attacked them, most people fled, the two dead villagers giving the others more time to get away). One thing of import was that a couple of the bandits were wearing the same military uniforms as the 3 caravan guards that the party has acquired. The group now believes that it was an inside job!

Over the next day or so the adventurers rest and heal, and help the villagers bury their dead and clear up the mess whilst keeping watch for another bandit assault.

The only other thing of note is that Yannick, whilst ‘on watch’ saw a very large shape flying high and distant in the North West, a shape that caused him to feel an unspeakable dread. He neglected to mention this to anyone... 

One rested, the group headed back to the dungeon where they found the mules and cart had gone. Stepping warily into the darkness once more they went left instead of ahead and followed a corridor to a set of double doors, beyond which they heard indistinct voices.

Assuming it was bandits, they prepared to charge through the door and lay waste to their foes. 

And that’s where the session ended.

What happened this session was borne out of a discussion with a friend of mine about what the bandits would do next. Broadly speaking I’m happy with the turn of events (though poor Drimbur) and the ‘random encounter’ was something of an interesting development. I decided to use it to build a little tension for the future rather than it being closer...

Paige 4 - ACKs Session 5

Well, that could have gone horribly wrong (and in some ways, it did).

I said earlier that everything was a blur when I covered our retreat from the tunnels when we first found them, and I didn't think about it much afterwards.  It was instinct, I suppose - my friend was hurt, we were chased by people who wanted to kill us, so I left one of them dead.  I got to see someone else's way of doing things this time, when Bomani rattled out instructions and orders right when everything was close to collapse.  I can't think that fast at the best of times, and part of me doesn't want to know how many fights he's been through to let him react as if he'd planned it all along.

I couldn't do much this time, since people quickly charged the dogfolk to avoid being stoned to death along with Yannick. I'm fine with that; I'm best with my bow when I can ignore everything and just get on with making someone bleed.  When the target's half blocked by one of your friends, and you're as like to shoot them as you are the one you actually want to kill, it stops being easy.  This time I concentrated on making myself useful behind the lines, and helped Narmak recover from a wound which looked terrifying at first.  Happily barely any of the blood was hers, and she was back on her feet without me needing to staunch anything or amputate - I'd have no clue about doing either.

Judging by the mess, my friends must have been fairly terrifying themselves.  It looks like they went through dozens of the dogfolk before it turned into a rout, and even though we took some wounds on the way out after the dogfolk got clever and started to shoot out of the shadows, this all felt like we'd won ourselves a fairly big victory.

Of course, those high spirits disappeared when we saw the smoke coming from the village after we'd decided to rest there for the night.  We've gone from a conquering band of warriors to a group of walking wounded looking for shelter, which leaves us in a pretty desperate state if any of the village's attackers are still around.  I'm unwounded, which is great, but it looks like the dogfolk tore chunks out of Yannick, Bomani and some of our newer friends.  Time to make myself useful again, since it looks like most of our group won't be forming a battle line again today.

 

Stuck in the middle with... you?

ACKs session 5, and a big fight. Judges perspective:

At the end of last session the party were caught, potentially, between a rock and a hard place. They’d realised they were potentially overstretched and backed up to a ‘safer spot’, but it put them right next to the door from which they were pursued by bandits in Session 3.

If the bandits had come out, the party could have found themselves caught between two groups of foes and in deep trouble. As it was, the bandits did not appear, and the reasons why became obvious later.

However that still left a lot of very angry kobolds to deal with. Having seen their fallen kin I made a few rolls. A max-morale roll for the Chief, and a very low smarts roll led to a screaming horde of angry little beasts charging at the party down the corridor (who by this time had retreated further, to the entrance room).

It could all have gone so horribly wrong. The party were outnumbered (by at least 2 to 1 as far as they could see) but the kobolds were unfortunately more stupid than they really ought to have been and they paid a heavy price. I shan’t go into the details, but by the end of 8 rounds of combat the chief lay dead surrounded by his kin and the survivors had wised up and slunk back into the shadows – sending sling stones at the party which succeeded in doing much more (both physically and psychologically) than the melee managed to do.

The end of the session saw the party retreat from the dungeon and slingstones and trek back to the nearby village, with everyone bloodied bar the sole torchbearer (a 10yr old alcoholic called Landersluth) and one of their 3 convict soldiers. 3 of the party had rolled on the mortal wounds table to boot (and gotten very good rolls...).

As they crested the hill to the village they saw smoke rising, and at least one of them realised where the bandits had gone.

It was a pleasing session in many respects. The party got to have a good old throw down and proved themselves a bit tasty in a fight. They were definitely lucky, and I didn’t play the kobolds too smart to begin with. Cleave is devastating but HP are low. Still, there are a few areas for improvement. I need to read and learn the combat rules for one thing – though Yanniks player had obviously done so and was a marvelous Beta ref for me during the fight. Onwards and upwards!

Crouching Bandit, Hidden Party, Redux!

Counter to my previous post, I've decided that if anyone actually makes the effort to come to the blog to read it, it's cruel and unusual to make you click through to another place to read the only things of any worth here anyway (at the moment...).

So, whilst I'm still going to use the Google Site as my central repository, and a place for the players to keep an eye on the campaign, I'll continue to post play reports here as well.

So here they are for last weeks session. Tonight, we shall see what they make of their situation...

From the perspective of the Judge:

A reasonably successful session I think. The party regrouped, found out a little more information and even recruited (I was generous) some additional help. Then they plumbed the dungeon once more. This time, the dungeon was waiting for them and once again Yannik was took rocks to the head; this time from the slings in the darkness (which turned out to be Kobolds).

I'm not sure whether they've been very brave or very foolish at this point, as the session ended with them having slain 5 kobolds but roused others - an as yet unknown number. And they may have forgotten something else too. We shall see what happens next week!

In any event, assuming they survive to make it back to civilisation they've earned themselves 25xp, but no loot as of yet.

Biggest regret this week - forgetting the Reaction Roll for the kobolds (but assumed that they were hostile, for.. reasons)
Biggest pleasure this week - the continuing roleplay interaction of the party. They are a delight.

Yannik, the Ox

It was glorious, yes it was.  A charge into history the likes of which my ancestors and the Saints would be proud.  The less said about Sol the better.  I wasn't entirely sure that my charge would be followed, but my comrades came

through and my meager sacrifice was truly magnificent. 

Rocks still hurt, however and am a little hazy.  My brother said I would get used to it... alas, it does not seem like I have done so yet.

I will provide Context!

I am told we spent the rest of day 2 stumbling away from the ruin and camped beside the road.  As a man concussed, I concentrated my efforts on waking up again while others took watch... both our efforts were successful and after

someone spent an excessive amount of time babbling about Sol, we moved off in the direction of the village.

Day 3
Upon this day we found the village!  Three sheepish-looking soldiers and a nervous-looking villager soon revealed that the fighting men had fled the wagon when it was attacked in the night.  They were easily impressed when the magical light of Sol healed my brain from the head wound I was suffering from.
This is why I am now able to record insights.

Quill used their awe to recruit them to her cause, spear-men in service to avenge their fallen comrades and regain their honour for when they have to go back to the Town.
Bomani used the time to find out if the village could survive without the supplies.  It could, but without ale... so no.  We must return to the deeps.
Paige used the time to assess Quill's new recruit: she has suggested that they might be roguish in nature, as they ended up in convict force.
I used the time to assess how well protected this village is, the answer being barely at all.  Five good men of my people could put it to the torch with ease. Put it to the torch again, that is, for it is being rebuilt out of ruin.

Day 4
A welcome day of rest, the throbbing in my head subsides with the help of

nurturing from Quill.  Whatever I think of Sol, I am growing fond of Quill.

Day 5
We return... the announcement booms again, but only when our new troops step over.  We hear growling from behind the barricades, as we prepare around the corner.

We hear them and are ready.  They hear us and are ready.

I am to lead, torch thrown in to the darkness to show us our foe.  I stand forth, my arm raised... their petty rocks strike me but I am not moved.  The torch soars and illuminates the twisted forms of little beastmen.

Blood rises in my veins, I roar as I charge... a God of War, as my ancestors before me.  One falls, I swat another with a backhand swipe that cleaves its face in twain.
The remainder cower before me and scramble over themselves to retreat and reload their sl...

---

I am rapidly becoming displeased with rocks.

As my vision clears I see into the bright light: a vision of my father, my brother and Paige.  They wear the wounds of battle, scarred as they fell in turn... each reaches down to me, but the hand I take is Paige's.  I think it is a sign, we share ancestry and my kin reached out to show me.

My head hurts and I hear the rush of combat and the yapping of the dog-men dies in a gurgle.  My comrades gather around us as the sounds of battle die... and the sounds of the dungeon awaken around us.

They are coming.

Paige

I didn’t promise answers, did I? Or at least, I hope I didn’t promise to provide them straight away, because this whole place is as much of a mystery as ever. I hope one of my new friends can make sense of it all and eventually explain it – in the meantime I’ll stick to scouting, tracking and otherwise make myself useful without being hit by quite as many rocks as Yannick.

We headed back to the village to rest and let Yannick heal – I hadn’t mentioned that I was hurt and tried not to let on, but Quill had noticed so I spent a day catching up on rest in yet another ruined Thylian house. Yannick seemed to spend more time peering out of the gaps in the walls and counting out the ways in which he and his friends back in Thembria could burn everything to cinders, which seemed to help him pass the time. It certainly didn’t help me to sleep any more easily.

We found the three caravan guards who’d ran away when the wagon was attacked, and played them into coming with us to restore their honour (though Quill’s offer of gold must have helped). Honour. Hah. They’re all criminals of the worst kind – the kind who are easy to spot and who got caught – but having them between me and what’s down here with us is fine with me. After the day spent recovering we made our way back down into the tunnels (I don’t want to call it a lair) and once again tripped the sound trap.

This time the barricade was… manned?... by a lot of small aggressive creatures with slings – Yannick charged in and, judging by the mess on the end of his spear, managed to clear the barricade before he was taken down by more rocks to the head. Everyone else followed his lead and chased them off behind the barricade. Bomani’s plan worked.

I was towards the back of the group so I didn’t see everything – maybe I should mention that giving the torch to the child who gets the shakes when he’s not full of wine and is unsteady on his feet when he’s had a drink doesn’t really help the archer see her targets – but by the time I’d helped Yannick to his feet most of the fighting was over. There’s more noise out there in the tunnels, and it sounds like more of the dog things are on their way. The barricade is behind us along with the door which led to the human bandits last time we were here.

Let's stay positive, shall we?

I’m glad we brought the three spearmen along, regardless of what they once did.
I’m glad Yannick is back on his feet, though I wish he wasn’t so woozy and that he’d stop squinting at me like that.
I’m glad Quill has amazing healing magic and seems surprisingly good with those swords, though I have no idea how Sol would find us down here.
I’m glad that Bomani seems very good at leading the fight, since being trapped between angry dog things and a door which might hide bandits wanting revenge for their dead friend doesn’t seem like a place we’d want to stay for long.