Massacre in Dundagel
Everyone from the previous expedition returned to test their luck a second time. Many new adventurers joined our ranks, and spirits ran high as we set off for the ruins once more. All told, a dozen of us entered Dudagel. Only five returned alive.
We saw an 8ft long, sickly white lobster with four pincher claws, black hair, a womans face, red eyes, and pointy teeth. We all snuck around her while she was stuffing big gobs of rotting grey meat (dead sandworm?) into her awful gullet. An orc told us later that she/it can make an orc's head explode just by looking at them. Yikes.
The orc also told us about a local dungeon wizard who was building some crazy spiral pyramid out of metal and wood. Going after the wizard seemed like a good idea at the time. Oh, how wrong we were.
See, it all happened like this...
The structure is in a huge room. It has metal support columns holding up a long wooden ramp that winds it's way up and around to the top of the 50' structure. On the top is a platform with a 9' tall demon idol in the lotus position, lit by the big green flames in the palms of it's hands. It casts a strange flickering green light around the whole chamber.
While most of the party is busy searching and listening, Vithujin (Elfy Don't) decides to climb the ramp to see what's going on up there. Ian of Scotland goes up right beside him. Feelings of sickness and vertigo soon follow. A spell of protection from evil seems to help Vithujin recover, but Ian has no such magic and soon stumbles and falls toward the edge of the ramp. Vithujin tries to save him, but only manages to grab his holy symbol. The chain breaks from his neck as Ian tumbles over the edge. The fall doesn't end well.
Vithujin continues upward. Once he's close enough to the idol, he starts splashing holy water onto it. Well, that just pisses it off. The green flames shoot up into 6' pillars of green flame until the holy water evaporates moments later. Vithujin's eyes go wide and he slowly turns and heads back down the ramp.
Shortly after that, we decide to have Father Demetrius say a few words for Ian. His body is placed a short way up the wooden ramp and the whole thing is set alight as a funeral pyre. That's when a pair of basalt golems burst through one of the many sets of doors, and the wizard enters the chamber with them. He wears armor with a circuit board type pattern like in the original Tron movie, and a cylon centurion style helmet with one long narrow eye slit. He yells "Kill the intruders!", and the golems begin to lurch forward.
We all scatter and flee before them.
Most of the party runs back East, the direction we came from. Shorty the Halfling and Corbrun the Fighter head northeast and go into an unknown room. Vithujin heads northwest into a short hallway where he waits and watches to see what the wizard does next.
The bulk of the party is slowed down by one stuck door. Only Liddia the Elf makes it into the short hallway beyond, where a second door won't budge at all. As the basalt golems rush toward him, Frederick the Dwarf turns and fires his crossbow at the wizard. The bolt stops in mid air and then falls to the ground.
The wizard begins casting a spell just as Vithujin uses the power of his magical sword, but the wizard is too fast. The wizards magic flies eastward and erupts into a fireball. The magical fire stops just short of Liddia, who turns and sees those behind her die in flames. Only Frederick the Dwarf survives the burning horror.
Vithujin uses the Sword of the Frozen North to call forth the North Wind to envelop the wizard. The intense cold damages the wizards armor and cracks begin to form. The magic circuit system overloads and light pours out from the cracks in the armor. The wizard screams "Noooo!" and then explodes.
The golems both start swinging.
Vithujin continues upward. Once he's close enough to the idol, he starts splashing holy water onto it. Well, that just pisses it off. The green flames shoot up into 6' pillars of green flame until the holy water evaporates moments later. Vithujin's eyes go wide and he slowly turns and heads back down the ramp.
Shortly after that, we decide to have Father Demetrius say a few words for Ian. His body is placed a short way up the wooden ramp and the whole thing is set alight as a funeral pyre. That's when a pair of basalt golems burst through one of the many sets of doors, and the wizard enters the chamber with them. He wears armor with a circuit board type pattern like in the original Tron movie, and a cylon centurion style helmet with one long narrow eye slit. He yells "Kill the intruders!", and the golems begin to lurch forward.
We all scatter and flee before them.
Most of the party runs back East, the direction we came from. Shorty the Halfling and Corbrun the Fighter head northeast and go into an unknown room. Vithujin heads northwest into a short hallway where he waits and watches to see what the wizard does next.
The bulk of the party is slowed down by one stuck door. Only Liddia the Elf makes it into the short hallway beyond, where a second door won't budge at all. As the basalt golems rush toward him, Frederick the Dwarf turns and fires his crossbow at the wizard. The bolt stops in mid air and then falls to the ground.
The wizard begins casting a spell just as Vithujin uses the power of his magical sword, but the wizard is too fast. The wizards magic flies eastward and erupts into a fireball. The magical fire stops just short of Liddia, who turns and sees those behind her die in flames. Only Frederick the Dwarf survives the burning horror.
Vithujin uses the Sword of the Frozen North to call forth the North Wind to envelop the wizard. The intense cold damages the wizards armor and cracks begin to form. The magic circuit system overloads and light pours out from the cracks in the armor. The wizard screams "Noooo!" and then explodes.
The golems both start swinging.
MIA
Jimbob the Elf and his hopeless loser sidekick Grungy the Dwarf (Jerry) - Both vanished suddenly without a trace. These were our first losses, reducing our party to ten. I'm not sure exactly where we lost them, perhaps some premonition of our fate convinced them to bugger off and make for the surface. (No, Jerry just had to leave a little early. He seemed interested in FLAILSNAILS though. Having Jimbob and Grungy return for some Google+ games would be pretty cool.)
In Memoriam
Ian of Scotland (played by Ian), a cold-blooded cleric who seemed ravenous for pork. He became disoriented by evil emanations coming from the top of the spiral ramp he was climbing. He continued upward, but lost his footing and fell to his death. Evil architects never build safety rails you know.
Wilbur of Stramshall (Brad) - An elf. He charmed an orc named Selgak the "Mighty" (mighty stupid). Then convinced Selgak to challenge the orc chief for control of the redneck orc trailer park village. Selgak was knocked unconscious with a single punch to the face. When Selgak awoke, we congratulated him on his stunning victory, having "somehow" stabbed the orc chief in the head with a crossbow bolt. "I didn't know I had it in me" said Selgak. After that we had Selgak and some of his orc underlings lead us to the wizard who had been giving them trouble. Selgak was leading the way when he was suddenly smashed into jelly by a stone golem. I should probably skip over the part where Wilbur helped us to quickly shut and brace the doors after the stone golem pulped Selgak. Some of his orc cronies were still in there and started banging on the doors before they were silenced by sickening thuds. We aren't proud of it. Please don't judge us too harshly. A bit later, Wilbur was burnt to a crisp in the fireball that killed about half the party.
Lightfoot the Elf (Jim) - An excellent cartographer and finder of secrets. He "inadvertently" snorted some of the stoned dragon's psychedelic purple haze while trying to store it in a flask for later... hmm. Later on, he used his once per session d30 for a saving throw vs. fireball. Rolled a 1. He and his lovely maps were reduced to ash. We had to scoop his remains into a sack, but that was abandoned after the zombie attack. Lightfoot's runed gemstone that shoots lightning bolts might still be in the dungeon somewhere.
Deadly One-Shot Dandy Wasdewy (Matthew) - The guy who actually shot the orc chief in the head. For some reason his 2hp (2nd level) thief did not survive the fireball. I'm not sure if the still-beating black demon heart survived the fire, but I know it make it's save vs. poison when it got hit by that dart yesterday. Wasdewy's was the only body we successfully brought back to be buried in the abbey cemetery. Rest in peace you scoundrel.
Demetrius the Cleric (Joshua) - Stood bravely before a pack of a dozen zombies and managed to turn 9 of them. Presided over the makeshift dungeon funeral of Ian the Pig Slayer. I think it was even his idea to use the wooden spiral ramp as a funeral pyre. Demetrius also perished in the fireball. As we were dragging all the burnt corpses back the abbey, those 9 zombies found us and killed yet another member of the party. That's when we abandoned most of our dead friends. As a result, Demetrius and the others could be charred zombies by now. This was Joshua's first ever of D&D session. Great game dude! I'll save you a spot at the table anytime.
The Unknown Elf (Ian's replacement character) - I never caught his name. Two of our party members (who managed to avoid the fireball by splitting from the group and running into unknown rooms) found him wandering in the dungeon alone. He knew a shortcut and led them to safety, probably saving their lives. We all met up again and he became the 13th party member, helping us drag bodies up to the surface. Then he died. One of those 9 zombies got a crit and crushed his skull. Fate sucks dude.
Wilbur of Stramshall (Brad) - An elf. He charmed an orc named Selgak the "Mighty" (mighty stupid). Then convinced Selgak to challenge the orc chief for control of the redneck orc trailer park village. Selgak was knocked unconscious with a single punch to the face. When Selgak awoke, we congratulated him on his stunning victory, having "somehow" stabbed the orc chief in the head with a crossbow bolt. "I didn't know I had it in me" said Selgak. After that we had Selgak and some of his orc underlings lead us to the wizard who had been giving them trouble. Selgak was leading the way when he was suddenly smashed into jelly by a stone golem. I should probably skip over the part where Wilbur helped us to quickly shut and brace the doors after the stone golem pulped Selgak. Some of his orc cronies were still in there and started banging on the doors before they were silenced by sickening thuds. We aren't proud of it. Please don't judge us too harshly. A bit later, Wilbur was burnt to a crisp in the fireball that killed about half the party.
Lightfoot the Elf (Jim) - An excellent cartographer and finder of secrets. He "inadvertently" snorted some of the stoned dragon's psychedelic purple haze while trying to store it in a flask for later... hmm. Later on, he used his once per session d30 for a saving throw vs. fireball. Rolled a 1. He and his lovely maps were reduced to ash. We had to scoop his remains into a sack, but that was abandoned after the zombie attack. Lightfoot's runed gemstone that shoots lightning bolts might still be in the dungeon somewhere.
Deadly One-Shot Dandy Wasdewy (Matthew) - The guy who actually shot the orc chief in the head. For some reason his 2hp (2nd level) thief did not survive the fireball. I'm not sure if the still-beating black demon heart survived the fire, but I know it make it's save vs. poison when it got hit by that dart yesterday. Wasdewy's was the only body we successfully brought back to be buried in the abbey cemetery. Rest in peace you scoundrel.
Demetrius the Cleric (Joshua) - Stood bravely before a pack of a dozen zombies and managed to turn 9 of them. Presided over the makeshift dungeon funeral of Ian the Pig Slayer. I think it was even his idea to use the wooden spiral ramp as a funeral pyre. Demetrius also perished in the fireball. As we were dragging all the burnt corpses back the abbey, those 9 zombies found us and killed yet another member of the party. That's when we abandoned most of our dead friends. As a result, Demetrius and the others could be charred zombies by now. This was Joshua's first ever of D&D session. Great game dude! I'll save you a spot at the table anytime.
The Unknown Elf (Ian's replacement character) - I never caught his name. Two of our party members (who managed to avoid the fireball by splitting from the group and running into unknown rooms) found him wandering in the dungeon alone. He knew a shortcut and led them to safety, probably saving their lives. We all met up again and he became the 13th party member, helping us drag bodies up to the surface. Then he died. One of those 9 zombies got a crit and crushed his skull. Fate sucks dude.
The Harrowed Survivors
Liddia the Elf (Moira) - Put a bunch of orcs to sleep, allowing us to capture and charm the others. Helped us hack out way through the last mob of zombies so that we could finally escape the dungeon. She seems cool and collected even in the stickiest situations, though I imagine the image of burning party members may haunt her dreams forever.
Shorty the Halfling (Erick) - Short of statue but stout of heart. I'm glad he was there for the last battle, running between legs and hamstringing zombies.
Corbrun the Fighter (Scott) - "I'm loving this empty room" he said as most of the party burns in the fireball. Yep, going northeast was a good choice. Slew two of those zombies I think.
Frederick the Dwarf (Chris) - Dude survived a figgin fireball followed by a pair of stone golems trying to pummel him to death. Hard-core. Those golems powered down once they lost sight of us all. They might reactivate to fulfill their last command if anyone gets too close. Approach if suicidal.
Vithujin the Elf (Nick) - He survived, but mourns the fallen. Leaving the bodies behind really bothers him. He assumes that any dead left in Dundagel will rise again eventually. At least we got Wasdewy out of there. Crossbow wielding zombie marksman? No thanks.
Shorty the Halfling (Erick) - Short of statue but stout of heart. I'm glad he was there for the last battle, running between legs and hamstringing zombies.
Corbrun the Fighter (Scott) - "I'm loving this empty room" he said as most of the party burns in the fireball. Yep, going northeast was a good choice. Slew two of those zombies I think.
Frederick the Dwarf (Chris) - Dude survived a figgin fireball followed by a pair of stone golems trying to pummel him to death. Hard-core. Those golems powered down once they lost sight of us all. They might reactivate to fulfill their last command if anyone gets too close. Approach if suicidal.
Vithujin the Elf (Nick) - He survived, but mourns the fallen. Leaving the bodies behind really bothers him. He assumes that any dead left in Dundagel will rise again eventually. At least we got Wasdewy out of there. Crossbow wielding zombie marksman? No thanks.
Awesome tale for the hearthside in the Blue Rabbit!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the write-up. I couldn't help but be a little disappointed by Wasdewy's untimely death, but I knew what I was getting into when I signed up to play. Was I being punished by God for taking inordinate pleasure in Brother Ian's fall? Maybe.
ReplyDeleteI had fun regardless and for the record, it takes more than a simple fireball to destroy an relic like the Black Heart of Dundagel. The Black Heart beats on.
+400xp, and I agree about the Black Heart.
ReplyDelete