Encounter with an Ogre - Morning of Day 2 Luck Berry

 After resting up again a few days, the party was ready to head back to the Caves of Chaos. The party travelled to the caves and then discussed the situation with the hobgoblins Bob and Rob. Bob and Rob indicated that there were two low level caves at the base of the canyon that attached to the hobgoblin lair. Inquiries were made about the riches of the hobgoblins, but Bob and Rob only indicated a cache of weapons that they were aware of. However, they indicated that the 2nd cave in, somewhat obscured by shrubbery, led to an ogre that had gotten rich off both the goblins and hobgoblins. 

The party determined to go into this cave. After negotiating the shrubbery, a torch was thrown in and then Chester quickly used his scroll of hold person to hold the charging ogre. The spell succeeded and then Gweryn stepped forward and slew the mighty ogre with one cruel blow. 

The party searched the area and found a bunch of bags, as well as some other treasures buried under some old bones. Chester was delighted to find that one of them was another scroll with hold person on it (the one used of course turning to dust). Also, a strange bottle of clear blue liquid and six arrows were found there. The sacks held a wealth of coins and some foodstuffs. 

The group determined to take all the treasure back immediately, as this would be the first expedition where no one was knocked out. After going back and giving a donation to Riley, he detected magic on the items and found that the liquid and the arrows were magical. The potion was sampled and identified as a potion of invisibility, and the arrows were tested and revealed to be +1. The rest of the coinage was divided out and the foodstuffs were sold. 

Moonbean 28 - Luck-Berry 2

Upon resting for a few more days at the keep, the group prepared to go back out to the caves. Gwyrn followed up on an order that he had placed for a suit of armor - still several days before it will be completed.

The group made the travel back to the caves, and this time chose to go to the cave on the right of the canyon, at the base of the hill, surrounded by foliage and scraggly trees. The group proceeded in, having the hobgoblins, orc, and gnoll lead the way. The hobgoblins turned left at the fork in the cave, but Oin and Ruff fell into a pit trap at the fork. The loud clanging of the pit shutting alerted a host of kobolds on the left and a horde of giant rats on the right.

A fierce battle ensued, with some clever tactics from the party. Missile fire was used to some effect, and Oin and Ruff were freed from the pit. Gwyrn was doubly unlucky, however. First, he attempted to toss a flask of oil, but he fumbled it, and it broke behind him. He then tossed another flask that burst in the group of rats, but then fumbled the torch that he was going to throw, immolating himself in the spilled oil. He screamed in pain and passed out - fortunately, he was bandaged in his unconscious state. Another torch throw was successful, and the remaining rats burned in the conflagration.

The party was somewhat demoralized, having had party members knocked out every time they visited the caves. The regrouped as usual at the keep and rested up for further adventure.

Moonbeam - days 26 - 28

The group needed a few days to recover, particularly Chester. After resting and enjoying the facilities of the keep, the group went back to the caves. Bob and Rob were questioned, and they suggested that the party attack a couple of torturer's, as they had some prisoners that may be of some value.

Using the directions of their hobgoblin pals, they made their way into the caves further then they had before, proceeding both south and east. The groups battle plans were better implemented this time, and the two brutish torturers were dealt with rapidly, but not without a few more of the party were knocked unconscious.

They turned their attention on the prisoners. There was a nearly unconscious man, his wife, and two body guards who were overjoyed at being rescued. There was also a fierce gnoll, that made threatening noises, and an orc, who asked to be released, to exact revenge on the hobgoblins.

The party trusted the humans, but not the orc and they were afraid of the gnoll. The man turned out to be a merchant named Greg, with his wife Meg. They promised rewards upon being returned to the keep. Tug and Doug, their former guards, pledged loyalty to the group for a year as a reward for being rescued. After some consultation, the group decided to charm the orc and gnoll. This proved successful, and the orc was relased. He calls himself Oin. The gnoll's personality changed with the charm, and became friendly, although difficult to understand and speaking in a crazed, broken tongue, even for a gnoll. He calls himself Ruff.

Using their greatly expanded roster, they looted the bodies, giving out weapons and armor to their new allies. They then returned to the somewhat jaded response at the keep, and again were healed.

Days 23 - 26 of Moonbeam

The group managed to make it back to the keep with the two unconscious characters. They were cautiously greeted at the gate, and after telling the tale of the traitorous Born, they were directed to the local curate Riley. Riley was very happy to hear the news of the defeat of Born and his followers, as he had suspected them for some time. As a favor for their service, he gave a reduced rate at identifying their magical items discovered. Chester received a mace +1, Bran received a suite of platemail +1, and Dwerom received a shield +1. The rest of the group divided some money and other items that were obtained.

Chester and Gwyrn required additional rest, even though Riley fully healed them. The group stayed in style at the inn for a few days, and then embarked again on the 26th day back to the caves. The trip was uneventful (about an hour trip). The returned to the same cave area and discovered that the door had been boarded up again. They used some spikes to force the door open, in a bit quieter method, but they still made some noise, and they also tripped a dart trap, taking some flesh wounds.

Again, the hobgoblins were alerted to their presence, and another battle occurred. They had forgotten to retain the previously charmed hobgoblins, but they were able to charm two more, which turned the focus of the battle. Unfortunately, Chester took another unlucky hit (despite his fine armor) and was knocked out again. The group returned with their hobgoblin fellows, who's names are Bob and Rob. There was some suspicion by the guards, but after they assured that Bob and Rob were under their control, they were allowed to enter and reported back to Riley, for additional healing.

Arrival at the Keep on the Borderlands

On the 23rd day of Moonbeam, a month in the early fall, a group of adventurers arrived at the keep on the borderlands, which guards civilized lands to the south from the chaos to the north and east. They had heard rumors that there are some caves of chaos, located a short distance from the keep.

The group includes these adventurers: Chester a cleric, Dwerom a Dwarf, Gwyrn "the goldfish" another dwarf, and Pumpkin an Elf.
They were able to establish a rapport somewhat with the innkeeper, and they went knocking on doors, and met a visiting priest named Born, with some followers named Dorn, Orn, and Glorn. They were also able to have a fighter named Bran and a Magic-User named Fein join them. They then were led to the caves by Born - they didn't pursue why he knew the way, but they did start to distrust him a little, as he insisted on being in the rear, and openly expressed displeasure with others joining the group (Bran and Fein).


They arrived at the chasm and after observing a bit, they chose a cave about 25 feet up on the cliff on the left of the canyon. After trying to bash down the door (ignoring the ominous warning), they examined the door a bit more and discovered that there was a bar that allowed interest. However, because they had attempted to bash in, they had alerted some hobgoblin guards, who were approaching in a menacing manner.


They quickly escalated the situation, and Fein and Pumpkin cast charm person successfully, which greatly aided in the battle. However, Born chose this moment to betray the group, but failed with a cause light wounds touch - this quickly alerted the group to his nefarious schemes (or their chant of "for chaos" did).


Chester was quickly knocked out with a crossbow bolt, but his fellows were able to quickly bandage him up. The group was able to stabilize with a few timely hits. Born and his men would not surrender, but they attempted an orderly retreat. However, they were at a disadvantage going down the hill. Also, the group was able to surround the heavily armored Born, which proved decisive. However, one of the dwarves (Gwyrn) was knocked out as well.


After cataloging their wealth, the group headed back to the keep.

Day 59

Tais (Jeremy), Harimad (Christy), Chieko (Theresa), Picalo (Devon), BreAnna (Emily)

The indecisive party struggled to figure out what to do.  For a period it appeared that we would spend the entire time getting back up to speed.  We discussed going back to check out the "evil-leg", but ultimately decided that we had spent way too much time in caves lately.  BreAnna was concerned about Vitamin D deficiency.  Because of that we elected to go to the sunny Richton to see if any adventures awaited.

En route to Richton the party stopped at Kingsholm.  There was the sound of many dice rolling during the journey.  There was no obvious source to this rolling.  Someone mentioned the word 'dungeonmaster', but no one knew what it meant.  For some reason the party could not move, held by an invisible force until the dice sounds stopped.

After a tedious discussion of water rationing, the priests remembered they can cast water.

Towards evening, we are approached by a 3 headed winged creature.  BreAnna casts Light on the middle set of eyes (we assume that the creature is binocular per head).  The creature roars in agony.  Hari casts Bless because she likes it and as it can only be cast out of combat she  rarely gets to use it.  The party is torched  by its fire breath, knocking out Cheiko and badly damaging the rest of the party.

We spread out.  The clerics eventually blind all of the heads, while Tais pelts it with magic missiles.  The dragon/goat/lion creature grabs Picalo in his jaws and nearly kills him.  The clerics enter healer mode and start reviving the unconscious characters.  After multiple close brushes with death, the party is back in action.

As the battle drags on, they slowly, ever so slowly damage the dragon/goat/lion slowly loses HP.  The party learns that as long as they stay away from it it doesn't seem to hit them.  As it is blind, it seems impotent as long as the party is at range.

After slaying the creature we camp for the night.  After the night passes without incident, we cast lighten load on the corpse and drag the thing back to the Keep.  We get 100g for the corpse of the Chimera.  We are all amazed how the guards of the keep are able to identify any creature that we slay, when we have no idea at all what we are fighting.

Harimad reached level 3.  She also realized that due to sloppy bookkeeping she and Tais each had 2500-3000 more XP than they expected.  Tais rejoiced as Magic Users level so incredibly slowly that level 3 seemed hopelessly out of reach.

Day 57 & 58 Caves of Chaos, Chaotic leader destroyed

Cast of Characters:  Quint as DM, Emily as BreAnna, Tais and Harimad, Scott as Glade

Day 57

Wake up and head over to the tavern for breakfast.  The day is overcast as the party heads back to the caves.  They arrive at the caves without incident.  Their is still a foreboding feeling in the air.  The party heads to the entrance to Cave 9 looking forward to some adventuring.

Harimad casts light on her staff and BreAnna casts light on Tais' walking staff.  They proceed down the hall to the previously unexplored passage sloping down to the west.  They head down the slope to where the passage splits heading north and south.  The party heads south towards what appears to be a room.  The room is rather large with four pillars the reach towards a high, domed ceiling.  The floor is a mosiac of black and red stones.  The south wall has an evil looking tapestry with an altar in front of it.  On the altar is a bowl, two goblets, and a vase-shaped pitcher.  Glade casts Phantasmal Force sending an illusion of himself to walk up to the altar.  His alter ego approaches without incident.  Frederick and BreAnna approach the altar without incident.  The rest of the party cautiously enters the room as well.  The contents of the altar are loathsome and covered in blood.  They are also extremely ornate and obviously valuable.  No one in the party wants to physically touch them.  Harimad, standing guard in the door, decides to cast detect magic.  The altar glows slightly and the items on the altar glow brightly.  Glade takes 4 sacks from Harimad.  He puts one sack inside of the another and puts the other two on his hands.  He uses the sacks to scoop up the objects on the altar.  Glade gets hit with a spell that causes him to not want to do anything to get rid of the objects.  He is slowly succumbing to an evil spell.  The clerics notice something is amiss and start to confer amongst themselves.  Glade starts casting a spell and suddenly a wight comes out of the wall.  The clerics quickly cast Hold Person on Glade and the wight disappears just as Legolas fires a magic missile at it.  The party casts Lighten Load on Glade and pushed him onto a sack.  They quickly dragged him back to the keep casting Hold Person on Glade the whole way.  They go directly to the temple where Priestly was able, with the help of the clerics, to get rid of the spell on Glade.  He recounts that he was under the control of an evil force that was causing him to protect the artifacts at all costs.  Priestly destroys the artifacts leaving nothing but worthless slag left.  The party rests and recuperates the rest of the day.

Day 58

Zachary, the bailiff of the fortress, comes and congratulates the party during breakfast and thanks them for all of their work.  He tells them that they won't have any taxes or official fees while they are in the Keep.

The day is overcast again.  The party travels without event to the Caves again.  They head back to the altar room.  They pull down the tapestry and search the room for secret doors.  They don't find anything.  They decide to head north down the unexplored hallway.  The party sees two doors on the right hand side of the hallway.  They approach the first door and don't hear anything when they listen.  They go down to the second door and hear nothing there as well.  They go back to the first and tie a rope to it and open it.  They enter what appear to be living quarters.  They find a bookshelf full of instructional tomes on evil.  They take the books and scrolls back to the tapestry and dump them there.  They also find some fine plates and silverware that appears to be of value.  They decide to leave it and pick it up on the way out.

The go down the passageway and are confronted with a large group of beings streaming out of a doorway.  Glade casts sleep with no affect on the villians.  As they approach, the party sees that they are facing skeletons and undead.  BreAnna and Cassius cast heat metal on the armor of 4 of the skeletons.  They attack BreAnna and Cassius, but miss.  Round two starts with Tais casting Magic Missile at a group of figures that has appeared all the way down the hall hitting one but not enough.  Glade attempts sleep again on the new figures that have appeared.  Four of them fall asleep.  Harimand and Frederick casts Turn Undead and causes  a large group to flee.  Suddenly the hall becomes much quieter as two Silence spells go off.  One centered on the party and one on the group of figures at the end of the hall.  Part of the party retreats down the hall to be able to cast spells.  Glade casts Phantasmal Force causing a wall of fire to spring up between the party and the undead, but it has no affect on them as they are immune to it.  The rest of the party engages in melee combat in eerie silence cutting down several of the undead.  Combat continues with the undead attacking.  Glade throws an flask of oil destroying one zombie and injuring another.  More undead go down to Magic Missiles and melee attacks.  Meanwhile, the humans down the hall have been using this time to wake the other sleeping humans.  The human leader is blinded by Harimand with a light spell but manages to draw his mace anyway.  The four other humans are put to sleep.  The evil leader is hit with two magic missiles just as he swallows a potion causing him to disappear into mist, but he still has a glowing sphere attached to his head.  The sphere rushes towards the party and finishes movement in the midst of the party members.  It's hit by Legolas with a Magic Missile and falls to the ground.  The party continues to mop up the remaining undead creatures while Glade continues to stomp on the mist and hit it with his quarterstaff.  They dispatch the sleeping humans and gather around the glowing mist.  They spend some time healing and seeing what happens to the mist.

The mist condenses after about an hour to the form of a human in black raiment with a red robe underneath. Determining him to be the leader, he is slain, his head cut off, and his robes and other equipment procured. Several items are detected as magical, including his armor, amulets on both him and the other clerics, and his staff. The written material from the living quarters and the vile tapestry are burned upon the unholy altar.

The group returns to the keep and is congratulated by both the keep guards and also by Priestly. He proclaims that the holy quest is finished, with the leader (which he determines from his robes) vanquished. Both Frederick and Cassius state that they will now return to service at the temple. The group inventories equipment. The plate mail and shield are identified as being both +1; the staff is a clerical weapon called a snake staff, with the command word of "Slitherus"; this staff will encompass a hit victim and hold them fast. The amulets, being evil, are given to Priestly to destroy. He has identified the items and given the party a large gold bonus for completing the quest.

Racial balances in the Borderland Keep area

Due to the frontier setting of the Borderland Keep area, the general rugged terrain, and the prevalence of large bands of humanoids, cross breeding by both consent and violence is fairly common. This has led to fairly large populations of half-ogre, half-elf, and half-orc. Due to these populations existing for a few generations, there is a greater tolerance and sometime even acceptance of racial mixes that would otherwise be frowned on or worse in  other lands of the realm.

Half-ogre and half-orc mercenaries have served from time to time at Borderland Keep. The tolerance for these groups and individuals is greatest there. Kingsholme has some tolerance, while Richton is less tolerant as it's population is more pure blood human.

Silver Valley has historically been more tolerant of half-elven folk then is normal for locales of elven folk. This tolerance did not extend to the half-ogre and half-orc ancestry, as these humanoids are sworn enemies of the elves of that land.

Local Geography and Politics

The location of Borderland Keep is indicative of its name; it is on the borders of the realm. Borderland Keep is staffed by a small group of defenders of freedom and law from the forces of chaos and evil. It was positioned to combat at continual hot spot, known as the caves of chaos. These caves have been cleaned of evil several times, but they continue to attract a variety of humanoid classes, sometimes directed by evil human leaders. It is suspected that to be the current case. A large group of adventurers has been loosely contracted by the Temple of the sun, located at Borderland Keep and overseen by Priestly, to investigate and, if possible, remove the current source of leadership there.

Borderland Keep resides in a fairly temperate location of the world. Several of the forces garrisoned at Borderland Keep come from the Kingdom of the Silver Princess to the West. Also, the small hamlet of Kingsholme to the south serves as a trading partner, primarily in manufactured Smith goods from the famed dwarven smith Kahga.

The city of Richton, farther to the south, also provides a supply of men, arms, and food. Richton is a larger municipality with a ruling Duke and nobility. Its economy focuses on grain and fruit production, with some mining of minerals to the north and east.

In the past, Silver Valley, the locale of the Silver Palace, was a great source of strength, both in the form of magic and men. A large elven and other demi-human population resides (or resided?) in this location. However, news lately of Silver Valley has been rare and dark. Something unknown has caused a communication disruption, both of news, and trade.

The road between Kingsholme and the Keep is fraught with peril. There is a narrow mountain pass and large bands of humanoinds and other dangerous monsters are routinely encountered along this journey. Travelers are advised to be well aware of this danger and to approach this trip in large and well prepared numbers.

Map files

I have posted some map files to share. The first is the known area around Borderland Keep.

The second is a map of the known area, including the Silver Palace, Borderland Keep, and Kingsholm.

Here are the links:

Borderland Keep Area

Known World

Let me know what you think.

I will be posting further maps and information.

Caves Expedition Day 47 (September 16 game time)

11/27/2009 game session

Group of adventurers gathered at the Borderland Keep for an outing to the Caves of Chaos:

Breanna Cleric (Emily), Chieko Thief (Treasa), Picolo Fighter (Devan), Cassius Cleric (NPC controlled by Emily), Frederick Cleric (NPC controlled by Treasa).

The innkeeper at the Keep provided a tasty breakfast of bread, milk, and assorted meats (sausage, bacon, and ham). A trip was made to the trader to resupply oil for the party, the cost being 5 gp per vial of oil.

Nothing exceptional to report after leaving the keep and traveling east to the caves as normal. The party approached the easternmost cave at the north of the ravine, which had previously been partially explored. Breanna vaguely remembered kobolds residing at the cave. After gathering bearings, the party met a large group of kobolds at a cave down from the eastern passage at the entrance.

The kobold group was rather large but not actively aggressive. Rather, one of their number grunted out in common "to leave" as someone had killed their leader recently (not recognizing or grasping the fact that part of this party had been responsible for that act). The party beat a judicious retreat and were somewhat nonplussed.

After consulting the maps and the terrain, the party decided to attempt a cave at the south of the ravine. Based on the maps, it was thought that this was unexplored. However, their intuitions and finally flat out evidence indicated that it was part of the large cave complex that was previously explored. This was determined after locating a familiar dungeon / torture room and using a key (to verify that it was the same room).

The map and terrain were observed again and a cave up further on the ravine was chosen on the north side, to the west of the kobold cave. Although some caution was used in approaching the cave (as recommended by Picolo), nothing specific was done and the whole party tripped a weighted net about ten feet outside of the cave. It was covered in tar and had metal parts that clanged as it crashed onto them, alerting several orcs that quickly appeared.

Somehow, the clerics all were able to cast protection from evil, but to little avail. The orcs demanded that the party surrender, but the members were obstinate and pressed a fight, which the orcs gave gladly. A few members attempted to cut the net (Picolo with a great axe!!!). All of this was futile as the orcs easily subdued the party, knocking Frederick out. The party surrendered and were all bound and blindfolded and brought before what appeared to be the chief orc.

The most charismatic party member (it seems it was one of the clerics) talks with the chief orc and explains that the party was looking for kobolds. The chief must have been bored or tolerant (for an orc???) and gave the ultimatum that the party must kill a rival gnoll leader and bring the head to him, and then never intrude on the orc cave again. A couple of orc guides led the party from the cave (they were blindfolded back to the entrance) to the location of the gnoll cave, which was back at western edge of the ravine.

The party was much more careful approaching this cave, which was quite different from the other caves as of yet explored. It had a smaller entrance (about 8' high) and was all carved out of the natural dirt, later turning to worked stone about 20-30' in. The entrance of the party with light alerted four gnoll sentries, which immediately launched an attack by bow on the party. After a fierce battle, in which Picolo clumsily broke his short bow string, the party took out the four gnolls with minimal damage to the party. Picolo attempted to replace his bow string with the two available bow strings (from long bows!!!) but managed to ruin them both as well. It was found that two of the gnolls had been guarding with halberds (a kind of pole arm) and the other two had been firing with long bows.

Further exploration down the cave to the west and then the north uncovered a room with eight gnolls, all armed with broad swords. These gnolls initially hid back in their room from the immediate missile fire of the party. Then they charged in mass, but were quickly vanquished. It was found that five of their number were female and just as valiant as the males.

The party collected what little treasure was found and headed back to the Borderland Keep. It was a successful trip with Breanna approaching the 3rd level of experience.