Session 86: Loaded with Coin from the Barrowmaze (through day 10 of Wealsun)

Gnorcia here again. Burdened with treasure and leaving more behind, we decided to slowly make our way back to Orlane. We dragged our way out of the Barrowmaze and across the marsh, noting the thick air of the marsh. As we ascended from the marsh, we heard the distant howl of a creature that sounded unnatural. The others continued forward a bit but as I turned back to look behind us, I found myself paralyzed with fear. There was another howl, closer this time. A horrible chill passed through us all. Feno came back and smacked me on the back of the head and I was suddenly able to move and screamed loudly in horror. We all quickly began moving down the path, despite the weight we were carrying, and hurried back to Orlane without stopping.

We were thrilled to be back in time for a dinner or fried fig pastries and blanche perret. None of us were sure what that was, but it sounded fancy and we were absolutely exhausted from our hurried march with all that treasure. Turns out it was small birds boiled in a pot of onions with leeks and cloves. It was tasty. Armaziti suddenly appeared with us and dispelled some of the fear that was hanging over us. He also ordered a rich dinner that turned out to be a pair of partridges. It looked good but I was too tired and went straight to bed. The others stayed up late celebrating our safe return.

In the morning we went to the jeweler and he gave us 440gp for the statuette of a penguin and 64gp each (256gp) for the gold circlets. We had then a total of 4128sp, 3696gp, and 100pp. Feno, Armaziti, Niki, and Lhoss purchased some gems from the jeweler. Tatania trained in magic, and Lhoss trained as a thief.

Session 85: An encounter with King Osric

 As the group (Feno, Armatzi, Gnorcia, Lhoss, Tatania, and a new adventurer Niki) wandered the barrowmaze, each of the party tried to interact with Niki's cat, Jack. He was indifferent to Armatzi but disliked all the others. Lhoss tried to win Jack over with a scrap from her rations, but Jack became irritated and swiped her with his claws. Ouch!

In the hallway, ocean murals and mythic scenes were observed painted on the walls. The party came upon two doors, one on either side of the hall. Lhoss and Gnorcia gathered at the first door and noticed that it was covered with spider webs. Using their thief skills, they attempted to check it for traps, but felt uncertain if there were any. Armatzi (with no particular skill) also attempted to look for traps, but not knowing what to look for, he came away with the certain knowledge that there was a door in front of him. The pair turned around and checked the other door for traps. Again, nothing was apparent, but the pair were not convinced that the door was safe to open so the group moved down the hall. 

The next door was checked and Lhoss felt pretty sure it was safe to open, even though she proved too weak to do it herself. Feno, however, opened it easily and found himself facing three ghouls. Moving quickly, Tatania offed one with a magic missile and the other two attacked Feno. Using her signature move, Gnorcia vaulted into position and slew one with a vicious backstab. Lhoss used a new spell (continuous light) to blind the third ghoul and Armatzi turned it with his holy power. In it's discombobulated state, Gnorcia finished the last one easily. Scanning the room, the team noticed rotting tapestries depicting ocean scenes and a shining bowl filled with metal. Gnorcia inspected it closer and deemed it safe; the group then split the 315 silver pieces among themselves. Gnorcia swiped a sample of the tapestry.

Behind the next door, four shadow creatures with baleful red eyes loomed menacingly. Armatzi again successfully turned all the foes and as they fled and cowered in the room, the party easily dispatched with them. Feno was the first to discover there were four corpses draped in burial shrouds; Armatzi informed the group that these we the corporeal forms of the shadow creatures. Feno removed one of the shrouds and found a desiccated corpse with a golden circlet perched atop its skull. Niki used the spell detect magic and determined it was not magical. The group gathered up the other three circlets and moved out of the room.

As she was walking out, Lhoss noticed a concealed switch on the wall. There was more inspecting for traps and discussion of whether or not to try the switch. Lhoss felt the switch might be a trap... maybe? But Gnorcia felt it was safe. Trusting in the skills of Gnorcia, Lhoss threw the switch to reveal a large room and, inexplicably, a Norse ship. A deep voice boomed out and asked the group to identify themselves then chastised them for their disruptive presence. The heroes perceived a figure in a yellow robe with red eyes peering out. He identified himself as King Osric. Osric seemed perturbed yet aloof and again demanded answers from the team. Unsatisfied with the responses given, the being cast a spell and Tatania, Feno, and Armatzi disappeared.

In shock, Gnorcia, Lhoss, and Niki retreated to discuss what to do. Niki was terrified and Gnorcia hid in the shadows. Lhoss approached and addressed King Osric who had moved up to the ship. Lhoss asked where her friends were to which Osric responded that they had been sent to the bowels of Hades. Lhoss tried to stoke the king's ego and ask for their return, but he was unresponsive. With each new attempt to parlay, the king remained silent with a haughty smirk. Lhoss shifted tactics and threatened to destroy the ship if her friends weren't returned. The king was unmoved and unimpressed. Lhoss reached into the bag of holding and withdrew a glass jar filled with devouring green slime. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a basket filled with coins. She lifted it above her head in a threatening manner, released it, and *poof* she also disappeared at the hand of the king.

Lhoss blinked and found herself... just outside the barrowmaze with Tatania, Feno, and Armatzi. The four decided that they should return to their compatriots and defeat the king. Running as fast as they could, they made their way back and found Niki and Gnorcia surprised and grateful to see them all. Gnorcia and Lhoss made a plan to sneak back in and try and relieve the king of as much treasure as they could carry. The pair was skillful in their sneaking, but they were still observed by Osric. It didn't seem to matter though, as he made no move to stop them. Gnorcia tried to lift a basket, but it was quite heavy. Thinking it would slide easily down the gangplank, she gave it a nudge, spilling coins everywhere. Lhoss beckoned to Feno and handed a basket down to him. All along, the green slime was doing its work devouring the wooden deck of the ship. Either ambivalent or unknowing of his fate, the king remained seated on his throne, watching but not engaging. 

Moving quickly, with the additional help of Tatania, all of the treasure was unloaded from the ship and the spilled coins were gathered together in the room where the ghouls had been defeated. Feno and Gnorcia explored the ship room, finding four sailors in the corners of the room and little else. Feno flipped the switch and closed the door behind them as they left, leaving the king to his fate as he sat unmoved on the slowly-engulfed vessel.

All together there was a smattering of platinum, 500 pounds of silver and 300 pounds of gold. The group loaded themselves down with as much as they could carry and left the rest beneath a camouflaged tarp. Feeling rich and lucky, they lumbered back toward Orlane. 

Session 84 Wealsun 1

It is the evening of the first day of Wealsun when we first met our newest adventuring companion.  She is a wood elf named Niki, trained as a druid/ranger, with a cat familiar named Jack.  Being middle rung-lower class, she fits in rather well with the rest of the group, although there is an almost immediate rivalry between Niki and Armaziti. I don't know if this is because of Cleric/Druid incompatibility or because Armatzi is upper class and a bit snobby with it.  Regardless, we made sure they were pretty much as far apart in the marching order as possible, with Armatzi in the front and Niki in the back with me (Tatania).  We are ready for dinner, so we head back to Orlane as soon as Armatzi heals Feno.  

We don't make it far into the barrow marsh before being set upon by four strange zombies emerging from the north. The ever-present fog in the marsh here makes it difficult to judge distances, and it shows during our battle. One zombie tries to claw Feno as he's in the lead, but it misses.  Gnorcia tries to take advantage of its distraction to backstab it, but also misses.  Two additional zombies also strike out at Feno and unfortunately both hit him.  I shoot one with my magic missiles, doing serious damage but not defeating it.  Meanwhile, Armatzi is attacked by the final zombie, and it missed as well.  Niki attacked the same zombie as I had hit, and she did a bit more damage to it.  Armatzi attempted to "Turn Undead" but his spell is not successful.  Feno bashes one of the zombies that are attacking him, although not the one that Niki and I damaged, and sends it reeling.  Lhoss uses Magic Missile to splatter the head of the zombie that Niki and I had beat on, leaving us down to three opponents.  The zombie that Feno had hit struck back at him, knocking Feno unconscious.  Gnorcia immediately moves to cover our fallen friend.  Lhoss uses a Magic Missile to attack the zombie that got Feno, leaving it in poor shape.  Armatzi moves to heal Feno and is attacked by the zombie that had missed him previously, so I fire my second Magic Missile at it and drive it back.  Niki backstabs the zombie that had taken down Feno, demolishing it completely.  Since I am out of Magic Missiles, I pull my magic silver dagger and slice at the zombie I'd blasted, almost killing it. Armatzi comes in with Melissa and pounds that zombie into paste.  Gnorcia goes after the final zombie with her short sword, Vengeance, and the feisty Niki is right there attacking as well.  It is Feno, still feeling woozy after being healed, that gets the final hit in on that last zombie, and his hit is so powerful that all of us (except for Lhoss, somehow) get splattered with zombie juices. It's gross and stinky! Feno notices that Lhoss is still mostly clean, so he flicks some of the ooze at her.  Niki heals Feno the rest of the way while Armatzi heals himself.  Then, our exhausted group trudges down the path through the dim forest and on to Orlane.  So as not to offend our hosts at the Foaming Mug, we all bathe before dinner.  The dinner is delicious, chicken pasties with steamed greens, although Armatzi spends extra so that he can have rotisserie chicken.  There's that snobbery I mentioned before.  I appreciated the dinner so much that I went and gave the cook an additional silver coin as a gratuity.  I think she appreciated it.

As a sign of just how tired everyone was, we all slept late and almost missed breakfast completely.  Fortunately, we just made it down in time to get food and got ready for the day.  Several of us had a bit of shopping to do before we set off again, with Armaizi buying holy water, Gnorcia buying an armor repair kit and some incense, and Lhoss and Feno also deciding to get repair kits.  As we travel through the dim forest, it becomes apparent that something has changed.  The feeling is very eerie with strange noises and unnatural sensations surrounding us.  Entering the barrow marsh is no better.  There, we encounter a large group of members of the Band of the Black Hand who threaten us. I can hear Lhoss growling even as Gnorcia casts Hypnotic Pattern, which can paralyze anyone it affects.  Of the 12 band members, four are ensnared.  I quickly hit one of the paralyzed men with a Magic Missile, killing him instantly.  Lhoss is attacked by two enemies but they both miss.  An additional two members attack me, but they also miss.  Lhoss uses her Magic Missiles to kill two more paralyzed members of the Black Hand. Two who are not ensorcelled try to hurt Feno, but they miss pitifully.  Then, Niki is also missed.  All these missed attacks have shaken up the Black Hand members and it is made much worse for them when all of our attacks are successful and deadly.  Armatzi bashes in one guy's head with Melissa and Feno decapitates another with his long sword.  One of the apparently smarter bandits turns and runs away as Niki kills one of his unfortunate comrades.  The remaining bandits blanch and want to flee but are headed off by further attacks.  I kill one and damage another with Magic Missile.  Lhoss kills the runner and Feno kills two more in an attack of opportunity.  Niki and Feno both fire their short bows but Niki misses (probably because of the annoying fog) while one of Feno's arrows hits and the second falls short. The last living member of this group of the Band of the Black Hand manages to escape because Armatzi doesn't want to run after him.  We loot the corpses and find 79 gold. This is surprising, considering how pathetically they fought against us, but we split up the money and move on.

Entering the Barrow Maze secondary entrance proves that the uncomfortable atmospheric changes we've been feeling since entering the dim forest are evident here too.  There is a distinct feeling of something watching us.  Armatzi spots something strange that he identifies as a "Wizard Eye", an advanced type of scrying spell.  The "eye" quickly retreats and is soon gone.  As we are walking past the stinking charnel pit, I remember that we have a foul chain and skull amulet in our bag of holding that nobody wants, so I toss it into the pit to be rid of it.  We go down the stairs to the area we'd been exploring yesterday and ate lunch in one of the cleared rooms followed by re-memorization of spells.  Armaziti is goofing off when he notices claw marks in the stone wall.  Niki immediately determines that the marks were not made by a natural creature and after some discussion, Lhoss and I conclude it was likely a Demonic Shambler that is causing the bad aura in the maze.  None of us has any desire to encounter a Demonic Shambler!  We check the closed door across the hall from us, looking for traps, but find nothing unusual.  Armaziti casts a blessing before Feno opens the door.  There are human-sized skeletons lying unmoving on the floor of the new room.  The walls are all decorated with frescos detailing myths of sea-going adventures.  Just to be sure, since the feeling of wrongness is still hanging heavy in the air, Armaziti breaks apart one of the ancient-looking skeletons with Melissa.  Nothing happens and nothing of interest is visible.  Suddenly, there is a sound of stone grinding against stone, but it is impossible to tell where the noise is coming from.  After only around 11 seconds, the sound stops, and the eerie silence returns to the barrow maze.

Session 83: Evening of Day 1 Wealsun - CY 576 In Person Session

As the group went down the staircase into darkness, Feno, Armatzi, Chalkboi, Myrtle Dixon, Lhoss, Gnorcia, Tatania, and Chiki gathered together, some by the uncanny magic of the world, where one moment someone is present, and another moment they pop into existence with the party. 

The group found themselves in a corridor stretching out into the west and darkness. There were frescos on both the southern and northern walls of various seaside myths, legends, and generals scenes. They were very well done, but old, and the remaining paint was flaking badly. 

There were two doors, one to the north, and another to the south. The group chose to examine the southern door, and then open it after it was deemed safe by Gnorica. Chiki opened the door successfully, revealing seven fearsome figures with baleful red eyes that turned their ire upon the party immediately. Chalkboi proved most useful, wielding Caliburn, which seemed to burn with fury as it fell into the undead bodies and brought them back to their dead status. 

After the group dispatched this nasty group, they spent sometime fruitlessly searching the room, resting, and some memorizing/praying for spells. Also, the group started eating. Chiki was behaving very strangely, and decided to go out of the room, and close the door, and examine the hallway, and then have a meal in there. This attracted several very hungry beetles, which quickly overcame Chiki. Fortunately for the willy gnome, the rest of the party heard the noise and came to the rescue. The beetles proved to be fire beetles, and mostly interested in the contents of Chiki's backpack (who always carries plenty of provisions). They devoured plenty before being sated but not in time to flee, and the party destroyed them, claiming their glowing stalks for light sources. 

Session 82: Paying our due, or not

We moved up into the room where the flies were and Myrtle Dixon noticed something written on the wall: “Not finished come back later” near a hidden latch. I checked for traps and opened it, finding a goblin picking his nose. Clearly he needs a new, heavy labor assignment.

We moved in further and opened a door up to the left. The door itself was kind of sticky gross, and when we opened it two blood spiders rushed at us. One immediately latched on to me and as soon as i started bleeding the other attacked me as well, but the group cut them down quite quickly. Tatiana explained to us that the blood spiders apparently aren’t poisonous but act more like spider sharks. Whatever that means.

We entered the spider room, following Arnd, who slashed through the webs toward a bricked-up wall/doorway to the west. As we got there, suddenly Lhoss appeared and got stuck in some webs for a moment. Arnd, Kyro, Armaziti, and I started bashing the brick wall and pretty soon had it broken down. Inside we could see an ornate fountain of blue water, with some words written on it. Lhoss and I snuck around the room checking the floors and walls.

The words on the fountain said “Pay your due”. A few of us threw in some coins and suddenly two enormous and angry-looking water elementals appeared. Maybe they should have been more specific about what the due was. They were very difficult to hit and appeared quite formidable. Arnd and I attacked but then I chose to back up, allowing Lhoss to get behind it and attack, finally doing some damage. Armaziti cast his “command” spell and said “Retreat!” and the one in front of him turned to retreat! Arnd smacked it just before I cast Mesmerize and they were both mesmerized, allowing Armaziti to blast through them both, destroying them and washing the floor as they fell. As we left the room, Tatania wrote “Band of the Black Hand, toss coins in the fountain” on the wall. It could work. They seem pretty dumb.

We moved back out and down to the room below. Pausing there and closing the doors, Tatania, Lhoss, Armziti, and I memorized spells. We then opened the door to the west and discovered a room full of burial alcoves, with a portcullis closed down on the north wall and a hallway behind it that we couldn’t see clearly in the dark. We searched the room and found a bunch of gold coins and a golden statuette. Then, working together, we lifted the portcullis and entered the hallway behind it, opening the first door we found on the right. Inside we found burial boxes which we searched and found a lot of electrum.

Back in the hallway, Armaziti discovered yet another hidden latch on the wall and used it to open a doorway with stairs behind it, going down. We all moved forward and down the stairs where we found ourselves in another hallway.

Session 81: An Education in Potions, Day 1 of Wealsun

The morning of the first day of Berrytime was warm and sunny. Feno, Aramaziti, Chalkboi, Gnorcia, Lhoss, and Tatania began their day in Orlane doing errands. Feno and Lhoss went to the shop and sold off some weapons (a throwing axe for Feno and a spiked long sword for Lhoss). Feno then bought a morningstar as to have a blunt weapon to use against skeletons (cue foreshadowing music). Wishing to replenish their poison antidote supplies, the group headed to the temple of Merikka.

At the temple, the team met up with Browning (a lesser acolyte). They were informed that he would be conducting all future commercial temple dealings. Browning listed the prices for healing potions and poison cures. The group decided to buy one poison antidote and place it in the bag of holding. Additionally, Feno and Gnorcia purchased a dose each to keep in their personal packs. Browning then told us that if we could obtain the valuable components of the potions (ogre mage blood or troll blood for healing potions and poison glands from spiders or scorpions for heal poison potions) we could receive a discount to purchase them. At this, Gnorcia's ears perked up. She produced several poison sacs that she had skillfully extracted from defeated spiders and was able to sell them for a hefty treasure. Looking at the vials for sale, Lhoss pulled out a few unidentified vials from the bag of holding. With a small gasp, Browning identified two as healing potions, with one being a super healing potion containing three doses. What a discovery! The group, stocked up, headed out toward the barrow marsh.

Even though this has become a well-trod path for our heroes, they were still struck by the business of the area with new builds and a few travelers passed on the way. Other than these merry sights, the journey was uneventful. As the party descended into the gloom of the barrow marsh, they were set upon by that familiar enemy: skeletons! (Repetition of foreshadowing music, now in a major key).

The undead monsters were quickly dispatched with and left in piles of burnt and broken bones. Lhoss turned to Tatania and said "Tatania, wanna see a new entrance?" and pointed out the new door that the party had discovered the previous day. It presented a significant shortcut to the part of the barrowmaze the group had been exploring. Being a quiet and relatively secured area, the party ate lunch and rememorized spells.

Moving on, the heroes found themselves in a familiar spot where they had encountered a melee between the cultists of Orcus and Set. Feno noticed a switch on the wall and, with encouragement from Lhoss, threw it. The wall disappeared to reveal several carnivorous flies. Disgusting as they were, the warriors slew them all quickly and skillfully.

Session 80: Cleaning up and going home Day 23 - 28 Flocktime and Day 1 Wealsun

Armatzi, Gnorcia, Arnd, Lhoss, Hilja, and Feno gathered together after the battle with the fearsome spiders in their den, and Armatzi healed a few groups with the chant of "Smile and wave boys". Lhoss and Armatzi went  into the previous area and memorized and prayed for new spells. 

The group then focused on where to go next, and there was renewed interest in the walled off end of the stairway. Armatzi and Feno used their strength, skills, and tools to make shortwork of the wall, revealing a tomb, with six alcoves, each containing a skeletal warrior in old chainmail, with shields and spears. They surrounded an altar with a brilliantly glinting broadsword there. 

Gnoria stealthily entered the room, looking for traps on the floor, and carefully examining the skeletons. The skeletons proved to be quite aged, with chain mail coifs and armor that were rusting, old metal shields, and dusty spears that were nevertheless sturdy. Another door on the opposite end was also walled in. There was some supposition that a greater treasure lay in the room beyond (discussions of legends of great treasures that were kept hidden by lesser treasures that were more apparent). 

Armatzi, Arnd, Feno, and Lhoss all worked on that wall and quickly took it down, revealing the evening light and the mists of the Barrowmarsh. This was apparently another entry to the Barrowmaze that they had discovered! The group then decicded to go back in and examine the sword. Lhoss went up to the sword, and found that it was brilliantly bejeweled with a rainbow of colors. There was some guess that a previously found jeweled scabbard was the match, but then it was recalled that the scabbard was only blue and green gems. Lhoss grabbed the sword, which caused the six skeletons to quickly animate and attack the party. Fortunately, despite being surprised, the group was able to handle the skeletons, particularly with the aid of St. Cuthbert directed by Armatzi. Lhoss claimed the sword, and found that it had some magical properties, and decided to keep it. 

The group then decided to head back to Orlane, but were ambushed by four more skeletons. The same result happened though, with the clerical power from Armatzi proving to be very useful. The group proceeded out of the Barrowmarsh (they found that the new entrance was to the north and west of the previously discovered entrance). 

As the group moved through the Dim Forest, a group of zombies attacked the group. However, Armatzi continued to prove his worth, and the zombies were routed. 

The group returned late to The Foaming Mug, and found a tasty dinner of chicken pasties, fried greens, and spring wine awaiting them (fortunately for them that The Foaming Mug keeps a late kitchen). 

The next morning, after a delicious breakfast, the group sold their wares. Lhoss asked about the value of the sword, and was offered 1800 gold pieces for it, but she decided to retain the sword. Gnorcia and Arnd then borrowed some wealth and went about training for the next week, becoming strong in their illusionist, thief, and fighter occupations.