Before starting play we realise that the characters all have enough experience points to gain one new advance and the players decide to spend those advances now in the hope that their chances of success will be improved.
Forester takes a point of blue magic and activates the Phase spell... He leant back against the cold cavern wall and tried to turn his mind away from his comrades squabbling over the loot. He wished sometimes that he could just fade into the shadows and forget about the cares of the world, and then remembering the vividness of the illusion of the old man in the cell, he made the calculations and...
Miskar takes a point of green magic and reveals Gills. Both V and Ardyn opt to increase their humble combat skills (Ardyn +1 Archery, V +1 Swordplay).
Back to the game...
As the party stares longingly at the treasure chest sitting unguarded on the island, an almighty crash and roar breaks the silence bringing clouds of dust and chunks of stone down in the corridor behind them. The ruckus continues and it’s clear that the terrible ogre Moriban has found his way down from above but now, due to his size, is trapped in the river chamber.
After some discussion it’s agreed that the ogre should now be dealt with; the monster is blocking the exit should the party need to beat a hasty retreat.
The party makes their way back to the river chamber where it is apparent that Moriban is quite wounded after his descent and is huddled in the shadows on the far side of the chamber, about 25 metres distant. The plan is this: Ardyn will step out from behind cover and let off as many arrows as he can, when the ogre chases him into the corridor, V will attack any bits of ogre that can fit into the passageway (an arm and head perhaps?). Forester looks on sagely whilst Miskar elects to watch the drama unfold from the safe distance of about 50 metres.
The plan kicks in and Ardyn fires with the roll of 10. A good shot by any standards but the ogre has an FR of 14 so not good enough. The arrow sticks into the ogre’s shoulder but is brushed off like a gnat. Ardyn doesn’t like the look of that so rather than firing a second shot, runs for safety!
Moriban, or at least his arm, is not far behind Ardyn but as the creatures slams into the rock, a pillar is dislodged wounding both V and Ardyn.
At this point the inscrutable Forester casts his Phase spell and, blinking in and out of existence, walks through and past the ogre into the chamber beyond. Phase is normally a combat spell that allows you to attack without risking being wounded yourself but I like Forester’s cunning use of his new power and allow the action.
Forester distracts the monster long enough for Ardyn and V to marshal their reserves; both unleash their Mighty Blow power (which allows any foe to be struck at the cost of damage to themselves). Moriban reels from 2 savage hits as Ardyn slides between the creature’s feet and punctures an artery with his spear; V rebounds off a wall, turns that into a somersault and lays bare the orge’s spine with a mighty slash. But both V and Ardyn take 2 hits themselves.
Miskar, who is now a little closer (being impressed by Forester’s spectral appearance), urges the NPC priest Adrin to help; this is the third time he is called upon for assistance (Esme told them that Adrin could only aid them 6 times before becoming ‘undone’).
Adrin steps in and delivers the final blow; Moriban falls face-first into the river. It’s over! Ardyn and V wash the blood from their sore bodies then Ardyn takes the ogre’s third blind eye as a trophy and proof to the people of Lawsend that the ogre is vanquished.
Treasure Quest!
After finding nothing worth looting on the ogre, the party returns to the chamber of statues but rather than explore the ‘treasure island’ they choose to examine the ‘other’ identical’ statue of Nuromen and indeed, when the statue’s head is twisted another secret door is revealed: a natural cavern lies beyond and Forester sees, on the far side, an urn full of coins and gems, a sword and a circlet-like crown. The party rightly deduce that this is part of Nuromen’s treasure and the crown is that sought by the elf encountered earlier.
Forester happily wanders over and gathers up the loot. At which point two things happen; a disembodied skeletal arm rises from the dust and snatches that sword from its scabbard; and the secret door slams shut!
Miskar who has taken to referring to Forester as ‘master’, following his impressive magical showing with the ogre, quickly casts Portal on the closed secret door which promptly pops open.
Meanwhile, Forester has at the disembodied limb but flails wildly (I think Forester gets wounded but I forget to mention it so it slips through to the keeper).
V strides in ‘swords-a-blazing’ and lays waste to the magic arm. The goods are gathered... Interestingly when the gems are distributed, some characters see different types of gems. Is all as it seems or is there more to these gems (yes). Forester dons the crown and feels duly regal, V takes the sword and decides it is a finely balanced thing.
After the the battle there is much talk of returning to the surface to store the treasure and buy some more stuff (light sources are in short supply). I remind the the players that the chest on the island has gone unexplored and they claim I’m dropping hints... Not so, I know the island poses little challenge and I thought they’d forgotten about it! Anyway, they decide that since I dropped the ‘hint’ they would have to go and loot the chest before departing. I play innocent and they move on.
At the lake, Ardyn dips the tip of his spear into the water and notes the eddy around the shaft, there’s a current here so the water flows somewhere, maybe somewhere interesting (but that is not explored further).
Ardyn picks his way through the shallows and arrives at the island where the spectral figure of Morkainen shimmers into view. I try and describe the deceased master thief appropriately but because I mention a scar and a patch, the players envision a pirate. Matters aren’t helped much when I slip into a pirate character as Morkainen spins his tale.
The ghost explains that he once tried to steal from Nuromen and was cursed forever to guard this chest until a ‘replacement’ guard arrived... Morkainen offers Ardyn a choice: answer a riddle and win the chest, fail to answer and forever be cursed to guard the very same chest... Ardyn is up for it!
Morkainen’s riddle:
My life is measured in hours,
I live by being devoured,
Thin I am quick,
Fat I am slow,
The zephyr is my foe.
What am I?
After a brief spell, Ardyn comes up with the right answer (candle) and Morkainen vanishes in a puff of disappointment. The chest is promptly looted revealing a stoppered clay bottle some 300 ancient silver coins and a dagger in a bone scabbard. Miskar (of course) unsheathes the dagger to discover a gleaming steel blade with a single drop of blood hanging from the tip... She doesn’t like the look of it and quickly scabbards the blade.
At this point the party decide to light a fire in one of the cells near the river chamber and take a nap - they only have one unused torch as V’s lantern has run out of oil. This done they settle down to rest and despite failing to post guards they are not molested during the night. I’m surprised that they chose not to depart but who knows what they’re up to eh?
The next day, the wounded characters are fully healed which is an oversight on my part since there are 3 copies of the rules on the table but only one of which is the current print which specifies that wounded characters recover only 1 lost hit per 6 hours of rest (same as magic points) + 1 if a character with a medical talent is available... I’ll have to reinstate that rule in the next session as without it the party is way too powerful for this little dungeon.
Once again they return to the room of statues, this time opening the one ‘obvious’ door which exits the room. They enter a dim, long hall lined with pillars some of which have collapsed forming a maze of debris which leads to two doors in the south wall. The party forges on to the south but before they get far, a party of goblins breaks cover and opens fire with barbed arrows.
Everything happens pretty quickly but in two short rounds the characters have reduced the goblin scouts to a pile of bloody corpses and pressed on through the south-east door. Following a flight of stairs they emerge into a great temple-like hall, at the south end a fearsome-looking statue of a one-eyed but multi-limbed baboon. The single eye is a mighty ruby of legendary proportions...
‘Gamosh’ says V. she has seen much in her travels with the Sword Dogs Company and knows a little of ‘foreign ways’...
We called it a night at that point.
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