| Current Turn? | No |  | Subject: | Exploring Borno Keep |
| Campaign: | Greyhawk | | Turn Start Date: | 9/4/597 |
| Adventure: | Borno Keep | | Turn End Date: | 9/7/597 |
| Adventure Number: | AAK | | Characters: | Barthon Brightwave, Darkthorn, Dyson Teague, Kalin, Lorcan Smythe, Wiley Finch |
| Turn Number: | 1.0 | | Send To: | fivewands@championsoftheempire.com; dntimm@gmail.com; mghaught@gmail.com |
| Greyhawk Campaign? | Yes | | Combat Turn? | No |
| Name | Lethal | NL | Current | END | PROT | LOW | DEF | ROF | Flash | Heal | Luck Pts | Fate Pts | |
| Benick Tallwood | 0 | 0 | 52/52 | /0 | 7 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Drogo Featherfoot | 0 | 0 | 59/59 | /0 | 6 | 3 | 59 | 12 | 0/0 | 1/day | 3/3 | 2/2 | |
| Erendriel Adgwyn | 0 | 0 | 43/43 | 2/2 | 7 | 3 | 51 | 6 | 0/0 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Folis Kaylor | 0 | 0 | 68/68 | /0 | 8 | 2 | 46 | 10 | 0/0 | 1/day | 2/2 | 0/1 | |
| Kano | 0 | 0 | 71/71 | 8/8 | 6 | 1 | 59 | 10 | 0/0 | 2/day | 0/2 | 1/1 | |
| Quent Werlin | 0 | 0 | 69/69 | 8/8 | 7 | 2 | 49 | 10 | 0/0 | 1/day | 1/1 | 0/0 | |
| Lanita Stanmore | 0 | 0 | 46/46 | /0 | 4 | 1 | 40 | 0 | 0/1 | 1/day | 1/1 | 0/0 | |
| Rufus | 0 | 0 | 85/85 | 8/8 | 7 | 2 | 61 | 16 | 0/0 | 3/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mage/Psioncist Name | Psionic Pts | Spell Pts | Spell Pool | Miscellaneous Information |
| Benick Tallwood | / | 12/12 | 17/17 | |
| Folis Kaylor | / | 11/13 | 9/9 | |
| Rufus | 7/7 | 17/17 | / | |
| | | | |
| Name | Notes |
| Benick Tallwood | |
| Drogo Featherfoot | |
| Erendriel Adgwyn | |
| Folis Kaylor | |
| Kano | |
| Quent Werlin | |
| Lanita Stanmore | Cleric Pool (11/11) |
| Rufus | |
|
09/07/2023 (GM-Steve)
As the Sea Ghost sat in Saltmarsh harbor, Kano, Quent and Drogo went into town for a few drinks. While they were sitting at their table, a man approached them and asked if they were adventurers interested in a job. The three expressed interest, especially when the man offer to buy them a round of drinks to listen to his story
His name is Jansen Borno and he and his wife Lornali recently inherited the estate of an eccentric uncle by the name of Tytus Borno. They barely knew the man but apparently they were the closest living relatives. This happened a couple of weeks ago. Since then, Jansen and Larnali tried to visit the estate but, when they arrived in Burle, the closest town to Borno Keep, they learned that Tytus was apparently a mage who dealt in very dark arts. As a result, Borno Keep has a reputation of being haunted. Jansen discovered that the reputation is well-earned based on the stories that he heard in Burle.
What Jansen would like is to have some iron-willed adventurers investigate Borno Keep and drive out all of the ghosts and other monsters that inhabit the keep. For this he offers 1,000 silver to the group. The group can also keep any treasure gained from the monsters but asks that the group not loot the house of its lawful belongings.
The town of Burle is located about 75 miles north of Saltmarsh.
The three agree to the adventure and let Jansen know that they have five other compatriots who will likely travel with them on this adventure. Jansen and his wife had planned on hiking to Burle but, when Kano mentions that he knows how to drive a wagon, Jansen agrees to hire a wagon and team and they will travel that way. They agree to meet in the morning.
The following morning, Beni, Drogo, Erendriel, Folis, Kano, Quent, Lanita and Rufus meet Jansen and Lornali. Jansen has already arranged for the wagon and team.
The condition of the road is good and, the first day, Kano, with Folis sitting alongside and learning how to drive the wagon, makes about 30 miles. The group sets up a camp using canvas from the Sea Ghost for shelter. It rains that night and they have to get up a few times to improve their campsite to stay dry.
The second day, the group makes about 20 miles and sets up a much better camp.
The group arrives after dark on the third day. Jansen arranges a couple of rooms, one small and one larger, for the group. Lanita and Elendriel share the smaller room with Rufus while the five men take the larger room.
The group checks in with Jansen before leaving in the morning. They head to the northwest side of town and, after asking around a bit, find the gravel path that leads through the moors to Borno Keep. The path takes an indirect route through the moors, which are covered with mist, but eventually reaches the base of the hill on top of which Borno Keep is built.
At the top of the hill, a 5' high wall extends all the way across the front of the property, with a rusty iron gate in the center. Kano opens the gate, which squeaks loudly in protest, and the group marches through. They travel a short distance through the mist and the manor house looms out of the fog. It is an imposing edifice with a central hall capped by a circular glass roof, and two L-shaped wings. All of the shutters are closed. The group forgoes the front entrance and tries the left side entrance. Elendriel is somewhat stymied by the lock (Jansen was not given keys to the keep). She does manage to pry open a shutter, allowing them to see into a room where the furnishings have been covered with white sheets.
The group follows the path around the entire keep and Elendriel tries the unlock the door into the other wing but has less luck. The group returns to the door on the left wing and Elendriel tries again and this time is successful in picking the lock. The group enters into a foyer with a set of stairs leading up, two other doors, and a passage leading deeper into the house with more doors visible along the hall.
The first door leads to the room when Elendriel had pried open the shutters. Kano crosses to the window, opens it, and secures the shutters before closing the window again. The other door leads to a cloak closet with a few coats and cloaks hanging there.
They proceed down the passage and a door next to Kano suddenly opens revealing a zombie-like monster. It attacks Kano but misses. Kano backs away trying to draw it into the open room where the group can gang up on it but it stops at the entrance to the foyer. Drogo throws his war hammer of returning but misses. Then Kano steps up and attacks and hits it. The creature attacks Kano again, this time hitting and drawing some life force from Kano with its raking claw. Kano hits it again and then Lanita invokes the power of Pelor to turn it and forces it to flee down the passage. Kano hits it as it flees. Beni tries to cast a Bolt of Energy at it but, with the people between him and the fleeing creature, he loses site of it and his spell is lost.
The group searches the room the creature came out of but finds nothing. As they are searching the next room, a ghostly creature comes out of the wardrobe next to where Quent is standing and attacks him. Quent curses and avoids the attack.
GM: Next session, we will start round 1 against the ghostly undead creature. It attacked Quent and missed. I have not yet made Undead Lore rolls for anyone to recognize exactly what kind of undead it is.
GM: I awarded 1500 EXP for last night.
09/14/2023 (GM-Steve)
The battle with the ghostly undead was short and it was defeated, but not before another zombie-like undead attacked from another direction. And, as Kano was fighting it, another one opened an adjacent door and attacked. Both were defeated by Kano and Drogo but not before Kano was drained of more CON. After that, Lanita cast a Negative Plane Protection on Kano.
The group investigated the rest of the wing of the keep, finding more servant quarters, a kitchen and a larder before coming to a formal dining room. In the dining room was a very large table with only two places set. In front of those two places were ghostly creatures going through the motions of eating. They ignored the group.
Lanita cast an Augury spell which suggested that all undead should be destroyed. As Folis moved around the table to be closer to the other ghostly creature, yet another ghostly creature attacked him out of the fireplace. He and Kano quickly killed it but not before Folis was drained of 1 STR.
Then Quent and Kano attacked the ghostly creatures at the table. Neither made any effort to avoid the attacks but, both rose up and their manner changed to evil incarnate as they entered the bodies of Kano and Quent. Both then seemed to seize up, their eyes closed and they seemed to be engaged in an internal battle to the death. After half a minute or so of shivering and convulsing and sweating, both Quent and Kano suddenly relaxed and opened their eyes. They had indeed been fighting against the creatures taking over their bodies in some manner and both had prevailed. The attack left them very cold and shivering with strong feelings of queasiness and internal upset. Lanita cast a cure light wounds spell on each and they felt much better.
Then Rufus, Beni and Erendriel heard voices coming from the room beyond the fireplace. The group stopped talking though their lights were very apparent. Then a voice called out asking who they were. Lanita responded by asking who they were. A conversation ensued whereby the group told them that they had been hired by the new owners to clear out the undead that were haunting the place. About this time, Rufus walked through the fireplace and Kano opened the door and a few of the group stepped through.
The other group consisted of two people who could be seen, and perhaps more that were not visible through the open door that the two stood near. Both of the visible men pointed wands at the group as they came into the room from the dining room. This room was quite large so there was still a goodly distance between the two groups.
The man who did the talking wore leather armor and was armed with a wand while a dagger was visible in a belt sheath. The other man was clearly a fighter, wearing ring mail and carrying a shield. He had a wand in his hand but a longsword in a sheath at his side. Both men also wore backpacks and belt pouches.
They never introduced themselves but said that they represented the former owner (Titus Borno). When they learned that the group was there to clean out the undead, the leader suggested that there was no conflict here. He said that they could go ahead and clear out the undead while his group searched for what they were looking for (he did not specify what that was). It was a standoff and eventually the group retreated back to the dining room to discuss things. Rufus remained in the fireplace where he could watch them.
The group discussed attacking them but decided against it. After a short time, Rufus reported that the other group was on the move. They headed towards the far end of the large room and disappeared through a door or opening. In addition to the two men seen earlier, Rufus saw two others, both wearing chain mail and carrying shields and swords.
Drogo suggested that maybe he and Erendriel could follow them stealthily and keep and eye on them. The group agreed but, as they were crossing the large room, Erendriel looked down the main hallway to the main entrance and saw bodies on the floor there. She whispered to Drogo and she and the halfling headed there instead. Drogo lit his hooded lantern and they searched the bodies, finding weapons, some jewelry and a few coins. They gathered up what they could carry and took it back to the others. Beni checked for magic and found the battle axe, longsword, dagger and both rings magical. One of the rings helped when fighting undead but no one was sure what it did. Kano put it on since he seemed to be the favorite target of the undead.
Drogo and Erendriel departed again to find and watch the other group. The rest of the group headed towards the foyer to look at the armor the bodies were wearing. On their way, another ghostly undead emerged from a dying plant and attacked. The group quickly killed it but not before it drained Quent of a point of STR.
GM: By the time of the final battle, the 1 STR that Quent lost in the first battle has returned.
GM: As it stands now, Folis and Quent are both down 1 STR, while Kano is down 4 CON.
GM: After encountering 3 of these ghostly undead that drain STR, Lanita has started calling them shadows for their ability to remain almost entirely invisible among the shadows of the keep.
GM: I awarded 2000 EXP for last night.
GM: One idea that occurs to Lanita is to use her Messenger spell to summon Shadow and send it to the Darkthorn asking that Lorcan take a look at the 2 magical rings and see if he can identify (with artifact lore, not an Identify spell) them and send them back. If the group plans to hole up for the night, they could even ask him to do an Identify if he doesn't otherwise recognize them.
09/21/2023 (GM-Steve)
While Erendriel and Drogo were off following the other group, the rest of the group investigated the dead bodies that Drogo and Erendriel had found in the foyer. There was a set of +1 Ring Mail and that group took. Kano took the new armor and gave his old armor to Quent.
Then the group checked out the library. They found no interesting books but Beni succeeded in finding a shadow that drained him of 4 STR before he was able to get away and Quent moved up and destroyed it.
The group returned to the dining room and awaited the return of Erendriel and Drogo. They did not have long to wait. The two had been somewhat successful at learning information about the other group.
They learned the names of the two men who had held the wands. They were Narthus and Delwin. They also learned that Narthus and Delwin worked for a man by the name of Zogg of the Black Swamp. Both Beni and Folis had heard of Zogg and knew him to be a mage of some sort who dealt in the dark arts - perhaps dark mage, black mage or necromancer. They did not get the names of the other two men and got the impression that they were hired swords while Narthus and Delwin were full time followers/hirelings of Zogg. Finally they learned that Narthus and Delwin are here in search of Titus Borno's spell books because he was a powerful necromancer who developed many unusual necromancer spells.
The group returned to he corner room near where they entered to spend the night. Lanita used the scroll of Positive Energy Channel on Kano to good effect. Then she cast a Messenger spell to summon Darkthorn's falcon (Shadow). She attached a note and the two rings they had found to Shadow and sent him back to Darkthorn. The received an answer in the morning telling them that one ring with a Ring of Positive Energy (very useful against life-draining undead) and the other was a +1 Ring of Defense.
They continued investigating in the morning. They reached a locked door that the other group had tried and failed to open. Erendriel was unsuccessful in opening it the first time (partial success) and, while she was contemplating it, Rufus and Kano looked at some of the nearby doors for magic. When they did so, a door opened and a zombie-like undead attacked Rufus but missed. Rufus blinked away and no one moved up. The group was hoping the creature would step out so they could outnumber it but it shut the door on them instead. When everyone was in position and the opened the door, the creature was gone. It had apparently teleported away.
Erendriel failed her second attempt to open the locked door so Beni cast a Spell of Opening, which unlocked it. Then Quent shoved it open. Above the bed in the otherwise dark room was a glowing, fiery Symbol of Grievous Injury. Both Quent and Lanita saw it but Lanita made her save and only suffered the effect of a Cause Serious Wounds whereas Quent suffered a roll on the grievous injury table that shattered his shield shoulder (fortunately he does not use a shield). Quent also saw a zombie like creature coming towards the door.
GM: This is where we stopped for the night. The door opened into the room and Quent shoved it open so, to close it, someone would need to step into the room while hopefully not seeing the malignant symbol.
GM: I awarded 2100 EXP for last night.
09/28/2023 (GM-Steve)
The group stayed in the corridor to see if the zombie would come out but it slammed the door closed instead. The group decided to pass on this room for now until they were better able to deal with the symbol. Ideas were tossed around but they landed on building some sort of framework out of wood and blankets to form a visual barrier that could hide the symbol.
The group continued searching the other wing of the keep. They saw the other group again led by Narthus. However, he led his men towards the outer door and the stairs leading up.
The only other thing of interest they found was another shadow, which they easily dispatched. Then they went back to the other wing and went up to the second level. They searched a few rooms but found nothing of interest. They came upon another library but it did not appear to be a necromancer library. While in the library, they found a circular staircase going up to the third level and went up. There they found a workshop that they could eventually use to build the framework to protect them against the symbol, once they found some materials to use.
Erendriel successfully removed a poison needle trap on a door but was unable to unlock it (partial success). When Beni cast a spell of opening at the door, not only did the door not open, but it launched a lightning bolt back at Beni, catching others in the path. Erendriel tried another door, removing another poison needle trap first and was then able to pick the lock. The door opened into the same room as the door she had failed to unlock. It was a necromancer's laboratory. As they were scouting it, another shadow came through a different door in the chamber and attacked Kano and Quent. This was a much more difficult battle than most against shadows but they defeated it in the end.
GM: Kano is currently at -5 STR and Quent is at -3 STR.
GM: I awarded 1700 exp for the session.
10/05/2023 (GM-Steve)
The group searches the rest of the laboratory but finds nothing of interest to them. The door to the next room is both locked and magical. Assuming it has the same magic as the last two doors she worked on, Erendriel checks it for traps but finds none. She succeeds in unlocking it. Inside is a large conjuring circle inscribed on the floor and a desk in one corner. There is also another door.
The group enters and starts looking around while staying out of the conjuring circle. The mages are not sure why a necromancer would need a conjuring circle.
There is a journal on top of the desk and is written largely in Aeridi but with many technical notations in another language, which the group assumes is Nifle. The journal describes the progress of test subjects who are numbered 1 through 7. A note about subject 2 indicates that he seems to be doing well.
The group searches the desk and finds a spell book in one of the lower drawers which contains eight general spells but no necromantic ones.
When they move the desk away from the wall, and Erendriel and Drogo are able to search the back, Drogo finds a hidden compartment that is cleverly concealed. Upon opening, four potions and a small pouch are revealed.
Folis is able to determine that one of the potions is a Potion of Positive Energy Channel but neither he nor Kano are able to identify any of the other potions. The pouch contains 50 platinum coins.
The other door in the room is not locked and, when Kano opens it, he sees seven tables, each with a perfectly preserved body lying on top. Two are female and the remainder are male. He sees no signs of breathing but shakes one of the female bodies and tries to speak to her. There is no answer and no response to the shaking. Her flesh feels very stiff and cold to the touch. He moves over to another body and asks Rufus to check for magic. Rufus sees some magic on the bodies but also notices a number scratched into the table near the head. On further examination, there are numbers scratched into every table and they are numbered one through seven. Since the journal indicated that subject two was doing better, Kano goes to the table with teh 2 scratched into it but is leery of touching the body (his Danger Sense was warning him that something could happen). Lanita did an Augury and got no sense that bothering the body would be beneficial to the group. The group retreated.
Meanwhile, Rufus, who was guarding the closed door to the laboratory, heard a door open in the laboratory and people enter. He issues a low growl as a warning to the group. They assume it is Narthus, Delwin and the two guards. They remain quiet. Drogo suggests opening the door and telling Narthus that we are here and will be done soon. The group agrees and Quent opens the door.
The group was correct in their assumption that it was Narthus and his fellows. Quent tells Narthus that they will be done shortly. Narthus nods and asks if they found anything interesting. Quent gives away nothing and closes the door after a very short conversation.
The group has already decided to depart. They take the journal with them to prevent Narthus from learning anything from it. Then they depart. Again there is a short conversation with Narthus but nothing of substance is discussed and the group departs.
The group checks out the rest of the library and finds two more ghost-like creatures like they had found in the dining room but chooses to ignore them for now, given the bad experience when they attacked the dining room ghosts.
Then they search the rest of the east wing of the second floor. They find and destroy another wight.
In the last room, they find a possible void and search for secret doors. They do not find any leading directly into the void but Drogo finds a secret door in the outer wall. Upon opening it, a very narrow passage within the walls is revealed. Drogo is the only one who can fit without taking off all his armor (besides Rufus who cannot see in the dark) so he investigates and finds that it leads to the void where a spiral stair leads down. The stairs lead down to the first level to a room with no apparent exit to that level. The stairs also continue down.
The group doffs their armor and squeezes through the narrow passage, making multiple trips in order to have all of their gear in the room on the first level, where they don their armor again and put on their backpacks.
GM: This is where we stopped for the night.
GM: I awarded 1600 EXP for the night.
10/12/2023 (GM-Steve)
Drogo and Erendriel scout down the creaky spiral staircase and find another passage at the bottom. Ten feet away from the stair, at an "L" intersection, stands a robed skeleton wearing armor and holding both a shield and a longsword. Drogo reports what he sees. The skeleton does not move.
The group formulates a plan to have Drogo and Rufus move past it to attack from the other side of the "L" intersection while Quent uses Lanita's mace, and his brawling skill to attack. The skeleton attacks Drogo has he moves past. Rufus blinks past and the battle is joined. It is a difficult battle but the group prevails. Folis cast a few fire bolts at it from the stairs but was in turn attacked by magic missiles from the skeleton even as it fought in melee against Quent, Rufus and Drogo.
With the skeleton defeated, Rufus checked for magic and determined that the crown it was wearing was magical (level 1 on a scale of 1 to 3).
The group checked both doors in the passage. One was marked "Throne Room" and had a plaque below it that said "Abase thee all who enter". The group decided to check the other door first. It led to a small bed chamber. The group decided to rest for the night. They used the bedroll and Lanita's Accelerated Healing spells to good effect and, after about 11 hours, everyone was ready to go.
The door to the throne room was not locked. The group opened it and saw a massive throne in one corner on which was seated another skeleton wearing armor as well as robes and cloak. It too had a large round shield and a longsword. It was clearly animate but it did not rise to attack. Kano tried to speak to it but received no answer. He bowed low and entered. Others followed. The skeleton simply seemed to watch them.
The group decided to destroy the skeleton and began discussing tactics. When they started casting their first spell, the skeleton disappeared from the throne and appeared near the back of the group and attacked Lanita.
The group maneuvered around and eventually got to a situation similar to the battle with the first skeleton when Quent, now under the effect of a potion of hill giant strength, attacked from one side and Drogo and Rufus from the other. In addition to his sword, the skeleton also used magic each round. It cast a Wall of Ice to block off much of the group in the back. It cast a power word, kill on Quent but Quent made his save and only took 40 damage instead of being killed.
This is where we stopped for the night. The battle is still ongoing.
GM: Everyone can have 1700 EXP for last night.
10/19/2023 (GM-Steve)
The battle against the robed skeleton continued. The skeleton was surrounded by a fear field but both Rufus and Drogo made their saves while Quent failed. The effect was that Quent was much more wary (-10 to SC and DEF, but did not run away). Meanwhile, the rest of the group was trapped behind a magical wall of ice. Lanita attacked the ice wall with her mace, to no avail. Kano attacked it with his ice pick but also was not able to damage it. Only Folis was able to make an effect with a fire bolt but it was not enough to break through the wall.
Then Beni cast a Passwall spell that bypassed the wall. Kano came out first and helped against the skeleton as Quent was on his last legs (very badly wounded). The skeleton turned its attention from Quent to Kano. Kano failed his save vs the fear field so had the same sense of wariness as Quent but still managed to hit it. The skeleton attempted twice to dispel the passwall but failed both attempts. Then it finally went down with a hit from Drogo.
The group made sure the skeleton would not rise again. They removed its magical longsword and shield. Rufus also detected that the cloak it was wearing was also magical. The group took all three items but did not wield or wear any of them. Then they retreated to do some healing.
An hour later, the passwall spell went down. Almost an hour after that, the wall of ice vanished and the group returned to the throne room. Rufus determined that the throne was magical. He thought that maybe something would happen if someone sat on the throne for at least 10 to 20 minutes. Kano volunteered while Rufus continued to watch the magic of the throne. After a minute or so however, he thought that whatever was happening was something bad and Kano quickly abandoned the throne.
Lanita cast an Augury and determined that sitting in the throne would be beneficial. So Kano tried again, this time with Beni watching with power perception active. He watched for 10 minutes and saw the magic of the throne working and he also saw when it finished just as his power perception time ran out. Whatever was going to happen had happened but Kano did not feel any different. He tried looking around the dungeon level but nothing had changed. Finally the group decided that everyone would sit in the throne for 10 minutes since Lanita's augury indicated a beneficial effect.
Meanwhile, Erendriel and Drogo found a secret door behind the throne. It led to a very narrow dirt passage shored up with wooden timbers. Drogo and Rufus investigated. It led to the edge of the mound on which the keep had been built, opening about 30 feet above the moor. It was misty outside but nevertheless, Drogo could see at least a dozen campfires scattered around the moors to the north of the keep. He saw human-sized shadows moving amongst the campfires.
He reported back to the group. The group was unsure what to make of this development.
The group returned to the second level and began to search some of the unexplained voids. They found that one was boarded up. Where a door had once been had been boarded over. Kano used his pick to open up the entrance. Beyond was a small room with two dusty chairs and a massive covered picture frame dominating the opposite wall. Rufus did not see any magic. When Kano tried to peek behind the cover over the frame, the entire cover came off the frame revealing a picture of a young woman. There was nothing magical. Kano speculated that maybe the young woman was an early love of Tytus Borno and something happened to her so he boarded up the room. In any event, the group found nothing of interest to them and departed.
Then they ran into the other group of adventurers. Narthus saw them and asked to talk. Narthus explained that he and his group was on the point of departure from the keep when they noticed that the keep was surrounded by campfires. They scouted it out and determined that an army of goblins had apparently moved in and set up camp in the moors, assisted by a group of troglodyte scouts.
Narthus said that he and his group would set up camp in the lower level library and, when the group was ready to go, maybe the could combine forces and resources to break past the goblin army.
The group checked out three void areas in the upper library but found nothing. Then they headed towards a void in the east wing. Erendriel and Drogo both noticed a secret door in the room. Kano opened the door and stuck his head in to see what he could see. He was almost overwhelmed by feelings of intense dread and quickly backed away, leaving the secret door opened. He did not get a very good look into the room before backing away.
Lanita cast a remove fear spell, a bless spell and a protection from evil spell on him and he moved up again. This time he was completely overwhelmed by the feelings of dread.
GM: This is where we stopped for the night.
GM: Everyone can have 1700 EXP for last night.
10/26/2023 (GM-Steve)
With a crazed look in his eyes, Kano turns and attacks Quent. Quent backs away out of the room, as do the others in the group but Kano continues to follow and attack (pushing every attack). Then Drogo moves up and attacks with his hammer trying to do mostly NL damage. Beni attacks with an enchanted sleep spell but it fails. Then Lanita casts a Torchlight spell on Kano's eyes and blinds him. After that, Drogo and Folis knock him unconscious, aided by the fact that Kano was strongly exerting himself (pushing) with every attack.
Once he is down, they take away his weapons and shield. While he is out, Beni casts a wizard eye spell to look into the room that caused Kano to become crazed. Looking through the wizard eye does not negatively affect Beni but he sees nothing in the room except a stone shelf built into the far corner on which sets an old coffer. Beni casts a telekinesis spell and, working through his wizard eye, manages to use the spell to grab the coffer and bring it into the other room.
Erendrial checks it for traps and then Folis opens it. It is filled with small bones that Quent later identifies as human finger bones. Drogo counts 37 of them. The coffer is not magical but all of the finger bones are.
When Kano comes around about 20 minutes later, he is no longer crazed but has no memories of what happened.
The group discusses their next move. They consider trying to rest for the night but think that may not be a good idea with the goblin army surrounding the keep. The goblins might choose to enter in force. Instead, they retreat to the workshop on the third floor where Kano builds a device that the group can use to block sight of the magical symbol in the lower level bedroom that caused so much pain to Quent and Lanita earlier. They come up with a plan and then put it to work.
Beni opens the door a little (since it was sealed shut by his own mage lock spell) and then Quent and Kano force it the rest of the way. Folis charges in holding the framework to block sight of the symbol. Erendriel is right behind him with a couple of poles that she plans to use to anchor the device in place once Folis gets it to the symbol. Folis, carrying the device, climbs onto the back of the bed and walks across to the back wall where the symbol is know to be located, followed by Erendriel.
Meanwhile, Erendriel also noted the presence of three wights who begin to move to attack. Kano and Quent entered right behind Erendrial and move to intercept the wights. Drogo follows.
The battle ensues but, at the end of the first round, the canvas blocking view of the symbol blazes hotly and then collapses to ashes, revealing the symbol for all to see. However, there is no negative effect on anyone for viewing it. The group also notes that they are not sustaining any CON or STR drain from the attacking undead. Kano suggests that it might be the effect of sitting on the throne. They knew there was supposed to be an effect to sitting on the throne for 10 minutes, so everyone did so, but the group never figured out the effect - until now.
GM: This is where we stopped for the night. The battle is ongoing. The group has taken out one of the wights while Lanita managed to turn one of the Shadows. Also, the other group, resting in the library, heard the sounds of the battle and have joined in, assisting the group against the undead.
GM: Everyone can have 1700 EXP for last night.
11/02/2023 (GM-Steve)
The battle continued. The group was doing well until the two ghost from the upper library descended into the battle. The shadow that Lanita had previously turned also returns. The library ghosts were very difficult. Kano and Quent both went down, though much of their damage was non-lethal since the negative energy attacks were converted to non-lethal damage. Folis hit one with a firebolt and then they defeated one of them. Beni went down and then Drogo went down but then Folis finished off the remaining library ghost with an impressive hit and decapitated the ghost.
By this time, all of the other undead had already been destroyed, some with the assistance of the other group.
This is where we finished for the night. Delwin offered to do first aid on everyone.
--First Aid--
Beni [rolled 117, wound bound and healed 4 points]
Drogo [rolled 117, wound bound and healed 2 points]
Erendriel [rolled 120, wound bound and healed 8 points]
Folis [rolled 234, wound bound and healed 3 points]
Kano [rolled 71, wound bound, no healing]
Lanita [rolled 64, wound bound, no healing]
Quent [rolled 72, wound bound, no healing]
Rufus [rolled 49, wound bound, no healing]
By the time first aid is done, everyone has recovered their non-lethal damage and endurance.
GM: Everyone can have 2500 EXP for last night.
11/09/2023 (GM-Steve)
Now that the undead have been eliminated from the manor, it is time to depart. The problem is the goblin encampments encircling the manor out in the moors. Helping the group is that it is still quite misty outside. It is also well after dark.
Lanita has the idea of asking Narthus and Delwin for help in identifying some of the magic items they found (using artifact lore, not identification rituals). Narthus says that the cloak that the group found on the skeletal creature on the throne is something called a Black Cloak. He recalls that it is quite magical but doesn't recall much more.
More importantly, he is able to identify the magical finger bones that the group found in a coffer in the room where Kano started attacking the group. They are a necromantic item known as Finger Bones. When activated, they turn into undead skeletons who attack the nearest living creature. Narthus says that he is able to activate the items but doesn't know if anyone else can.
With this knowledge, and lots of discussion, the group finally settles on a simple "break-out" plan. They will extinguish all of their lights and exit by the path through the moors. If they come upon a group of goblins, Narthus will toss handfuls of finger bones to keep them busy while the group continues moving. The group will avoid getting into a fight, which will give more distant goblins time to join in. Two of the group - Beni and Drogo - are already badly wounded and there is no healing left.
The group puts their plan into action. They exit the manor and descend the mound into the moors. They follow the path to the west, then the north and then the east, circling the mound on which the keep is built. It is then that they run into a group of goblins. Rufus is in the lead and engages the first one, just keeping him busy and not committing to an attack as the group runs by. Folis does the same to the next one and Narthus tosses finger bones to where other goblins can be heard. Meanwhile, some goblin archers begin shooting but most of their missiles miss.
The group keeps moving and not attacking. Individual goblins score some minor hits as the group runs by while the larger groups are keep busy fighting skeletons that suddenly appear in their midst, courtesy of the finger bones that Narthus is throwing and activating.
The group gets past the goblins and run on towards the village. The village is keeping a strong and alert watch since the presence of the goblins is known to them. They let the group pass and tell them that if the alarm bells start ringing, it means that the goblins are attacking.
The group checks into the inn again and speaks with Jansen and Lornali Borno. Narthus, Delwin and the two fighters check in separately. The group tells the Bornos of their adventures and lets them know the keep has been cleared of undead. Jansen Borno's only concern has to do with Narthus and his team. They were clearly there looking for something but then they met the group and were ready to go. That would seem to indicate that they found what they were looking for - perhaps their uncle's famed spell books. The group agrees that Narthus probably did find them and that explained why they were ready to go while the group was still searching the keep.
Jansen pays the group the 1,000 silver promised to them and tells them and he and his wife will be remaining here but they can take the coach back to Saltmarsh in the morning.
In the morning, the goblins have decamped and departed the moors, heading north.
Drogo has been fully healed by morning, courtesy of the magical bedroll. Beni is sleeping in it when the group is ready to depart so they carry him, still in the bedroll, to the coach. Kano and Folis take turns driving the wagon back to Saltmarsh.
The group reaches Saltmarsh with no issue and rejoins the Sea Ghost. Lorcan and Wiley help them identify the remaining magical items they had found. The magical items are distributed as follows:
- +1 Ring of Defense (Quent)
- Ring of Positive Energy (Kano)
- Borno Crown - (+1 PROT, +1 CHA, 4 hour attunement, no roll required) (Lanita)
- Black Cloak (Beni)
- Periapt of Health (Rufus)
- Periapt of Proof Against Poison (+15 to saves) (Erendriel)
- Periapt of Wound Closure (Folis)
GM: I awarded everyone 3000 EXP for the final adventure session. I am also going to award each character a stat bonus. Choices are below:
- Beni - +1 STR or +1 CHA
- Drogo - +1 INT or +1 MA
- Erendriel - +1 STR or +1 CON
- Folis - +1 WP or +1 CHA
- Kano - +1 KNOW or +1 KNOW
- Lanita - +1 STR or +1 MA
- Quent - +1 KNOW or +1 WP
- Rufus - +1 KNOW or +1 KNOW
DROGO: Drogo will take the +1 INT |
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