2024 Campaign Adventure 14

Plot:

Recovery

Taking stock of what they had and their injuries the party decided that they needed to rest until the banquet. Getting ready Kai prepared several spells in case they would come into use at the feast – the anticipation in that the meat was poisoned or tainted. However with rest came the realisation of what he had lost – his arm hung limp by his side and broken in several places with the splints that Hilder had used on his destroyed arm. The realisation that Frost thorn was also gone came hard as he had no other weapon except for a few daggers.

This made the first stop they went to being the Local Smith. Anne was there and after a short moment she produced a short sword that would serve the goblin well. After a plan was discussed they left for Tom, the Mayors, house where the feast was about to be on the way. They were met with a large line where all the villagers of Fustmach were excitedly wondering which of their favourite meals would be present. At the door the guards asked the party to surrender their weapons but, after some persuading and Tom vouching for them they were let in with their weapons on the condition that they don’t cause a fuss.

The Feast Hall

The hall was adorned with Dwarven memorabilia. Shields, dwarven axes, statues and the like adorned the walls and made the once-dwarven barracks feel very homely. The room was buzzing with voices and merriment as nearly the entire village crammed together into the large room to partake in the weekly feast, a way of giving thanks to the townsmen.

The food was piled high on plates across the tables with steaming heaps of cut meat, roast, boiled and grilled vegetables and as much ale as anyone could drink. Tom sat up the end of the table and watched with satisfaction at the attendance and the joy that everyone was succumbing to. However the party, Kai in question, noticed that the life sized dwarven statue at the end of the room behind Tom looked identical to the statue of King Boralis the 3rd they found in the mines.

Kai snuck under the table, pretending to drop a spoon, and cast purify food and drink on the food able them before crawling back out. Tom opened the feast with a speech, paying homage to the dwarves who once tended this land, the people who made the village as successful as it is now and to those that they had lost along the way. He then lit some incense and asked everyone to begin the feast.

Hungry Work

The party immediately watched as the village filled their hands with food and ate voraciously. The party followed suit and found out that the food was well cooked and delicious, however all was not what it seemed. As they ate Kai, Groku and Armaeth shrugged off an oily, hungry presence that reached out to their minds and they watched with horror as Tater became more voracious in how he ate and drank.

The entire room grabbed fistfuls of food and mugful’s of ale and consumed them at a horrendous pace. Something wasn’t right and the magic that was cast upon them had taken tater completely over. As the panic of the situation set in and the feasting became more depraved and voracious the party turned to physically attacking their ally, Tater, in an attempt to get him to snap out of the magical influence. However this drew the attention of Tom.

“My friends, let’s continue to feast!” he called out once realising that some were not under the magical influence and in doing so a vibrant lightshow appeared in the centre of the room. Immediately everyone, except for Kai due to his fey heritage, became enthralled. Thinking quickly the Goblin stamped on the injured foot (due to Kai stabbing it with a dagger) and broke him out of the spell, which in doing so caused Tom to become aware that his plan had failed.

“It seems that some people here do not like to feast or show gratitude to their host.” he chided as his body began to swell and shift into a large, bloated ogre-esque form.

The food fight

Kai began bolting to the door hitting the hypnotised Groku with a hypnotised Armaeth to wake them both up. As they stirred Tater, noticing the shifting of form of Tom, roared a battle cry and rushed at Tom. This changed Kais plan to flee instantly.

First up Kai rushed at Tom and threw a dagger, hitting true and embedding the dagger into his body. He then watched as Tater tried to bring the large man down, but his swing was wide (not surprising for someone who nearly ate and drank his own body weight a few moments ago). Groku called her axe to her hand from the front door – the ring of magnetism coming very handy as it managed to cut one of the guards that was rushing to apprehend the party. Armaeth tried to blind Tom with one of her poisoned arrows but it failed to take hold.

The enlarged Tom scooped up his villagers and carefully placed them on a table before picking up the bench with his right hand before bringing it down towards tater, narrowly missing the dwarf. Kai took this as an opportunity and rushed up the bench, retrieving a vial of light from his pack before smashing into the eyes of Tom hoping to blind him. The goblin finishing his ploy jumped backward expecting a three point land, but slipped on the table of potatoes, gravy and meat and thudded down on the wood. The light that radiated from the monstrosities face was blinding in close proximity and after a moment of staggering around while Tater dealt a massive blow from psionic-infused axe.

Groku was stabbed by one of the guards before she started to make short work of her assailants, deciding to render them unconscious instead of killing them outright. Kai and Tater had no such dilemma’s as they Kai darted outwards and slashed at the large figures legs before hiding under a table. That’s when he noticed Tom sniffing loudly, his head turning to track the goblins movement. It appears that not all his senses were hindered.

This is why we can’t go nice places…

In preparation after noticing his sense of smell was unhindered Kai used his one remaining hand to stow his dagger and prepare to go primitive. Preparing his hand to be a vessel for goblin filth that would produce a smell so foul that it would render the sense of smell of the large man useless. That was until he felt the tentacle like appendage of the man reach out and wrap around him, pinning Kais hand to his body and down the rear of his trousers.

Hearing his friends cries as the tentacle wrapped around him, Tater created a forcefield around the goblin preventing most of the crushing damage. However he should have saved it for himself as the entire wooden bench crashed down upon him – the axe taking most of the blow but it staggered the might dwarf. Taking a moment to breath and bolster his second wind he noticed that Groku was nearly done with her assailants so he struck another massive force-infused blow from his axe.

Tom staggered before raising the helpless Kai into the air and bashing him into the floor and ceiling. Groku knocked out another assailant with a skilled shield bash before Tater, enraged, swung a little too wild and missed the abomination. Growing tired of the dwarf and goblin Tom threw his captive across the room, crashing into Groku before trying to beat in the dwarves head with the bench again. However he had now freed his prisoner. Bolstering his reserve the, admittedly, filthy goblin threw his foul ordinance at the face of the hulking figure and struck true. The smell being so rank from a nearly-carnivorous goblins diet that he lost his greatest sense – the sense of smell.

Tom flailed around trying to see his assailants but now blind and unable to smell he ended up grabbing his own villagers, his treasured people and began pulverising them thinking them his assailants. The rest of the conscious guards ceased to fight and began to waiver as they watched, in their mid their kindly mayor kill their friends.

Soon the entire party was cutting, hacking or stabbing into Tom and several more villagers fell to their blind and enraged mayor. But the spell holding them hypnotised was over and they began to flee in panic. Groku rushed in and with a brutal horizontal slashed she opened the chest of the monstrous Mayor and he fell, defeated at last.

While Tater tried to calm the villagers, Kai rushed off to loot… Classic goblin… He pocketed anything that his one arm and one pouch could carry including a few well made blades (two long swords, a scimitar and four daggers) as well as several golden rings and various gold coins.

Tater investigated the golden statue and confirmed, with a touch and re-possession, that it was the source of the voracious hunger. After Kai returned from scouting the rather clean looking kitchen, despite the slabs of questionable meat, the party exposed the mayor to the people of Fustmach, revealing his true form to them all who once interacting with his bloated form broke the illusion.

Tater then decided to try and pry off a bit of the gold statue and in doing so, broke his axe – the one his father had helped him forge. After Hilder was requested to leave and return to remove the curse on the statue John, the Halfling that ran the Fat Sow Inn returned and identified the meat in the kitchen to be humanoid in origin. This revelation the party deemed not urgent to reveal to the people of Fustmach. They then explored the last remaining door out of the kitchen and revealed a tunnel that had been bored into the mountain. Following it along the air became colder and frigid and eventually they came to a large, vertical, circular hole through the stone. A hoist and platform had been created here and John and the party descended into the cavern.

The source of the meat was revealed. At the bottom of the lift was cages filled with deceased humanoids, orcs, gnolls and kobolds primarily who were preserved in the cold of the cavern. In one corner a pile of possessions and belongings had been piled up and at the end of the cavernous space was a thin passage that was lined with stalagmites and stalactites.

Main NPCs:

Sidekicks

2024 Campaign Adventure 13

Plot:

Morning

Taking precautions after the run in with John – the halfling who ran the Fat Sow Inn and after checking for secret doors or ways into their room that they had been provided at the Inn they settled in for the night. Groku and Kai took the bed after Kai tried to sell the fact that they were all a married couple. It was not that convincing.

In the morning Kai was provided a different breakfast to straight pork and both Tater and Kai made their way to the mines to fill in the day before the feast that night. Meeting with Tom at the entrance of the mines, he was examining the ore production very closely, they proceeded to travel down the mines – but they were warned that some of the mine tunnels had pockets of dangerous holes so they had to be careful. Still suspicious of the Mayor they insisted on going alone and they were encouraged to do so. A dwarfs desire to explore his ancestors mining halls after all is something that they wanted.

The main entrance to the mine had three main tunnels. A old dwarven one that was not used at all on the far left of the entrance, the furthest right one was very active with miners and the one in the middle was not active, but it had some footprints that led into the depths which was a bit suspicious. But to explore Taters heritage they went down the old dwarven tunnels. For a few hundred feet they gradually descended until they came to flatter and less twisty tunnel. The air was danker and more stale down here but they continued along until they came to another three tunnels.

The Tunnels

The first tunnel was caved in but the other two seemed to go on some distance, branching out further into the darkness. The torchlight dimmed somewhat from the stale air but it wasn’t concerning. Examining the cave in Tater determined that it wasn’t naturally done, it was deliberate or, at least, blocked off on purpose. Feeling around two of the larger stones shifted with very little effort, a weighted mechanism that allowed two rocks to shift and then re join with the rest of the barricade to appear as if it was always closed.

On the other side of the secret door/ false cave in was a consecrated room dedicated to King Boralis the 3rd. A large stone slab that was positioned in front of the statue of the king. The room had four large shelf-like recesses in the walls with a few dwarven items laying in dust. A dwarven hand-axe, a few vases and pots that appeared as though they were placed, rather than left here. Another oddity was that the tunnel in which they came from appeared to have been dug into this room rather than from this room. This meant that who ever dug into here wasn’t the people who dug out.

After a while searching around they found that the table could be pushed towards the statue which unlocked a seamless door behind the statue. What was revealed on the other side left them confused and daunted.

A epically large cavern greeted them with large carved pillars that looked like they supported the roof (which was far enough that their torch light and darkvision could not detect) greeted them, as did the fact that nearly the entire cavern floor was gone. A grand chasm spread in all directions which, after investigating appeared to be related to ancient acid-pox markings on the rock as well as a 10ft hole that was bored in the roof.

The Bat

Using the magical but not yet defined bracers Kai climbed to the ceiling, in a way that spider man would, and made it to the hole clutching a torch in between his legs just in time for a huge bat with 30ft wings to fly out of the darkness to attack him. Kai instinctively used his bracer to launch himself into the hole and Tater launched an arrow that grazed the mammoth mammal but it was too late, the bat had found his prey. Latching to the cavern roof the creature used its clawed hand to grapple onto the goblin and only the bracer, and a series of three ropes tied to the goblin (as the ceiling was 150ft in the air) prevented it from taking off with him. However the true nature of the gauntlet was about to be revealed as it was being used past its limit.

After heated back-and-forth between bat, dwarf, human and goblin Kai was released and plummeted. Tater readied his psionic powers to catch and pull the goblin toe safety but not before the bat attacked again, attempting to grapple and bite the goblin mid flight. Several panicked moments later, and after Kai plummeted onto the bat to stab at it with his sword and his bracer’s metal vines, he fell within reach of Taters magic.

Groku making good use of her Ring of Magnetism when she threw her battle axe to lash at the bat, only for the weapon to fly back into her hands. Armaeth was clinging onto Kai after bathing her, the bat and the goblin in faerie fire and Tater caught the falling goblin and he managed to barely land him on solid ground. Kai was not in a well shape but there was another problem. The bat was tangled in the 150ft of rope that connected all three of them.

After another frantic moment of cutting ropes and Kai expending all his lay on hands charges, they watched the bat fall into the darkness. Except they didn’t just watch.

Kai used his bracers again and, without knowing how they truly work, expected the bat to be pulled to him. Instead he was flung onto the back of the bat. Who in its panic to untangle itself from the rope was not aware of the hitch hiker. Tater and Groku watched on with exasperation as the Bat flew off with the goblin on its back after they had expended nearly everything to get him safely back onto ground. But there was more.

Kai experienced the magical backlash of the gauntlets as they were pushed beyond their limit – causing him to sacrifice his life essence, a single hit dice, to sustain the bracers grip on the bat. However he didn’t release the bat or hide amongst its thick fur. Oh no he decided to try and tame the bat much like the wolf from just a night ago. Aware of the goblin the bat flew high into caver to allow it to use its clawed wings to untangle itself from the snack. Tater, Groku and Armaeth watched in horror as their ally was too far for them to do anything other than shoot with heavy crossbow.

As the fight continued the goblin landed a few small attacks on the bat, enough to make it weary of the fight. However it was all over when the magical backlash of the bracers occurred again and Kai had a terrifying realisation when his life force was ripped out of him, another 2 hit dice…, he was going to die. The bat pulled the goblin off its back before Kai released the bracer, not wanting to find out what happens when the bracer pulls the last of his energy out. The bat swooped and narrowly missed the goblin before in a moment of luck the goblin grappled with the furred creature again. But there was only soo much that could be done as the bat grabbed Kai, Kai impaled the bat with Frost Thorn before, having enough and valuing its own life, the bat flung the goblin at the far cavern wall.

In a moment of instinct Kai used the bracer to attempt to slow his fall to the bottom of the cavern wall on a ledge before the chasm, but the magical backlash was too much and a price was paid as he was pulled unconscious. The other party members watched horrified a the glowing bat (from faerie fire) flew off to his home to lick its wounds while the goblin was thrown against the wall and disappeared into the darkness. As Tater rushed to try and find a way to his ally he attempted to climb for the first time, and the properties of the magical belt he wore was realised. He could climb as easily as walking. After a frantic dash across the cavern wall he found Kai, the goblin… breathing but broken. One arm hung limp and mangled but he was stable. Forcing a healing potion into the goblin Tater managed to rouse him enough to tie him to his back before carrying him back to Groku and Armaeth who had been instructed to wait behind.

After they had made it across the chasm the realisation of Kai’s arm, limp and unresponsive, as well as that in the unconscious state, the impact from the wall and the fall to the ledge Kai had lost Frost Thorn somewhere in the darkness of the yawning cavern.

Fustmach again

Making their way back they met with a miner who was sent to find them as well as the mayor, Tom, who was worried. They told them about the giant bat which both miner and mayor seemed excited for as they had lost some miners down a few of these tunnels – them and all rescue parties were never seen again.

Tom took the party to see Hilder, the towns healer who quickly patched and cleaned up Kai, the only one to suffer damage, who also was shocked when Kai didn’t realise his left arm was shattered and broken in many places. The limpness seemed toe be a new feature for the Goblin. After provided with clothes that hadn’t been ripped apart from a huge bat the party considered their options. They had to go to the feast tonight to try and work out what happened to the other agent of their order, Fredrickson. However, they were in no state to be doing such a thing.

What ever would they do?

Main NPCs:

Sidekicks

2024 Campaign Adventure 10

Plot:

Daybreak

The party started with a humble meal of cured pork, bacon, and bread as they geared up to face the cold outside of the Inn. As they bid farewell to Daryll at the Snowtown Inn, and its newly fixed door they head towards the witches hut again to see if their assumption was correct. Crunching through the snow the new day held promise of snow, funnily enough for Snowtown, but it was still sunny enough that the hoard of snowmen that waited in the shade of the trees for them to be foolish enough to enter the tree line.

However Kai began to cast Toll the Dead and as the snowmen began to drop as the party moved on the snowmen crept deeper into the wood outside of the range of the spell. Reaching the old witches hut they asked Armaeth to scout out the old Willow tree in the forest and to look for a path towards it where they didn’t have to wade through the snowmen. While the fairy was gone they confirmed, as best to their knowledge, that the willow wood they burnt and turned to charcoal yesterday was the same as the ones they found in the hut which they believed was used for rituals for creating snowmen.

When they waited long enough a shriek for help sounded from outside. Rushing out they saw that Armaeth was being chased by a giant snowy owl. Quickly thinking they dispatched it with a crossbow bolt and a well placed hand-axe. After retrieving what they could, the axe and a single bolt, they found out from Armaeth’s scouting that there was a way to the tree that had been cleared from the forest.

The Willow Tree, The Bear and the Fight

Walking to the tree wasn’t a difficult task but it was made more tiresome from the thick snow and increasing slope to the hill. Eventually making it to where a path was cleared to the Willow tree they investigated the area – looking for clues to Aster or the source of the snowmen. After much investigation, and Kai talking to the woods, Tater discovered large booted footprints, much larger than a normal humans, as well as large beast pawprints. Following these from the Willow tree, where it looked like several straight limbs were removed carefully, they found that the tracks lead upwards towards the Goliaths sacred hill, the hut and the quarry.

Walking in the path of the two monstrously large tracks that head up the path they eventually spotted the hut. Approaching it carefully, with a sanctuary spell ready to be cast, they were shocked to see a very obedient large polar bear sitting next to the hut with a small covering in snow. A booming voice called for Kirilla – the bear responded, and a nine foot Goliath exited the hut to talk to the party.

The Goliath discussed the odd occurrences that were happening and that their tribe was currently recovering from a heated encounter with the snow-abominations at the ancient Quarry. Asking if they could get assistance from the Large man, Gordak, he deferred to Felicia – the Chiefs daughter and his current hunt-leader. Felicia then appeared, as if summoned, to dissuade and reinforce that the party was not allowed in their village – as it was sacred to their kind.

Instead they brokered for two things – an escort and guide to the quarry (where they suspect they will find Astra and the source of the snowmen) and, more importantly, Tater won a brawl with the Goliath. After only two rounds of beating the Goliath – and dealing a few good blows himself, Tater was knocked unconscious by his towering foe. With some healing they sat down to a meagre stew that was made from venison the goliaths hunted as well as vegetables that Tater offering as a barter for the guide to the quarry.

The Quarry

Moving from here, and discussing landmarks and history of the area the party eventually came across the Ancient Snowtown Quarry. The goliaths let them wander in but stood watchful to see if they could best what a hunting party could manage. As Kai, Groku, Armaeth (hiding in Taters beard) and Tater stalked through the quarry around the trees, rocks and mounds of snow a ill-timed slip from Groku caused human sized constructs to rise from the snow and attack ferociously.

The battle was ferocious as four Snowcraft Guardians attacked the party. Tater managed to down them by sacrificing accuracy for power, but he was quickly surrounded by three of these constructs. Eventually their club like fists slammed and razor sharp ice-claws cut Tater until he was within an inch of his life. However Kai, who was heroically casting Toll the Dead from a ‘tactical’ range engaged in the melee and healed Tater – saving his life. But the battle was not over and Groku also suffered several wounds.

As the last guardian fell one of the now dying cores began to inch its way towards the cavern – the cave in below the cavern where a now-frozen waterfall had cut its way through the stone and snow and revealed a cavern below. After receiving a salute from the Goliaths the party collapsed from exhaustion and prepared for the next step in their adventure.

Creatures:

Terrain / Maps

The below have been created to be printed on an A4 sheet of paper. This creates a cheap and effective way to give depth and scale to players while not taking away from the tactical view of the game.

Main NPCs:

Sidekicks

2024 Campaign Adventure 9

Plot:

Dawn at Snowtown

The dawn started on a different note. Tater finally having fallen asleep with his armour off spent 30 minutes checking the armour and donning it after a long time of wearing it on the road. Kai having wrapped himself up in blankets and forming a little nest in the rented room in which to keep warm and to block out the light.

Downstairs breakfast of nearly-stale bread and salted pork greeted them as Snowtown was a little short on supplies. After a short discussion about where to begin the party, Tater, promised to help fix the door he destroyed last night and they decided to go investigate the old witches hut as it wasn’t that far away. Pushing forward they were warned to stay out of the forest that borders the Gritch mountains.

Leaving the Tavern they ran into an older woman who told them the history of the snowmen. They were left as an offering, a recognition of the bargain and agreement that the town had made with the Goliaths that lived to the North. The deal was for the people to not trespass, not hunt the creatures in the mountains and in doing so the Goliaths will barter with them and protect the valley from threats to it and thus Snowtown. Due to this the town has experienced a mostly peaceful existence.

Approaching the crest of the hill that lay east of the town the party saw the forest that they were warned about. Hundreds of snowmen stood under the tress in different forms, appearances and dresses. But approaching them the sheer volume of them causes Kai to bring Tater back to the non-shadowed area and towards the witches cabin.

The cabin itself was ruined. A large hole in the roof let the weather through that had appeared to ruin most of the insides. The door out front lay off its hinges and old herbs, plants and even an long-dead creatures hunt from hooks and ropes attached to the roof. Inside a table had bowls of materials, an open book and a small cauldron of highly dense coal. A bed to the right of the cabin had more herbs hanging from the roof but the rest of the room lay in ruin.

Investigating the room, Tater found the coal and realised it was charcoal – but much harder and denser. Kai with Armaeth’s help read the page the book was open to and understood it to be guiding the reader to binding a recently lost spirit to an object. Meant as a way to preserve someone from dying the spell was a very advanced one at that.

Reading further into the book the coal was identified as a means to bind a small ritual to, a spell to create. Taking this info (the small cauldron of charcoal and the book), and the stocktake of crushed quarts and gypsum (that Kai threw away) they began to move back home after Tater set fire to some Willow they found by the fire. Preparing it to try and create charcoal to compare it with the one found in the cauldron.

Avalanche

As they waded through the knee high snow they, Kai and Groku, noticed a rumbling. Looking towards the mountain they spotted to large figures standing at the crest of the ridge – goliaths. However the snow between them was moving at a quick pace and the surface of the snow was rolling towards them in little balls.

As the party tried to flee to the town to avoid the avalanche of snowballs it became evident something wasn’t right. Tater and Kai were knocked down from the snow, Armaeth flew high above it all and Groku braced and weathered the avalanche. But, the snowballs began to race towards them and started to encompass them with icy psuedopods.

The battle was intense with each member in the group, except Armaeth, being grappled, restrained and then smothered by dozens of animated snowballs. But eventually the numbers dwindled and a lucky sleep spell (that removed a few from play) they made their escape.

Upon reaching the town they found out that a familiar name now, Penny Cartwright, was the last to see the Goliaths and would be the best person to talk to regarding their actions. They also learnt about another girl who had gone missing, Aster, who had moved in from Warrendeep a year or so ago. When they got to Cartwrights they purchased the required iron to mend the tavern door and enquired about the book, the hut and Aster.

Aster had been in love with Mark Kenderson, a handsome hunter who had been missing the last two weeks (the same amount of time as Aster). The two had been brief lovers with Aster preaching to the town that she had a way to make their lives easier, saving them time and making them more gold from their sales. However Mark and his friends had tricked Aster and she had been left heart broken and enraged. Penny also told the party how Aster had bought a great many books, and some materials from her regarding the casting of magic.

It was later revealed as they went to investigate Aster’s house that Marks friends had been assaulted by Aster when they had antagonised her and threaten her to leave Mark alone. She had bludgeoned them with, later revealed, a pestle which had left them bruised a month later. Since then she had withdrew and no one knew where she or Mark were now.

Investigating the house they found a ripped up dress or skirt with a few lengths of fabric torn off it and a secret compartment in the bedroom floor boards that once held a journal or notebook. After that they returned back to the tavern to prepare for the coming days.

Main NPCs: