Still Day 227 (28th of Sunsebb)
We return to our heroes in peril.
But Dounil does have his Ring of Invisibility, somewhat compensating for AC of 7. There are now 10 brigands in the corridor, 3 to enter each room and attack and 2 more to follow each of those sets up. They are footmen and the sets of 3 are being led by the lieutenants. The brigands roll better initiative, even over Celest’s bonus.
R1, no blows penetrate Celest’s armour. The lieutenant’s morning star does 1 damage to Dounil, HP 12 -> 11. Celest fails to penetrate the lieutenant’s armour by 1 but kills the 2 footmen in the minute-long back and forth. Dounil slays all assailants.
R2, Winning initiative, the heroes act with Celest going first as usual. She slays the brigand lieutenant before he can act. Dounil run into the corridor, planning on reversing course and activating his ring if he is severely outnumbered. The Fray against 4 level 0s does the work required.
R3, Celest exits her room and they advance to the stairs, the Waterside Hostel full of the brigands: 5 guards with shortbows, 4 crossbowmen, 2 sergeants (with throwing spears) and the leader. The 4 archers are outside watching the windows. The pair are surprised, not by there being foes but the hail of prepared and aimed crossbow bolts and arrows. Dounil is skimmed by a bolt 1, HP 11 -> 10.
Celest fires off a spell Fray as they reload and fire again, killing a crossbowman. The new rain of bolts, arrows and throwing spears begins. Dounil catches an arrow on his shield and is hit by a throwing spear, HP 10 -> 8. Dounil in retaliation uses his magic Fray to kill one of the 1 HD sergeants.
R4, Celest knows they will be caught out here, she charges down into the assembled forces. She is the same level Dounil was when he first fought the brigands. She kills the 5 guards. The brigand sergeant and leader attack her, the crossbowmen keep firing and the archers are called from around the back. They will arrive next round. Neither brigand can get through Celest’s armour and shield. Dounil is skimmed by another bolt, HP 8 -> 7. Dounil throws himself into the fight as well, doing 4 HD of damage and killing the crossbowmen.
R5, As the heroes go first it’s not worth relating how they slew every brigand but the leader, whose platemail deflected their blows. Likewise, Dounil’s shield reflected the longsword.
R6, Celest by spell Fray and a good roll does 5 HD to the leader, HD 6 -> 1. The leader does 2 damage to her, HP 8 -> 6. Dounil fails to hit.
R7, Dounil starts first for a change and promptly blasts the leader with a bolt of arcane energy at point blank range, killing him.
Then all there is to do is clean up and heal. Nulb is used to violence and the atrocities from the temple. The proprietor is compensated by selling the equipment of the brigands to the pirates. Dounil and Celest continue to pay for lodgings and food and shut themselves up in their rooms to bandage and heal. Mother Screng is summoned for foul-smelling herbs (cover to cast her magic) and everyone wisely does not mention that Dounil is clearly the half-elf who earlier in the year slew the prior hostel owner and employees.
The routine is set, after bandaging, HP 7 -> 9, 6 -> 8, Y’dey heals Celest first as she will recover fastest, HP 8 -> 9. She also surreptitiously brings the money from the hoard. 170cp per day. Including hot water to wash out the wounds, clean the clothes and enjoy life a bit in midwinter and 20gp for Otis. Elmo wisely does not ask for pay and is assumed to be living with his brother. Having done nothing (or some it sems) for his employers. And so, marks the end of the year CY 576.
Celest is healed on the 2nd of Needfast. Nulb cannot and does not enjoy such festivities, but it is known that there are fewer bandits on the roads now. Dounil is healed by the 7th of Needlefast, He and Celest joke they don’t know if this is an omen for the Feast of Fools of Saint Cuthbert’s Day of Trials. Celest used the 5 days to peruse Glyrthiel’s spellbook. She learns Friends (AD&D), laughs at finding Read Magic, Shield, Sleep and Unseen Servant (AD&D). Though she jokes about being a more powerful Magic-User than Dounil now for knowing Sleep and Charm Person, learning the last two spells almost wrecked her, rolling 70 out of 75 and 74 out of 75 respectively.
The bill comes to 1190cp for the hostel and 140gp for Otis. Otis gets 14pp and the hostel gets 119sp.
Day 236 (1st of Fireseek CY 577)
They settle the bill again for the previous night (-34sp and 20gp) and many eyes watch the three ride out to the temple that morning. All parts of the Earth Temple are now on alert and no surprise is possible. They arrive at [9:00] and Otis takes the horses, he’ll return to Nulb at [16:00] to beat the darkness.
On the way, Celest mentions that their promissory notes will expire this year. Dounil agrees they should swing by Hardby and Verbobonc to pick up their dues. Rufus and Burne will likely extend any of their notes to use them for training. Elmo said his last report will mean more people should be coming to Hommlet to assist, the next time they visit.
No encounters on the way to the temple or crossing the grounds. Dounil has prepared two counts of Detect Magic and Levitate, Celest has prepared Charm Person again. Advancing down the stairs, they intend to go around where they had been and see if they can come up from another side to complete the eastern side of the ever scrawled and expanding map, probably should deduct 16 gp and 5ep for spare paper and drawing implements. They advance 180 feet before having the rest, NRE x4 [10:00].
Another turn brings them to a junction with a branch going north-east, 1/6 NRE. They take it and another turn of movement brings them into Room 132. Seeing another detritus-strewn room, Dounil casts Detect Magic rather than investigate the piles, revealing a Ring of Shooting Stars. Eager to find something and not to have wasted the magic, they advance to retrieve it, with Celest keeping watch for traps or hidden monsters around them. This was not above them though so on their way out are they ambushed by 18 stirges, which do surprise them.
SR, Dounil is hit by 3 who latch on and suck 3 HP’s worth of blood, HP 22 -> 19. Celest is hit by 1 who sucks 1 HP, HP 14 -> 13.
R1, heroes get initiative and do 10 HD of damage. The 8 stirges flee to the ceiling and the pair get out as fast as possible. Dounil was hoping for something to improve his AC but gladly takes such a source of spells, although limited by the fact they always return before nightfall. They bandage outside, stemming the bleeding, HP 19 -> 21 and HP 13 -> 14 [10:26].
Advancing further, they return and progress up the northward corridor, turning the corner only after Dounil activates his ring to find it progresses northward again. They stop to rest as the corridor takes a sharp western turn and goes south-west, neither think to check for a secret door., NRE x 4 [11:06].
Three more turns take them to the junction where the passage off Room 125 joins the one from Room 130. They turn eastward again, to see if they missed anything in the guards’ room that could have identified them to the temple (no, it’s because they have left enough trail behind them over the last year), NRE x 3. The third turn takes them right into the refurbished Room 130, where the new guards have spent Needlefast eating whatever supplies were left by the last lot and awaiting their coming. The heroes are surprised.
SR, the five guards (not yet up to full strength) pile on with javelins while the fighters emerge to do the same. From the leader Dounil takes 2 damage and from a level 2 fighter, Celest catches the javelin in her armour padding. Dounil takes another 2 damage from one of the level 0 guards, HP 21 -> 17.
R1, Celest goes before anyone else and the solo rules work in her favour as she does 7 HD of damage, killing all the guards and a level 2 fighter. The fighters drop their javelins and draw longswords, none hit Celest but the lone leader cuts Dounil, HP 17 -> 16. Dounil does 3 HD back, HD 4 -> 1.
R2, Celest kills the other level 2 fighter. The leader hits Dounil, HP 16 -> 15 and Dounil kills the rest.
Another bandage and a turn searching the room. HP 15 -> 17 and they find no evidence but piece of parchment, reading in Common: "Remember to check AUGURY CHAMBER to see if Belstro was lying!" This is not productive [11:51]. They decide to rest and I’ll round it to [12:00].
They found no new jewellery or symbols, but the advance pay: 20cp, 35sp, 78ep, 74gp and 69pp. They discuss whether they can wear the robes of the earth temple over their armour. Unaware that others do so, they assume it would be too bulky and reveal the armour underneath.
They spend a turn to advance to the door to Room 133, push it in and be confronted by the alert guards. The heroes have the initiative and since the 4 guards are all level 0, that’s all she wrote 1/6 [12:10].
R2, Arriving in Room 134, the guards were not alerted but surely, they would have heard the fighting. So they are ready but not yet behind the mantle. Celest goes first and while she cannot make it across the room to the mantle, she does use her magic Fray on the crossbowmen and duel the swordsmen. As they are all level 0-she kills 2 crossbowmen and 2 swordsmen. Dounil’s advance is the same, the crossbowmen falling to his magic. The half orc crossbowmen would have surrendered but not for being last in the order.
R3, the guards in Room 135 are still putting on their gear, so when the heroes advance to the boundary between Room 134 and 135, they cast their magic Fray on the level 0 foes, killing 1.
R4, the guards planned to hurl some javelins and roll the whole barrel of lamp fuel at the pair, smash it and ignite it. Unfortunately, Celest goes first, like a whirlwind she advances to kills 4. Dounil kills another with some swipes but misses with his main attack. The Commander and the Lieutenant from Room 137 arrive and attack Dounil, who curses being obvious in plate. Luckily both miss.
R5, the heroes go first again. Initiative is one of the crucial elements of OSR as it can be so swingy at lower levels. Celest only manages to kill the remaining guard. Dounil does 1 HD damage to the Lieutenant, 3 HD -> 2 HD. They miss.
R6, Celest again then the cultists and then Dounil, her magic Fray does 1 HD to the Leader, 5 HD -> 4 HD. The Lieutenant switches targets and hits Celest, HP 14 -> 13 HP.
R7, Celest first again and she manages to slay the Lieutenant in a flurry of magic and skill. The Commander finally lands a blow on Dounil, 17 HP -> 15 HP. Dounil returns it with sword and magic, 4 HD -> 1 HD.
R8, a bolt from Celest kills the Leader.
R9, the heroes rush for the locked door, only to find it is stuck. The door jamming against something halfway up. They barred it from the other side, and it takes another minute to stand around and wonder what to do to decide to try and break it down 2/6 [12:20].
But first they spend 5 minutes bandaging. HP 15 -> 17 and HP 13 -> 14. And the rest of the turn searching bodies, they debate using the barrel of oil to burn the door down but that might take too long. They do find the leader had a nice battle axe which would make a find door chopper and a bunch of swords to ruin against it. They are more enthused by the money; the total for the day is 206cp, 1716sp 47ep, 1597gp and 95pp, 3/6 [12:30].
Dounil starts work on the door while Celest alternates between helping and keeping watch. Dounil hops he will get Knock someday to avoid problems like these. In turn 1, 99 damage from Dounil and 44 from Celest, and NRE, 4/6 [12:40].
It is the fourth round on the next turn before they are able to break the door down, NRE. This poses a problem. There is a secret entrance to Room 137 that the inhabitants could have escaped from at any time. But the text does not state they will do so until Romag feels they are losing. But it seems ludicrous they will just wait to fight the foe. So, I decided they get two rolls on the random encounter table to see if they recruited spare allies for the fight. NRE x 2 though means it’s going to be by the module. If the fight lasts longer than 6rounds, the heroes will get the penalty for not taking a rest until they reset the clock by doing so.
As the axe (which Dounil notes has held up well) finally breaks/dislodges the door bar, Celest kicks the door down as Dounil swaps to his sword and they charge in. There is of course no surprise.
Initiative for round 1 is Celest, Romag, Dounil and Harstch. Celest charges Harstch because he is in the front and uses her spell Fray on the way. She does no damage as her bolt deflects but her sword slays him on the spot. Seeing half of his forces slain on the spot, Romag casts Darkness and flees. Tragically for him alone, cleric darkness does not affect Infravision in OSE, which I had kept erroneously calling Darkvision, and AD&D is silent on the matter, referring to the lighting as pitch-dark. So Dounil charges after him, dealing 4 HD of damage despite his own spell Fray (Dounil thought he was stronger) bouncing off Romag. Romag is killed outright and I am sure I did something wrong here. Or maybe the game just isn’t set for effectively 8 players vs 2.
Somewhat disappointing fight aside, there is plenty of time to get 15 minutes of rest amid the luxury and bodies, the fountain of fresh water in Romag room is especially handy, NRE [13:00].
They pile up the hefty stuff of the latest series of rooms and search for loose gems and coins, a somewhat lengthy process. The carpets might be worth something, but if they are descending to stealing the linens, they have passed the point of having to haul away every weapon for resale. It takes them 5 turns to search the room, each occupying 1 square. Followed by a rest. There are no random encounters in the hour, and I suspect something may be wrong with these dice [14:00].
The ends of the turning corridors are oddly extended and so they decide to search for secret doors as well, Celest finds the door with a roll of 1 to the wider passage of Room 144. Otherwise, they spend the next 4 turns hauling non-broken weapons and armour into a pile and then resting.
On turn 1 though, they are interrupted by the patrol form Room 149 as I finally rolled a random encounter. 1 Level 3 leader and 6 guards. Rolling for surprise and the guards surprise them. Only magical armour saves the pair from being pin cushioned by javelins and crossbow bolts.
R1, promising as both heroes go first. They charge forth, engaging with the shield wall of three guards. The Fray alone cuts through them, but they don’t have the movement to bring their attacks to bear, so it looks like they just brush them aside. Another volley of crossbows and the leader’s javelins fail to penetrate their magical armour.
R2, heroes go first and sweep the foes with their sword Fray. But they rolled awfully with main attacks, so it’s a good thing they rolled just enough of 6 HD of damage. Otherwise, no random encounters and tack on an extra turn to finish looting and moving the new bodies as well 1/6 [14:10].
In fresh coinage and jewellery, the last couple of bloody hours have produced: A bronze medallion with a raised triangle (20 gp). 36sp, 20ep, 34gp 30pp, a jasper (50 gp), a gold ring (25 gp) and a gold brooch set with a triangular piece of jet (150 gp).
Treasure items include Romag’s velvet ceremonial garb embroidered with triangles of gold thread with precious stones (8 jaspers and 28 hematites, totally 50 x 8 and 28 x 10 for a total of 680gp total), a silver flask on the table is worth 40 gp, and holds good brandy by the smell, another two bottles of fine white wine (4gp) and 90gp of incense and unguents (30 gp of encumbrance). They don’t trust the drink and will see if they can sell it to the pirates as suggested by Dounil. The ink, quills and parchment they will keep for themselves, despite the 7ep and 40gp of worth.
They debate keeping the evil tome of human sacrifice as a magical curio or solution to a future riddle but burn it instead with the lamps.
Furniture incudes: 15 carpets and rugs (120sp), 2 hanging lamps (30gp), a brass stand (10gp), a bronzewood rod (5gp), an iron chest and a key.
Trying the key in the lock works, and they never encounter the poison trap. That gets them two bags of coins with 183ep, 240gp and a gold box set with ivory (350gp). A bullseye lantern, tinderbox, mysterious potion and a scroll. This adds to the linens, weapons, non-fouled clothes and 9 candles.
Faced with this haul, two people already at their weight limit without becoming over-encumbered have no way of carrying even the coinage, let alone the furniture. But they pile the money and small items into the chest and lock it again. On subsequent trips, they’ll take the furniture.
