Still Day 161
Riding horses
go at 45 miles a day I decided. So, they cross one and a half flat 30-mile
hexes per day. On the Darlene map I would have them ride for Narwell then
across the lower part of the Gnarley Forest, then turn north from Hommlet. But
Anna Meyer’s more detailed map shows they should turn off prior to Narwell or
make a big detour from arriving in Narwell then pass through some small
woodland settlements on the High Road. To be consistent with both, they will
make time across the flatlands of the Wild Coast and go north to the High Road
from Narwell. They reach the bend in the Selintan where On Ford and
Crossford are. But as they are not on the map, nor is there a mention of a
bridge, they ford it the next morning. No random encounters, not lost on
signposted roads.
Day 162
Rations 12/14, they ford the Selintan, which takes them half
a day and so they can only move to the edge of the hex. As they are camping
now, there is a night encounter roll as well, but neither have an encounter.
Not lost now they are beyond civilisation.
Day 163
Rations 10/14, no encounters in the day or night and not
lost.
Day 164
Rations 8/14, only 15 miles to Narwell now. They will stop
there for the night. However, that day they unfortunately come across one of
the many hazards of the Wild Coast, a lair of four trolls. But they are not
lost.
Neither are surprised so the encounter starts 160 yards away.
Round 1, the trolls win initiative and charge from their
ill-concealed stinking hollow, moving 120 yards forward. The pair decide to trust
fate and steel and swing down from the panicking horses, drawing swords and firing
spell bolts into the front. First troll HD 6->4.
Round 2, equal initiative and a meeting in the middle of
claws, teeth and swords. 9 HD of damage dealt to the trolls, they deal 2 HP
damage to Dounil and 5 HP to Celest. First troll HD 4->0 (for now), 2nd
troll HD 6->4, Dounil HP 18->16 and Celest HP 7->2.
Round 3, The heroes win initiative by 1, Dounil tells Celest
to get back after her attack. Fray defeats the wounded troll, no swords hit.
Troll 1 - 1/3 till it starts healing, troll 2 – 0/3. Trolls bite once and claw
for 5 HP damage to Dounil, HP 16->11.
Round 4, heroes win initiative, both swords land and do 6
HD, disabling another troll but remaining one does 3 damage to Dounil, HP
11->8. Troll 1 - 2/3 till it starts healing, troll 2 – 1/3 and troll 3 – 0/3.
Round 5, troll wins initiative, does 2 damage to Dounil HP
8-> 6. 6 HD in return disables the last one. Now they lack oil to burn the bodies,
so they are forced to grab their frightened horses and flee. Bandaging around
the campfire, Dounil HP 6->8 and Celest HP 2-> 4. No XP can be awarded as
the trolls were merely inconvenienced and no treasure could be taken from their
lair.
It is further tragic they encounter something again at
night. 12 Wolves who smell blood and are probably part dog considering how long
civilisation has endured in Grayhawk. And so are unafraid of people. They surprise
the party at 10 yards. There is one advantage, the reaction roll is 10 Indifferent,
may negotiate. How to negotiate with a wolf?
Dump all the rations far away with a well-aimed throw and
move the horses to the fire. Cast light on the fire so it glows like day. That’s
enough to sacrifice to keep the wolves at bay for a sleepless and sore night.
Day 165
0/14 rations, not even iron rations. It’s a hungry and tired
set of riders who stagger into Narwell. They pay 1sp to enter and another for
the horses, they take a shared room with food and pay for 2gp a night another 4gp
for the stabling. 62sp just to get somewhere safe, let alone recoup. Now they
have 1402sp. To rest 10 days more will cost them 600sp, they won’t get another chance,
but Celest is most unhappy.
Day 176
They set off again with 2 weeks of fresh rations 14/14,
costing Celest another 100sp for 702sp remaining. The horse fodder has been
eaten during stabling, but now they are fine to graze them. If not, they will
just turn them loose. They only make it to the edge of the wooded hex with the
forest slowing them. Luckily there are no encounters, nor are they lost.
Day 177
Rations 12/14, neither lost nor encounter anything in the day
or night.
Day 178
They begin rising into the wood hills now, fortunately not
imposing any additional penalties in OSE. Rations 10/14, neither lost nor
encounter anything in the day or night.
Day 179
Rations 8/14. They are lost but fortunately are going where
they thought they were going, that does means as the wander off the High Road,
they encounter something during the day. 100 elves and their leaders, arrayed
for patrol emerge from the woods where their clan hall lies. Dounil and Celest
being half-elves, hail them in Elvish. That raises their reaction from 5 to 7,
making them uncertain about wander strangers. Dounil and Celest quickly relate
their tale. The elves do remember defeating the temple forces at the Battle of
Emridy Meadows some 7 years ago. They redirect them back to the road.
Day 180
Rations 6/14. They repeat the same mistake and wander off
the road but still in the right direction, leading to another day encounter.
This time it’s a tribe of Woodmen in their long hall and palisade. While
neutral in alignment and indifferent in rection once they hear the friendly
Elvish greeting. They hold no love for the Temple and its humanoids, and once
again direct the pair on the High Road.
Day 181
Rations 4/14. They are lost again and wander south. Dounil
is sure they should be at the abandoned farmstead by now and they make camp,
only to encounter something in the dark. It said to use the standard encounter table,
so I will assume it being forest overrides the green hill icon. They are not surprised
by the approach of 3 huge spiders at 120 yards through the undergrowth.
Round 1, the spiders move first, advancing 180 yards to
attack, no hit. Dounil’s Fray kills one and his sword kills another. Celest is
suffering from still being level 1. The spider just passes morale and keeps at
it, not yet processing its companions’ deaths.
Round 2, The spider is hacked to bits by the pair with great
vigour.
Day 182
Rations 2/14. They figure out their location and become
unlost, they are still 1 hex away from their destination, so they can make it
today. No encounter that day or in the night. They reach the abandoned farm and
barn as night closes. They put the horses in the barn and settle down within
some crumbling walls.
Day 183
Rations 0/14, Celest is told who to contact in Nulb to
assure people they have returned and are going to tear into the temple. She
also needs to buy another week of supplies. Dounil will scout the tunnel. It is
[8:00].
Celest rides to Nulb and finds it as bad as described. She
stables her horse with Otis and tells him she is friends with the blonde
half-elf. Otis tells her it’s good, the temple is back up from whatever blow
that was dealt, and not to breathe who her friend is here. Mother Scragg is
please and let’s her know she can get healing if she does well. Celest buys 1
week of rations for 7 days, trying to keep that fact she has 50sp on her to a minimum.
She says she is a woodsman looking for a lost family member who joined a bandit
group a year ago.
Dounil searches out the tunnel. He cannot find the bandit leader’s
body, which would be normal in an active woodland after 121 days. But not even
gear. Entering the tunnel, he does not spend 20 turns moving and resting but 5
turns of movement, 1 turns of rest and 1 more turn to reach the trapdoor at [9:10],
which is shut. Activating the mechanism, he finds the formerly rich bedroom in
the tower stripped bare.
Here I must digress a bit from the narrative. The temple is
an active site, and the rules are clear that no only are foes replenished if
not killed fast enough and their leader still lives. But the numbers grow beyond
the listed of appearing. But that is listed after the section where Dounil
first entered the tower and left for his extended detour. And I am inclined for
purposes of keeping the game manageable, that merely all encounters (bar the
harpies/ghouls/ghasts) have replenished.
Dounil can hear with a heavy heart the sound of rancorous men
below. The brigands have reoccupied the tower. He makes a strategic retreat,
the tunnel is not safe, and neither is the cottage. At [10:30], ten minutes
after returning, Celest appears and Dounil discusses the problem. Celest’s opinion:
sharpen by delays, near-death and costs; is that if Dounil did them in last
time, he can do them in again.
OK, follow behind and this time they’ll split the loot
evenly. Accompanying Dounil, Celkest makes good time, she questions why they
don’t camp in this cave instead once, they clear the brigands and Dounil said
he doesn’t know what lives there. Celest said they can double-check it later. At
[11:40], they are peaking through the trapdoor and entering the old bedroom.
Dounil will turn invisible and begin to kill, Celest will wear her Elven Cloak
and shoot with the bow to take out any crossbowmen first. The door opens and another
tower of slaughter begins.
The brigands fail to see through Celest and they really fail
to see Dounil, who might not have surprise but cannot be seen. For convenience
of the module increasing the danger of foes after the initial encounter, I will
assume everyone is already armed and assembled in Room 1, the Main Room or
their watchposts.
Surprise round, Dounil rolls a 1 on the attack, as his go
wide charging down the stairs. He kills a guard though with his Fray. Celest’s
arrow may have failed to penetrate, but these crossbowmen are level 0 and so her
Fray chops down 2 of the 4.
Round 1, the brigands rally and attack, going first. A crossbowman
firing point blank hits Celest without off her magic shield. Doing 2 damage, HP
7->5. No spears and bows down in the room, just maces and swords and they
try to beat Dounil to death and stab what is left. 3 men on each side for 12
attacks against him, 8 footmen, 2 sergeants and 2 lieutenants.
They roll a 19 and three 18s, but it’s not enough to
penetrate the magic armour and shield. The other 12 wait to see. Dounil slashes
and Frays and 4 footmen die. Celest kills the remaining Crossbowmen and is
ready to fire into the crowd below.
Round 2, equal initiative. Dounil will kill a lieutenant and
another footman. The footmen, sergeants and lieutenants will be unable to penetrate.
The four dead footmen will be filled with the 4 surviving guards, one who hits Dounil
for 2 damage, HP 18->16. Celest will pick at the leader hanging back and
fire Spell Fray at him too, doing 2 HD of damage, HD6->4. He directs the 4
archers to fire at Celest, who of course cannot have her +2 shield out, so she
merely has an AC of 1. All miss.
Round 3, the heroes go first and Dounil kills the other lieutenant
and a sergeant. Celest shoots at the archers, killing all 4. The remaining
brigands pile into Dounil, the leader hoping his 6H means he can hit Dounil
well, he can but he lacks the multiple attacks that make ghouls and trolls so
frightful. No one hits Dounil.
Round 4, equal initiative, Dounil has a bad round, missing
and rolling a 1 on his Fray, his aim is getting worse as the blood and tumult grows.
A guard and footman do 1 damage apiece with short and longsword, HP 16->14. Celest
misses the leader but her magical Fray does 1 HD damage, HD4->3.
Round 5, equal initiative again, Dounil kills the leader and
the other sergeant. Celest kills 3 footmen.
Round 6, the brigands finally get a go, the 5 surviving
brigands fail morale and move to open the door and escape into the courtyard.
Dounil gives chase and kills 2, Celest fires from the arrow slits and kills 1
more.
Round 7, the brigands are faster, but Dounil and Celest can
cast magic. Their Fray finish off the last 2. Not great though for the Giant
Ravens know who their friends are and are coming to attack Dounil. He is not surprised
for the roll means he remembered the ravens have an optical illusion.
Round 8, there are 16 giant ravens, each with 3 HD. Fortunately
Celest is inside the tower, but random encounters for the daytime will be
rolled as the fighting goes on. Luckily the heroes roll 1 more than the ravens
for initiative. As the ravens come in to peck and claw, Dounil does 3 HD and
kills one. Celest fires arrow and spell but is running out of arrows, she’ll
need to take a turn to scavenge some from downstairs and another to return up.
She does 2 HD, Giant Raven 3->1.
A vertical square is still a square, so 3 raven attack, doing
1 damage, HP 16->15.
Round 9, Ravens go first and none hit, Dounil kills 1 and the
wounded one. Celest scavenges.
Round 10, Dounil kills 2 more Ravens. Celest returns to the
firing position, a whole turn has passed so I roll for a random encounter.
Nothing. No ravens hit. Dounil cannot take much more, he will retreat next
turn.
Round 11, Raven goes first and do 2 damage to Dounil, HP
15->13. Dounil makes a fighting retreat to the doorway, killing 1 and
wounding another HD 3->2. Celest only hits it with magic, HD 2->1.
Inside, things are grim. Everyone will know they are here, they
can’t assault the temple now and the brigands will easily be able to put together
how they got in. They bandage, HP 13->15 and HP 5->7.
Celest says they have one option, kill the ravens and stop
the noise, then ambush whoever comes out of the tunnel when they go looking for
them. It’s a plan but Dounil is incredibly tired. But this is D&D not GURPS,
so he’ll just have to bear the fatigue.
He opens the door again and faces the ravens cawing on the
ground for their dead kin.
Round 1, Dounil charges forth and does 5 HD of damage,
killing one, killing the wounded one and doing 1 HD damage to one more, HD
3->2. Celest fires from the doorway, killing the newly wounded one. Also 60
giant rats are approaching across the ground from 130 yards away.
But now 3 ravens can attack on the ground, 3 in the air and
the rest from the sides. Dounil takes 1 HP damage, HP 15->14.
I then realise Celest has a maximum HP of 8 and so she should
have had 1 more from Darkshelf onwards, this is corrected, she has 8 HP now.
Round 2, The giant ravens attack and do 3 HP damage, HP
14->11. The rats are almost to the carcasses. Only Celest manages to hit
anything with her magical Fray, doing 1 HD to a raven, HD 3->2.
Round 3, Dounil and Celest go first, the sword killing 2
raven and the range killing another. Rats begin to swarm the carcasses for a
round, forcing the 3 ravens on the ground to lift off. Dounil backs towards the
door. The ravens dive bomb doing 3 damage to Dounil, HP 11->8
Round 4, The heroes kill another and wound 1, HD 3->2. Dounil
shuts the door. Preventing the rats from entering.
As they bandage, they take stock. HP 8->10 and remains at
8. They need to kill the giant ravens but are prevented by the rats. The decide
to go and search the brigand’s materials. Looking at the torches, Dounil thinks
he can levitate up there and ignite the nests. But how would he get down?
Celest would provide covering fire for him. It’s crazy but it might work as it
will last 90 minutes for him.
After an hour [12:00], the rats look like they have
subsided.
Round 1, Opening the door, Dounil rises at a rate of 20 feet
per round, he seems to shrink though he is nearly at the top of a 25 foot
tower.
Round 2, Dounil is now level with the top and he sees the giant
ravens nest in the timbers caused by the collapse of the thid story into the second.
He throws the torch and the 3 remaining ravens take off the strike him out of
the air. They do no damage.
Round 3, Dounil descends to 5 feet above the ground, he
cannot hit nor does his Fray have any effect, Celest misses too but her spell
hurts the injured one, HD 2->1.
Round 4, Celest kills the wounded one and wounds another, HD
3->1, it is finished off by Dounil’s Fray as he touches down. The remaining giant
raven divebombs Celest but misses.
Round 5, Celest’s arrow and Dounil’s Fray kill the last.
That took way too long for everyone.
There is a deeper problem, if the tower was reinforced, then
they knew about the tunnel and the old farmhouse. It was probably only
logistics that prevented brigand horses being present when the pair arrived.
That means their sleeping area isn’t safe and if there was an affray such as
what has happened here, they would check there and Nulb. Which is what sending
Celest only was supposed to prevent. They are stuck, unless they can ambush the
person who checks the farm.
Scavenging the bodies gets them: 63cp, 96sp, 24ep, 35gp, 47pp
and the XP is 92 FXP and 87 MUXP.
Celest rests in preparation for that night. Dounil takes the
horses some several miles away and makes a cold camp while Celest hides in a tree
with a view of the well with her cloak of Elvenkind.
She sees nothing all night.
Day 184
The next morning, Celest rolls her find secret doors roll
and sees footprints around the well. Someone who they couldn’t see was here,
but could that person see them while hidden?
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