This session was played on September 9, 2010, featuring Hamish the Dim, Martin le Black, Richard Loubeau, Robert Hazart, Pritchard Hood, Hanna, Farkas Fulmont, and a special guest appearance from Pog, returning from some months mysteriously away. Hamish brought two followers with him, Melmar and Yves, who wound up laden down with paintings and furniture.
Summary
[Note: This summary was provided by naked samurai, the player of Hanna Darrowkin. Some statements may not be entirely accurate.]
As the party tried to coordinate its maps on the third floor, a wight stuck its head around the door and approached to help before getting crushed by Pog. But deathly shame — Hamish clutched his side, wounded by the undead reaching for his Bossly holy symbol and draining him of energy!
Melmar and Yves stood around, far too self-absorbed to realize he no longer had any charismatic power over them.
The party returned to a locked double doors near the everlastingly burning fireplace and busted it open beneath Farkas' girth. It opened onto a corridor and two items of note:
- a spectacular magical machine
- a barricade of lordly goblins
The magic-users were incapable of understanding the machine's purpose, as it randomly answered words with words of its own. While Martin and Hanna seethed with desire to flay the goblins, the more sensible party members struck up a repartee and wound up with a letter to a Glantrian noble family in Robert's hands. We think these are the wizard goblins we have heard about and despite the teeth-gritting of the party's two great warriors, they should provide good allies.
They killed a Shadow.
A sequence of sitting rooms followed, one with a magic mouth over a false door warning off thieves. This was strange, as there wasn't much to steal. During the cursory looting, a Wind Elemental travelled down for a look at what they were doing and was dis-incorporated by arrows and blows.
More wandering lead to a Carrion Crawler in a room with a second floor gallery. This worm was reduced to a smear in a matter of seconds. An upstairs exit lead to a fearsome silver patch on the ground covered with dead rats. Bad news. Best avoided.
The party then started wandering the first dungeon level and came upon where the giant termite's nest was burnt up many months before. Whoops. Heading back down…
Using the powers of the Wind's Edge for the last time, Martin discovered a room with a red/gold dragon-lizard sleeping and snoring comfortably upon a bed. Astonished by this scene, and having never been on Disneyworld's Haunted Mansion ride, it took our stalwarts some time before realizing it was a illusion. This was discovered by trying to tie up what they thought was a young gold dragon; their ropes dropped to the ground.
A couple gnolls crept up from behind. One was smushed. The other, Fnarf or something, was Charm Gnoll'd by Pritchard.
The room beyond the bedchamber revealed a weird golden idol in a nook. The perpetually unwise Hanna rushed up to sack it, but fell into a 20' pit. Rubbing her bruised ribs and covering her wounded pride, she announced an iron-bound door she had bravely discovered! Farkas and Pog helped open it but to no avail: it was a featureless hall without exit. On the floor was the inscription: "For the Jester, your pratfalls are taken as prayers." They pratfalled the idol right into a sack.
Meanwhile, a pantry of spell components and a magic tome on a pedestal were examined by the three mage-types. A metal spider was seen lurking just behind the book, so the humane approach was taken: Fnarf was goaded into picking up the book, and was poisoned unto death by the construct. An arrow ended the spider and the mages had their book.
A troop of skeletons were avoided on the way to the surface.
Sundry items were sold — an end table, a portrait, broken wight jiffery-pop. Drained Hamish was taken to the Temple of Trianoma to be restored and it was discovered he didn't need it! Whaaaaa-attt? Martin was ambushed and his cursed sword taken away. The Jester's chaos ornament was sold in return and the Trianomans promised a future consideration as a result.
Losses & Loot
Our heroes defeated a wight, a shadow, a minor air elemental, a carrion crawler, two gnolls and a dozen skeletons. The treasures they obtained included a spellbook (containing the spells charm person, dancing lights, floating disk, protection from evil, shield, ventriloquism; detect invisible, fool's gold, knock, phantasmal force), a golden idol of the Chaos godling Balo, some magical reagents, a portrait, a finely crafted end table, a few pieces of jewelry and a handful of coins. All told, each member of the party received 600gp.
For creatures defeated and wealth acquired, each party member received 469xp.