Play Report: Skull Mountain, the Dead Level

 Written by Jen, a player.

We first ran into the “dead level” long ago, fairly early on in our explorations of Skull Mountain. It was incredibly scary and intimidating, and we immediately turned back and intentionally avoided that area for years. But we often talked and debated about how we could get through it – and live to tell the tale. Quite awhile ago, we asked a sage about the dead level, and we found out that there was a constant level drain and entropy effect, so that anyone who spends time there would have levels drained, and would potentially age at an accelerated rate. In addition, it would eat away at items and marks, so that it would be impossible to leave a trail. We also found out that there were many traps further inside it, and there was a ghost found at the end of the maze. Further research indicated that a Globe of Invulnerability could protect against the level drain, but we still hesitated to enter. We later found out that it was the original location of The Device, until prior explorers moved it with a misapplied Vanish spell – this is actually what created the dead level. We knew we wanted to put The Device back where it belonged, hoping it would normalize this area of the Mountain. Plus we knew there was a massive loot haul from all who died there. This all made us really motivated to deal with this level of Skull Mountain, and we thought of it often through our years of adventuring.

As we went through the years of adventuring, we found tools and spells and henchmen that we thought could help. Seeker had been agitating to go back for quite awhile now, but the timing and opportunity were just never perfect – and we knew it would need to be perfect. Recently, we realized the best characters to cope with this all had downtime at the same time. Seeker (a mage/thief played by Jack), Greystar (a magic user played by Sam), Owen (a magic user played by Nick), and Ingrid (a fighter played by Jen/me). We spent a week of real time on planning and prep work.

Our plan became thus: we would scry the way with spells, and use a potent scroll of Globe of Invulnerability to protect ourselves as we traveled. Greystar had a cube of force as back up protection, as well as protection against the Ghost’s possession attack. Before we set out, we conferred with a Bishop about the Ghost. Seeker researched the idea of putting the device back with a wish. Owen used contact other planes to gather more information, and it seemed that putting the device back would indeed be a positive change overall. Meanwhile, Ingrid – who has not had a lot of luck staying alive and uninjured in the mountain – was terrified at what could happen. Level drain and age acceleration seemed to be huge potential issues. Ingrid sent a note to Brigid, asking for shelter if things went wrong and she was able to make it out somehow – vowing to never set foot in the mountain again if things went badly. Then, we finally set out through the mountain…

We headed down towards the fifth floor dead level, stopping just before at level four. We staged here before going further.

Greystar cast Divination to try to figure out the threats. This told us that the level had – 1) a powerful undead creature, a Ghost who hates all life and good, 2) a form of corrupted magical tech that spreads corruption across all things, 3) a quasi elemental portal that we had to be aware of, 4) a teleportation trap, and 5) tremendous loot, one of which is a staff of the magi.

Owen conjured an air elemental and asked it to map the level below us. It returned visibly weakened, but it was able to draw a very confusing map that did show the end of the level, and conveyed that some of the walls move.

At the very last moment, Seeker asked his summoner henchmen to cast “find the path”, and then we figured out which of our PCs and henchmen would be best to take with us so we would all fit inside the globe of invulnerability. Then, the moment came, and we entered the dead level.

We followed the path while inside the globe and managed to avoid eight pit traps and encountered three areas where the passages closed behind us. Once we got to the stairs going down, we were outside the entropy field – but where was the Ghost? With a limited duration on the cube of force, we had to be super careful of when we turned it on, and made the decision to turn it on just before we opened the door to the lost control room – and there was the Ghost! We were able to kill him, mostly thanks to Greystar’s new manservant, Filbert. Once we secured the control room, we used a wish to return The Device to its original location.

Doing this ended the dead level’s powers, and it instantly became what looks like a server farm, complete with roomba like cleaning robots, obviously space elf tech, and what felt like air conditioning. We put a feather token door between the main level and the control room which now holds the device – at this point, only Greystar knows the password for the feather token door. We know we need to further secure this area as soon as we can!

We gathered the rest of our party from the level entrance and then explored further, looking for the storied loot haul. We headed back to an octagonal room and come to a shiny black door. Inside is a massive, ragged cavern full of gold and loot – we saw at least one goldbug. We decide to explore the other areas first and come back for the treasure later. We found two secret doors, the first one smelled of ashes, and there is a small rift to the plane of ash – this leads to the Ash Temple, untouched for all these years. We opened the other door into a room with a shadowy form in a niche – then all of a sudden, we were on the pink moon, in the western planes. Guess we found the teleport trap! As we made our way back, we encountered Rupert in the former dead level, protecting and maintaining The Device, like he did before. We didn’t talk to him and quickly made our way back to the octagonal room and into the room we left, where we managed to disarm the teleport trap. We found another apartment entrance behind a secret door, where we found a heat box and a journal with a bookmark – a diary tab. We finally got back to the treasure room and cast detect curse, setting aside the cursed items. And we did indeed find *amazing* loot!

Now, all of us that went on this adventure are rich, leveled up, and ready to set up our domains!

Play Report: Skull Mountain

   At the end of the last Skull Mountain session the PCs had retreated to safety at Owen's redoubt, met with visiting elves, and recovered from injuries for some time. A lot happened away from table with them and with many other PCs slowing their return. But yesterday they returned, the same players and so on

One Heck of a Side Mission

   Last night three players set out to check on side effects of the destruction of the Deep Altar as well as scout the top levels of Skull Mountain. It was pitched as a 'short little scout in force'.

Jack played Seeker and Seeker's henchmen

Sam played Conrad and his many henchmen

Nick played Anarawn, who can't have henchmen yet

Both Anarawn and Conrad had never been to the mountain before.

Midsummer at Skull Mountain

   It's that time again! The players prepared for Midsummer and sent in a pretty serious team of PCs.

Jack played Seeker, a 7/7 Mage/Thief. He brought two henchmen

Alex played Starfalcon, a 6th level elf ranger

Jennifer played Ingrid, a 7th level fighter. She brought two henchmen.

Nick played Talner, a 7th level cleric. he brought two henchmen.

Sam played Clint, a 6th level paladin. He brought 5 henchmen.

Sam also began play with Clarence, a 6th/6th fighter/ninja. he brought one henchman.

Seeker had his 4 heavy crossbowmen and 4 heavy footmen from his level. The other players combined added 8 more heavy brossbowmen and 8 more heavy footmen as well as a cook, a healer, and a valet.

Dragons!

   We started this session in May and finished it over Father's day weekend, which just passed.

  The Players:

  Jack- Athanasius, 6th level Cleric

  Jennifer- Ingrid, 6th level fighter

  Alex- Seeker, 8th level thief

  Sam- Graystar, 6th level wizard

  Nick- Akira, the Man with the Eldritch Fists, 6th level monk

  Theo- Sir Dread, 5th level Fighter (hologram of his first character)

  Henchmen- only 6, but includes a paladin, a monk, and a 6th level Religious Brother

The Setup:

The Company of the Dark Moon has been tasked with occupying Whitehill's Castle to prevent it from falling into enemy hands and to begin patrolling the wild, lawless areas south of the capitol city. There had been scattered settlements in the past, but in the time since the death of Whitehill and the Scouring of the Treacher's Way more people have moved into thearea. 

  The Company only patrols along the road that stretches from the Fords of the White River to the ruins of Pirateport and within about 8-10 miles of the fortress proper. Scouts and rumors reported that there was a witch in the areas south of the road and west of the patrols and that, worse, livestock and people were starting to vanish in the same area. A group of Company members saddles up and set out

Adventure!:

  The growth of small 2-3 family thorps with rough palisades in the area startled the PCs a little bit. There were many reasons: the open areas near the Briars were, well - near the Briars; the lands around Wyvern Keep were first in line if the orcs ever went to war again; the places near Eastport were also subject to raids and war. With the Company and Whitehill's Castle the area was seen as a great place for 2nd and 3rd sons to get a plot of land large enough to live well.

  The party spent the night in the barn of a young family (the religious brother baptized their newborn daughter) and learned that the farmer had seen the threats - dragons! Not very big and obviously not very old, a pair of red dragons were starting to prey on the new locals.

  The big shock was finding the witch. She was a skilled hedge mage! She and her husband, a retired city guard, had settled here in hopes of a living as the local wise woman. The shock was they had moved into one of the lairs of the Red Maiden! It was a stone house with the outside carved and painted to look like a gingerbread house. With the Red Maiden's illusions it must have been a deadly place for wanderers.

  While speaking with the pair Athanasius checked for magic and the party soon realized that the husband of the hedge mage was charmed! With a Dispel and some questioning he'd been surprised in the forest and one of the dragons had charmed him. When he had gone for water he had warned the dragons of adventurers via a lantern. The party and the couple fled for their lives.

  They were able to evade the pair of dragons, but the stone hut of the Red Maiden was destroyed. The couple left for Adrian to rethink and the party went on.

  Soon they found the lair, another old bolt-hole of the Red Maiden., in the Graywal Mountains. The entrance was a 60' diameter tunnel stretching 300'+ into the granite then opening into an enormous cavern divided into two sections - the front section was level with the tunnel, the rear half was essentially a massive ledge 180' up a steep slope. In the ceiling's highest point was a natural gas vent that was alight, fulling the entire space with an eerie, dim, flickering, bluish light.

  Graystar's Clairvoyance spell confirmed that both dragons were asleep! The party carefully and quietly crept into the cavern. Akira clambered up the sloped and pulled the rest up with ropes. The two dragons, each with a separate sleeping hoard, were about 200' from each other, the largest in the back. The plan was to attempt to kill the small one in its sleep and then deal with the larger, hoping the loss of the smaller would make it easier to parley or subdue.

  The party attacked and through planning and the luck killed the first one in it's sleep. Carefully following all the AD&D 1e rules, the other remained snoozing. They quietly shuffled over to the bigger one and - also killed it in one round before it awoke, a stunning feat. Theo got a round of applause because his first two combat rolls were both 19's and his first two damage rolls were 1 off max and then max damage.

  The party really worked hard and the encounter was much more intense than this summary can convey including the monk rolling a 02 for danger sense, barely avoiding setting off an Alarm spell that would have awoken the big dragon when the party was too far away to charge and too close to flee.

The Loot:

  The gold and such was good, but a bit below what was expected. The magic items were a bit better and included a Cube of Force! The treasure had a surprising number of traps and tricks and the party decided to carefully examine the cavern, eventually finding a large (10' x 12') secret door that opened to a tunnel heading south-southwest along the mountains. The door had the entrance to Skull Mountain on the inner face.

  There was also a huge scroll, the size of a king mattress, to the dragons from their sire, the dragon of Caerfadch Daw, giving them the rules he expected them to follow. The points that stuck out to the PCs were that he got all gnomes and that the two dragons were to 'obey the treaty with the men from Skull Tunnel'.

  When Sam had Graystar read the letter he specifically folded up the bottom of the scroll and said,

"I will not read the signature, at all."

He then gave it to Athanasius who said,

"You know what? I cast Dispel Magic on it."

  My notes on the scroll? 'Anyone reading the signature must save vs Spell or be Charmed by Tyraxus unless the scroll is Dispelled.'

  That's right, they dodged it. They also learned that Tyraxus, the dragon from Caerfadch Daw, is a powerful mage, too.

Exploration:

  Then, in a bit I did not expect, Athanasius and Ingrid used spells and potions to fly up to and through the jet of fire in the ceiling - and found a tunnel. A tunnel I hid in 1983 and no one else has ever found. Following it they eventually entered a room high on the cliffs of the mountain they were in. The room was a semaphore station with one set aimed to and from the closest island in the Demon's Tears, aother aimed at a mountain further west, and the third aimed at the ferry crossing where the Adrian and Freshet Rivers meet.

Aftermath:

  Every character and henchman leveled up, many to the edge of domain play. This led to a wonderful 3 hours talk over dinner about the domain game, the frontier of Seaward, Seaward's history, and PC plans that I wish I had recorded as a podcast. 

  The summary, though, is that the players expect 2-5 characters to enter the domain game within the year and are starting to prepare for that level of play

Seaward - the Company of the Dark Moon

In the Seaward Campaign the majority of the PCs are in the Company of the Dark Moon with a royal charter from the king himself. They are up to things!

Seeker
  Seeker, the fighter/thief head of sneak for the Company is busy.

In the Air- Using his broom he flew the hippogriff eggs they found to the grove of the Great Druid in the Briars and parkeyed with them, getting advice on how to destroy the evil elemental altars in Skull Mountain. The Druids warned him that if he did too much good in the Mountain the Guardian of the Monster Pit would awaken and unleash an army of foul monsters to destroy him 'as befell every other adventurer who attempted to purge the Mountain.' He thanked them rested the night, and flew on.
  At the mountaintop fortress of Heruhoth. Heruhoth agreed to raise and train one of the hippogriffs for the company with the second as payment. Heruhoth told him the location of the tower of the Mad Mage and the limits of the range of the Dragons of the Greywalls.
  Seeker rested, then flew on.
  After days of flight he arrived in the dwarven fortress- city of Khuzdhun. After a few days of negotiating a band of dwarven craftsmen set off for Skull Mountain!
  Seeker rested, then flew on.
  Arriving back at Skull Mountain he used several charges from a Stone of Earth Elementals to have an earth elemental carve out a rough level of his own in the Mountain. As it finished the dwarves arrived (escorted by the Company, using the Egress and the Secret Trail). The dwarves finished the level and returned home.

Not shown - the secret tunnels to the Cavern of Herds and the Egress

 Perched on a shoulder of the Mountain he has a secret ground-level entrance, access to the Deep (juuuust below the range of the turrets), a long tunnel to a secret entrance to the Pilgrim's Hall, and another that leads to both the Cavern of Herds and the Egress. 

Clint
  Leader of the Company, Clint was busy staffing the fortress the King tasked them with running for him. After hiring a number of troops, repairing and rebuilding parts of the fortress, repairing the motte and bailey at the ford, establishing patrol schedules, he decided to make a real mark.
  He hired craftsmen from Seaward to come in a full  inn and tavern complex halfway between the fortress and the ford and brought in an innkeeper as half-owner. He then sent people through the kingdom and the surrounding lands letting them know that any man that came to the area would get 30 acres and if the by then od of two years the land had a home and crops he would get 5 silvers.

Owen
  The senior mage of the party (7th level) has set off on his flying carpet for the University, that fables hall of arcane knowledge outside of Robias, the City of One Hundred Towers. He is seeking a sage that can tell him of the Mad Mage, the Wizard of the Tower, the Witch of the Fens, and the other powerful evil mages that bedevil the area.

The Dungeon Master
  I am spending Sunday updating maps and re-writing encounter charts!

Seaward: Massive Update

  The players decided to do a focused scout inside Skull Mountain so set off through the Briars with a party heavy on thieves and light on fighters (although the ranger Starfalcon was there).

  After a long slog up the Old Road slowed down by massive Spring rains and high winds the party reached the Plateau just in time to see a group of human-shaped figures go down what they call the Hunter's Trail on the south slope. Some very careful scouting by familiars revealed a camp about 1 mile down filled with a hobgoblin warband of about 60.

DM Report: the trip to Robias

  Over the weekend we had a bookkeeping session/mini-adventure/investigation mission.
  The Party:
  Jennifer = Fiona, half-elven Fighter/Magic-user
  Jack = Athanasius, human Cleric
  Alex = the Sparrow, half-elven Fighter/Thief
  Sam = Clarence, Human Fighter/Ninja (books, wishes, and such involved)
  Nick = Thoren, half-orc Fighter/Thief

DM Report: Return to the haunted Tower - with guest player

  The players have not been back to the village of Richacre and the Haunted Tower in 5 years (real time). First level characters on their first adventure played.

Jack - a half-elven thief
Sam - an elven fighter
Nick - a human cleric
David - a dwarven fighter

In Universe: Seeker's Proposal

This is for Seaward:

"The Case for Establishing a Permanent Company Presence at Skull Mountain

An in- and out-of-universe whitepaper

Summary

The contiguous region consisting of the Briars, Skull Mountain, the Greywall Mountains, and their associated outliers and landmarks (hereafter, "The Greywall Hazard Sphere.") represents one of the single greatest barriers to the expansion of civilization in the Seaward region. Besides the innately inhospitable terrain and territory of the Sphere, it has served as an attractor for evil forces for millennia. However, the establishment of a permanent defensive and scholarly presence in and around the heart of this area, Skull Mountain, could serve as a powerful deterrent to hostile forces, a unique opportunity to pacify the terrain, and a chance to exploit the rich resources, both mundane and extraordinary, of the entire area.

Benefits

A permanent presence in Skull Mountain overseen by the Company of the Dark Moon would return a multitude of benefits.

     Chief among these would be the early warning and first strike capabilities against any additional evil actors that are drawn to the Hazard Sphere. The introduction of our own traps and defenses, including the introduction of good-aligned magic, as well as our own intelligence gathering positions, would give us a potent edge against any new evils arriving in the area.

     Similarly, use of the Briars and the Greywalls as a security buffer against hostile invaders from the south or the west would sharply improve the Kingdom of Seaward's defensive posture. Going above and beyond the existing ability to stage military forces through the Briars into use of the Sphere as a manned border would result in superior national security against everything from the Duke of Freetown to Baron Samedi himself.

     A simple manned position and personal headquarters would not be able to support deeper incursion into Skull Mountain alone. However, continuous access to fully cleared areas, as well as a finger on the pulse of the Sphere's internal politics, would have the potential to seriously increase our knowledge of what lies within the Mountain.

     To expand the above point, the Hazard Sphere does indeed have its own internal politics. With no less than five active, contemporary wizards, an archbishopric, continuous monitoring by extraterrestrial actors, and the enigmatic Harruhoth, the potential for political fallout that could extend even to Seaward directly is clear and present.

     Finally, on a less critical note, the exploitable resources contained within the Sphere are clearly extensive. The supernatural aside, the Company has already surveyed a garnet mine and a silver mine, in addition to a variety of valuable plants and animals, and has already developed a proposal to create what would be the shortest direct trade route between Seaward and the Southern Kingdoms. Harvesting even a fraction of the region's wealth would be of great value to us and to Seaward as a whole.

Obstacles

Despite the obvious drivers for this project, a number of critical obstacles exist that must be addressed before it can be seriously contemplated.

     Chief among these is our lack of information. Skull Mountain alone can be described, in a scholarly sense, as a mystery wrapped in a riddle and tied with enigmas. Even with our recently gained information, we know so little that we don't even know what we don't know. This must be rectified, at least partially, before we risk committing serious resources to the project.

     Similarly, the aforementioned political situation remains unknown to us, and may present an obstacle. Blundering into a complex geopolitical stratum could be enough to doom the entire effort, necessitating significant information gathering before we begin.

     Another critical issue is that we cannot allow small groups of Company officers, or non-Company assets, to explore the Hazard Sphere unaccompanied. Skull Mountain alone is clearly littered with the remains of previous intruders who were bold enough to enter unaccompanied. Areas already explored can be traveled through with only men-at-arms for escort, but, no matter how safe an unfamiliar zone may appear, we cannot permit anything short of a full incursion party to explore it.

     Counterintuitive as it may seem, logistics, construction cost, and security are not issues to the expedition. However, travel time to and from is a concern. Committing significant Company assets to a location that is five to nine days from civilization by foot travel could become a frightening act of self-sabotage if we're not cautious. 

The Proposal

Establishing a permanent presence within Skull Mountain, in order to begin a permanent use of the entire Greywall Hazard Sphere, must be done in discrete stages. To wit:

     Phase I: When the Spelljammer mission to gather sage information on Baron Samedi is complete, Lieutenant Seeker will take a secondary party to gather sage information on Skull Mountain, and to seek information in the Four Counties about various factors.

     Phase II: This is a simple stage of logistical planning and an additional survey of the area around Skull Mountain.

     Phase III: A low-level field expedition to map the ventilation and service shafts of the upper levels, as well as any additional minor areas that we have so far passed by.

     Phase IV: Next, we must gain political stability. This will entail meeting with Francmir, the Bishop, some of the hermits and monks in the Briars, the Snyads, and Harruhoth, as well as gathering intelligence on Kyodai and the Grandfather. Some we will seek alliance with, others we will bargain with, and still others we need to learn how to avoid.

     Phase V: The main proposal. Using the elemental gem taken from Lady Jacinth, Lieutenant Seeker will construct a new, small sublevel outside of Skull Mountain, opening up at separate points into Level I, the Cavern of Herds, and the High Briars. All openings will be disguised using help purchased from the Four Counties. The sublevel will be sufficiently sized to serve as personal quarters for Seeker, a field armory for the Company, a bunk for expedition parties and hired help, and a vault to reserve treasure or magic. Installation of traps and alarms will complete this phase.

     Phase VI: In this phase, we will base a small band of hired outside help inside the Mountain. These will be men at arms, farmers, and surveyors that will observe Skull Mountain and the surrounding area using long-range reconnaissance, and cultivate the Cavern of Herds and the Garden to be self-sustaining. A case can be made to base them in the Company sublevel, or in the Mountain itself. This is subject to change. In any case, one way or another, we must permanently man the Mountain with both Seeker and his retainers and an additional presence beyond them.

     Phase VII: To extend our intelligence network through the Briars, Seeker will re-engineer the eyes of the Mountain to serve as an ideal raven nest, charm a large number of ravens to take residence there, and carefully gather the most ideal large, intelligent, good-aligned, and trainable ravens to create an ideal breeding stock in the eyes, that will also serve as spies through the entire Briars. Combined with the overwhelming victory of the War in the Walls, this will give us first warning against threats from all directions except the Empty Level.

     At this point, barring any unforeseen exigencies, the main part of the project will be accomplished. The subsequent phases can be delayed, and taken in any order. Our immediate, primary objects will be accomplished here, and we will have a major information network established over the heart of the Greywall Hazard Sphere.

     Phase VIII: We must overthrow the evil Wizard in the Briars. His continued presence is intolerable, as we know he draws power from and evil to the entire Briars.

     Phase IX: If there is a way to induce Baba Yaga to leave the Briars, we must take it here, if we can. However, I doubt that this can be accomplished.

     Phase X: Another important step is to destroy the Spider Wood discovered in the Briars. A hazard on its own, it also acts as a breeding point that can spread dangerous and wicked creatures to the entire Sphere.

     Phase XI: At this point, the Low Briars should be fairly secure. We should encourage the people of the surrounding areas to exploit their resources even further, and enter in larger numbers, in order to stabilize the region. Assuming, of course, that we've established it as at least somewhat secure.

     Phase XII: This is the most difficult to plan of all phases. We will seek out sage information and the assistance of various, obscure parties in order to rebuild the overthrown paraelemental altars as bastions of good. Hopefully, this should secure the upper levels of Skull Mountain for us, and spread good creatures through the High Briars. Possibilities for lightning and nature focus points also exist.

     Phase XIII: We have already moved several families of Brownies into the Briars, and should have established a locus of good inside Skull Mountain by this point. Therefore, any additional steps we can take to make the High Brairs a sylvan locale of natural magic will be executed here. The terrain is likely too rough for unicorns or dryads, but grigs, nymphs, snyads, fauns, and blink dogs are all good candidates. 

     Phase XIV: To take a side path to previous points, we should here survey the Greywall Mountains. We must locate secrets and threats laying between Skull Mountain and the Coast. This phase may be undertaken at basically any time during the preceding exercises. Additional steps necessary to clear the Mountains may be added after this is completed.

     Phase XV: Slaying the wizard who lairs at the far end of the Hobgoblin Highway is a low priority for us due to his limited influence outside of Morath and High Banath. However, we must eventually do it, even if this may put us further into Baron Samedi's schemes.

     Phase XVI: Full resource exploitation. There will certainly be other challenges to face first, but establishing the appropriate mines and potential trade routes represents the end game of our plan. Beyond the wealth this would give us, if we can provide a source of wealth to civilization, it will inevitably be drawn back.

This exercise will be difficult, will take up a long span of time, and may be interrupted by our other obligations. However, if accomplished, it would pay dividends to us and to Seaward, possibly for centuries. With Baron Whitehill and Lady Jacinth slain, the Orcs in disarray, and Baron Samedi currently not displaying a hand in our affairs, I think that the time is now ripe for us to accomplish this. With a methodical approach and the strength of the Company, I am certain that this is an achievable goal.

If the Company accepts, I propose that we begin in a matter of weeks. With the spelljammer returning any day now, an immediate commencement would enable us to synchronize the beginning of the plan with Midsummer's Day at the Mountain. In any case, however, I submit the proposal to the wisdom of my fellow officers.

-Seeker, Lieutenant of the Company of the Dark Moon

[printed in both Common and Elvish, and distributed to all Company members]"

More Fortieth Anniversary Adventure

  The crew returned to Skull Mountain, re-established base camp in the Garden, and went through the Trap Maze (finding that every single trap was reset except for the one on the secret entrance to the wizard's study) and were soon in the teleporter room in the hidden niche on Level One. With some careful experimentation the following happened.

Fortieth Anniversary Adventure

  Which continues this weekend, naturally.

  The main party headed through the Briars to Skull Mountain. On the way they met stragglers from Whitehill's army and killed them all. A dozen or so large spiders had taken up residence in the Entrance Cavern; the party shooed them back with fire and entered the North Door, checking the areas for disturbances.
  All was in order so they entered the Pilgrims' Hall and travelled the long way to the Pilgrims' Stairs. In the Chapel they found the body of a female verbeeg, dead no more than 2 weeks. She had been cut down by a hobgoblin's poisoned dart.In her pouch was a message asking the company to assist them as they were besieged by hobgoblins.
  The party immediately struck out to the Garden Level and set all the hirelings and supplies with the 'camp guards' henchman team and struck out through the Cavern of Herds (finding another dead verbeeg messenger) and the Trog Tunnels. After the almost 4 mile trek they spotted a hobgoblin camp at the junction with Hobgoblin Highway. A force of 80 hobgoblin warriors with onagers and ballistae were behind a barrier and firing on the verbeeg wall and about 120 hobgoblin females, slaves (mainly goblins with a handful of kobolds), and such were in the main camp.
  The party hit the main camp like a thunderbolt, cutting their way through them rapidly and engaging the warriors with a strong frontline and spells. The verbeeg sortied out and the hobgoblin warriors, surrounded, were cut down to the last.

DM Report: Deeper into the Caverns

The party keeps exploring. Here is the setup and here is the previous report.

After a night's rest the party decamped from the goblin tunnels, set up the mercenaries and 10 of the henchmen on the hilltop and examined the eastern tunnel. Starfalcon (ranger) and Akio (henchman monk) rapidly determined it was the lair of jermlaine. Jermlaine that seemed to avoid the sunlight of the Cavern of Herds. The main party switched to the Trog Tunnels and, after driving back the tentamorts in the junction, went east, following that tunnel a long way until it opened up into a rocky cavern almost a mile long. Near the cavern, in the tunnels, they encountered a snyad and parleyed. The soon learned of the 'war in the walls'; a century long fight between the snyads of this area versus the jermlaine to the north. After discussions the party gave the snyads 8 daggers for their fight.

This led to jokes about being arms dealers

DM Report: Deep Into Skull Mountain

Setup found here.

Later the same game-day the party sent the henchman mage/thief to watch the trog caves while Invisible as they scouted the cavern again, making sure their map is accurate and paying close attention to the waterfall and the eastern tunnel. They heard distant thunder from the eastern tunnel.

DM Report - Short Session in Skull Mountain

Saturday the crew did a shirt foray into Skull Mountain.
Players and Characters
Jen - Ingrid: 6th level fighter
Jack- Hans, 5th level fighter (halfling)
Alex-  Starfalcon, 6th level ranger (elf)
Sam- Clint, 6th level paladin
Nick- Telnar, 6th level cleric
Henchmen: 15 (!) including clerics, men-at-arms, illusionists, religious brothers, thieves, and more
Hirelings: 10 pikemen, 5 heavy crossbowmen, 5 shortbowmen, 10 heavy footmen, a cook, a healer, and a porter
Animals: A heavy warhorse (Clint's 6th level man-at-arms henchmen, sergeant and commander of the henchmen); a paladin's mount (Clint's), 3 mules (pack train)
Other: Han's steam-powered war moose construct mount

Seaward/Skull Mountain: Prepping for Midsummer

As seen recently the party is preparing for not just using the magical binoculars on Midsummer, but a major incursion into Skull Mountain as far as the Cavern of Herds at a minimum. Yesterday was spent in a long prep session for the mission that involved a huge logistics effort.

Two Tales: North to Greenbough and Back Into Skull Mountain

Over Father's Day weekend the wife and I were sick, so gaming was limited. But not zero!

North to Greenbough
The Company of the Dark Moon was contacted by 'mutual friends' and a group set out for Greenbough, capitol of the county of the same name.

High Level: My Seaward Campaign

  In 1979, as I recall right after the 4th of July, I showed my players a map that had a pirate's cove, a wizard's tower, and a town named Seaward.
  I am still running that campaign.

  When you play the setting comes out in notes and during play. When you read about it on the blog you miss a lot of context. So I will give a high-level summary.

Mild edits (more needed) and some expansion.

Overview: DM's Report on the Briars Mapping Expedition and the Seaward Campaign and Pathfinder

  It has been a lot of gaming recently, and my new 45 hour a week contract plus launching my own company (that does stuff other than sell service contracts, see earlier) and my oldest son (who is working for my start-up) landing a sale and being the process of 2 more sales, all in one week....
  Exhilarating, and exhausting, and no time to blog.

Anyway.

Pathfinder
Sam, the 17 year old, fired up a Pathfinder campaign. I play a Diviner, Jack is playing a cleric of Friendship (we call him the CareBear Cleric), and Nick is playing a murdermachi..., uh, fighter.
Great scenario (take the recipe for a cure for a disease from a sage to an alchemist/cleric wife/husband team to make enough for the village being afflicted); good reason for the characters to meet, and dealing with goblins is a great first fight.
I'd never played Pathfinder before; reminded me of Runequest for some unguessable reason, but play was snappy and fun. We're putting it into what we call the 'rainy day rotation'.

Back to the Briars
Team Thief returned to the Briars. After Ol' One Fang, Ol' Knobby, meeting Grandmother, the goblin tribes, the troll tribe, and about 100 spider encounters, they thought it would calm down.
Nope.
They found the Tower and the Pool, a walled compound with a tower, ornamental garden with reflecting pool, and topiaries. At first appearing new and well-tended they eventually saw through the illusion to the ruined, decrepit facility. They could not enter do to some magical effect but sent a fox - who was teleported to what they recognized as the Garden in Skull Mountain! Seeker flew high over the place a dropped a tortoise into the pool, only to see it teleported to the lake on the third moon! That night a strange sight met them - an odd device, about 5' long and 1' wide with a saddle in the middle, and a light in the front, rose out of the pool with a man riding it like a horse or broom of flying. He used the light to search the grounds of the walled compound before flying back into the pool.

Days later the party encountered a group of druids and learned that the grove for the local Druid was hidden within a massive spinney. The party spoke with the lower-ranking druids at length and learned that they were opposed by the Wizard of the Tower. The party had already heard of him and that he lives in the western lower Briars and that it is a title held by many over the years. The Druids believe that the WotT works with the cultists and fear he maintains some sort of curse that keeps the Briars overgrown with thorns.

Later they went to the cottage where the very first adventure they had in Seaward rests on the edge of the Briars - and met an ogre. The ogre was a servant of the WotT and was receiving slaves from cultists in return for support from the Wizard. Notes indicate that the cultists work with/for the WotT, or something, and the WotT was working with the Eldar to get support to Ol' Knobby and the Goblins.

At this point Nick announced,
"My character is now officially a conspiracy theorist. It's all connected, man!"

The party killed the ogre and sent the captive to safety. Confirming the druids' beliefs the party kept on.

The ravens and the observers from the mountain warned them that someone was following them just in time; a strangely dressed man and his three servants entered an ambush. The servants were Sons of Kyuss! Byron turned the Sons and the man easily survived the arrows of the scouts. A fierce battle was angaged but, in the end, the party defeated Musr al-Sahaab, the necromancer brother of the Jann Alchemist they had killed in the Counties 2 (game) years prior. Captured, they were unsure what to do, so they asked Clarence to send his messenger genie to the Caliph of the Jenha (overlord of all good genies on this plane) for his advice. 3 days later a Djinn arrived and took Musr to face justice for his evil ways and betrayal of his sheik.

Later they encountered a platoon of brigands. Being Team Thief they worked hard to eliminate the watch and infiltrate silently only to have the commanding lieutenant charge out of his tent in full panoply for war! Brigid went berserk and the fight was on. The lieutenant was winning (!) handily (!!) when Byron succeeded with a Hold Person. Since the rest of the party was fighting the other 40 brigands Seeker gave him a coup de grace. The henchmen really shone in the large pitched battle.

A later ambush on the party by a band of ogres led by a half-ogre cleric was defeated, then tracked back and the party spent two days whittling down a full ogre tribe. In the end they were able to kill all 31 ogres (that includes women and children, who all fought to the bitter end, refusing quarter). The Party eventually made it all the way back to the Gate (the beginning of the Old Road through the Briars) then went to Skull Mountain to rest, resupply, and catch up.

Along the way they encountered a merchant trying to take 4 pony carts to Skull Mountain. The henchmen were doing their best to follow orders to stay out of sight, but an earlier merchant had been able to trade with some of the hirelings who slipped out to purchase tobacco, ale, and taffy. The party bought his gear and such and sent him back with his 4 surviving guards. They learned that 7 or 8 other merchants had already tried to get to Skull Mountain but only 1 had returned. It seems that the Company spending gold, topazes, and rubies to ship hundreds of pounds of food to Skull Mountain was never very secret....

Seeker spent his time searching the perimeter of Skull Mountain's plateau;

The plateau is about a mile across, is paved with stone where native rock is not the norm, and is surrounded by a stone-lined ditch.

He found a concealed chimney akin to the one from the Kitchen in Skull Mountain's Guardrooms of level 1. A stout metal grate prevented him from entering, but smoke and the smell of distant cooking was very evident.

Other Information
Going through their notes from past discussions, legends, folktales, the books they found at the Ogre's Cottage, notes from the Library of level 3 of Skull Mountain, etc. and asking some questions of the Druids,  the party reached some tentative conclusions:

1) The space battles seen previously appear to be between unknown forces and the navy of the Duke of the Moon.
2) The Duke of the Moon is probably human and good-aligned.
3) The Grand Druid may live on one of the moons.
4) The Eldar cannot lie about any topic but themselves.
5) The Eldar seem to work for/be servants to some other person or group who seems to be evil.
6) Elves are from space.
7) No one is sure why (at least) PC elves don't know elves are from space.
8) A space-faring elven empire meets with the king of the local elves at least once a year.
9) Prophecy says that the High King of Eiru will come from one of the moons
10) The combination of the Control Room, Remote Station #1, Remote Station #2, the Sleeping Princess, and the Montanic Lances seem to be a weapon system capable of firing at spelljammers, perhaps even at the moons.
11) More underground caverns, almost certainly connected to the Cavern of Herds, stretch at least another 1.5 miles east from Skull Mountain.
12) There are caverns/tunnels/levels about a mile to a mile and a half west of Skull Mountain

More to come!

Mapping the Briars: A Really Big Day

The party has been working really hard to do something never before done in 38 years of the campaign: develop a detailed map of the Briars.
  To explain both why this is a Big Deal and why it has never been done before, the Briars is hilly to very hilly terrain covered in thorns, briars, thickets, and thick copses of locust trees about 500 square miles in area. Between the trees often blocking clear sight of the sun or distant landmarks, the lack of clear trails in 90% of the area, and the short sightline (20 yards at most in the high briars!) parties get lost, on average, in 3 days. Clean water is limited, especially in the high briars, and food is wary and scarce. In Summer the weather is very hot and in Winter it is very cold. Travel is slow regardless. On foot, most parties get lost the first week, run out of water in the second week, and die of hunger, thirst, and exposure before they find the Old Road again.
  Then there are the monsters: kobold raiders, small ogre tribes, trolls, and the hippogriffs and gryphons always watching. On top of the commonplace poisonous spiders and asps the place is littered with corpses.

  The party continued, using their communication helm to stay on track, using magic items for food and water, and using the broom to confirm distant landmarks. Between the Saturday and Sunday sessions they spent 3 game months in the high briars, mapping. Here is what they encountered on Sunday:

• Another kobold war band, quickly dispatched.
• A group of 9 trolls (!!). A very dicey encounter that was almost as bad as Ol' One Fang. If hadn't been for their Marble Mastodon Figurine it would have been a TPK! As it was, it was a long fight that no one escaped with more than single digit hits. The party had to rest for a few days after, but they did get a Frostbrand from the nearby troll nest.
• They saw the famous Red Horseman near Grandmother's hut
• One night near the mountains the sentry spotted the Red Maiden and her massive owl watching them from about a mile away. He alerted the camp and they prepared for something Very Bad to happen with the two Scouts in full Prepared Ambush mode as the religious brother Byron warned them evil was approaching. A chimera burst from the briars right into the ambush and was quickly slain. During the fight the Red Maiden seemed to vanish so Seeker scouted where she had been - and realized she was merely watching while Invisible! After a time she flew away. He found a candy wrapper from a famous candy maker in Adrian with orange fur and black fur stuck to the toffee remnants. The Chimera reverted back into a kobold in an iron slave collar. Close inspection revealed that the collar and been bent into place by a being of incredible strength whose thumbs were on the 'wrong side'...

   Close to Skull Mountain and considering taking a rest, they realized - they had never scouted the mountain's exterior! They did so and mapped the trails around and over Skull Mountain. Nearby they found a campfire with the bare footprints of a human. They found a steep trail that led to a pass to High Morath and the land approach to the Deep. They also found a boulder with a small "cabin" inside it. A cabin that looked a bit like this:

  They eventually figured out how to activate a scrying device that had three different views. With Tongues and such they realized one was the Lunar News Network (whatever that means) and another was the General Education System. They also saw a brief bit that mentioned a wax that 'made swords immune to rust monsters! Special offer, order now! Just send the proper glyph to the second moon!"

  They returned to the Briars and a few days later found the dead body of Erena the Gorgeous, killed by repeated punches and kicks from a human with bare feet....

  On a whim, Seeker donned the communications helm and, at midnight, looked at the second moon and said,
  "I would like to speak to a sales representative."

  In the morning the Man in Purple had a tent nearby and was sitting at a table with the Man in Green. The party spent a prodigious amount of money to ask some questions. So many they were told they had to wait a year to ask more! They learned:

1. No one knows what the Lurker is, just that Disintegration and lightning seem to cause it pain.
2. Skull Mountain was originally ruled (and first dug) 8,000 years previously by the Titan of the Mountain. He vanished long, long ago but his brother, the Titan of the Volcano, still looks for him every Midsummer.
3. Inside Skull Mountain is something called the Contraption that controls the various natural portals to the many elemental, para-elemental, and quasi-elemental planes natural to the mountain.
4. The Sleeping Princess at remote station #1 is a Marid in a genie pact who is the centerpiece to making the Montanic lances work.
5. Ol' Knobby was once an ogre, but he has lived in remote station #1 near a broken ward so he is bathed in intense magic while he lives and sleeps there. It has warped and changed him, making him bigger, stronger, smarter, and stealthier. 
6. The Men in Colors trade with the royal family of the elves once a year; only the elvish royalty know about this.
7. The battle they saw in the sky was mind flayers being driven off by the navy of the Duke of the Third Moon.
8. Lord Whitehill works for the same person that commands the Red Maiden; the Red Maiden is, in fact, a rakshasa. The mysterious commander of them both wants them to create civil wars in Banath and High Morath.
9. Rupert is a Claric//Magic-user vampire bound about with Geases, Quests, and curses so he is trapped in parts of Skull Mountain, but he could potentially be freed just by having the right conversations. In fact, he once was contained to one tiny room.

  The party learned that the Man in Green's special introductory offer for non-magical weapon wax was limited to 10 jars of the normal wax or 5 jars of the deluxe wax! Brigid bought 3 jars of the deluxe wax (enough for about 3 years) and is treating Mor Altach with it to protect her sword from rust, lightning, and magnetism.
  The Man in Green gave a few prices for skyships (hideously expensive) and mentioned that if they were to light the beacon at Midsummer a skyship would take them to the Third Moon for a per-person fee. The Man in Green gave Seeker a device that would allow him to place an order at will once. he also mentioned that if they wanted armor, weapons, etc. they would need to talk to the Man in Red.

  We broke for the weekend.