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Friday, July 14, 2017

Strange Things Afoot in Skull Mountain

As recent posts have indicated, the crew have been busy cleaning out level three of Skull Mountain, thoroughly searching level two, and scouting around the entrance to the Deep.
My oldest had the day off, I had the afternoon off, and we did a marathon session.
Also, I'm beat, so - bullet synopsis!


  • The illusion on level two cloaked a secret door
  • the secret door led to a spiral staircase that went very deep
  • at the bottom they met Francmer the Mage and John, Cardinal Wilson: Francmer is studying the strange anti-scrying effects of Skull Mountain as well as the multiple elemental portals. Cardinal Wilson is retired from the Archdiocese of New Berlin and took a spelljammer to Skull Mountain decades ago to guard Rupert's prison.
  • Francmer accepted Owen as a protege.
  • Francmer used a teleportation chamber to send them to the faerie ring in the Lost Garden.
  • The other hidden spiral staircase went not very far at all to what appears to be the secret living quarters of some weird religious group
  • they fought a Son of Kyuss; it was wearing a circlet of skeletal warrior command.
  • They destroyed a Ring of Vampiric Regeneration that had an INT of 17, a 30 Ego, and that could cast Charm Monster before it could take over a party member
  • In a heavily shielded, locked, etc. chamber on that level they found a teleportation chamber on a different 'cycle' than Francmer's.
  • This teleportation chamber was connected to access to Turret Control and the spelljammer dock
  • Using it scared the spit out of their hirelings guarding the drydock.
  • With a lot of scrying, and such the figured out how to feed profiles into turret control so the turrets won't shoot the party anymore.
  • While in turret control they watched a monk leap into the shaft and land on the second bridge - 1,000 feet below. He walked through a door.
  • They found the hidden hidey-hole of a dead adventurer.
  • Seeker arrived on break from the Briars and scouted the secret door on the side of the Deep - beyond he found the Hidden Rooms of St. Ozman
  • Most of the Hidden Rooms were empty. Except for the one guarded by a clay golem. They were told they needed a pass to go beyond the clay golem. A pass signed by the pope. Then the golem gave them a package for the archbishop of Seaward. They left meekly.
  • Other magic seems to indicate there is a mainframe computer in the wall on level Zero A. That, or it is a trapped marid.
  • While brunching with Francmer and the Cardinal they learned that Skull Mountain is also home to: The Academy (an advanced magical university); a tribe of ogre magi that use yakuza titles (they live off the first bridge); a fabled library said to house 'every spell in the world'; something called 'The 37th Chamber'.
  • Francmer referred to the Lurker as 'the devilfish' and said no one really understands what it is, but everyone avoids it because of its power.
  • The main group of Skull Mountain types went to Seaward and eventually met the king
  • The party remains terrified of the trap maze, especially since they now believe the skeleton warrior is on the other side of it.


The party did and learned a LOT today and were a little whiplashed. They wrapped up the Skull Mountain stuff and did a lot of paperwork, leveling up, paying maintenance, getting new henchmen, etc.
There were a lot of shout-outs for me tonight - they found the remains of Lomax the Bold and Selena the Red, two PCs who died here in 1984 and had their bodies left behind when the party was wiped out before it could return. The hidey-hole was made by Sneaky Pete, another PC who died here in 1990. And the Son of Kyuss was formerly the warrior Finan Lacklaer who found the evil ring, put it on, was controlled, and wiped out the rest of his party in 1985.
No other party has ever found St. Ozman's rooms.


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