We played the twenty-first session of our Dungeon Module B1: In Search of Unknown AD&D 2e game last night. You can read past play reports here.
The roster for this session was as follows:
- Llombaerth, CG elf thief 4 (Adam)
- Mirkle, N human fighter 2 (Maya)
- Rory the Small, LN human fighter 1 (David)
- Egbert, human necromancer 1 (NPC)
- A barbarian warrior (NPC)
- Wilros Wackledeckle, gnome (NPC)
- Bilodeau, man-at-arms (NPC)
- Graves, man-at-arms (NPC)
- Brazile, halfling porter, and his dog, Ripper (NPC)
- Ejiofer, human porter (NPC)
- Lendeborg, human porter (NPC)
- Steinbach, human porter (NPC)
- Walgretor, half-elf porter (NPC)
- Hadric, Wilda Brambletoe, Corvin, Aelwen Riversong, and 20 oarsmen - the crew of the Mossy Turtle (NPCs)
Last we played, the party cleaned up after their fight with Mangug's orcs, carrying loads of heavy treasure out of the dungeon with the help of their mules, hirelings, and - with a promise of a 10% share of the gold value of the treasure recovered - Girthil's barbarians.
They found the remaining goblins, Narka, Numbnuts, and Viss, and freed them from the shackles Mangug's orcs had put them in. They learned that Pigmug and Rekk had been subdued or killed by Tobb somewhere near the chamber of the Stone that Speaks. Viss asked them to retrieve Grilk's ring, which Mangug had taken. Girthil had already taken the ring, claiming it was a relic belonging to one of her tribe's druids, indicated by the familiar barbarian runes etched inside the band. The party decided to let her keep it.
The party made the long, arduous descent down the hill and through the forest back to the lake, where their barge waited for them, which took nearly three days. Along the way, they encountered a small group of "river women" bathing in the waters. Girthil mentioned that fey beings still lived in these woods, and that the mere sight of them could blind a man or strike him dead. Llombaerth had already laid eyes upon them, but had resisted the magic at play.
The party at last reached the lake and loaded their goods onto the barge. They parted ways with Girthil and her barbarians, save for one warrior, who travelled with them to ensure the tribe's 10% due was collected. They also sent Indur the gnoll back to Quasqueton with their two remaining zombies to reinforce the goblins.
The rest of the party set sail on the barge, crossing the lake and sailing upriver. At the end of the second day of sailing, a lone wood elf emerged from the forest, asking if the party were brigands or agents of the wizard in town. They denied this, and agreed to let the elf come aboard to inspect their cargo.
We picked up there. As the elf climbed aboard the barge, the party gave him the heads up that they had items from Quasqueton in their hold, which had belonged to Zelligar, and which Lambrecht the wizard was seeking to obtain, but that they were not delivering these items to him, and were planning to sell them in town and definitely not paying taxes on them. To prove this, they gestured towards the Black Crag people's warrior. The Black Crag people hated Zelligar, and this one was with them, so surely they were not in league with any nefarious wizards.
As it turns out, the wood elves of this forest were ancient enemies of the Black Crag people. Before Rogahn and Zelligar had come to this land and forced out the Black Crag people, the wood elves had called the forest home, and it was the Black Crag people who had forced them out. The elf and the Black Crag warrior exchanged insults in their native tongues, but did not come to blows.
The party brought the elf into the hold to examine their goods. While many of the items might make fine decorations in a wizard's sanctum, there was no evidence that the party was smuggling the sort of items which the elves hoped to keep from Lambrecht. It all seemed above board.
The party asked if there might be items in Quasqueton which belonged to the elves. The elf answered that, while the Black Crag people had taken from the elves, and Rogahn and Zelligar from the Black Crag people, there were no outstanding items that came to mind which the elves would claim for themselves. They had retreated deeper into the forest as human encroachment had become apparent, taking their choicest artifacts and relics with them to save them from such plundering.
The party asked if, at some point, the elves might like to reclaim the forest as their own, and if they might aid the party in facilitating that. The elf said that it would depend on what was required of them, but that the forest was plagued by goblins, orcs, ogres, owlbears, and humans. The forest was tainted, and human civilization was eroding the edge of the forest every year. From the perspective of an elf, there wouldn't be much of it left by the end of their lifetime.
To that point, the party mentioned their intention to rid the forest of its owlbear problem, and asked if the elves might aid them in that. The elf replied that the owlbears were created by the humans' meddling with nature. They were a human problem to be cleaned up by humans.
Llombaerth removed his owlbear helm, indicating his ears, and said in Elvish that he was an elf as well. The wood elf visibly scoffed at him, stating that the two of them were not the same kind of elf. Llombaerth replied that this was so, but to the humans - and the wizard Lambrecht in particular - they were all just elves.
This resonated with the wood elf. He would not commit his people to helping the party at this time, but perhaps something could be arranged in the future. He said that his people kept a small scouting outpost in the deep forest to the east, and indicated this on their map. It was just northeast and across the river from where the party suspected the owlbear den to be, which was convenient.
Lastly, the party asked the elf if he was familiar with any magical, possibly evil stones in the region, particularly at Quasqueton. The elf did not know of anything specific, but said that there were a great many magical things in the forest - things from before even the elves' time. During the conflict with the Black Crag people, it was said that the barbarians' druids worshiped a "horned demon" which gave them power, and the elves' druids said that Rogahn and Zelligar had chosen the site of their stronghold because of ancient powers which dwelled beneath the crag.
There was one more thing. In addition to the human brigands and agents of Lambrecht, the elves had encountered another group in the forest - human pilgrims and zealots, worshipers of a horned goddess of some kind, who came from civilized lands to the forest in search of some ancient power. They wore crude headdresses of animal horns and antlers. Whatever they were looking for, the many monsters which prowled the forest had kept them from finding it.
With that, the elf departed back into the forest. As he left, the party spotted about half a dozen more elves, unnoticed until now, dropping from the nearby trees to join him. The elves had bows drawn on the party the entire time.
The party finished resting for the night, waking the next day to continue their journey. They had about three hours before they made it to Timbershore.
At around 9:30 am, Egbert noticed something strange in the sky. He pointed it out to the party - two faintly shimmering, almond-shaped distortions hovering in the air above them, following at they moved up the river. The party concluded that they were being scried upon. Egbert didn't know how long it would last. They ordered the barge to a halt and instructed the oarsmen to cast nets, as if they were simply fishing. They had to convince the captain, Hadric, but eventually the crew carried out their orders.
By the time the equipment was hauled onto the deck, the apparition had vanished. It had been only fifteen minutes. The party ordered the crew back to their positions, amidst some grumbling dissent, and they went on their way.
The party arrived in Timbershore at around 10:30 am, but decided to stick to the far side of the river until nightfall. They would continue to pose as simple fishermen until dark, then signal for the smugglers to meet them on the far shore. Once their cargo was unloaded, they would dock in town with the day's catch, and hopefully none would be the wiser.
The day passed uneventfully, and the smugglers responded to their signal around 8 pm, floating a barge of their own across the river under cover of night, crewed by ne'er-do-well sailors led by a familiar face - Lethariel Vaen, the elf underling who was second-in-command to the smugglers' leader, Tavin Underbough.
The smugglers came aboard and surveyed the party's treasure. In total, they had some 200 g.p. in assorted old coinage, about 1,500 g.p. in gemstones, and about 2,500 g.p. in other treasures. The party opted to keep the gemstones and convert the remaining treasure into spending money. The coinage would need to be converted into the local currency, and the other items would require forged documents which stated that duties, tariffs, and sales taxes had been paid for each. Since the party was holding onto the gemstones, they would still need to pay sales tax and the special surtax on those if they ended up selling them.
The smugglers' cut was half what it would be if the party had gone through the official channels. The party got a few sacks of platinum and gold coins. 10% went to the Black Crag warrior to bring back to his tribe. The rest was divided five ways, with equal shares for Llombaerth, Mirkle, Rory, Zommernar, and Egbert.
Mirkle and Rory both gained a level (Mirkle is 3rd level and Rory is 2nd). Llombaerth and Zommernar came close to leveling up, and Egbert is about halfway to 2nd level. I determine experience shares by totaling the number of sessions each character has participated in on the current expedition, with henchmen counting for half the highest number. Llombaerth and Mirkle participated in 7 sessions each, Rory and Zommernar in 3 sessions each, and Egbert counts for 3 sessions (half of 7, rounded down). The total is 23 sessions, so Llombaerth and Mirkle each got a 30% share of the experience points, and everyone else each got a 13.33% share.
With their contraband loot unloaded, the party finally disembarked for town, bringing in the day's catch of fish as a cover. Before parting ways, they impressed upon the crew the importance of not sharing any of what had transpired with anyone. If people were made aware of their activities, they were likely to be rounded up and questioned, and likely would not come back alive. This obviously troubled everyone a great deal, but their worries melted away when the party paid the entire crew a month's salary (some 700 g.p.) as a bonus for their silence. Wilda Brambletoe, the barges shrewd old halfling second mate, reminded the crew that "loose lips sink ships".
With that, the company scattered throughout town. The Black Crag warrior hefted his sack of coins and, seeing no reason to return to his tribe immediately as it was so late, wandered off to gamble and drink. I forgot about Wilros Wackledeckle (shame on me!), but presumably he also parted ways with the group. The party went to the Mooring Post to get a good night's sleep.
The next morning, the weather in town had turned for the worse. A snowy rain fell from the sky, covering the streets in cold water and slush. The party set about their errands.
They decided they would like to recruit another magic-user as a henchman, and spent 60 g.p. posting notices and hiring a crier. They travelled to the High Ward to shop. They bought some locks, thinking they could use them to secure certain areas of the dungeon, and bought two guard dogs, a hunting dog, and four war dogs! I asked them to think about what else they might like to buy and to get back to me with their final lists.
They returned to the River Ward to seek out a dwarf who might know something about the ore they had found in Quasqueton. After a brief inspection, he told them it was ordinary blue earth. A cartload of it was worth just a few copper pieces. It was somewhat useful in creating cheap pigments, but not usually worth mining. They paid the dwarf a gold piece for his time.
Next, they planned to seek out Albertyna to exchange information. They travelled to her manse and found her in her study, but we decided to end the session there.
Nothing too crazy happening in this one! The encounter with the wood elf was fruitful for the information exchange and the new potential allies, and it was fun for the players to learn that they're being magically observed from afar, but the rest was kind of standard bookkeeping stuff. It was good for the characters to get a big payout of XP and gold. I'm glad a few of them leveled up. It was also interesting to see once again how quickly those coffers get drained! The party still has a nice chunk of change in the bank (and in the form of gemstones), but we'll see how much is left once their shopping is concluded!
I'm looking forward to another interaction with Albertyna and to finding out what the players plan to do next.
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