We played the twenty-third 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 3 (Maya)
- Rhonodel, NG elf cleric 1 (Jack)
- Zommernar, CN elf fighter 2 (Nael)
- Egbert, human necromancer 1 (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)
- The party's guard dog (Spot), hunting dog (Vincenzo), and four war dogs (Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Phooey)
Last we played, the party met with their wizardly ally, Albertyna, and exchanged what information they had learned since their last meeting. Albertyna filled them in on town politics. She told them about Blanchefleur, the sinister cleric who ruled the religious stronghold in the Chapel Ward, and about the Horned Mother, the deity or demon which they worshipped. Blanchefleur was, in her way, the real power in Timbershore, but Lambrecht seemed to tolerate her. Albertyna was not sure how the Horned Mother might relate to the horned demon carving the party had found in Quasqueton.
The party also informed Albertyna that they suspected that Lambrecht was scrying on them. Albertyna told them there was little they could do to prevent this from happening, but that Lambrecht's ability to spy on them was limited in terms of success, frequency, and length of viewing by how well he knew them. If he met them personally or came into possession of an item belonging to them or a part of their body, his powers would be greatly enhanced.
The party asked Albertyna if she could call in any favors with the town guard so that they would be somewhat protected. Albertyna said she would talk to Manolito, the captain of Llombaerth's household guard. While Manolito served Lambrecht, Albertyna had a friendly relationship with him, and believed he would be able to help.
The party had much to think about. They returned to the Mooring Post to get some rest and to wait for prospective henchmen to respond to their advertisements. That evening, Llombaerth found a pair of eyeballs in his fish stew, staring up at him, blinking. They decided to leave town as soon as possible, scrambling to gather their henchman and hirelings and animals. They would meet on the barge and depart town for Quasqueton at first light.
They did so, sailing downriver in a hailstorm. As they were moored along the river's edge at dusk, they spotted half a dozen humans - who appeared to be followers of Blanchefleur, hunting in the forest. The hunters did not notice the party, so they elected to stay hidden. They reached Quasqueton the next day, encountering a pair of giant birds that flew low overhead as they ascended the hill.
Llombaerth snuck inside the dungeon and found the entrance corridor lined with heads on spikes. First he saw the heads of Mangug and his orcs, then the heads of the party's remaining zombie followers, then the head of Indur, their friendly gnoll. Llombaerth could smell someone cooking in the kitchen. He triggered the twin magic mouths to lure whoever it was out of the room, then hid in an alcove to see who showed up.
A nine and a half foot tall monstrous female humanoid emerged from the kitchen, inspected the area, grumbled to herself, and returned to the kitchen. Llombaerth snuck back out to report this to the rest of the party.
We picked up there. We were joined by a new player, Jack, who is playing Rhonodel, an elf cleric. This is our first new player since Maya joined in session 6! Rhonodel wandered up to the group as Llombaerth was rejoining them, inserting himself into their conversation. Introductions were made. Rhonodel's deity, Minara, had sent him a vision of Quasqueton and told him he was needed here. Simple. He joined the party.
They discussed what to do about what they presumed was an ogre in the kitchen. Llombaerth would once again sneak inside, trigger the magic mouths, and hide in the alcoves halfway down the corridor, while the rest of the party hid in the first set of alcoves, closest to the dungeon entrance. Llombaerth would attempt to talk to the ogre. Failing that, the rest of the party would emerge from hiding to back him up.
They enacted their plan. The ogre came stomping out again, but this time Llombaerth called out to her, asking if the goblins were still alive. The ogre stomped towards Llombaerth and grunted, "Goblins marinating." Llombaerth tried to tell the ogre he meant her no harm, but she kept approaching at a threatening pace. Llombaerth squeezed out of the alcove and slipped away just as the ogre was closing into melee range. He ran back to the rest of the group.
At this point, the ogre noticed the rest of the party with their mercenaries and dogs huddled together in the further alcoves. She stopped in her tracks, scratching her chin. "You no mean Yamda harm? What do you want?"
The party attempted to negotiate the release of the goblins. Yamda said she would trade two goblins for one elf and the halfling - salivating as her gaze fell upon Brazile. The party declined. Yamda counteroffered with one goblin for one of the party's dogs, which they also declined. They ordered Yamda to release the goblins, or else they would loose their dogs on her. Yamda snarled, "You no want to treat in good faith with Yamda. Go away!" She began backtracking down the corridor towards the kitchen.
Brazile let the dogs loose. They raced down the corridor. Three of the four dogs landed hits on Yamda. Two were critical hits. The first dog seized Yamda by the leg and brought her low, while the second dog leapt for her throat, ripping and tearing. Here the players learned that each of their war dogs has 2+2 HD (average 11 HP) and does 2d4 damage per hit. The dogs are an insanely worthwhile investment.
It was over quickly. The dogs fell upon the ogre, tearing her apart until Brazile called them off. The party left the body and went to inspect the kitchen.
The kitchen had been converted into an abattoir, with piles of gore splattered across every surface. A cast-iron pot hanging from the ceiling by a chain above a cookfire was roiling with a thick, fatty, rich broth. At the far side of the room, the party spotted the goblins Pigmug and Tobb, tied up and sitting in a wash basin full of liquid, smeared in a sickly sweet sauce and crusted with seasoning. Tobb had a rotten apple shoved in his mouth.
They freed the goblins and asked them what had happened. After the party had left, Tobb had reunited the goblins. They had retreated to Drak's throne room for safety. A few days later, the goblins had been attacked in the throne room by an ogre. The goblins had fled, but Pigmug and Tobb had been captured by a second ogre in their flight, whereupon they were brought here.
Where were the rest of the goblins? Tobb pointed at the gore piles around the room. It was hard to tell, but that one might be Narka, and maybe that was Viss...or Numbnuts? If the party was able to find their heads, it would be easier to identify them.
Not liking the sound of a second ogre wandering about, Rhonodel went to close the door to the kitchen. As he did so, he spotted the second ogre rounding the corner just outside. The second ogre spotted the body of the first, then saw Rhonodel, bellowed with rage, and made for the door. Rhonodel decided not to fight with the ogre over control of the door, and retreated back into the kitchen.
The party had their dogs form a line and prepared to engage the ogre with ranged weapons. The ogre charged into the room before they could ready their weapons, and entered into melee with the dogs. Huey managed to get a glancing bite for just 3 damage, but the rest of the dogs missed.
Llombaerth decided to use the kitchen's rear exit to try to flank the ogre. He went to the opposite end of the long kitchen, threw open the door...and found another ogre on the far side! He stumbled back, swinging his short sword, but missed. The party's mercenaries, Bilodeau and Graves, moved to reinforce Llombaerth with their spetums. The ogre tried to grab Llombaerth, but the long reach of the mercenaries' polearms held it at bay.
The rest of the party loosed projectiles at the first ogre. Mirkle and Egbert each got a critical hit, but in the chaos of melee, Mirkle shot Louie in the hindquarters for 5 damage, and Egbert stuck Huey for 3 damage. Huey bit down on the ogre again, this time for 6 damage. Both the ogre and Huey seemed badly wounded.
Llombaerth slipped back behind the mercenaries' wall of spetums, then tossed a flask of flaming oil at the second ogre, scoring a direct hit for 10 damage, setting the ogre alight. Maya joined the group with her own spetum. The second ogre, wishing to get to Llombaerth, attempted to barrel through the front rank. Bilodeau and Graves, who had not yet acted, set to receive the charge. Bilodeau skewered the ogre for a massive 22 damage (11 x 2), stabbing through its midsection and spilling its steaming guts on the floor. The front rank stepped back as the flaming ogre's corpse collapsed in front of them.
The rest of the party continued firing at the first ogre. Both Rhonodel and Zommernar scored hits with their short bows, but both hit Louie instead for a total of 9 damage. Louie whimpered and died at the second arrow struck him.
Finally, the ogre surrendered, begging the party to call off their dogs. They did.
The ogre, named Gruda, would trade information for her life. She told the party that she had found two chests of treasure in a room down the hall - gold coins, jeweled items, and gems. It was more than Gruda had seen in her life. The party informed Gruda that the treasure was illusory. "Of course...Gruda knew that..."
The party asked Gruda how many ogres were in her group. Gruda said there were six of them - now four, including her. Where were the rest? Gurgak had gone that way - she pointed towards the opposite door to the kitchen, where the second ogre had been slain. Gugg had gone that way - she pointed towards the door nearer to her and to the right. Rugg had gone the same way as Gruda - out the door nearer to her and to the left - but had gone straight while Gruda had gone right.
Why were the ogres here? Okorg had sent them here to find the people who had stolen their treasure. Who was Okorg? He was the ogre chieftain. He ruled the cave in the forest. What treasure was stolen from Okorg? Several small things - his silver dagger, his looking glass, his bone cup and dice, his silver horn, his drinking tankards, his collection of belt buckles, his soft cloak...The party mentioned that something had been stolen from them as well, and they suspected some sort of gnome trickster which lived in the forest.
Why did Okorg think that his treasure was here? The lady from town had come to Okorg's court and told him so. What lady from town? Gruda described someone the party did not recognize - a young lady in blue traveler's clothes with a silver emblem. The party recalled that the banners which hung from the walls of Lambrecht's castle were blue with a silver emblem.
The party informed Gruda that Okorg had been tricked. Gruda did not accept this at first - Okorg was the smartest ogre - but eventually she was convinced that Okorg could be deceived. In that case, Okorg must be informed. The lady from town was being kept with the other prisoners until Gruda and the others returned, so there was still time to eat her.
What other prisoners? The ogres had captured several people while raiding Timbershore's farmlands, among them a dwarf which Okorg used as a truffle hound for smelling out treasure. Okorg had not trusted Gruda's ogres with the dwarf, since he knew they wanted to eat him.
When would the other ogres - Gurgak, Gugg, and Rugg - return? Was there a safe place to meet with them to discuss this? Gruda was not sure - ogres didn't really plan ahead like that. She could try to find them, but it would take a while. Maybe if the party lent her their delicious halfling and one of their scrumptious dogs, she could find the others more quickly...
No - the party decided that Gruda would be their hostage. She would come with them and help smooth things over with the other ogres if they ran into them. If the party found any of Okorg's treasures, the ogres could keep them. If Gruda's friends were amenable, the party might enlist their aid in moving a certain large statue out of the dungeon.
To ensure Gruda's compliance, Llombaerth tricked her into carrying an "oath-keeping device" in her pocket - one of two bombs which Llombaerth had fashioned in town using the party's ample supply of bat guano from the dungeon's lower level. Gruda would remain 20 feet in front of the party, and if Gruda did not behave, Llombaerth would activate the device.
Before they left, the party informed Pigmug and Tobb that the goblins' experiment in occupying Quasqueton was over. Clearly, it had been a disaster, and they should leave while they still lived. The goblins were still unconvinced and unwilling to leave their "home", but they would at least find some new area in which to hide, where monsters were less like to find them.
We ended the session there. This was fun! I'm excited to have some new blood in the player pool. It's funny to see the players exploiting their new war dogs, which were a great pickup. This session also made the players aware of another element of the sandbox - the ogres whose treasure has been stolen, who have been raiding the lands around Timbershore and have some sort of relationship with Lambrecht. Can the party somehow use them to tip things in their favor? We shall see!
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