Campaign Journal: The Ha'Tak Pyramid Welcoming Committee

When last we left our heroes, at least a couple were picking shrapnel out of their various bits.

Who made it?

• Fulvus, halfling
• Frederick, thief
• Jax, barbarian
• Rondel, elf
• Slick, thief
• Orzu, gnome (who had apparently been outside the pyramid taking a leak during the prior shenanigans)

Catching their breath, it was decided to pursue Grenade Throwing Dude (GTD). Checking the northeast door from whence he had appeared, no sound was heard. Cracking the door, they found an empty chamber with three exits and a painting of Khador (in her "wild party years" guise). Painting immediately filched. 

Something like this (original by Harry Clarke)

No sounds were heard from the three exit doors (although Goober was suspicious about the north and west doors), and Fulvus and hench Wena kicked the western exit open:

'Sup, yo (source)

After a brief beatdown by the undead knight, Fulvus and Wena bravely retreated, assisted by Rondel and a web spell. 

In the meantime, Slick and Flick cracked the north door, encountering a couple of burly skeletons in an old barracks. Henry Cee repelled them, and the two thieves pursued, eventually taking them down. The barracks and adjacent storeroom were pretty much devoid of valuables. Although Slick did find a jar of pennies (thanks to a crap roll on a Donjon treasure table).

Frederick was wisely watching the third door. And of course GTD cracks that door open, zaps him with a Chromatic Orb, and bolts. A side effect of the Orb was a nausea-inducing cloud, which half the party failed. 

Like this guy, but with grenades.

Most of the party retreated to the central room. The undead knight was slain from a safe distance, and decent treasure recovered. 

In the meantime, Rondel, Jax, Goober, and Raspberry ascended another spiral stair found in the eastern room there GTD had disappeared into. They found themselves on the exterior of the second level of a step pyramid. The group scouted a bit, but no sign of GTD. Goober followed a scent trail to a corresponding set of stairs in the southeast corner of the pyramid.

But this dude showed up, again:

Hi! source

Everyone bolted to the southeast staircase, leaping over a short parapet to escape the diving beast. Well, everyone except Raspberry.  

RIP. (Edit: there were table jokes on all that was left was Raspberry's beret. And tonight's brewery pun was Raspberry puree...)

Time to regroup. The party barricaded themselves in the abandoned barracks overnight, taking advantage of Henry's healing spells and some questionable healing aids from various sources. Other than footsteps, the night was generally uneventful. 

Back at it. The party continued to clear the remaining rooms in the northeast quarter of the pyramid's ground floor. While watching their backs. 

Jackpot! They uncovered GTD's quarters, a stinking collection of bedding and chemicals. Rondel was scandalized to find several old books, all defaced with screeds and conspiracy theories. Orzu took a quick look and found a couple plausible...

Slick, Orzu, and Torvald cracked a door, finding shelves of concoctions. Someone bumped the shelf (Boom!). Thankfully, the resulting explosion was fairly weak, and the three escaped with minor shrapnel and singeing. Slick found some more loose change.

Time to explore the central staircase. Cautiously. Creeping upward, our heroes found a medium-sized empty chamber, its walls lined with frescoes of Khador (The Early Years). Again, defaced. A shame.

Frederick donned his trick scarf (invisibility, one turn) and crept up the stairs.

Wyvern balls.

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Hustling back down, he reported the beast's presence. Followed way too much planning in the avenging of Raspberry.

So much so, that by the time that Slick crept up to attempt a backstab, the wyvern was doing the equivalent of drumming its fingers.

Backstab failed. The wyvern let loose a terrifying scream, scattering part of the party, and clawed Slick. A hail of arrows dealt it great harm, and it fled. Torvald clumped to the top of the stairs and hurled his spear, dealing the fatal blow. And now Fulvus has another head for his future alehouse.

The party uncovered a damaged, but intact, ruby lens and caught their breath.

Until next time...

DM Notes:

The interlude between weeks allowed me to fill the spaces and refine some bits of the pyramid and foes, hopefully making it more cohesive. At least for a space containing a wyvern, undead, and a crazy illusionist-alchemist. 

This particular dungeon-space has been exceptionally fun to stock and run, as it has multiple loops and exits, which allow for guerilla actions by GHD. And the party hates him. So much fun. Oh, his name is CORMAC MACGIOBAHN!1! as the party has discovered, but he's referred to by multiple epithets. 

***

As I post this, it's the 50th anniversary of our weird little game. I'm glad to have become reacquainted with it over the last several years. It's rekindled a lot of creativity and given me the opportunity to interact with people internationally who share the joy of various flavors of RPGs. And to work up my own courage to get behind the screen and embrace the chaos. 

And, with the age of our hobby, we have lost many of the original creators and pioneers of the game. Unfortunately, another influential individual of game design has passed beyond the veil. Jennell Jaquays created dynamic, looping spaces, both on tabletop and computer RPGs, influencing game design, so much so that her name became attached to the concept. Her spirit is in these sessions, as GTD conducts his harassment of the party and flees, cackling. 

A gofundme has been established, originally to offset Jennell's medical costs associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome, and now to defray funeral costs. Share back if you are able. https://www.gofundme.com/f/jennell-jaquays-has-a-long-road-back