Better get this written down before I forget details of the chaos...
The Miscreants:
- Wayne: Pharan, human Sea Wolf
- Chris: Roult, human Basilisk Warrior
- Dan: Kiara, elf Ras Godai
- Seana: Zanegar, 1/2 orc Sea Wolf
- Callista: Erol, elf Priest
- Mike: Merrick, human Bard
- Mark (first timer): Irir, elf Thief
First of all, bumped a couple of the Repeat Offenders to 3rd level, since they keep showing up.
The returning crew from last week was heading back to Bettiholm, when they chanced upon a couple of adventurers (Merrick and Irir). The pair looked shady, so were welcomed to join the crew. The group then caught up with a small caravan carrying a mixed selection of supplied and curiosities for delivery to town. Some haggling went on, but the party was unsuccessful.
The caravan parked outside of town at the caravanserai, and the party headed in to catch up with gem dealer Delmar. Perhaps to find a more reputable broker, since they suspected that Kashmi Rasam had double-crossed his buyer, and they didn't care to be associated with that. In the meantime, they had to dodge "Chicken Day" where the mayor was handing out food donations to the downtrodden of the city. Of which there were plenty. It's a good thing that the caravan included chickens among its cargos.
Somewhere in this, the DM produced a rough map of town and pointed out some features that the party had visited, as well as other landmarks:
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| Cat not included |
The Sealed Tower (upper RH corner) drew them like moths to flame... Well, it was sealed by multiple methods after Bad Things Happened, of course. Perhaps it's associated with the city's curse and loss of significance. What would have instigated it (question to players) - diabolic dealings and summoning. Always a classic.
The party ventured to meet the mayor (Fabio Hegewald) as he was washing his hands after a day of handing out foodstuffs and (eeww!) touching the citizens. The mayor and advisor indicated that the sealing occurred after a priest of Terragnis had violated his vows and called up demons in a gamble for power. Can we get into the tower? No, its been sealed, although there might be alternate paths. Have other adventurers explored it? Yes, and they never returned (dramatic music).
Well, ok - let's get some rest, resupply, and look at things in the morning (i.e. no carousing). Of course, they were met at their inn by representatives of House Zulad, the Dissatisfied Customer from the prior relic sale. Of course, they wouldn't have known of the double-cross, but their reputation was now suspect. And yes, we caught Rasam on his way out of town with a number of items, including the inner workings of the Orb. Of course, it wouldn't do to just kill him, as he has knowledge and talent (big reveal)...
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| like this, without the legs |
The brain quivered and rippled in the jar... Well, best that you keep a low profile, but if you do find any interesting trinkets, the House would be willing to negotiate directly. And put in a good word for you. Sleep well.
And with that, investigating the tower was now Very Important.
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Let's visit the neighboring Ruined Keep(tm) next door. Maybe we can find an alternate entrance.
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The two sneaky types entered the moldering buildings, scaring off a black bear. Down into the cellars, more tapping and sneaking, as you do. Finally, in the wine cellar, a suspicious cask. taptaptap. Sneaky types check for traps. Into the found passageway. And welcoming by the resident.
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| yo. |
The party slayed it. Roult was shocked as it stood back up as he was relieving it of its signet ring. Most of the party fled (with the torch), leaving the braver standing in the dark. They fled too. Erol recalled their Undead Studies classes, and came up with some info on the Coffer Corpse. With no enchanted weapons, Erol cast Magic Weapon on Zanegar's sword. Hiding behind Pharan's shield, the two scrambled back into the chamber and confronted the thing. Some hacking and it finally laid down for good.
(Insert scene of party creeping through tunnels, making u-turns, attempting to dead-reckon their way towards the tower)
Finally, a rune-covered door. Along with scrawls on the walls of "Terragnis Lies!" and similar. Kiara approached carefully, deftly avoiding the poisoned darts trap installed to dissuade other adventurers. Irir, with assistance from Erol (thiefy background), was able to pop the lock.
Past the door, and likewise past three empty crypts. More exploration, branching paths, up, or down? But first - Serpent-Demons, inhabiting the bodies of what were once the residents of the crypts. Fighting and biting and squeezing. Loot recovered, including a book with information on getting good deals at area houses of vice...
Another trapped door. This one not found, leading to the (temporary) demise of the thief.
More "Terragnis Lies!" grafitti.
To the ground level of the tower. Doors showing much abuse from physical and magical efforts to escape.
Creeping upward - living quarters for a priest, now dilapidated and askew. Toss the room, and get surprised by a floating Eye Demon. It deals Zanegar a debilitating blow to their CON before it's successfully "blinded."
Up to be met by the desecrated form of Brother Taran Trudheon, former Priest of St. Terragnis, current minion of some demonic forces.
Four of the party are immediately paralyzed. Erol, Roult, and Zanegar resist the binding. Trudheon recognizes Erol as one of this (former) faith. But first - how did you break a seal and enter? No one knows. Trudheon then goes on to tempt and goad the three PCs - since they broke in, they can break him out, and he can deliver glory to both them, and the city outside. For Terragnis failed to lift up the city. Other powers will be eager to do the job.
Through this, Erol stands firm in their faith. The demon-ridden priest smirks, and the party finds themselves on the first level of the tower.
...
DM Notes:
...and that's why you don't label things ahead of time. Or you do... Honestly, if the players had asked, I'd probably still have called the structure the "Sealed Tower."
And yes, I had a couple of scenarios drafted for them to pursue. Those will wait for another time, or another group of PCs.
So yes, most everything past the third paragraph, above, was either improvised or modified to meet the players'/PCs' curiosity and actions.
Fortunately, I was "prepared."
The caravan at the beginning of the session was one of a handful of random encounters I'd written up during prep. The cargos came from my D66 tables. The city event of "chicken day" was rolled from a d20 city events table I found in my files, but can't attribute a source. The merchant representatives had been prepared as an encounter, and statted, just in case the PCs chose violence. Their encounter location was moved, because I wanted to make it clear who had power in town, via a brain in a jar.
NPC names were garnered on the fly from www.fantasynamegenerators.com. I'd had some thoughts on the keep and tower when I labeled them on the map, but I decided to give the PCs a chance to find a route into the tower, rather than blocking.
The secret door under the keep? The row of casks behind the table we were playing at, and recalling a similar secret door in another adventure.
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Traps were from another adventure/map I was using for reference as I described their explorations. I roughly sketched a few features as the players explored, but mostly ran TOTM.
Demons rolled on the fly via SavevsTotalPartyKill. Treasure rolled from "Unlikely Treasures," a small supplement I must have downloaded about 10 years ago and found while scanning my hard drive.
Oh. How did they get into a thrice-sealed accursed tower as mere murderhobo mooks? That will be revealed later... (e.g. I was going over my notes last night and considering next options, and something Came to Me.)
The Coffer Corpse was from a scenario I had prepared, in case the PCs were hungry for a barrow. And for anyone who might want to drop a Coffer Corpse into their own Shadowdark session, here are the original Fiend Folio stats, along with my interpretation of a Shadowdark conversion:
Coffer Corpse (orig. 1981 Fiend Folio - AD&D)
▶ Undead: Make no noise, until they attack. Undead immunities.
▶ Turning: Treated as a 4 HD monster.
▶ Throttle: On a successful grasp attack, the corpse’s hands lock around the victim’s throat, inflicting 1d6 automatic damage each subsequent round.
▶ Mundane weapons: Seem to damage but do not. (Can only be harmed by magical attacks.) A mundane attack with “damage” of 4 or more causes the coffer corpse to drop to the ground as if dead,
rising again next round. Any characters who were in melee with it must save versus spells or flee.
▶ Fleeing characters: Run away at maximum speed for 4 rounds. There is also a 50% chance of dropping held items.
Coffer Corpse for ShadowDark
Undead: Immune to morale checks.
Turning: Makes resistance to turning CHA check with Advantage
Throttle: On a successful grab attack, the corpse’s hands lock around the victim’s throat, inflicting 1d6 automatic damage each subsequent round.
Mundane weapons: Can only be harmed by magical attacks. Mundane weapons seem to cause damage but do not. A mundane attack with “damage” of 4+ causes the coffer corpse to drop to the ground as if dead, rising again next round.
Any characters in near range when it rises must make a DC12 WIS check or flee for 4 rounds. 50% chance to drop a held item.
***
Never unprepared...
Oh, and this is now an open-table mini campaign, dammit.
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