Hill Cantons - Session 11

Here I am again back with another Hill Cantons recap! This session was actually played more than two months ago, so expect a big combination-recap coming up soon. Happy reading! 

Characters

• Lasryn Thunderhammer - Level 5 Cleric
• Frankopan Vladislav - Level 4 Psychonaut
• Natalie Bukowski (new) - Level 4 Monk

Followers

• Stephen (new) - Man-at-arms
• Katja (new) - Man-at-arms
• Alexei (new) - Man-at-arms
• Nosewise - Old but loyal dog
• Tom - Trained Badger

Action Report

Following their previous adventures in the Glittering Tower, Lasryn and Frankopan say adieu to Luka as he rows off eastwards headed for the port of Bystrica. There he will spend some time contemplating the adventures thus far and scribe some new spells. Figuring that two persons are not enough to continue exploring the dungeons, the other two head back to Kugelberg where they hope to recruit some additional travelers. 

Once they arrive they are met by Natalie Bukowski; a monk traveling the cantons in search of herself, abandoned by her former party for her infectiously positive disposition. The three companions decide to then spend the rest of the day having a picnic before heading off towards the northerly town of Muth the next day to look for hirelings. 

During their rest in the old smith's barn the characters uncover a strange golden chariot, but decide to question Jaromir about it in the morning. Going back to sleep, both Lasryn and Frankopan each have a strange dream... 

Lasryn finds herself standing on one of the dunes around the Glittering Tower, looking out across the sea towards the misty isles beyond. The surrounding night sky is suddenly broken by a speck of light going across the sky, clearly seen by Lasryn to be a golden chariot pulled by chargers with burning manes. As the chariot passes over the isles the mists are briefly parted and a paradisiacal green and forested place can be seen before the chariot zooms past and clouding the sky in darkness. 

Frankopan's dreams take him to a featureless plain, stood face to face with what seems a perfect copy of himself. He hears a phrase and as if possessed proceeds to attack his lookalike, slashing him until he dies. 

The next morning the party confront Jaromir about the chariot in the barn but get nothing but reflections in answer. Eventually Jaromir leaves to fetch firewood with Frankopan following close behind him. When the two are alone the smith grabs Frankopan by the shoulders, telling him he has had prophetic dreams - a shadow is approaching, and it comes to claim the lives of the group. 

The suitably shaken party say their goodbyes and leave for the north. During their two days of travel nothing eventful happens aside from happening upon a group of rooster-headed bards. The two groups have a pleasant conversation, though nothing ultimately comes of it. 

Arriving in Muth the characters are dismayed to find the town to be incredibly run down. Tall rickety and mildewed wooden buildings shield dark alleyways where shady fish-eyed townsfolk furtively eye the party. The party stock up on supplies and hire three men-at-arms at the local tavern, one of the less run down buildings in the town. Frankopan procures a tall brimmed hat which along with his trenchcoat gives him a suitably mysterious appearance. 

Exploring the town the seaside the party come across an "acropolis like" temple standing out like a sore thumb between the wooden townhouses on either side of it. Knocking on the temple doors, the party meet a strange looking priest of Dagon named brother Occhus. Conversing with the priest the party are offered a job; northward along the coast there is supposed to live a powerful magician by the name of Cetus the plangent who supposedly has taken a horn-like artifact holy to the Cult of Dagon. At the promise of great rewards the party buys a fishing boat, wanting to speed up their travel to the wizards tower. 

Arriving at the island where the wizard is supposed to live, the party first stop by the nearby village of Imbrich. Speaking with the locals, the party find them to be friendly although visually similar to the fish-eyed inhabitants of Muth. Learning about a nearby group of beached whales the party decide to investigate. 

The party are surprised to discover that one of the whales is strange hue of hot pink. They are able to have a rudimentary conversation by asking questions aloud and being able to read the whales mental response. Through this process it is discovered that this pink whale is in fact Cetus himself! The group learn of the location of the horn, the bottom of Cetus "undertower" but also that it is guarded by a monster which Frankopan only receives a brief mental image of. Before leaving Cetus to die (as is his wish) the party help push the other whales back into the sea and promise the wizard to lay to rest the spirit of his beloved dead wife. 

GM Thoughts

After having a few character deaths this session ended up being focused on finding something to do whilst Luka's player has a vacation for about a month. In a sense this became a sort of "filler" session (perhaps set-up would be better?), where the characters didn't do much "adventuring" but instead did a lot of in-character roleplaying and spoke with a bunch of NPC's. As a GM this was highly enjoyable as I got to flex some of my acting muscles playing both the old smith and brother Occhus. 

Narrating cryptic dreams is something I have done many times before, and I thought both dreams from this session went over quite well! The players were left pondering what these dreams meant, each having their own theories. 

Since my players have never read any pulp fiction, the references to Dagon and this strange horn went totally over their heads. This I think is really cool! I was not aware how familiar with my players were with Lovecraft or 1980s fantasy films, but it turns out they barely are at all. Expect this game to feature a lot more evil sorcerers and unknowable horrors in the future. 

Hill Cantons - Session 10

Another session, another play report! Considering last session was quite uneventful, this time around the characters once again lept into the action - delving down into the dungeons of the Glittering Tower. Happy reading! 

Characters

• Lasryn Thunderhammer - Level 4 Cleric
• Luka Winograd - Level 3 White Wizard
• Frankopan Vladislav - Level 3 Psychonaut

Followers

• Nosewise - Old but loyal dog
• Mojo & Mavi - Baboons
• Sir Duke - Squirrel Monkey
• Tom - Trained Badger

Graveyard

• Asim "Ace" Bakir - Level 4 Mountebank

Pirates Cove, by Midjourney

Action Report

Waking up from the previous day of adventuring, the party find the servants of the glittering tower busying themselves with the removal of the eld instillations on the upper floors. After a quick chat with Pan Orso the group is directed towards the dungeons of the tower in order to clear them out. 

Heading down the staircase the party find themselves in a large hall illuminated by a strange pink gemstone hanging above from an alcove. The party notice several silvery grooves carved into the ceiling, which Luka manages to figure out are depictions of leylines all converging at the glowing pink gem. 

The group decide not to mess with the gem and instead head through the first of the room's eight doors. Here they find a smaller cluttered room filled with broken shelves and crockery. With some further investigation the party find a chest put against the wall, on which there is a mural depicting a human-like figure. Frankopan opens the chest and the Mural on the wall behind suddenly comes alive and attacks the party! Luckily the party act quickly, and are able to destroy the mimic before it can do any harm. 

Going through a western hallway the group enter a room filled with ropes alongside a large statue of a bear. Finding nothing besides a strange smell of sea the group return to the main chamber once more. 

Before they can enter another one of the doors they hear a strange deep chatter. As they hide in the room with the broken crockery the source of the noise enters one of the other rooms and disappears. The group quickly move on and enter one of the large hall's eastern doors. 

Inside they find piles of old cloth, which after moved reveal the skeletons of several rats arranged in a strange circle. Suitably weirded out they progress to another chamber where they find rows of jars containing an orange goo. Finally the group enter a third chamber wherein they find a boat made of reeds, alongside a couple oars and what looks to be a wall painted black with small points of white light. The party toss a rock against the wall only to find it floating through and into it, as if the door is a portal into outer space. 

The party make their way back towards the large hall and are surprised to once again hear the chattering noise, this time coming from the room with the rat skeletons. The group burst into the room managing to surprise the two large white apes inside, making short work of them via a very successful backstab by Ace. As the group congratulate themselves on their victory, they hear even more voices from the door leading into the large hall. Fankopan quickly sets up a snare at the door, and the party ready themselves for yet another battle. 

As the door is opened, three small fishy-looking figures enter. Two are caught by the snare whilst the other charges the group seeing his companions captured. The party quickly find that their weapons are totally ineffective against the hide of the creature, with only Frankopan being able to hurt it using silvered arrows. By using his charm person spell, Ace is able to stop the fighting and begin a parley. 

The little creature introduces himself as Pingu, telling the party that he is a lesser wereshark and part of the crew of Ondrj (whom the party had entered the dungeons with the intention to kill as per the wishes of Medved). Pingu is convinced to lead the party to Ondrj so that the party can make an alliance with him. He also pokes fun at his captured companions and is even fine with leaving them hanging, laughing at their misfortune. The party takes the opportunity to let Ace and Pingu walk ahead as they finish off the snared weresharks. 

Pingu leads the group to the room with ropes and proceeds to move the large statue, revealing a trapdoor underneath. Following the trapdoor into a long corridor, the characters are led to a large cove with a moored ship. Luka goes invisible so passes inside unseen as Lasryn blesses the group in case things turn hostile. 

The party are led up on the ship, coming face-to-face with Ondrj the reaver - pseudo-god of weresharks. Some light mind-reading by Frankopan discerns that Ondrj has to restrain himself to not immediately attack them. Ondrj suggests that the party kill Medved, something he would pay a kingly sum for. The conversation winds on, seemingly going nowhere. As Ondrj seems to have lowered his guard Ace attempts a hypnotism spell which lulls one lesser wereshark to sleep but enrages Ondrj. 

A desperate battle ensues between the party and the pirates. Frankopan is wounded by one of the weresharks, yet Ace suffers the most as he is cut down, his last words in Himyari lost on his fellows. Luka luckily casts a light spell, blinding Ondrj and allowing the party to strike back and slay the weresharks - including Ondrj - using their blessed weapons. 

Lasryn makes several desperate prayers to resurrect Ace, offering both her services and much material wealth. Her cries go unanswered and the Sun Lord remains silent. The characters somberly loot the sizable hoard of treasure from the ship and bring the body of Ace to the surface to bury. 

Reporting their success to Medved they are offered  a small reward of gold and a magical item from the master's treasury; a pair of gauntlets of ogre power. Burying Ace, the group take their rest in the now reclaimed upper levels of the tower. 

Player's Map of the Dungeon

GM Thoughts 

RIP Ace! It's always sad when a character that has been part of a game for it's entire run passes away, but such is life I suppose! His death was caused equally by very good rolls on my part along with a lack of hit points (11 hp max at 4th level). I don't think of this game as being particularly lethal, but at this point a fair few characters have been lost adventuring through the Hill Cantons. 

Luka's player wasn't here for the session and so he was relegated to NPC status. The player will in fact be gone for quite a while and so expect some time before everyones favorite monkey-monger appears again. 

The party has at this point dealt some serious damage to the Eld plans for the dunes AND killed Ondrj which has left a power vacuum that will inevitably be filled by the servants of Medved. For the high price of both Ace and Paula, the party has certainly granted the master a second wind which will finally allow the bears to begin reasserting themselves as the rulers of the dunes - a positive development to be sure!

One thing I have noticed whilst playing through the Slumbering Ursine Dunes is that though there is not lack of danger, I find the amount of treasure to be lacking. At the very least the gain is not equal to the danger, as many times over there are masses of high hit dice opponents with no treasure to be found, the upper levels of the tower being a prime example. Ondrj doesn't seem like he has an amount of treasure befitting a legendary pirate figure, so for this session I also rolled on an appropriate treasure table to bulk out his hoard. 

Hill Cantons - Session 09

This ended up being quite a short session with not a lot happening, therefore this recap is naturally also shorter than most. This also means that there was little for me to reflect on, hence no "GM Thoughts" section either. In any case, happy reading!

Characters

• Asim "Ace" Bakir - Level 4 Mountebank
• Lasryn Thunderhammer - Level 4 Cleric
• Luka Winograd - Level 3 White Wizard
• Frankopan Vladislav - Level 3 Psychonaut

Followers

• Nosewise - Old but loyal dog
• Mojo & Mavi - Baboons
• Sir Duke - Squirrel Monkey
• Tom - Trained Badger

Action Report

Continuing the action from last session, the party grieve the death of Paula as they prepare to storm the third floor of the glittering tower. Luka had previously scouted the floor whilst invisible by climbing up one of the ladders leading there. Inside he found an eld captain berating two technicians surrounded by a variety of strange materials. 

After some deliberating the party use a phantasmal forces spell from Ace to make the three eld believe the roof is caving in, knocking out the captain and "wounding" the others. 

The party charge up the ladders to face off against the last eld. As Frankopan climbs up the top one of the eld seem to recognize him. The eld shouts a phrase at Frankopan which sees him suddenly turn around and attack the rest of the party! Luckily Luka has a Light spell on hand, blinding his companion as the rest of the group finish off the last eld. The party then use a rope to tie up the now impotent Frankopan. 

Luka loots a strange tube-like device from the eld captain, which with his great intelligence he works out is a ranged weapon of sorts. A test shot reveals the weapon fires large balls of goo. Lasryn climbs a central ladder to the roof of the tower, finding the top empty of anything besides a large steel tube. Satisfied, she climbs down as the rest of the party begin to interrogate Frankopan. 

To their surprise he seems to have no memory of attacking his fellow party members, nor of the phrase the eld spoke at him. The party release him from his bonds and then decide to report their successful clearing of the upper levels to the master, though not before smashing the eld equipment they find in the room. 

On their way downstairs the party notice that the two large humming metal boxes stood at the top of the stairs seem to have strange hand shaped indents. Thinking quickly, the group run back and cut off the hands of the captain which they then press into the indents. As they do, the boxes cease their humming. The characters notice a sudden shift in temperature as the room suddenly gets a lot less cold, and a gust of fresh sweet smelling air drifts in from the outside. 

The party descend the stairs to report their success to the Master below. They are a bit miffed at the reward of 1000gp and a couple spells considering the death of their companion, but still decide to take Medved up on his request of ejecting his semi-divine "cousin" Ondrj from the lower levels of the tower. 

The party hold a small but sombre burial for Paula, and then settle in for the night. As they listen to the gentle sounds of waves washing against the sand they are approached by Pan Orso, the majordomo of the tower. The party and the old soldier bear have a long and pleasant conversation, with Pan Orso telling them the story of the dunes creation as they are slowly lulled to sleep. 

Paula blinds Lady Szara

Paula & Fifi