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
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| 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.
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| 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.
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