D&D post game 12-23-17 Part 2

The hallway walls were moving closer together trying to crush everyone on the stairway. The bard and monk threw their weight against the left wall and could not stop the movement.

The barbarian cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders. He set his feet and threw a shoulder against the right wall. I began to slow its crushing movement. Having slowed the wall, the barbarian began to yell and push back on the wall. The wall stopped moving and actually started to move back to it's original position. The barbarian was single handedly disabiling the trap using his brute strength ( rolls on athletic check of 18 17 and natural 20 without modifiers = insanity! ). This gave Lukas the time he needed to discover the proper combination and open the door. Once the door rolled open, the stairway walls stopped moving together and rest back to their original position.

The room beyond was similar to the burial urn alcove room from the second tomb ( full of owlbears ). The difference being the tile mosaic picture of a large, bright possible elvish city and a small hourglass in an alcove that was slowly counting down. The party began to search the room. Once again they found various gold and silver tokens in the burial urns. Lukas noticed several tiles from the picture on the floor. He began to pick them up and place them back in the picture. The hourglass was inspected. It was a plain and nondescript looking hourglass. The sand was slowly pouring from top to bottom. It was also very much stuck in the alcove. As they were exploring the room they didn't immediately notice the semi-transparent wispy floating elvish woman phase into the room.

The monk and barbarian turned to see the floating spirit and their hands went toward their weapons. Lukas covered his ears. The bard turned and the emotion drained from his face. That is when the beautiful ghost's mouth dropped open and out came a high pitched keening wail. The bard turned white and collapsed. The remaining three bent over trying to block the sound from their ears.

After what seemed like an eternity, the wailing stopped. The monk charged at the apparition and unleashed a flurry of Ki infused punches. The bard lay dead. The barbarian stood in place, actually terrified of this ghost. Lukas rushed over to the bard.

As the monk battles the banshee, Lukas was able to spare the life of the bard, with a little magic he had picked up along his travels. The barbarian struggled to free himself of his fear of this ghost. The monk continue to throw punches trying to force the spirit back to the grave. The bard slowly sat up and was able to channel some magic to heal himself. Eventually the barbarian shook off his fear and charged in to help the monk destroy the elvish banshee.

D&D Post game 12-23-17 Part 1

After a quick pitch and a glass of the Slaughtered Hogs’ finest brew ( a mix of ale and blood from the slaughterhouse attached to the bar, it’s a thing ) Lukas Fuddered had convinced the ½ orc barbarian, human monk and elf bard to help him. They would all travel to the uncovered tombs and split anything of value found 50-50. The small party was skeptical, but a few hundred gold crowns on top of the 50-50 split sealed the deal. Lukas had a bodyguard/muscle to accompany him to the trio of uncovered tombs.

Along the way Lukas had informed the party that he believed this could be the lost tomb of the Crimson King. An ancient tribal barbarian leader who had a passion for viciousness, bloodletting and hoarding of bloodstones. The location of the tombs, the artifacts found around the area and the age of said artifacts all point to the tribe of barbarians that the Crimson King was part of and lead. If this was the case then these tombs could be full of loads of treasure and artifacts of historic value.

After a day of steam carriage travel and another on the backs of pack mules, the party arrived at the now covered and abandoned excavation site. There was a light dusting of snow covering the ground and tarps. The party dismounted and gave the area a quick once over. The main dig site was still covered by canvas tarps as were two of the three tomb entrances. However, one entrance had the tarp ripped away and it appeared that the doorway had been smashed open. The group began to police the area. They quickly noticed large humanoid footprints in the snow. They also found a few splashes of blood frozen in the snow. They also discovered what looked like a quartet of large clawed animal tracks. It was then that they heard the most horrible bellowing coming from within the uncovered tomb.

As the party looked toward the door, out charged a wild eyed ogre! He ran and stumbled past the party. Weapons were drawn but the ogre was not engaging in combat. It appeared he was in flight, but from what? That question was soon answered as the largest owlbear the party had ever seen rushed out of the tomb after the ogre. Following behind were two more owlbears of normal size (still very very large ). The beasts noticed the new smaller prey and attacked. The barbarian engaged the giant alpha owlbear while Lukas, the monk and bard faced off against the other two. Several minutes later the giant beasts had been put down and the party members had only sustained a few minor injuries.

D&D pre-game 12-23-17

We got a 2^nd game in Dec and that is always awesome!

“Hurry and get the site covered! Those storm clouds are rolling in faster than we thought!” Shouted a thin man in coveralls and a floppy hat.

Several other people in similar dress raced about pulling tarps behind them. Several more were busy packing items in wooden crates full of straw.

“Get those crates filled and get the wagons moving!” The man continued to shout as he walked around the area.

This looked to be an enormous find for the archeology guild and all thanks to a random act of nature.

Several weeks prior, in the foothills of the Frost Peak Mountains, a small rockslide quickly turned into a colossal landside of earth and stone. The only witness to the event was the local fauna. Three days later, a trio of hunters were working their way through the area and realized all this earth and stone had uncovered something, a trio of stone slabs and various bits of broken pottery. They tried move the stone slabs but they would not budge. They dug around in the loose dirt and rock and managed to recover some intact clay urns and a few metal trinkets. They made a small map to the location and continued on their hunt. They would turn the objects over to their village elders when they returned to their small village.

A week later and the objects the hunters found were at the archeological guild in Stonekeep. They were being studied and cross referenced to other pieces from the area. After a few days it was deterimed that these objects were made from one of the various long dead nomadic human hill tribes. The doors were more than likely led into small burial mounds. It was a good find and worth further investigation.

A crew of students and midlevel guild members left within days to begin to excavate the region. They would need to work fast as fall was ending the winter snows would soon begin.  A week of near constant digging managed to unveil three fully sealed tombs and a plethora of small pottery, idols to long lost gods and several small silver and gold tokens in the shapes of animals. All this  was gathered, catalouged and loaded for transport back to Stonekeep.

Now the late fall weather was finally starting to become an issue. The temperature was dropping more every day. Frost was beginning to form on the ground overnight. The leader of the excavation made the call to secure the site for the coming winter. He knew that soon this area would be under several inches to a foot of snow.

D&D Post game 12-16-17 Part 2

The party arrives at the forge of the gnome Dimble Greenbottle.

As they enter the forge they are welcomed by a gnome working a desk. His face is red from the heat, he is wearing an apron and has several mouse traps attached to his belt. This is odd, but he is a gnome and they have a reputation for being eccentric. After introductions they are introduced to one Dimble Greenbottle. He is also wearing atypical forge attire but has an elaborate headpiece comprised of multiple telescoping lenses and has mouse traps along his belt as well. AS the party looks around they notice all the workers have traps, bells, padlocks on belt pouches or various other minor deterrents on their person.

That is when the barbarian notices a small dragon humanoid creature trying to rifle through his pack. Kobolds! The forge is infested with kobolds! Well not infested as Dimble tells them. They are the lesser labor for the forge. It seems he once saved a small band of them and they are indebted to him. They act as “gophers” for the smiths and artisans. They are loyal and useful, but they have a knack for grabbing small objects that are not secured or hidden away. That explains the traps on all the workers belts. The party secures their pouches and packs as Dimble shows them around the forge.

They soon realize why this forge is located ½ mile outside of Ferrous Spur. The forges are not fed with coal, they are magma fed. Dimble has somehow (company secret) been able to run pipes dep into the mountain and pipe magma into and through his forge. This way they have an unlimited supply of fire and heat for the forges. They can run the forges 24-7 if they want. They have a constant source of heat for their metal work.

The downside is that occasionally there is a breach. What is a breach? Well the party soon discovers that!

As they are about to seal their deal for  the equipment and cost, a horrible wailing siren begins. A mass of dwarves, gnomes and kobolds rush up from the lower forges. Their clothes and hair is singed and in places still on fire. The shift manager screams breach and pulls a series of levers. Door slam shut and several gnomes rush down a hallway.

Dimble turns to the party and asks for some assistance. He explains that  occasionally elemental creatures will travel up with the magma. He would be eternally grateful if they would help. He even offers to discount his prices for any assistance. Well that is enough to get the party motivated. They head down to the lower level to see what help they can offer.

Once downstairs they see several forges where all manner of weapons, armor, equipment and contraptions are being created. They also see several small cracks in the stone where magma is pouring out into the forge. The middle of the room appears to house a giant furnace with several pipes protruding out of it. The furnace is glowing red and has a  plethora of magical runes carved into it. The runes are glowing blue and then occasionally blink out of existence. This is  what Dimble and his crew are racing to fix. The party is tasked with stopping the small humanoids made of lava and fire that are setting the room ablaze.

Several minutes later and the lava men have been dispatched. It was then that a second wave of lava men arrived and the runes on the main furnace all “blinked” out of existence. This lead to a small explosion and the unleashing of the fir elemental housed within it. Dimble and his crew raced off down a hallway. The party had no idea what the gnomes were doing, but they did have a fire elemental facing them so they did what they are known for. The leapt into combat with it and the next wave of lava men.

D&D Post Game 12-16 Part 1

After the real world holiday break….

 

Our intrepid party has dwindled down to the dragonborn rouge, ½ orc barbarian and human monk. The bard, paladin and mage have all gone off in search of stuff, study, vision quests, drunken benders etc.

 

After a lively discussion a while ago, the party had decided that they wanted to throw their hat into the alcohol creation and distribution ring. They wanted to build a brewery. They began by getting some quotes for the build and settled on a dwarf construction crew. They also would need materials for the creation of alcohol. You know all the big metallic bits, bins, vats and such. Of course the dwarves all pointed them toward their home city of Ferrous Spur located in the Frost Peak mountains. This meant a journey and they went the fastest way possible, steam carriage beneath the earth.

 

Two days and change later they arrived outside of the mountain city of Ferrous Spur. The giant gates set into the mountainside were open and all manner of equipment, carriages, carts and people were moving to and from the city. The party walked into the mountain and began to explore the town. 

 

They first noticed that the city layout was circular and had various levels. The top level being the home to various forges, shops , stores, eateries and taverns. The second level down was mostly residential and a public works sector. The third level down was where the nobility and religious temples were found. The final level was home to the various mine entrances and a small garrison of troops. Then the smell hit them. It was a mix of sweat, oil, smoke and stone. The lighting was next as the city was lit by oil lanterns making it pretty dim, with an almost a constant dusk look. Then the temperature was next. It was warmer like late summer warm without the refreshing breeze. Finally the constant din of hammers hitting metal, steam whistles, singing and  yelling were ever present.

 

Post X-mas 2017



Another holiday here and gone.
I discovered that I am the child in the house as I received more toys than the two kids living here.
The family thought I needed the new Playmobil Ghostbusters sets. Now I have to find somewhere, or buy somewhere to display them.


The new DM screen I am very excited about as it looks a lot more useful than the previous version.


Baze Malbus is still in the mail, but will arrive to join with Chirrut.


Exploding Kittens is fun and the kids will enjoy it too!


A good little holiday with the fam. Now it is over and the year moves toward the end.

MERRY X-MAS

Something..something...stocking stuffer..something...something