Post by ihavetilfive on Apr 21, 2010 0:10:41 GMT -6
This is the first time I've run a regular campaign, but I wanted to try to sandbox this module. I think it turned out to be a lot more fun having the party find their way to Quasqueton than just dump them off at the front door. Eventually, though, they did manage to find it. Here's the story of the time they did...
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Session #7: At Last, Quasqueton!
- Searching the cave of the phase spider, Delva steps into a hole and knocks himself out. Finding only exploratory mining work, the party decides this is not Quasqueton. Continuing northward, the party sees a fork in the river from a medium sized creek, coming from the north-northwest, leading into a thicker-wooded group of hills. The party decides to continue north, following the main river, soon finding a robe belonging to a pilgrim of Apollo. Taking the robe and continuing north, they soon smell wood burning ahead.
Tig and Bethesda spot two robed figures sitting by a fire near the river; Beth hides in a tree while Tig and Delva approach the two. They are wearing the robes of pilgrims of Apollo as well, and say that they are trying to get back to the main body of pilgrims the party met in the forest. Beth signals to Delva that there appears to be more than the two at the fire; indeed, there are four bedrolls laid out. As Delva was about to mention this, Oliver, the apparent leader called out for two of his companions to come from the trees and asked Tig if Bethesda, the lady watching them in the tree is with him. The party speaks to the pilgrims about Quasqueton, and Oliver says that he's heard that it's nearby. They decide to go back to explore the valley leading from the creek they noted earlier.
They soon see higher hills in this valley, densely wooded, with outcroppings of black slate jutting out. Picking the tallest hill of them, the party investigates. Spotting what appears to be a watchtower of some sort, the party reaches the top of the hill to find that one of the four legs supporting it has rotted. They still decided to ascend, though Delva has a rung on the ladder snap on his weight, causing him to tumble back to the ground, bruising him deeply. Briette, one of the pilgrims, offers an acolyte's prayer to Apollo, as she has yet to learn any actual healing spells. Delva discerns that Briette's prayer, whatever it was, was clearly not what she made it appear to be. Either the intent to heal or the ability to do so was lacking.
Deciding to find whatever is at the top of the tower, the party once again scales to the top level, finding a steep drop-off to the valley below not too far from the tower. Mindful of the decayed leg on the southwest corner, the party decides to descend back down, right after agreeing that the pilgrims might not be what they seem. Delva's climbing woes continued, as the trap door he opened in the middle of the floor was far more brittle than he thought, causing him to lose his balance and fall through the opening. He managed to save himself from further injury, as his elven reflexes and battle training took over, grabbing beams and swinging himself about, landing safely on the ground.
A plan was devised to pull the tower down, using Delva's grappling hook and length of rope. With the aid of Tig's giant goat, Delva and Tig managed to pull it down, but the goat and Delva took some damage from the flying timbers. Discovering a well-made but otherwise ordinary quarterstaff among the wreckage, the party thought they made little to no ground in terms of discovering their quarry. Then they noticed some carved graffiti on a beam, derogatory comments made about Rogahn and Zelligar.
Sensing this was the hill they were looking for, the party decided to explore the path they spotted from the top of the tower. The path was narrow, with a steep drop-off in places. Tig and Delva had to tie their mounts as they found an opening in the hill that looked like a vegetation-covered cave. Clearing away the brush, the cave lead north into the hill, forming a corridor leading to a wooden door. The door had been forced open some time before, and the party cautiously advanced forward.
A series of alcoves seemed to reveal nothing until the third pair of alcoves sprouted magic mouths which proclaimed a dire warning to the party, then disappeared. Seconds after, a small group of orcs appeared, demanding to know who was there. Delva attempted to delay them, and the orc leader demanded a toll fee of 50 gold. Delva placed the gold by his feet, not at the top of the stairs as the leader had asked. Further attempts to stall by Delva was answered by orcish arrows unleashed at him. Fortunately, Delva's magic armor repelled all the missiles from harm.
"Get the oil!" the leader shouted, sending one of the orcs back. The ensuing melee found all of the first band of orcs dead at the party's feet, save for the orc sent to gather to gold. That orc fled north then west, and shouting and slamming of doors could be heard. Following the sound of more orcs, Delva ran into another another volley of arrows, this time with flaming oil included. The arrows proved no more effective this time, and the aim of the oil-throwing orcs was not true. Delva and the rest of the party met the challenge of the orcs, killing all but two who fled north.
After the fight, Delva seemed on the verge of receiving some insight, when a chunk of slate fell free from the ceiling and smote him upon the head. Groggily, the elf found himself standing, but his memory of everything up to that event was gone! He remembered only the vaguest recollection of Bethesda, but no more. Beth assured him of Tig's loyalty, but confirmed his suspicions on the other humans. Looking to find a room they could defend, the party opened the door to the south and found an old kitchen. They decided to hunker down for the time being.
_____________________________________
Session #7: At Last, Quasqueton!
- Searching the cave of the phase spider, Delva steps into a hole and knocks himself out. Finding only exploratory mining work, the party decides this is not Quasqueton. Continuing northward, the party sees a fork in the river from a medium sized creek, coming from the north-northwest, leading into a thicker-wooded group of hills. The party decides to continue north, following the main river, soon finding a robe belonging to a pilgrim of Apollo. Taking the robe and continuing north, they soon smell wood burning ahead.
Tig and Bethesda spot two robed figures sitting by a fire near the river; Beth hides in a tree while Tig and Delva approach the two. They are wearing the robes of pilgrims of Apollo as well, and say that they are trying to get back to the main body of pilgrims the party met in the forest. Beth signals to Delva that there appears to be more than the two at the fire; indeed, there are four bedrolls laid out. As Delva was about to mention this, Oliver, the apparent leader called out for two of his companions to come from the trees and asked Tig if Bethesda, the lady watching them in the tree is with him. The party speaks to the pilgrims about Quasqueton, and Oliver says that he's heard that it's nearby. They decide to go back to explore the valley leading from the creek they noted earlier.
They soon see higher hills in this valley, densely wooded, with outcroppings of black slate jutting out. Picking the tallest hill of them, the party investigates. Spotting what appears to be a watchtower of some sort, the party reaches the top of the hill to find that one of the four legs supporting it has rotted. They still decided to ascend, though Delva has a rung on the ladder snap on his weight, causing him to tumble back to the ground, bruising him deeply. Briette, one of the pilgrims, offers an acolyte's prayer to Apollo, as she has yet to learn any actual healing spells. Delva discerns that Briette's prayer, whatever it was, was clearly not what she made it appear to be. Either the intent to heal or the ability to do so was lacking.
Deciding to find whatever is at the top of the tower, the party once again scales to the top level, finding a steep drop-off to the valley below not too far from the tower. Mindful of the decayed leg on the southwest corner, the party decides to descend back down, right after agreeing that the pilgrims might not be what they seem. Delva's climbing woes continued, as the trap door he opened in the middle of the floor was far more brittle than he thought, causing him to lose his balance and fall through the opening. He managed to save himself from further injury, as his elven reflexes and battle training took over, grabbing beams and swinging himself about, landing safely on the ground.
A plan was devised to pull the tower down, using Delva's grappling hook and length of rope. With the aid of Tig's giant goat, Delva and Tig managed to pull it down, but the goat and Delva took some damage from the flying timbers. Discovering a well-made but otherwise ordinary quarterstaff among the wreckage, the party thought they made little to no ground in terms of discovering their quarry. Then they noticed some carved graffiti on a beam, derogatory comments made about Rogahn and Zelligar.
Sensing this was the hill they were looking for, the party decided to explore the path they spotted from the top of the tower. The path was narrow, with a steep drop-off in places. Tig and Delva had to tie their mounts as they found an opening in the hill that looked like a vegetation-covered cave. Clearing away the brush, the cave lead north into the hill, forming a corridor leading to a wooden door. The door had been forced open some time before, and the party cautiously advanced forward.
A series of alcoves seemed to reveal nothing until the third pair of alcoves sprouted magic mouths which proclaimed a dire warning to the party, then disappeared. Seconds after, a small group of orcs appeared, demanding to know who was there. Delva attempted to delay them, and the orc leader demanded a toll fee of 50 gold. Delva placed the gold by his feet, not at the top of the stairs as the leader had asked. Further attempts to stall by Delva was answered by orcish arrows unleashed at him. Fortunately, Delva's magic armor repelled all the missiles from harm.
"Get the oil!" the leader shouted, sending one of the orcs back. The ensuing melee found all of the first band of orcs dead at the party's feet, save for the orc sent to gather to gold. That orc fled north then west, and shouting and slamming of doors could be heard. Following the sound of more orcs, Delva ran into another another volley of arrows, this time with flaming oil included. The arrows proved no more effective this time, and the aim of the oil-throwing orcs was not true. Delva and the rest of the party met the challenge of the orcs, killing all but two who fled north.
After the fight, Delva seemed on the verge of receiving some insight, when a chunk of slate fell free from the ceiling and smote him upon the head. Groggily, the elf found himself standing, but his memory of everything up to that event was gone! He remembered only the vaguest recollection of Bethesda, but no more. Beth assured him of Tig's loyalty, but confirmed his suspicions on the other humans. Looking to find a room they could defend, the party opened the door to the south and found an old kitchen. They decided to hunker down for the time being.