Session 6 Recap & Experience Points Awards

 The adventure resumed with the company poised at a meager trailhead leading into the dense Quilderran pines.  Within a couple hours of uneventful hiking, the group came upon the Old Druid’s Hut—a weathered one-room shack in a tiny clearing among the towering, 250-foot pines.  Though the hut seemed long abandoned, the gnome Schlemeel spotted human footprints in the dust outside the structure, and his companions later observed signs of the hut’s only door having been recently opened or closed.

Fellow gnome Ossik proceeded first into the hut, finding little of interest but a curious mound of debris piled on an animal skin rug.  On closer inspection, Ossik noticed the pile shift ever-so-slightly—an unmistakable tell of something hiding below.  Ossik pulled up the rug and found only a man—frail, bearded and unkempt, and insisting he would “never go back.”  This man, who later identified himself as an escaped debt slave from the Gramartini Farmstead south of Horl, estimated that he’d been hiding out in the Quilderran Forest for roughly five months.  The party withstood his (very) long, sad tale of woe—until the man finally disclosed that his brother (Zilbaw) remained at the farmstead with his pregnant wife (Kanina).  The man described planning to bust them out of the farmstead some time next spring, attributing his delay to Kanina’s pregnancy and his own need to gain strength.  But he also spoke with poorly concealed fear of the “Gramartini Rangers,” a bombastically-named goon squad the Lady Gramartini’s son evidently ran to keep the debt slaves in line. 

The party offered its assistance to help free Zilbaw, Kanina, and possibly the other debt slaves from the farmstead, which would be undertaken after the group completed its prior business.  But the man insisted on remaining at the Od Druid’s Hut to build up his strength.  He welcomed the party’s assistance should they return in the future, but for this day bid the group farewell.  The party supplied him with three days’ rations and proceeded along the forest path.

Just a few hours later, the calm din of the forest was broken by the shouts of battle.  A throng of bedraggled trogs, undoubtedly remnants of the group that attacked Camp Dorliff, came screaming out of the timbers to mount a desperate, vicious attack.  Catching the company by surprise, the trogs quickly inflicted debilitating wounds on the mage Greyndalf and the Cygnivalian cleric Gambol, as well as a grievous and incapacitating injury to the rogue Ossik.  The party soon rallied, however, and brought the trogs down mostly on the strength of Greyndalf’s burning hands and thuderwave spells. 

The trogs’ leader Yalyx, gasping for breath in the wake of the latter incantation, offered his +1 morning star and “information” in exchange for the party’s mercy.  He received it, on relinquishing the weapon and divulging (i) that the trog raid on Camp Dorliff was the work of a major trog warlord called “Grismik,” (ii) that Grismik likely mounted the raid at the behest of “the ogre mage in the eastern ruins,” and that (iii) that Grismik’s connection to this ogre mage likely runs through a pine goblin chieftain to the south called “Nolinkish.”  Satisfied with the trog’s disclosures, the company left Yalyx alive with Ossik’s healing potion and instructions to proceed due south.

In the aftermath of the trog battle, a troupe of Quilderran scouts came upon the party and its leader, the elven ranger Pelifras, humorously remarked that “trogs have been seen in the area.”  Pelifras thanked the company for dispatching this particular cohort and offered the services of a healer in his company as his men set up camp. 

It just so happened that Ossik’s wounds surpassed the Quilderran healer’s skill, however, so Pelifras promised to escort the gnome back to the Quilderran village for treatment with more advanced medicine.  So it was fortunate that the human ranger Zoodle happened to then traveling with the elves, as he soon offered to take Ossik’s place in the company.

Though reluctant to discuss the Evilgrove at first, on seeing Tawnica Morze’s runestone Pelifras also pointed the company in the direction of their quest.  The Evilgrove lay behind a high ridge on the far western horizon, Pelifras explained; he recommended the party bypass the ridge to the north, owing to the southern route crossing through “pine goblin territory.”  Or, he joked, the party might proceed directly over the peaks.   

The party continued on the next morning, reaching the east bank of Lake Quilderran by mid-day.  Their curiosity piqued by the presence of a small island maybe 100 yards from shore, the group set to work on a makeshift raft by which to investigate.  The raft they completed—but not before a pair of 9-foot terror hawks descended upon the party and attacked for reasons quite unknown to the company.  Perhaps underestimating the terror hawks’ capabilities, the company hoped at first to swat the avian monstrosities off with melee weapons and lowest-order spells.  But as the group soon learned, the screech of the terror hawk inflicts a magical fear in mortal men—and within moments several of the party’s warriors found themselves wandering hopelessly in the clearing, their minds paralyzed with terror.

 

Even so, it was also the terror hawks that underestimated the party.  One soon became disabled, its wings pummeled by magic missiles and a series of weapon strikes.  The other could have withdrawn but fought fiercely, perhaps unwilling to abandon its partner?  Soon the threat was ended, and the terror hawks reduced to oversize roasters.  Greyndalf clipped their talons and beaks for possible spell components, and then the group shoved off to the island.  There the party found nothing of significance except a safe place to camp and fish—and the opportunity was soon exploited.

The company returned to the mainland the next morning and made its way to the uncanny Mt. Titane, a.k.a. “The Spike.”  It was there that the trail split north or south along a stream unknown to the party, presenting the choice laid out by Pelifras: whether to take the long way around to the north, the shorter southern path through pine goblin country, or straight up and over the ridge?  The party wasted little time in deciding upon the third course.

Progress was slow but steady through the modest rocky peaks, with the party cresting the ridgeline just before dusk and gazing eagerly down into Shadow Valley—a peaceful stretch of mountain grasses, wildflowers, and isolated pines, all except for a conspicuous dark spot in the middle.  There, a thick morass of gnarled black trees smothered the land and taunted the company’s far-off examination.  This was surely the Evilgrove—maybe half a day’s hike down the western side of the ridge.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, a fearsome undead spirit appeared on a ledge some fifty feet above the company’s vantage point.  The specter was endowed with some form of telekinetic powers, which it used to hurl large rocks at the party members below.  Being too distant for Gambol to turn with his divine powers, Greyndalf used his own magic to levitate Gambol to within 30 feet of the specter.  Yet the spirit’s dark rage withstood the attempt, and the threat persisted.

The ranger Zoondodle then nocked an arrow and fired a shot perfectly through the specter’s “chest”—yet the unenchanted missile passed harmlessly through the noncorporeal spirit and pinged harmlessly off the mountainside.  “Fool!” the rogue Ipplie Amie called out, upon seeing the perfect shot wasted, and handed four magical arrows to the ranger.  “Use these instead.”

Meanwhile, the gnomish rogue Schlemeel set upon an elaborate, Goldbergian scheme to attack the specter with a flaming arrow that would be roped to a tree trunk, while the dwarven warrior Jowdain climbed halfway up to the specter’s ledge—and then down again.  The upshots of their schemes would never be revealed, however, for momentarily thereafter the specter was brought down.  After being first weakened by Greyndalf’s magic missiles, the phantom was then annihilated by another Zoodonian bullseye—using an enchanted missile this time.

With the specter defeated, Jowdain ascended to the ledge it had occupied and found the remains of Daikosha—the hobbit adventurer who had climbed to this ledge long ago.  As Greyndalf’s divination magic would ascertain later that evening, some angry god who didn’t want Daikosha looking upon the Evilgrove had crushed him under a boulder and trapped his soul in this world, dooming Daikosha to a tortured undead existence.  But also scattered about his remains was the greatest trove of wealth the company had yet won—with hundreds of gold pieces, several gems, and even a few magic items strewn about here. 

Their treasure secured, the party made camp for the night.  Now was the time to rest—for come morning, the company would be on to the Evilgrove.

Adventure Notes:

 

·      Specter.  Your travels have already brought you into contact with many types of the undead creatures that lurk in the dark places of the Central Range.  But only now have you encountered a true ghost—or specter, more precisely, a hateful spirit that exists only to destroy any life it encounters.  Some specters have been rumored to possess telekinetic powers—a magical ability to hurl heavy objects or even persons through the sheer force of their anger.  This you have confirmed, while noting also that specters are immune to non-magical weapons but are not otherwise especially tough (20-25 hit points) or difficult to hit (armor class 12).  As for legends of the invisible specters (or “poltergeists”), this you have yet to see (or, perhaps, not see).

·      The Gramartini Farmstead.  The man at the Old Druid’s Hut spoke of the Gramartini Farmstead, roughly a day’s hike south of Horl.  According to him, the farmstead is run by a Lady Gramartini, whose adult son leads a guard troop there called the Gramartini Rangers.  About 20 debt slaves work the farmstead, including your informant’s brother (Zilbaw) and the brother’s wife (Kanina). 

·      Terror Hawk.   Also in your travels through the Quilderran Forest, you were attacked from above by a pair of large (8-foot wingspan), extremely aggressive birds of prey—but with a blood-curdling screech that instilled an unnatural, paralyzing fear in several party members.  These must have been what the locals call “Terror Hawks,” though you seriously wonder whether this beast is at all related to the common (3-foot wingspan) species of hawk.  Other than its fearsome call, however, you did not find the raptor especially troubling; you estimate the terror hawk at about 20 hit points and with an armor class of about 14.

Experience Points & Inspiration 

DM’s experience award moderation note: In this campaign, experience points are awarded for overcoming obstacles, solving problems, and achieving goals.  Although experience points are typically awarded for defeating adversaries, note that (in this campaign) it is not necessary to actually kill an adversary to earn those experience points if the adversary can be defeated in another way.   Experience points are earned collectively and then divided among the player-characters.  In addition to experience points, individual players can earn inspiration for creativity, superior tactics, and especially strong role-playing.

Seven trog warriors and a trog war dog attacked the party at the outset of the session, but one of the warriors was Yalyx—a third-level trog warrior with 17 STR and a +1 morning star.  The party withstood this assault and defeated their attackers, gaining 650 XP.  But the rogue Ipplie Amie was perhaps a mostly forgotten hero in this battle, and thus earned only a half-share of the experience.  The player characters who participated gained 110 XP each.

In addition, the party also earned experience for the following accomplishments in this stage of the session:

·      Reaching the Old Druid’s Hut (25 XP);

·      Interacting productively with the fugitive debt slave (30 XP);

·      Extracting valuable intelligence from Yalyx (45 XP)

These 100 XP are divided evenly among the five player characters, for an even 20 XP apiece.  In addition, characters of lawful alignments (Gambol and Greyndalf, I believe—and Jowdain? Sure, Jowdain too.) further receive a 15 XP bonus for sparing Yalyx under circumstances in which killing him would have been easily justified.

Ossik, badly wounded in the trog encounter, left the group thereafter—his place being taken by Zoostation, a human ranger traveling with Pelifras’ company.  From there, the party faced attacks by two terror hawks and a telekinetic specter.  The company earned a cool 1,600 experience points for defeating these enemies; divided into six shares (Ipplie Amie having earned his full share during the latter half of the session), this amounts to 267 XP each.

In addition, the party earned experience for the following accomplishments in the second stage of the session:

·      Gaining Pelifras’ trust and insights on approaches to the Evilgrove (35 XP);

·      Reaching Mt. Titane (i.e.., “The Spike) (25 XP);

·      Putting Daikosha’s spirit to rest (despite massively unfavorable terrain) (125 XP);

·      Reaching the Valley of Shadows (50 XP).

These 235 XP are divided evenly among the five player characters, for 47 XP per share.

This weeks inspiration points are awarded for Greyndalf and Gambol’s impromptu collaboration on the specter ridge.  There, the mage used his levitation spell to bring the cleric within rage to try and turn the spirit.  Even though the attempt failed, the creativity was much appreciated by the adventure gods.

The adventure gods also looked with interest upon Schlemeel, who, true to form, was again unable to suppress his dramatic urges.  This time, he cheerfully waded into mortal combat with trogs and terror hawks holding weapons in each hand (thus incurring massive attack roll penalties), despite lacking the background in dual-weapon fighting.  As expected, the strategy was…not successful.  Martial analysis will long puzzle over the gnome’s intentions on the specter ridge, where the grandiose rogue monkeyed with ropes and trees as his comrades dodged missiles from a raging hell spirit.  The antics were not sufficient this session to merit an inspiration point, but did gain 15 XP for strong role-playing.

Final Session 5 totals:

·      Jowdain acquitted himself well in battle and earned 459 experience points.

·      Gambol pleased his deity and gained 459 experience points, plus one point of inspiration.

·      Greyndalf remained a cunning and resourceful adversary, acquiring 459 experience points and an inspiration point.

·      Ossik never saw a risk he didn’t want to take.  But his luck held true now he will be rethinking that position, having gained 130 XP.

·      Schlemeel might actually be Yiddish for ‘honey badger,’ because Schlemeel don’t give a f*k.  But he did earn 474 XP.

·      Zootsuitriot proved he’s more than just a tricky name, earning 314 XP in his debut adventure.