Session 9 Recap & Experience Points Awards
The company pushed forward into the halls of Konykos’
subterranean workshop, coming quickly to a foyer of sorts. Arriving from the west, nondescript
passageways led north and south while a final corridor led east through the
mouth of a carved demon head. Not
surprisingly, the group opted to explore the side passages first.
Bearing south through the dim, macabre-decorated halls, the
group came soon upon a heavy wooden door, padlocked shut from the outside. After the gnome Schlemeel tried
unsuccessfully to pick open the venerable lock, the dward Jowdain bashed it off
the wall with a mighty swing of his axe.
Inside, the party found an old storeroom, largely occupied with the
decomposed remnants of the necromancer’s old spell ingredients. But there was also treasure here—a fine suit
of “o-yoroi,” a woven bamboo armor from beyond the western marshes.
Adjacent to the storeroom, the group found Konykos’ morgue—a
room with nothing but a metal cabinet for holding human remains, inside of
which the party found five intact skeletons ranging in size from small humans
to large trog-like beings. All flesh had
long since rotted away, leaving nothing but the bones—and, on the skeleton of a
fair-boned person, a toe ring bearing Quilderran runes.
Making its way noisily through the north passage, the company
came next upon a pair of workrooms, each filled lined with heavy wooden tables
bearing scattered flasks, pipettes, and other paraphernalia of magical
chemistry. In the first of the rooms, a
smoky green liquid turned and churned under to corks of two ancient bottles,
each perched precariously at a table’s edge above a puddle of an unknown greasy
sludge.
The mage Greyndalf stepped forward to investigate, deftly
avoiding the grease puddle before uncorking the first of the bottles. But as soon as he did, a stream of smoky
white mist burst forth from the bottle and formed into a ghost-like being. It was instantly hostile, striking at the
adventurers with its icy, phantom claws.
Greyndalf quickly blasted the spirit with a hail of magic missiles
before his comrades charged in to assist.
The most notable entrance was that of the rogue Schlemeel, who leapt
onto a table and then dove upon the spirit with blades in both hands.
It was then that the dwarf Jowdain took hold of the spirit’s
bottle, and hurled it violently toward the far wall. The glass shattered on impact, sending the
spirit into a desparate rage—announced by an ear-splitting wail that left
several party members paralyzed from the deathly cacophony. Even so, the bottle spirit appeared greatly
weakened by the party’s attacks, and victory felt soon at hand—until a wild
swipe of Greyndalf’s staff knocked the second bottle from the table.
Spotting the falling bottle, the gnome Schlemeel attempted a
brilliant diving catch—but came up inches short as the bottle glanced off his
fingertips, rolled along the floor, and emitted a second stream of bellicose
mist. And yet this battle would not
persist long. After some brief dodgy
maneuvers of his allies and their shadowy associate Ipplie Amie, the dwarf
Jowdain shook off dissonance of the first bottle spirit’s howl. Rising and taking the grip of his magic axe
Blackhandle, Jowdain swung mightily and drove its wedge perfectly into the
shimmering target—a thunderous strike that sapped the spirit of much its
remaining vitality. Moments later, the
group watched the spirit dissipate into nothing as the final blow was struck.
Finding nothing for their efforts, the group moved quickly
to the second workroom. There, a pair of
bandaged undead figures climbed off tables and shambled toward the
group—attacking instantly, just as the bottle spirits had done. Noting the uncommon lethargy of their
opponents and the narrowness of the access hall, the party acted quickly to set
one of the mummies ablaze and then beat a quick tactical retreat. Fire debilitated the foes, which pursued the
group through a bottleneck in Knoykos’ gothic halls, until a broad corner where
the company made its stand.
Stepping to the fore, Greyndalf unleashed a thunderwave that knocked one of the
mummies back. Yalla the druid called
forth a shillelagh spell to enchant
her warclub, then joined the battle as did Jowdain and the cleric Gambol. But the mummies were staunch enemies, shrugging
off massive magical damage to rip their morbid claws into the living. Jowdain and Yalla took the worst —each
sustaining a withering strike and only narrowly avoiding whatever ghastly
afflictions might have accompanied. And
still the black eyes of the bandaged horrors bore down on the company. The group had learned this lesson long ago:
undead do not retreat.
Fire would be the party’s salvation this day. Though a flaming arrow from the bow of ranger
Unagi would sail wildly into the distance, a burning hands attack from the naked wizard would weaken the
assailants considerably—and the second mummy would then be ignited by the
combination of a (flammable) poison spray
and Schlemeel’s strike with a flaming torch.
When at last the fires died out,
the mummies were no more.
Returning to the second workroom, the party found little of
interest save an opaque jar on a shelf along the eastern wall. The same shelves contained clear jars bearing
what had been the internal organs of the mummified persons; the opaque canister
held their mortal wealth. The company
scooped up a fair quantity of coin, a small jasper, a dwarven belt buckle, and
a large key bearing the imprint of a human skull. Using his identify
magic, Greyndalf shortly ascertained that the buckle belongs to a Belt of Dwarven Might. All the party nodded in agreement as to what
the key unlocks.
Ipplie Amie covetously pocketed his share of the coins, but
refrained quickly from the protestations the group had come to expect from
him. An understanding had finally been
reached, it seemed. Or perhaps Amie’s
thoughts were preoccupied with what lies beyond the demon’s head door…
Adventure Notes:
·
Bottle Spirit. It was perhaps the necromancer Konykos
himself who created the bottle spirit, a ghastly combination of undead wraith
and construct. These spirits, which
remain trapped in their bottles until released—either by opening or breaking
the bottle—attack instantly and fearlessly, striking with a necrotic claw (3-12
damage). Breaking a spirit’s bottle
sends the spirit into a rage (known as a “soul break”), during which the spirit
lets out a pained howl that may cause paralysis in nearby persons and then
attacks (with a bonus to-hit and inflicting double damage). Luckily, the bottle spirits you fought did
not last long enough for you to see what might happen at the end of a soul
break rage. You note that bottle spirits
are fairly difficult to hit (AC 15) and have about 40-45 hit points.
·
Lesser Mummy. Mummies are truly fearsome undead
beings, striking victims with legendary force and inflicting horrific contagion
upon those who survive the initial trauma.
But not all mummies are endowed with the same level of power—and the
ones you encountered deep within the Vault of Konykos seemed to carry a weaker
enchantment than you might have feared.
Sluggish and highly susceptible to fire, these lesser mummies were easy
targets for your melee weapons (AC 11) and had only about 55 hit points
apiece.
·
Belt of Dwarven Might. This intricate silver belt buckle
shows a kneeling dwarf, shielding his village from an unseen enemy. That dwarf is Minotiklar, a legendary chieftain
of the Mt. Decayne region who lived many centuries before the Darkfall. This is the buckle of a belt given to him by
Ni’a’sharr, a wandering priest of the Encrod (who were not then a fallen
people). How it came to the Vault of
Konykos is beyond knowing; what your magic has divined, however, is that the
buckle—when attached to the right kind of belt—improves the wearer’s strength
by a grade. And if the wearer is a
dwarf, the belt further improves his or her constitution (also by a single
point).
·
O-yoroi Armor. Far to the west of the northern
sloughs there is said to be a land of strange enchantments, where the gods
dwell within the earth and even the most meager villagers commune with long
dead ancestors. From time-to-time,
merchants returning east from the marshes bear strange fabrics, unusual spices,
unorthodox musical instruments, and other curious wares from this foreign
land. But among the most coveted
artifacts of this land beyond the marshes is their o-yoroi, a seemingly
impossibly light armor of woven and lacquered bamboo that is as beautiful as it
is protective (AC 17, weight: 30 lbs., min. strength to use: 12).
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 an adversary need not
necessarily be killed to earn those 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, players can
earn inspiration for creativity, superior tactics, and especially strong
role-playing.
The party defeated two bottle spirits and two lesser mummies
in this session, earning 3,800 XP for the effort. These experience points are divided between
Jowdain, Greyndalf, Gambol, Schlemeel, Yalla, Unagi, and Ipplie Amie, for an
even 542.86 each, rounded up to 543 XP per character.
In addition, the party earned experience points for the
following accomplishments:
·
Locating the Quilderran toe ring, 25 XP;
·
Obtaining the skull key, 100 XP;
·
Superior tactics in the mummy battle, 100 XP;
As the DM is too lazy to determine which characters
participated in which of these events, the full total (225 XP) is divided
evenly among the six current player characters, for (37.5, rounded up to) 40 XP
apiece.
In yet another short but action-packed session, the
adventure gods were amused my Jowdain’s earnest smashing of the bottle spirit’s
vessel—only to find his act unleashed a soul break that would infuriate and
empower the company’s enemy. But hey, it
seemed like a good idea at the time.
Final Session 9 totals:
·
Jowdain
acquitted himself well in battle, garnering 583 XP and one point of inspiration.
·
Gambol
pleased his deity and is rewarded with 583 XP.
· Greyndalf remained a cunning and
resourceful (and naked) adversary, earning 583 XP.
·
Schlemeel
still don’t give a f*k, but he picked up 583 XP;.
·
Yalla was
one with nature, and nature was one with her.
Or something. She gets 583 XP.
·
Unagi looked
fresh again and gained 583 XP.
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