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.