Players
Karen - Fighter - Level 1
Harley - Halfling - Level 1
Stickyfingers - Thief - Level 1
Adventure Log
Everyone awoke in The Singing Swan, except Malark, who was feeling poorly after his first mage guild supper club. On the way downstairs Harley say the chambermaid emptying the nights pots out the back door, next to the head of a vagrant passed out on the stoop. It was Stickyfingers! Stickyfingers was known as a local beggar and Failure At Everything. The innkeep offered to have a boy beat him if he was bother Harley, but instead Harley took him up and fed him.
The group planned their next expedition, selecting the tunnels under the Bleakmarsh again. Upgrading and restocking equipment Harley elected against a set of fully depreciated chainmail and, instead, opted for a brand new set, against the advice of the armorer, who insisted it was going to go down in value as soon as he left the shop. They headed back to the Hurling Heifer. Many folk seemed disappointed to see them, while some were overjoyed and bought them drinks. Stickyfingers joined in and bought everyone in the bar a couple of rounds also ... at 8:30 in the morning, while Karen, in her new platemail, stood upon a table and recruited hirelings. A sorry lot, she selected Rado, who was armed with a dagger, leather, shield, and had a broadsword with glowing runes on his back. Also hired was Aramil the Elf, dressed in purple robes and a tall pointy hat decorated with stars and moons ... and wearing leather armor strapped over the top of it all with a spear. 3 gp/day each. Most folks were now three drinks in at 9am in the morning.
The best way to sober up was walking two hours through a hot high humidity swamp full of bugs, they decided. Off they went out of town, past the new guards on the southern gate, and, passing Frank's farm, they didn't see him out in the fields. Harley went over to his shack and pounded on the door, only to hear snoring followed by a shrill woman's voice bitching at Frank to get up because there was someone at the door. She continued to berate him while he continued to snore, a couple of whisky bottles being discovered next to the door, Harley went back and the troop continued to the large sinkhole in the Bleakmarsh ... easily identifiable because of the clouds of mist that occasionally drifted out of the top of it. Down they went, down the stone spiral ramp, to the bottom, where Aramil the Elf hireling immediately identified the glowing eyes in the corner as belonging to possums.
Stickyfingers, asking about his spells for the day, seemed to make Aramil very sad. In fact, many questions that Stickyfingers asked of Aramil seemed to make him very sad. "Read that magic writing!" "What spells do you know?" and so on. Aramil would not answer, just looking sad. At one point Stickyfingers asked him why he was always sad. Aramil waited a few moments and replied "What, do you think are we friends?" A shocked Stickyfingers replying "Well, I don't now."
Deciding that the misty and blackness of the western side of the chamber was still not something to be messed with, they moved down the northern hallway, Rado in front with the torch, and they found a skeleton on the floor in rotting purple robes and a hat with stars and moons. There was a broken staff next to it and the area all around was full of scorch marks. Searching, they found a scroll tube with a scroll with magic writing on it, which again made Aramil sad when he was asked to read it. He did not reply.
They heard the sounds of water to the north and some muttering sounds to the east, so they went east. Finding a small crossroads chamber, they saw a small group of seven halflings huddled together against the wall, as if in a cuddle for warmth. They were scared, and after being calmed down by pleadings to SUMMAR, the halfling god, they noted that their friend Tim brought them down here to show them something and he had gone east from here and never returned. Harley gave them directions out, back to the South, and the troop headed east to find Tim.
They came upon a large cavern full of stalactites and stalagmites and giant black mushrooms, seven or eight feet tall, growing. Rado, Harley and Karen moved in to investigate the darkness in the back where their torch light did not reach, while Aramil and Stickyfingers stayed back. Finding a passage to the south and another headed west, Rano suddenly turned around and, holding out his hand, dumbly stated "Uh. My dagger is now made of rubber." Everyone paused. And then a wicked knife just BARELY missed Rado's back as he turned a bit, the same happening to Aramil back on the other side of the room. The halflings! Coming out of the shadows with wicked knives they seemed everywhere, wicked grins on their faces! Stickyfingers bowstring broke as his bow turned to rubber as Rado was stabbed through the back of the neck, the halflings knife coming out the other side, a dumb look on Rado's face! Rado's torch fell and everyone, party and halflings alike, seemed to be having trouble in the low light with finding their opponents to stab. Stickyfingers solved that by tossing oil on three of them attacking Aramil and lighting them on fire, burning them to crisp and providing more light! Karen stabbed one good before they heard a voice "Zots the word, be a bird!" causing Harley to float up in the air! toward the ceiling!
Then ... there was silence. The remaining two halflings were gone. The disembodied voice was quite. The black mushrooms had turned in to stalagmites and stalactites. The room was searched, finding nothing. They looted Rado, finding his "Linkbearers Union" card ... evidentially he was just a torchbearer and not a mercenary. They propped him up against a wall to take him back when they left.
A bloodtrail led south. In that chamber they found a cold cookfire with cooking spit and and a chamber to the east. As they started in they heard a voice "Back off you fuckers! This is our place! Get your own!" The same voice from the previous room! More cursing and strained negotiations followed, with them going east to find a room with ten cots and footlockers. A halfling was bleeding out on one cot. Karen tried to put it out of its misery, but then ...! A little man appeared. Dressed in black shoes, green pants, a green very and black hat with red hair. He yelled "Nighty night fucker!" and Karen fell to the floor, asleep, as another halfling stepped out of the shadows and tried to tab Karen. Harley stepped in to calm the situation down, with Stickyfingers offering them some skin of wine. The man in green and the unwounded halfing were having none of it, but the gut-stabbed one declared he wasn't going out sober, and drank up. The little man offer to give them gold and scout the hallways for the party, in return for not being killed. Stickyfingers held out his hand to offer a handshake ... and then turned it in to a bearhug, trapping the little mans arms! Yelling "Stab the fuckers! Stab them!" After Aramil missed one Sticky yelled at him "Use the pointy end of the spear Aramil!" That made Aramil sad. The two halflings tried, the unwounded one stabbing Aramil in the chest, killing him. The wounded one collapsed trying to kill Karen, who had been woken by Harley. The little man broke free and his smooth, calming voice tried to entrance Stickyfingers, who resisted! The little man disappeared, vowing vengeance.
Karen searched the footlockers, finding several hundred silver coins in most of them as well as a few platinum coins ... and a treasure map! Stickyfingers heard sounds to the west and saw the campfire being dug out by unseen hands! And then the digging stopped! Stickfingers saw the top of a large iron trunk buried in the fire fit ... and then the party heard voices from the Stalagtite/mite chamber! "I think I heard the voices over here Timmy!" Investigating, Harley found two small children with a torch and holding sticks, maybe ten and thirteen years old. The younger seemed scared but the older kept punching him and demanded the parties treasure. Karen showed up and went in to Stern Mom Mode, cowing the boys. They brought them back to the "cots" room and let them have as many silver coin treasure as they could carry. They were mollified.
Meanwhile, Stickyfingers checked the chest hinges for traps and finding none began to pick the lock. He got it open, only to get his finger pricked by a small needle. He felt fine. But his finger was turning black. He opted to NOT cut off his finger immediatly and instead chewed up some garlic he had and made a compress for his finger. Inside the trunk was full of gold and silver coins! And a bottle of liquid with flies in suspension and another that seemed full of blood. Stickyfingers, thinking he was poisoned, gulped down the blood liquid. He felt GREAT! Really REALLY good! No hint of feeling bad at all! The trunk also contained a longsword and three silver armbands, two with encircling vine motifs and one with a barbed wire motif. They filled a bag with a thousand gold coins and the rest of the loot as they left the silver behind. Then Stickyfingers vomited up a bunch of blood. A lot. And part of his stomach. And pissed himself. They grabbed the kids and headed back out, to get to town to save Stickyfingers life. Getting back to the "halfing cuddle crossroads" they saw, coming from the west, two seven or eight foot tall reptilians with feathers around their neck, like Harley had seen die in front of him yesterday! They creatures SCREECHED when they saw the party, causing one of the children to run south and the other to sit down and start crying. Harley grabbed the sitting one and everyone RAN south, grabbing the other kid, and going up the ramp in to the daylight ... in to which the reptillians seemed loathe to follow.
Stickyfingers was in bad shape. At Franks farm they negotiated to buy his cart, declining his 10gp initial offer and giving him 1gp. They loaded Stickyfingers and the loot bags in it, ignoring that Stickyfingers was now shitting himself and vomiting blood almost continually. Going up the gate guards they got a "Woah woah woah! Just where the fuck do you think you're taking that?" in regard to a cart full of bags spilling coins with a body laying on it, everything covered in blood and shit. "We have to get him to healer!" shouted Harley, in spite of Stickyfingers already being dead. One guard was having none of it but the other related how his mother was saved by quick healer action and let them in if they promised to return to pay the fees.
In they went ... and straight to the undertaker. Carlos Undertaker was very sympathetic to them, offering condolences, until he saw the body! Deciding against an open casket they opted for cremation and left, returning briefly to loot Stickyfingers body of the third silver armband and the rest of his gear. Carlos didn't even recognize Stickyfingers, even though Stickyfingers once worked for him collecting bodies ... so forgettable and such a failure was Stickyfingers at everything in life.
Karen visited the tower of Drez the Unspeakable, who charged her to identify the sword, declining a beer from Drez when he was finished. ON the way out she met a fellow in green dreadlocks, Charley, a fellow wizard and friend of her husband, the miner who died in the Well of Souls. He joined the group.
Deaths
Rado the Torchbearer - Dead by halfling knife stab through the neck.
Aramil the failed MU apprentice - Dead by halfling knife stab in the stab.
(PC) Stickyfingers the Thief - Dead by poison needle trap in chest lock.
Loot & XP
7 murderous little halfling shits killed
1000 gp
70 pp
3 Silver armbands, 75 gp each, two vine and one barbed wire motif, kept & worn by the party
Treasure Map
Illuminator, the magic sword.
A vial of liquid with flies in suspension.
A vial of blood (drunk by Stickyfingers)
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Thursday, January 9, 2020
In to the Bleakmarsh ...
Karen - Fighter - Level 1
Harley - Halfling - Level 1
Malark Whistler - MagicUser - Level 1
Kryshal! Shining jewel of the west! Last beacon of civilization before the borderlands! A bustling, dusty corrupt metropolis. Inside the slum quarter, inside The Hurling Heifer, a farmer sits at a table with a another. Dirty rags on his feet, muddy clothes, hands stained red from beets, smelling of turnips with a ragged tooth mouth. Over the din of the crowd, the drunken calls for booze, the shouting, one word: 'gold!' Three sets of ears prick up immediately. Instantly homing in on the farmers. Instantly recognizing, without a glance, the other two. Never met before but obviously companions: Hobos4Lif.
They approach the farmer and, perhaps a bit too loudly, speak with him. The kings tax man, ambushed outside of Frank the beet farmers farm. A wagon of gold gone. Down, in the Bleakmarsh, where no one comes back from after dark. They negotiate a price beyond measure, 1gp, for the farmer to take them there. As they leave the Heifer the bartender uncovers a chalkboard and begins to write "Odds" on it ...
Out the great southern gates and down the Kings Road they tell the guards they are day laborers on Franks beet farm. Passing the beet farm they see blood and signs of a struggle. Further in, two hours in to the Bleakmarsh they see a sinkhole a quarter mile off the road. Firmer then the other sinkholes in the area, they see wagon tracks leading to it ... and one footprint, not covered by the wagon tracks. One giant foot, with three clawed toes. A waft of mist blows up out of the cave, cold, defying the laws of physics. Down the sinkhole they go, down the spiral ramp that leads in to it, avoiding the moss and dripping water form the marsh.
At the bottom, a large cave. The stone floor cleared of rubble, it pushed up against the wall. Not as dusty or dirty as it should be. Their torch shows exits from the large cave to the east, north, and northwest ... but they can't see the western edge of the cave ... but hold their breath as another blast of cold mist comes from that direction. They hear rustling in dry leaves to the northwest and Harley sneaks up to check it out. At the edge of the light he sees a pair of glowing white eyes, down low to the ground. And then another. And then another. And another. Retreating back, a plan is formed. The NW tunnel is ruled out because of the eyes. The N tunnel is also out because it's too close to the NW tunnel. The W is ruled out because of the mist coming from it. They head east, Karen leading the way. Again, the floors are cleared of the fallen ceiling rubble, the paths too well used to show much dust. In a large chamber they find a skeleton on the floor in a corner dressed in strange clothes with a metallic sheen. A dead elf. They break its fingers to free the large ruby clutched in its outstretched hand. There might be, they decide, more than gold down in this ole ...
Exploring south they find a single human footprint in the dust off the main cleared path, heading their direction. There's salt in the air now, not stale cave air. They find a cavern littered with refuse. Crab shells and legs, large and small, carapaces, splintered bone spears. And a few broken stone spears and a shattered stone axe. But nothing else. Nearby there's a passage leading down, in to darkness, to the east, with the smell of salt on the air heavy ... they avoid it, not going deeper in. To the south of the refuse chamber, in the darkness they hear screeching and howling. The avoid it.
Moving west they come to a wide passage leading south, going down even more steeply, with the smell of bird guano coming from it, and a large watery white mess on the floor. Malark is looking for spell components, and guano is a big one ... but they avoid going deeper. Heading further in to the darkness of the west they see something on the floor in a T passage ... going further they find a pile of rags, children's clothes, shredded, full of blood. Not a good sign. Passages to the south wind around to the west. Passages to the west wind back to them. They hear more screeching and grunting from the west and northwest as they wind through the dark cavernous maze. And see another pile of clothes. Again, children's rags, in blood. Harley, who has snuck ahead to examine them, sees something crawling toward him from the NW, out of the darkness. Backing up back to his friends ... he sees a large brutish reptilian like humanoid with neck feathers dragging itself toward him ... and the light ... coming from where the sounds of battle are coming from. It looks up ... and then the head drops, moving no more. Karen comes up and stabs it in the head, just to be sure. A quick loot reveals a leather thong on its neck attached to a crude gold medallion with an X in a circle design hammered in to it. A leather bag has rotting human hands in it ... gnawed up. But they are large, rough hands, of men who have had a rough life.
Retreating from the sounds of battle, they see some flickering light to the north. Following it, still past the sounds of battle to the west, they see a wide side corridor to the east, with flickering firelight in the distance. Harley sneaks up again, and peering around a corner he sees ... a flickering bonfire with a giant cauldron sitting on it, something bubbling in it. The walls are covered with small little niches, the size of a cup, and a narrow passage to the rear of the chamber. On the other side of the cauldron is huge pale white hulking brute. Eight or nine feet tall, open pus sores and burst of rough black hair growing from them, two large tusks coming up from its lower jaw. A plan if formed. Oil is readied, to use the cauldron fire. Malark steps out and yells "Good night sweet child!" ... and the brute falls over, slumbering. Harley races in to search the niches, as does Malark, as Karen rushes in to chop its head off! Blood spurts out of the neck comically as Karen expertly chops off the head, the creatures eyes opening once, looking sadly at Karen as it mouths the words "Gulag?"
The niches are full of gold coins! And the cauldron full of human and reptile arms and legs and fingers and eyes and ears! They loot a large number of gold coins, a bronze necklace, and a small bottle of white fluid with snotty yellow rivluts in it. It smells like pine. And then ceder. And then cotton. And then mutton. And then ... every changing.
They left town at 1pm. They hit the sinkhole at 3pm. They've been inside for a couple of hours ... they need to leave soon to get back to town before dark ... because no one comes back from the Bleakmarsh after dark. They quickly make their way back to the sinkhole entrance/exit, the sounds of battle to the west no longer being heard. Up and out, they pass back by Franks farm. He's sitting int he muck next to the road, holding a bloody rag to his head. "Hey! Hey you!" he calls out ... they ignore him. On the way back through the gates of Kryshal they toss a couple of gold coins to the guards "The beet harvest was good!" One guard immediately quits, telling off his super Karl. The group makes its way to the Singing Swan, an inn in he better part of town, staying up all night guarding backpacks full of coin, before hitting the mining guildhall in the morning to leverage Karens contacts ... her dead husband was a miner and the guildhall will hold the gold in bond for her. Malark finds the wizards guild and joins, mostly for the monthly dinners and networking. They plan their next assault ...
1000 gold coins
300 gp ruby
50gp gold medallion
30 gp bronze mecklance
1 potion
Killed: 1 Gulag
Harley - Halfling - Level 1
Malark Whistler - MagicUser - Level 1
Kryshal! Shining jewel of the west! Last beacon of civilization before the borderlands! A bustling, dusty corrupt metropolis. Inside the slum quarter, inside The Hurling Heifer, a farmer sits at a table with a another. Dirty rags on his feet, muddy clothes, hands stained red from beets, smelling of turnips with a ragged tooth mouth. Over the din of the crowd, the drunken calls for booze, the shouting, one word: 'gold!' Three sets of ears prick up immediately. Instantly homing in on the farmers. Instantly recognizing, without a glance, the other two. Never met before but obviously companions: Hobos4Lif.
They approach the farmer and, perhaps a bit too loudly, speak with him. The kings tax man, ambushed outside of Frank the beet farmers farm. A wagon of gold gone. Down, in the Bleakmarsh, where no one comes back from after dark. They negotiate a price beyond measure, 1gp, for the farmer to take them there. As they leave the Heifer the bartender uncovers a chalkboard and begins to write "Odds" on it ...
Out the great southern gates and down the Kings Road they tell the guards they are day laborers on Franks beet farm. Passing the beet farm they see blood and signs of a struggle. Further in, two hours in to the Bleakmarsh they see a sinkhole a quarter mile off the road. Firmer then the other sinkholes in the area, they see wagon tracks leading to it ... and one footprint, not covered by the wagon tracks. One giant foot, with three clawed toes. A waft of mist blows up out of the cave, cold, defying the laws of physics. Down the sinkhole they go, down the spiral ramp that leads in to it, avoiding the moss and dripping water form the marsh.
At the bottom, a large cave. The stone floor cleared of rubble, it pushed up against the wall. Not as dusty or dirty as it should be. Their torch shows exits from the large cave to the east, north, and northwest ... but they can't see the western edge of the cave ... but hold their breath as another blast of cold mist comes from that direction. They hear rustling in dry leaves to the northwest and Harley sneaks up to check it out. At the edge of the light he sees a pair of glowing white eyes, down low to the ground. And then another. And then another. And another. Retreating back, a plan is formed. The NW tunnel is ruled out because of the eyes. The N tunnel is also out because it's too close to the NW tunnel. The W is ruled out because of the mist coming from it. They head east, Karen leading the way. Again, the floors are cleared of the fallen ceiling rubble, the paths too well used to show much dust. In a large chamber they find a skeleton on the floor in a corner dressed in strange clothes with a metallic sheen. A dead elf. They break its fingers to free the large ruby clutched in its outstretched hand. There might be, they decide, more than gold down in this ole ...
Exploring south they find a single human footprint in the dust off the main cleared path, heading their direction. There's salt in the air now, not stale cave air. They find a cavern littered with refuse. Crab shells and legs, large and small, carapaces, splintered bone spears. And a few broken stone spears and a shattered stone axe. But nothing else. Nearby there's a passage leading down, in to darkness, to the east, with the smell of salt on the air heavy ... they avoid it, not going deeper in. To the south of the refuse chamber, in the darkness they hear screeching and howling. The avoid it.
Moving west they come to a wide passage leading south, going down even more steeply, with the smell of bird guano coming from it, and a large watery white mess on the floor. Malark is looking for spell components, and guano is a big one ... but they avoid going deeper. Heading further in to the darkness of the west they see something on the floor in a T passage ... going further they find a pile of rags, children's clothes, shredded, full of blood. Not a good sign. Passages to the south wind around to the west. Passages to the west wind back to them. They hear more screeching and grunting from the west and northwest as they wind through the dark cavernous maze. And see another pile of clothes. Again, children's rags, in blood. Harley, who has snuck ahead to examine them, sees something crawling toward him from the NW, out of the darkness. Backing up back to his friends ... he sees a large brutish reptilian like humanoid with neck feathers dragging itself toward him ... and the light ... coming from where the sounds of battle are coming from. It looks up ... and then the head drops, moving no more. Karen comes up and stabs it in the head, just to be sure. A quick loot reveals a leather thong on its neck attached to a crude gold medallion with an X in a circle design hammered in to it. A leather bag has rotting human hands in it ... gnawed up. But they are large, rough hands, of men who have had a rough life.
Retreating from the sounds of battle, they see some flickering light to the north. Following it, still past the sounds of battle to the west, they see a wide side corridor to the east, with flickering firelight in the distance. Harley sneaks up again, and peering around a corner he sees ... a flickering bonfire with a giant cauldron sitting on it, something bubbling in it. The walls are covered with small little niches, the size of a cup, and a narrow passage to the rear of the chamber. On the other side of the cauldron is huge pale white hulking brute. Eight or nine feet tall, open pus sores and burst of rough black hair growing from them, two large tusks coming up from its lower jaw. A plan if formed. Oil is readied, to use the cauldron fire. Malark steps out and yells "Good night sweet child!" ... and the brute falls over, slumbering. Harley races in to search the niches, as does Malark, as Karen rushes in to chop its head off! Blood spurts out of the neck comically as Karen expertly chops off the head, the creatures eyes opening once, looking sadly at Karen as it mouths the words "Gulag?"
The niches are full of gold coins! And the cauldron full of human and reptile arms and legs and fingers and eyes and ears! They loot a large number of gold coins, a bronze necklace, and a small bottle of white fluid with snotty yellow rivluts in it. It smells like pine. And then ceder. And then cotton. And then mutton. And then ... every changing.
They left town at 1pm. They hit the sinkhole at 3pm. They've been inside for a couple of hours ... they need to leave soon to get back to town before dark ... because no one comes back from the Bleakmarsh after dark. They quickly make their way back to the sinkhole entrance/exit, the sounds of battle to the west no longer being heard. Up and out, they pass back by Franks farm. He's sitting int he muck next to the road, holding a bloody rag to his head. "Hey! Hey you!" he calls out ... they ignore him. On the way back through the gates of Kryshal they toss a couple of gold coins to the guards "The beet harvest was good!" One guard immediately quits, telling off his super Karl. The group makes its way to the Singing Swan, an inn in he better part of town, staying up all night guarding backpacks full of coin, before hitting the mining guildhall in the morning to leverage Karens contacts ... her dead husband was a miner and the guildhall will hold the gold in bond for her. Malark finds the wizards guild and joins, mostly for the monthly dinners and networking. They plan their next assault ...
1000 gold coins
300 gp ruby
50gp gold medallion
30 gp bronze mecklance
1 potion
Killed: 1 Gulag
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