Although the following post was part of an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign way back in 2015-2016, your friendly Dungeon Master somehow stopped posting updates after the “Tomb of Koban Hairfoot – part 4” post. So here is more of that adventure, even if it is posted six years after when these events were played out!
Day #2-30 (Spiritday, 10th Dewsnap, 4333 BCCC): After making it back to Karnack’s castle after having gone through the harrowing experience in the underground tomb of Koban Hairfoot, after the wounded were tended to and the scroll that possibly described how to use the Pendant of Winstone was forwarded to Karnack, the party all fell into a deep, restful sleep. In fact, while they had arrived back at the castle around noon, they were all asleep by 1:00 pm, and they all slept until well after dark.
Dungeon Master’s interlude:
Experience Points: The party racked up a fair amount of Experience Points (XP) on the adventure to the Tomb of Koban Hairfoot. They retrieved the Necklace of Harbinge, which was worth 350 Gold Pieces (GP), also the Pendant of Winstone, worth 700 GP, a fine golden chalice worth 300 GP, and two gold candlesticks, worth 20 GP each (or 40 GP total. They also found a scroll that yielded an explanation of how to use the Pendant of Winstone, that scroll was worth 100 GP. They also recovered a book that described a workout regimen that was worth 5 GP. So, treasure recovered accounted for 1,495 GP, or 1,495 XP.
As far as defeating monsters, the party was able to fool the cyclops both on their way in to and out of the dungeon. The cyclops had a total XP value of 4,832 XP; however, since they didn’t totally defeat it, the party will be awarded 10% of the value of the cyclops for each time they fooled it, in other words, they earned 483 XP x 2 = 966 XP. There were 5 undead skeletons that were destroyed in the room with Reedus’ coffin; those skeletons were worth a total of 100 XP. There was also the wight (Reedus, himself?) that was finally destroyed by Koban Hairfoot; 640 XP are awarded to the party for that wight. There were also 6 skeletal monks that were encountered but that the party did not need to fight; 30 XP were given for that encounter, especially as the party treated the skeletal monks with reverence and did not attack them (nor did the monks attack the party). There was also the matter of Lightstep praying over the bones of Koban Hairfoot; that was worth 50 XP. So, the total XP awarded for “monsters” was 1,786.
Total XP earned was thus 1,495 + 1,786 = 3,281 XP. There were of course some odd divisions of the XP. Flenda and Jorgio, for example, only shared in the XP from fooling the cyclops both times. They did not encounter anything in the dungeon itself, so did not earn any XP for anything else. Tureg was near-mortally wounded by the skeletons in the room with Reedus’ coffin, so Tureg only earned XP up to that point. Vox had earned some XP (226 XP, actually) up to the point of when he was struck by the wight. When he was struck, he lost those XP and also his previously earned 309 XP. So then Vox went to 0 XP, and could not earn any more XP.
When all of the calculating was done, here is how the XP were awarded (remember that Player Characters (Douag, Falafela, Lightstep, Opalent, Vandin, (Vox)) got full shares, while Non-Player Characters (Clayton, Flenda, Gwenette, Jorgio, Tureg) only received half shares. PC XP: Douag (515 XP, includes a 10% bonus for his 16 Strength); Falafela (469 XP); Lightstep (515 XP, includes a 10% bonus for excellent play of a cleric, what with praying over Koban Hairfoot and over slain foes); Opalent (469 XP); Vandin (469 XP). NPC XP: Clayton (234 XP); Flenda (63 XP); Jorgio (63 XP); Gwenette (234 XP); Tureg (67 XP).
The PC (PCs are bold) & NPC XP now stands at: Clayton 2,485 (Clayton is a Level 2 Ranger); Lightstep 1,120; Vandin 1,045; Falafela 1,035; Opalent 1,035; Douag 515; Tureg 338; Gwenette 295; Flenda 137; Jorgio 124; Pangborn 31; Vox 0.
(We now return you to your regular narrative.)
When the party awoke, the first thing the halfling cleric Lightstep did was to pray for new spells. He in fact prayed for three cure iight wounds spells, and when he had received the spells from his deity, he cast them upon the dwarven fighter Vandin Lakesplitter, then upon the human fighter Vox the Just, then upon the dwarven fighter Douag. The three spells cured all of the wounds of those three vailant fighters, except that Vox was still overcome by extreme fatigue.
Then the above party members, along with their companions Falafela, Flenda, Gwenette, and Jorgio, were escorted to the mess hall for a quick bite to eat that consisted of re-heated lamb stew, with strong brew to cleanse the palates of those who choose to partake of such beverages. Vox, it should be noted, still needed assistance to be able to walk. The near mortally wounded dwarven fighter Tureg was left to continue his rest, as he had not yet regained conciousness. After the quick meal, the party was ushered to Karnack’s chamber in the northeast castle tower.
When the party were all seated before Karnack, he spoke. “Clayton tells me you had success in finding the Pendant of Winstone. Excellent! He also tells me you ran into a very foul creature that struck yon Vox a damaging blow, and that the bones of Koban Hairfoot himself came back to life to slay the creature! What an adventure that must have been! Please, tell me more about what transpired at the tomb of Koban Hairfoot.”
Everyone tried to respond at once, then Karnack held up his hand and calmly stated, “Please! One at a time!” After each person had given a short report of what they had experienced in the dungeon, Karnack asked, “Clayton also told me about the library you found, and that it had an abundance of books and tomes. Would any of you like to stay on and lead an expedition to recover all of those books and bring them to this castle?” While several party members were shaking their heads “no” to Karnack’s request, Gwenette spoke up and said, “While I understand how books are quite important to your work as a sage, you must understand that my first loyalty is to my family and my village. I would like to return to my village as quickly as is possible, as I feel my parents are in grave danger from the zombie curse that has befallen them!” Karnack said, “Very well said. I indeed understand.” He did not bring up the subject of the books again after that.
Karnack then mentioned Vox again. “I understand that Vox is too weak to walk. Could someone please describe that foul creature you encountered that struck Vox? And Vox, how did you feel when it struck you?” Lightfoot answered, “The creature was human sized, mostly just a skeleton covered with the disingrated rags of clothes he must have once worn. It also had some bits of flesh still attached to his bones in places.” Vox described that it felt like “an overpowering tingling sensation that caused a moment’s paralysis” when he was struck by the creature. After pondering the matter for a moment, Karnack said, “Hmmmm, I wonder if it was a wight that struck poor Vox. Vox, if it was a wight, and it struck you twice, you are exceedingly lucky to still be alive! You should count your blessings, my boy!”
Karnack then asked the question, “How do you all plan to transport him back to Crystal Shores?” as he pointed at Vox. Some party members suggested that Vox should obtain a horse. Lightstep asked Karnack if he could spare one of the horses from the castle for Vox, but Karnack replied, “I cannot spare any of the horses from my guards, or even any of the work horses. However, I could send an agent to the nearby village of Bridgefields and purchase a horse for Vox. I believe we could get him a light riding horse, a basic saddle, with appropriate tack, for about 40 gold pieces.” So Vox handed over some of his money to Karnack, to make the horse buy happen on the morrow.
Karnack then mentioned how neither he nor his scribes had as of yet been able to decipher the unknown runes on the scroll, but that they had been working on it all day long. Karnack said, “We first need to deteermine what language it is written in, and then we may be able to translate it. As it is now getting very late, my scribes and I will soon retire for the night, but will make a fresh start in the morning. Although you all have been sleeping most of the day, you should all try to get some more rest for the balance of the night.” After that, Karnack dismissed them back to their quarters.
Day #2-31 (Airday, 11th Dewsnap, 4333 BCCC): It was probably around 3:00 am on 11th Dewsnap before the last party member fell asleep. Tureg, they were told, had still not regained conciousness during their brief meeting with Karnack late in the evening of 10th Dewsnap.
The party all awoke near to 9 o’clock in the morning. They had an exceedingly filling breakfast of hotcakes with bacon, using some honey as a sweetener for the hotcakes. Mostly the party just hung around the castle, although Lightstep and Opalent did go for a short walk outside the castle just after lunch. Falafela also visited the craft room and spoke some more with Makurrh, the tinker at the castle.
Around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, Vox’s new horse arrived from Bridgefields. It was a bay horse, mostly dark brown with black lower legs and mane and tail. It also had a short white stripe on its forehead. It came with a small saddle, and with reins and a bridle and bit. It was stabled in the castle, although Vox was taken to meet the horse and to feed it some carrots.
Shortly thereafter, Tureg awoke from his coma. He sat up and looked around. He appeared to be confused. After a moment, he weakly spoke to the nurse who was attending to him, “Where am I? How did I get here?” The nurse answered, “You went adventuring with some friends. You were gravely injured in battle, and your friends brought your here yesterday morning. You are in the castle of Karnack the Sage.” Tureg then stated, flatly, “I am very thirsty, and a little hungry. May I please have something to eat and drink?” He then laid back down, although he kept his eyes open. The nurse briefly left the room and asked someone outside the room to bring Tureg some hot soup from the kitchen. The nurse then told Tureg, “I sent for some soup. Just wait a couple of moments.” Tureg then gave a little sigh, and closed his eyes, although he did not fall asleep. In a few moments, some hot chicken noodle soup arrived, and the nurse helped him eat.
Just after supper time, Karnack summoned the party (sans Tureg) to his chambers. Karnack sounded cheerful. “I have some good news! We have determined the language on the scroll. It is a derivative of a language that was once used by a vanished race who once lived in the Ghinor area. We believe we will now be able to decipher the scroll, although we have not yet completed that task.” The party’s faces all brightened upon hearing that news, especially those of Flenda and Gwenette. Flenda said, “Karnack, do you have any idea of how long it might take to finish translating the scroll?” Karnack answered, “We are hoping to complete it this evening, but it might not be until tomorrow sometime. I don’t believe it will take us any longer than that.”
Karnack then related, “I have some more good news. Your colleague Tureg has regained conciousness. He was able to eat some soup around supper time.” The party then departed, with Lightstep leading the procession towards Tureg’s chamber. When Lightstep arrived at Tureg’s bedside, Lightstep cast a cure light wounds spell, and it healed the 5 damage points that had been afflicting Tureg.
After sunset, the party had a light snack in the mess hall, then retired for the evening.
(to be continued)
Tags: Bridgefields, Clayton, Crystal Shores, cyclops, Douag, Falafela, Flenda, Ghinor, Gwenette, Jorgio, Karnack, Karnack the Sage, Karnack's castle, Koban Hairfoot, Lightstep, Necklace of Harbinge, Opalent, Pangborn, Pendant of Winstone, Reedus, skeletons, Tomb of Koban Hairfoot, Tureg, Vandin, Vandin Lakesplitter, Vox, Vox the Just, wight