Tomb of Koban Hairfoot « Michigumbo blog

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Curing Zombies at Crystal Shores

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2022

Day #2-36 (Airday, 16th Dewsnap, 4333 BCCC): Herschel Gobinmyer awoke before dawn and starting “brewing” the magical potion that it was hoped would cure the zombie curse that was afflicting villagers in Crystal Shores. He filled the golden chalice with pure water, then lit two beeswax candles in the two gold candlesticks, one on either side of the chalice. Then, just as the sun was rising, he placed the Pendant of Winstone into the chalice. It was then a matter of waiting until sundown to see what transpired.

After different folks had been fed in different ways, depending upon their lodgings, two villagers went door to door, performing a “head count” of how many non-zombie people there were in the village. They then reported that information to Herschel at his home. Herschel was happy to see that no more zombies had been generated during the night. When party members Douag, Falafela, and Vandin had arrived at Herschel’s, he sent for Flenda and Gwenette, and for their father Vilan Deathmar. When all had arrived at Herschel’s, he put the question to them. “As you all should know by now, the instructions for using the Pendant of Winstone to effect a cure has limited uses. We do not know how many it will cure before it exhausts its magical cures. Therefore, we must decide upon a priority as to who gets cured first, and create a list for who else gets cured, in what order. This is not the easiest task in the world, but it must be done.”

Naturally, Flenda and Gwenette both wanted their mother to be at the top of the list. And naturally, everyone concurred, seeing as how the sisters had both risked their lives in order to find the cure! However, after much discussion, it was decided that Vox should take the first drink of the potion, as if he was cured they could then use his muscle to help corral other zombies. Also, it was the fact that Vox had also risked his life, and indeed, been gravely wounded, that put him at the top of the list. Herschel wrote out the list: Vox the Just; Vilanious Deathmar (mother of Flenda and Gwenette); Wider Veldar (village cleric); Melchar, Vinar, and Loftus Furrowbrow (the village tinker and his wife and young son); Sathe, Beefa, and Lido Lidorn (proprietor of the Inn of the Blushing Trout and his wife and daughter); Simius Soderman (the wife of the carpenter); Moosecavalli Wirth (proprietor of the Tavern of the Cracked Mug); two fishermen in the Cracked Mug; Cardon Dragone (the boat master); and finally six other villagers who were local farmers.

Herschel said, “I hope we don’t run out of cures before we run out of people to cure.” Everyone present at the meeting added an “Amen!” to that simple but profound statement.

Finally, sunset came, and Herschel noticed that the water in the chalice had changed to a dark burgundy color, much like wine. The potion was poured off into the small bottles that had been assembled, and it was found there were exactly 10 doses of potion available. “OK,” said Herschel. “Let’s go and visit Vox and see how it goes!” Then Herschel, followed by Falafela, Douag, and Vandin, headed over to Mylene Ackmard’s barn, where Vox was staying. Vox looked a little apprehensive just before he drank, but he said, “I’ll probably never get better without this, so I guess I’ll drink it!” Then he took the small bottle of the burgundy potion and gulped it down. “That actually tasted pretty good! it was a lot like wine, except it was saltier with a little metallic aftertaste,” said Vox. The party watched Vox intently, but after about five minutes, Vox expressed the notion that he was suddenly very sleepy. Then he lay down and was promptly asleep. “OK,” said Mylene. Let’s arrange the boxes to keep him safe and secure for the night.” Herschel said, “The directions said imbibers should be cured within one hour. Maybe we should wait before we administer any more doses?” But Flenda and Gwenette weren’t having any of the waiting game. They both wanted to cure their mother, and cure her now!

So the party then proceeded down the hill towards the Deathmar residence, where Vilanious Deathmar had been confined after she became a zombie. The party also had three of the forked sticks with the rope loops on them. Flenda and Gwenette both argued over who would get the privilege of serving the potion to their mother. Finally, their father said, “Girls, please! I will make it a fair game of chance.” With that, he picked up a few pebbles from the ground. He turned his back to his daughters, and then when he turned back around to face them, his right hand was clenched into a fist. Whichever of you can guess if the number of pebbles in my hand is odd or even can have the honor of serving the potion to your mother. Gwenette, you are younger, so you guess.” Gwenette guessed even, then Vilan opened his hand to reveal he had two pebbles, so Gwenette won the honor to serve her mother the potion.

Although the door to her house had several boards nailed over the doorway, Gwenette and Flenda pried them off with some of their father’s pry-bar type tools that were in the front yard. Their zombie mother had been attracted to the noise at the door, so when the door was pushed open, their mother walked outside, only to be immediately snared by loops from her husband Vilan, her daughter Flenda, and also by Jorgio. Gwenette then grabbed her mother’s head by the hair, then pulled her mother’s head back which forced her mother’s mouth skyward. Gwenette whispered to her mother, “Sorry, mom, I don’t want to hurt you, but this must be done!” Then, by the light of the torches held by Douag, Vandin, and Falafela, Gwenette poured the already opened bottle of the potion down her mother’s throat.

Gwenette held her mother’s head in the same position until it was clear that her mother had swallowed the potion. The loops were kept on Vilanious, and then after five minutes Vilanious’ formerly scowling face looked to be at peace, and then she closed her eyes, and her head drooped as if she were alseep. Everyone waited a couple of more minutes, and then Gwenette said, “OK, dad, help me carry her inside.” So Gwenette and Vilan carried Vilanious inside and laid her gently on her bed. Flenda followed them inside. Vilan motioned for the girls to follow him out, but Flenda said, “Sorry, but we’re staying here all night if we have to, just to watch over mom!” Then Gwenette got up and lit a couple of candles, and the sisters began their vigil over their mother.

The next stop was across the road, at the Church of Koassek where the cleric Wider Veldar had been confined. In a similar manner to the scene that had just played out at the Deathmar’s, the nailed boards were pried off the front of the church, Wider was lassoed with the rope loops on the forked sticks, and then he was forced to drink. After he passed out, he was placed in his bed, and the party re-nailed the boards on his door, just in case he wasn’t cured.

Then the party walked over to the home of the Furrowbrows. This would be a bit trickier, since there were three zombies inside the home. All six of the forked sticks were put to use, as by now more healthy villagers had joined in the procession. Two rope loops were put on to each zombie, and then they were made to drink the liquid. Since Melchar and his family were all gnomes, it was not too much of a problem to make them drink the potion. Someone in the crowd mentioned, “What do we do if not all of them are cured? What if one of them remains a zombie and attacks the others?” “Herschel answered, “That is a good question. I believe we should tie them up individually. Restrain their hands and feet, and tie them to different pieces of furniture. That should keep them from being able to attack each other. After all, none of the zombies has shown themselves to be smart enough to defeat even simple restraints. If and when they awake, cured, I’m sure they will call out for assistance!” So then the other villagers tied up the Furrowbrows as Herschel had recommended. Before heading to the next destination, Herschel asked Rivatha Kafar, the goat shepherd who lived next door, to keep an eye on the Furrowbrows. “I’ll do it!” said Rivatha, “just as soon as I can go home and bring back a lantern.”

Next, the party proceeded to the east, to the Inn of the Blushing Trout. Once again, there were three zombies to deal with, although these three were humans. Seeing as it was an inn, it was easy to lock up the three family members in three separate rooms after the cure had been applied to each of them. Finally, with one dose remaining, the party and other villagers proceeded to the lakeside cottage of the carpenter, Baduk Soderman. The Sodermans lived just north of Herschel’s cottage. Simius Soderman’s husband, Baduk, was given the honor of getting his wife to drink the potion. Then, after she was asleep, Baduk said he would watch over her for the night. That was agreeable to others, so then everyone retired from the Soderman’s house.

When the remaining members of the group gathered in the road in front of Herschel’s place, Herschel charged two villagers, Aslan Valkyie and his eldest son, with organizing a patrol, and to make the rounds of the village, just to keep an eye on things during the balance of the night. Herschel then said, “Let’s hope this really works, and that everyone is OK in the morning! As for me, I must retire as I must awake before sunrise tomorrow morning that I may start another batch of the potion!” Everyone said their good-nights, then went their separate ways. Falafela, Douag, Vandin, and Jorgio went back to their sleeping quarters in Mylene’s barn, where they took turns watching Vox during the night.

Day #2-37 (Waterday, 17th Dewsnap, 4333 BCCC): Early in the morning of 17th Dewsnap, Hershel Gobinmyer awoke and made his preparations to produce another batch of potion using the Pendant of Winstone and the golden chalice that had been brought back from the Tomb of Koban Hairfoot. Just after he lit the two beeswax candles and placed the pendant into the chalice that was filled with pure water, one of Aslan Valkyie’s sons, Zoan, reported the good news that all of the zombies that had been treated the previous day had been cured! Herschel was ecstatic. “My! That is wonderful news!” he exclaimed.

Although the cure was supposed to take only one hour per person, it seemed to take longer than that. Or, perhaps it had cured each of them after only one hour, but everyone who drank the potion must have slept for at least eight or ten hours afterwards. In the morning, Vox woke up and found he could stand with no difficulty at all. He was even able to release himself from the boxed-in area of Mylene’s barn in which he had been placed for safe-keeping. And in a rarity for Vox, he even offered to help Mylene with making breakfast for the folks staying at her barn. Vox peeled and diced some potatoes and sliced some bacon. Douag was watching all of this and said “Don’t overdo it, now! We don’t want you to have a relapse.”

Flenda and Gwenette were also overwhelmed with joy when their mother finally opened her eyes and spoke to them! Vilanious’s first words were, “What happened? I feel like I’ve been in a bad dream. it was like I was wandering in a thick fog, and couldn’t find my way home.” Her daughters then related the fact that Vilanious had become a zombie, and had been in that state for the last nine days. The mother then thought for a couple of minutes, and then said, “Then I guess you did find a cure, after all!?” Vilanious especially emphasized the word “did” when she spoke. Then the daughters both hugged and kissed their mother profusely. Then Flenda stayed with her mother while Gwenette went out to spread the good news.

All around the village there were cries of joy, as families were cured and reunited. Herschel made the rounds, saying, “Don’t get your hopes up too much, we have more people yet to cure!” When Wider Veldar, the cleric, awoke and found himself confined inside his church, he shouted for passers-by to let him out! Then after being released, he ran over to Hershel’s place and thanked the druid profusely. Herschel said, “You’re welcome, but you should save your real thanks for the brave adventurers who ventured forth and retrieved the Pendant of Winstone which then brewed a curative potion.” Wider said, “I will thank them, just as soon as I see them!” Then Wider went off to look for the party so he could thank them.

Tags:Aslan Valkyrie, Badak Soderman, Beefa Lidorn, Cardon Dragone, Church of Coassek, Crystal Shores, Douag, Falafela, Flenda, Gwenette, Herschel Gobinmyer, Inn of the Blushing Trout, Lido Lidorn, Loftus Furrowbrow, Melchar Furrowbrow, Moosecavelli Wirth, Mylene Ackmard, Pendant of Winstone, Rivatha Kafar, Sathe Lidorn, Simius Soderman, Tomb of Koban Hairfoot, Vandin, Vilan Deathmar, Vilanious Deathmar, Vinar Furrowbrow, Vox the Just, Wider Veldar, Zoan Valkyrie, zombies
Posted in Dungeons & Dragons, Role-Playing Games | Comments Closed

Back at Karnack’s Castle

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2022

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
Posted in Dungeons & Dragons, Role-Playing Games | Comments Closed

The Tomb of Koban Hairfoot – Part 3

Saturday, June 25th, 2016

This is a continuation of The Tomb of Koban Hairfoot – Part 1, and The Tomb of Koban Hairfoot – Part 2.

Day #2-29 (Fireday, 9th Dewsnap, 4333 BCCC): As we left our intrepid adventurers last time, they had descended to the 2nd level of the Tomb of Koban Hairfoot, and after briefly investigating a rectangular chamber with three skeletons laying about in disarray, they had then proceeded onward. They had come to another door to their left, and Vandin Lakesplitter had forced the door open with a few pushes from his shoulder….

Immediately after forcing the door open, Vandin (carrying a torch along with his shield and hammer), and Tureg, another dwarven fighter (armed with a sword and also carrying a shield) discovered there were some more skeletons in this room, but the skeletons were animated and were coming to attack! Vandin swung his hammer and shattered one skeleton into fragments, but another skeleton felled Tureg with a mighty claw. The halfling cleric Lightstep then entered the room and tried to fend off other skeletons with his small shield and with his hammer, while the halfling thief Falafela snuck into the room in Lightstep’s wake and attempted to drag Tureg out of the room. It was fortunate for the adventurers that the room just inside the door was not very wide, as it kept the skeletons superior numbers from being able to flank the party.

Vandin then swung his hammer and took off a skeleton’s arm at its shoulder, but with its other arm it struck Vandin, doing 4 hit points of damage (out of Vandin’s 6 total hit points). After Falafela dragged Tureg out of the room, Vandin and Lightstep were able to back out of the room and pull the door closed behind them, thus gaining a respite from the attacking skeletons. The party did not hear any sound coming from inside the room, so Lightstep cast a Cure Light Wounds spell on Vandin, but it only cured 1 HP of damage. Then Lightstep cast his only remaining Cure Light Wounds spell, and it fully healed Vandin.

After briefly discussing tactics, the party decided they would only open the door a little so only one skeleton at a time could approach them through the narrowed opening. While Lightstep took Vandin’s torch, Vandin opened the door just enough for a skeleton to start to come through. Whack! A mighty blow from Vandin’s hammer felled that skeleton, and also the next skeleton to come through right on the heels of the first skeleton. But while Vandin was watching that 2nd skeleton fall to the ground to make sure it wouldn’t try to strike him on the way down, another skeleton came through the door and struck Vandin for 5 HP of damage! Opalent then cast her Magic Missile spell at that skeleton. While the spell did 3 points of damage, it did not “kill” the already-undead skeleton. Douag then pushed Vandin out of the way, but before Douag could bring his battleaxe to bear, the skeleton ripped at Douag, striking twice and inflicting 5 hit points of damage. Douag was still in fair shape, though, as he had 11 hit points before being wounded. After a bit more battling, Douag finally chopped the skeleton in half with his axe, and then made sure it was not moving any more after striking it a few more times as it lay at his feet.

The party then waited for several seconds to see if any more skeletons were coming out of the room to do battle, and when none appeared, they made more plans. Lightstep stayed in the hallway with one torch to watch over the wounded Tureg, and the human ranger Clayton also stayed on guard in the hallway outside the room. The other party members cautiously looked into the room, led by human fighter Vox the Just, who kicked the skeleton bones out of the doorway. The room looked like a carbon copy of Koban Hairfoot’s crypt from the level above, as this room was also octagonal in shape, about 30 feet across from one wall to its opposite wall. But this room did not have painted murals on the walls; instead, it had what looked like burn marks and bloodstains on the walls and the floor. And instead of a glass-encased skeleton of Koban Hairfoot resting on a marble table, there was a black obsidian coffin lying on a dark obsidian table. Embossed into the top of the coffin was a symbol of an unknown deity, as well as the word “Reedus.” The party also noticed there were the bones from five skeletons on the floor, although they could only account for killing four of the foul creatures. They knew that Vandin had killed three of the skeletons, and Douag had put down another. Then Lightstep said, “I think I took out one of those infernal creatures while I was shielding Tureg.”

Falafela wanted to inspect the coffin before anyone tried to open its lid, but as she was only 2’8” tall, she had Opalent lift her up for a closer look-see. Falafela and Opalent inspected the coffin carefully, but could detect no sort of trick or trap. While Vandin then also inspected the coffin for any sort of stonework traps, the party had to light two new torches (Vox and Opalent dug into their torch supplies). That also marked they had been in the dungeon for about four hours. Finally, while holding their breath to see what might leap out of the coffin at them, the party opened the lid. They were relieved to not find a body, or a skeleton, or anything else that might have assaulted them. And while the party did not find the Pendant of Winstone, they did find an old, dusty black cloak that was trimmed in gold. It appeared to have been someone’s burial cloak. It did seem weird that it was dusty, although the rest of the room wasn’t very dusty. Opalent picked up the cloak with her 10’ pole. Opalent then searched two of the walls for any secret passages, but found none.

At this time, Clayton poked his head in the room and announced that he thought Tureg was dead, as Clayton could not detect a pulse. While the party was ready to push on and keep searching for the Pendant of Winstone, they didn’t want to just leave Tureg’s body lying about. Vandin, in particular, didn’t want any rats to eat Tureg! Other party members reminded Vandin that they had not seen any vermin (except the skeletons) in the dungeon, but Vandin was adamant. Clayton said, “We could leave Tureg’s body in this coffin until we come back to retrieve him.” A couple of folks thought that was sort of gruesome, as the coffin looked sort of evil, but Clayton then said, “Well, he’s already dead. It couldn’t hurt him any more.” So, the party lifted Tureg, along with all of his possessions (except his torches which Opalent added to her backpack), and placed him in the coffin, and then closed the lid.

The party then piled the skeleton bones around the walls of the room, and then Lightstep took off his backpack and carefully unwrapped the vial of the clear liquid he had found some time ago. He sprinkled about half of the vial on the bones, while saying a few religious words. He probably had about two fluid ounces of the clear fluid remaining in the vial after that. The party then went to the other door of the room that was down a 35’ hallway from the foot of the coffin. As the hinges were on the inside, Vox tried to pull that door open, but failed. He then whacked at the door once with his sword, but as the door was of solid wood with iron reinforcing bands (as was the other door to the room), he quickly decided that it would indeed be futile to keep striking at the door with his sword. Vox figured he would only lose the edge of his blade if he kept slashing at the door. Vandin then came forward, and even in his weakened condition, he only had to strike the door twice with his hammer before busting it open. The party wasn’t worried about making noise at this point, seeing as they had made a lot of noise while fighting the skeletons.

The party now proceeded in the order: Lightstep in front (with a torch), then Vox and Gwenette (another human fighter) in the 2nd rank, then Falafala and Vandin, then Douag and Opalent, and Clayton brought up the rear with another torch. After passing through the shattered door, they saw they had to go to either the right or the left. They went to the right. After about 30 feet, they saw another iron grating in the floor, much like the floor grating from the level above. Just beyond the grate, the hallway turned right, and they could see it led back to the other door of the room they had just exited. Down that hall towards the other door, the hall also turned off to the left, but they decided not to go that way for now. Instead, they went to the left.

After proceeding just more than 10 feet, the hall turned 90 degrees to the right. (By the way, the party were all still creeped out by the skulls that were embedded into the stonework in the floor, and by the streaks of rust and/or blood all over the walls.) About 10 feet past that right turn was an end wall with a wooden door in it. Lightstep just wanted to quickly open the door to see what was on the other side, but Gwenette held him back. Vox then opened the door, which opened easily. Vox stepped through the door, closely followed by Lightstep and Gwenette. There were only three items to be seen in this 20’ x 30’ room: a 4’ x 6’ wooden table with one chair in the center of the room, an old wooden wardrobe, with its two doors open, in the far right corner of the room, and an old dust-covered bed in the far left corner of the room.

After having only a few seconds to look around the room, suddenly a ghastly figure arose from the dusty bedcovers and attacked! It was clearly undead, and while it was partially a skeleton, it still had some fleshy parts on its body. Unfortunately for Vox, he was the closest to the thing, and Vox was quickly struck twice for a total of 7 hit points of damage. Having only 3 HP left, he fell back somewhat. Gwenette and Lightstep then tried to hit the thing, Gwenette with her short sword, and Lightstep with his hammer, but they could not connect as they were more interested in keeping the thing from hitting them. Gwenette, in particular, had to parry the foul creature’s attacks with her sword as she did not carry a shield.

Suddenly, at the back of the party out in the hall was a commotion. Clayton had forgotten to keep looking back from the way that they had come, as he, like the rest of the party, were trying to see what was transpiring inside the room. Before the rear party members could do anything about it, a skeleton clad in a gold and gem-studded robe and wearing a similar crown, pushed its way past the party members. It was the skeleton of Koban Hairfoot, come back to life! Koban rushed to confront the evil being that was battling with Gwenette and Lightstep, pushing them out of the way. Then Koban and his opponent stood toe-to-toe, raining blows upon each other! Koban was wielding his broken mace, and was inflicting terrible damage to his foe, but could not avoid receiving serious blows in return. Finally, the evil being was vanquished, breaking into several pieces as it hit the floor with a thud. Unfortunately for Koban, though, he too was finished. Koban pivoted, looking at the party with the empty eye sockets of his skull, then fell prostrate upon the stone floor. As he fell, he dropped his broken mace and reached out with his right hand and pointed to the wardrobe in the corner.

After the party paused for a moment to take in what had just transpired, Gwenette and Falafela inspected the wardrobe. They looked inside, but all that there was to see were a few tattered old garments that appeared to have no value. Falafela was wondering if the wardrobe was a teleportation device, and started to climb inside, but just to be on the safe side, she kept one foot outside the wardrobe and had Opalent hold on to her. While this was transpiring, Lightstep sprinkled the last of what he was now convinced was Holy Water on the bones of Koban and Koban’s foe, and when the little bit of water touched the bones of Koban’s opponent, some small wisps of smoke arose from those bones. Clayton was now also watching back down the hallway for anyone/anything else that might approach, and Vox was lying on the floor, feeling as if all of his energy had left him. It was also time to light two new torches, marking five hours of dungeon time for the intrepid party.

Opalent then looked around the wardrobe, and finally when she moved it a few inches away from the wall she found a hidden door behind it! The door was only about 4’ high, but Lightstep cautiously opened the door (after the wardrobe had been moved farther away from the wall) and went through, along with a torch. Douag and Gwenette then followed him in. They saw a sort of U-shaped room, about 20 feet across and 30 feet long. At the “U” end of the room, which was to their left, was a small white marble altar. Atop the altar were two gold candlesticks with unburned white candles in them, along with a gleaming gold chalice, and next to the chalice was a bit of jewelry that looked exactly as the Pendant of Winstone had been described to them when they were all back at Karnack’s castle! It was round, about 4 inches in diameter, with a sort of “tab” protruding off one side, and with a 2” diameter black gem in its center. Around its rim, were gold “bubbles.”

Lightstep approached the altar, lit both candles with his torch, and soon was immersed in prayers. After about 10 minutes of prayer, he then reached up and retrieved the Pendant of Winstone and the gold chalice, and wrapped them in cloth and placed them in his backpack. Gwenette said, “Aren’t you going to take the candlesticks?” Lightstep answered, “No. We will leave them to burn down.”

(to be continued)

Tags:black obsidian coffin, Clayton, Douag, Falafela, gold chalice, Gwenette Deathmar, Karnack's castle, Koban Hairfoot, Lightstep, Opalent, Pendant of Winstone, Reedus, skeletons, Tomb of Koban Hairfoot, Tureg, Vandin Lakesplitter, Vox the Just
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The Tomb of Koban Hairfoot – Part 2

Thursday, April 28th, 2016

Read The Tomb of Koban Hairfoot – Part 1 for a refresher of how the adventurers came to be where they are now.

(This adventure is one of a series of adventures of some folks playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, using the 1st Edition rules.) Play was suspended in this adventure just before Christmas 2015. It has taken about four months before play was resumed. It seems some of the adventurers or else the dungeon master were all variously sick over the winter and early spring. But finally everyone was healthy and available to play again! When play was suspended, the party was in the dungeon beneath the tomb of Koban Hairfoot. They are all searching for the Pendant of Winstone, a powerful, magical artifact that may be able to cure the villagers of Crystal Shores from their turning into zombies. The party has found the Necklace of Harbinge, and have retrieved it from around the neck of the long dead cleric, Koban Hairfoot. The party had found an underground library just as play was suspended last. Now, to continue….

Day #2-29 (Fireday, 9th Dewsnap, 4333 BCCC): The party spent some time searching the books in the library, more than an hour, in fact. They had Tureg, Douag, Opalent, Lightstep, Gwenette, and Falafela searching through the many books on the shelves, with Vandin holding a torch in the center of the room so folks would have some light. Vox was standing guard in the hallway outside the library with another torch, and Clayton was staying out of everyone’s way. The dwarves Douag and Tureg and the halfling Lightstep, due to their shortness in height, had to limit themselves to searching through books on the lower shelves or to books and papers that were on the floor, but the halfling Falafela stood on one of the two chairs in the room so she could reach higher shelves. The party had to be careful handling most of the books, as most of the books were quite ancient and fragile.

After about 50 minutes of searching, just after two new torches were lit to replace the others that were about to expire, Opalent chanced to find a rolled up scroll behind a couple of books she had just pulled off the shelf. Opalent gave an exclamation of joy and interest, and showed the others what she had found, as when unrolled the scroll seemed to have something to do with the Pendant of Winstone. The scroll had a drawing of what the Pendant had been described as looking like by Karnack when they were all at Karnack’s castle; however, nobody could read the language that was written on the scroll. Opalent carefully rolled up the scroll again and placed it in her backpack for safekeeping. Then the party continued searching. Clayton remarked that it would be quite useful if someday all of the books in this library could be conveyed to Karnack’s castle, although this was not the expedition to accomplish that at this time. After another 20 minutes of searching, Lightstep found an interesting book. It seemed to be a manual containing a workout regimen that could be followed to increase an individual’s strength, agility, and endurance. Although nobody could read the language the workout book was written in, there were plenty of illustrations that made it clear what it was about. Lightstep stashed that book in his backpack. At that, the party felt they had found all that they could for now, and decided to move on with their exploration of the dungeon. Their marching order was Tureg and Vandin in the front row, followed by Falafela and Lightstep, then Gwenette and Opalent, Clayton and Douag, and then Vox brought up the rear. Vandin and Vox each had a torch.

The party then retraced their steps. They took the hallway going left from the library for about 30 feet, turned left, went another 80 to 90 feet, turned right, then went straight for another 70 to 80 feet, passing one of the entrances to Koban Hairfoot’s actual tomb. When they got to the end of this passage, they would have to go either to their right or to their left. They had already come from the left, so they decided to go to the right. They also noticed that at the intersection of the hallways there was an iron grate in the floor. The iron grate seemed to be set solidly into the floor stones, so did not seem like a passage to a different level. They found a small rock to drop through the grate, but they could not hear it hit bottom. They decided to bypass the grate for now and continue on their way.

Upon starting down the right-hand passage, it only went a little more than 10 feet before it branched to the right and left. The party took the passage to the right. After a little more than 50 feet, the hallway turned left, then after 20 feet it opened into a circular chamber that was about 60 feet in diameter. Religious frescoes (somewhat faded) were painted on the walls, and there were a number of shelves that held humanoid skulls upon them. There was also what looked like a marble altar on the far side of the room. What alarmed the party, though, were six skeletal monks wearing tattered brown robes that were standing on guard holding ceremonial scythes, three on each side of the room. The party watched the skeletons carefully to see if they would attack, but they appeared quite lifeless. Finally, Falafela borrowed Vandin’s torch and approached the altar to search for traps. The other members of the party spread out to guard the skeletons in case they were to come to life and try to attack Falafela or anyone else.

After several minutes of examination at the altar, Falafela was satisfied that there were no traps around the altar. In particular, she had been looking for a trap door under the altar. Also, when she got close to the altar, she could see it was made of polished obsidian instead of marble. It had a smooth slab top, with two solid legs, one on each side. Douag then suggested that someone should lie down on the altar to see what happened, and Tureg said to Douag, “You go first, buddy!” Falafela then returned to the party and stated, “I was really scared!” Although some party members were suggesting the party should attack the skeletons before they came to life, Falafela said that the party should instead treat the dead clerics with respect. As the rest of the party had barely ventured into the chamber, Vox asked, “Should we all enter the room and check it out?” Douag said to check out the skeletal monks to see if they had anything of value.

Vandin retrieved his torch from Falafela, and he and Falafela and Opalent then approached the altar. The other six party members each watched one of the six skeletal monks. Opalent retrieved the scroll that described the Pendant of Winstone from her backpack and placed it on the altar, but nothing happened. Then Lightstep approached the altar and took the Necklace of Harbinge from around his neck and placed it on the altar. Similarly to the scroll, nothing happened. Lightstep and Opalent then took back the scroll and necklace and secured them among their possessions once again. Vandin then examined the altar, looking for any irregularities in the stone floor around the altar, but he could detect nothing out of the ordinary.

Opalent then suggested tapping the skeletons with her 10-foot pole, but Vandin suggested smashing the altar instead, and then a general argument ensued. Finally Lightstep cooled everyone down, and suggested leaving the chamber and continuing their explorations. Before leaving, though, Lightstep said some respectful words to the long-dead skeletal clerics. “Rest well, noble warriors, may you continue your eternal vigil forevermore.” The group resumed their marching order of Tureg and Vandin, Falafela and Lightstep, Gwenette and Opalent, Clayton and Douag, and Vox. Vandin and Vox still carried the torches.

The party then returned to the three-way hallway junction near the floor grate, but this time they took the other passage they had not yet explored. After taking that passage, it immediately turned right, went about 50 feet, then turned left. Another 15 feet, and it seemed to veer to the right and left. The party could hear water running, sort of like a running stream of water over rocks. Vandin searched the entrance to this new junction for floor traps, finding none, and then they all took the left-side hallway. They could see a small waterfall of sorts. There was a 6-foot wide recess in the central wall on their right, and water was coming out of a narrow slit in the 10-foot high ceiling. The water then trickled down cobblestones on the vertical wall surface, collecting in a small pool at the bottom. There must have been small drain for the water at the bottom, as it did not overflow the pool. The party also noticed several tubular iron bars across the top of the pool. At about this time the party had to light two more new torches, marking that they had been in the dungeon around three hours so far.

While Opalent was searching around the pool of water in the floor for secret passages, other party members discovered that they were in a sort of octagonal chamber that was about 40 by 50 feet, except the center of the room had a large column that effectively reduced the room to a circular hallway. They could walk around the central wall with the waterfall and return to the room’s entrance. Opalent didn’t find any secret doors, and then Vandin also failed at detecting any sliding stonework doors. By now, they had been in the dungeon about three and a half hours. The party were getting ready to leave this area when Opalent decided to check one more time for any secret doors. She tried pressing on rocks under the waterfall as high as she could reach (which was close to 8 feet high as she is 6’1” tall), when all of a sudden a rock she was pushing on depressed with an audible click. Then Vandin helped Opalent push against the wall, and a secret door was revealed! Vandin held his shield over his head to protect his torch from the waterfall, and he exclaimed, “There are stairs leading down!”

The party descended the stairs in their accustomed marching order. At the bottom of the stairs, the hallway turned 90 degrees to the left. When everyone made it to the bottom, they all felt creeped out. While the stonework of the walls was of much the same construction as the upper level, these walls (and the floor) were covered with numerous streaks of iron rust and what looked to be dried blood. In addition, there were many humanoid skulls inset with the floor stones! It was also eerily quiet, with no dust or cobwebs. Everyone could feel the hair stand up on the backs of their necks. Lightstep asked, quietly, “Does anyone else feel a chill run down their spine?” Tureg answered, “Yes!”

The party started down a long, straight hallway. After about 40 yards, the hallway turned 90 degrees to the right. It then went straight for another 30 yards, although there was a side hallway to the right about 30 feet down the hall. They could see that this side hall led into a chamber, and that the former door to that chamber had been charred to cinders. Looking into the room, it was about 20 feet deep and 30 feet wide, with three charred skeletons on the floor. One of the skeletons was pointing to a charred, broken podium that was lying on its side. There was also a broken Circle of Protection on the floor, as well as a burned book. The book appeared like the fire had started inside it and burned its way out through the cover.

Falafela carefully examined the broken Circle of Protection, and then the charred podium, but found nothing of interest. Opalent wanted to examine the burned book, but Lightstep tried to talk her out of that action. Douag said that Opalent should examine the book, but when all was said and done, Opalent decided to leave the book alone. They all then left the room and continued on down the dark hallway. They turned the 90-degree corner to their right, went another 30 feet, then the hallway widened to 20 feet wide for 30 feet. There was also a recessed door on their left. Vandin checked that door, and was able to open it with several pushes of his shoulder….

This is where play had to be suspended. What lies behind the door? What other surprises lie in wait for our intrepid party of adventurers? Stay tuned for future adventure postings!

(to be continued)

Tags:burned book, Circle of Protection, Clayton, Crystal Shores, Douag, Falafela, Gwenette Deathmar, Karnack, Karnack's castle, Koban Hairfoot, Lightstep, Necklace of Harbinge, obsidian altar, Opalent, Pendant of Winstone, skeletons, Tomb of Koban Hairfoot, Tureg, Vandin Lakesplitter, Vox the Just
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The Tomb of Koban Hairfoot: Part 1

Sunday, January 17th, 2016

DM note: This is a longer post than usual, as it gets back into what Dungeons & Dragons players and characters live for, a “Dungeon Crawl” where the characters go down into an underground labyrinth in search of treasure.

Day #2-29 (Fireday, 9th Dewsnap, 4333 BCCC): The party awoke the next morning in Karnack’s castle and found the weather had cleared with bright blue skies and with only a few scattered clouds; however, after their heavy drinking of the previous evening, Vandin had a minor hangover and Douag was nursing a major hangover. Fortunately for him, Vox had no after-effects of his drinking. By around 8:00 am, they were all at breakfast, eating hotcakes with syrup, and sausage links. Falafela mentioned how she really enjoyed the hot breakfasts, as she was getting really tired of eating hardtack along the trail. Around 9:00 am they were all summoned to see Karnack in his tower. When all of the party (including Douag) were assembled, Karnack addressed them. “The past day and a half, my scribes and I have been very busy indeed. We have scoured through all of my books and tomes, and I believe we have found something that may aid you in your quest.”

Karnack continued, “Decades, if not a century or more ago, the cleric Koban Hairfoot was a great and powerful healer in the region. He grew up from humble beginnings to become an ardent warrior of his holy faith. Koban survived many adventures with several groups of adventurers and his fame and fortune grew, as did his skill in the clerical arts. Koban specialized in the creation of healing mixtures and made a habit of curing plague victims, as his own parents succumbed to disease when he was very young. Many villagers owed their lives to Koban’s tireless pursuit to finding healing methods to diseases that afflicted the land. Koban’s quest to cure disease finally led him to his demise in a remote part of the Anshar Forest. There, among his comrades, Koban fell at an old dungeon complex. Out of respect the local gentry helped build his crypt to honor his memory. In the years that have passed, most folks of the region have forgotten the location of the crypt.”

“It is known that Koban found the Necklace of Harbinge, indeed, he was reportedly buried with it. That necklace is a gold, crescent shaped device with opals and turquoises, on a gold chain. It can be used with a gold chalice of high value to create a potion that can cure many diseases. But, Koban was looking for another, even more powerful artifact, the Pendant of Winstone. The pendant is gold, mostly round with a sort of handle on one side, and a large jet-black jewel in its center. Reputedly, the pendant must also be used with a gold chalice of high value.”

“Bring ye back those artifacts, and we may be able to devise a cure for the villagers of Crystal Shores!”

“I will send 5 of my cavalry with you as an escort. Two of them will carry crossbows. They will escort you as far as the entrance to the forest. I will also send my ranger, Clayton, to guide you through the forest to the tomb.” Karnack motioned to a tall woodsy looking fellow wearing brown with a deep green cloak who was standing behind him. “He has visited the site of Koban’s crypt in the past, although not for a few years. And, to save you all walking, I will send two wagons with teamsters to drive them. They will take you to the entrance to the forest, but cannot go farther because the trail into the woods is only wide enough for foot travel. They will also take a few woodcutters with them and will return to the castle with loads of wood. They will return to the same location the following morning, along with the cavalry, and can provide transportation back to the castle.”

Before the party left Karnack’s presence, Opalent presented him with a gold ring (with one of the small opals from Bella Dora) that Opalent made in the craft shop. Karnack thanked her for the gift.

It was finally around 10:00 am when the party had checked their gear and were all set to go. Between them, they had 25 person-days worth of rations (mostly hardtack and jerky, with a bit of dried fruit) and a whopping 31 torches. They loaded into the wagons and were on their way. The teamsters drove their teams west along the cart trail that followed the south shore of Bridgefield Creek. Around three miles from the castle, the cart path crossed over to the north (left) bank across a small wooden bridge. It should be noted that the creek averaged about three feet deep, with a few shallower places and a few places where the depth reached as much as 6 to 10 feet. The creek flowed towards the east, towards the village of Bridgefields. The party tried to glean any information they could from the teamsters and woodcutters, but they didn’t know much about the interior of the Anshar Forest. They said they only went as far into the forest as they needed in order to haul out enough timber to load their wagons. The cavalry escort, for the most part, were too far away to speak with, as they were scouting ahead and on the flanks of the wagons.

After about a 45-minute wagon ride, during which Vandin had napped almost the entire way and Douag was moaning with his hangover every time his wagon hit a bump (the wagons were basically buckboards with sides, but without any sort of springs). When the party dismounted at the entrance to the forest, the guards repeated that they would be back with the wagons the following morning. Then Clayton spoke to the group. “We will start out walking on a good trail. It will wind around a bit, and after a few miles it will reach the shore of the Bridgefield Creek. We will then follow the north bank of that stream to the west for another three miles or so. That second three miles will be much harder hiking as there isn’t any permanent trail to follow. Make sure you keep close together, and make a minimum of noise. We will take a lunch break when we reach the creek.”

By 11:00 am the party entered the forest. The trail started mostly south, but once made a sharp turn to the right to loop around an obstruction and seemed to be heading back north for a quarter-mile or so, then made another left turn to head back to the southwest. Falafela was especially keeping track of the windings of the trail, and periodically looked back to see what the trail looked like heading the other direction. When the party had penetrated about a mile into the woods, a large pack of birds (they looked like finches) took noisy flight. Clayton wasn’t sure if the party had spooked them, or if something else was the cause. He halted the party, motioned for silence, and directed them to rest to the side, just off the trail. He then went and scouted ahead, alone. After about 5 minutes he came back and said, “I believe it was us who startled the birds. The only thing I worry about is that it of course could have alerted others to our presence.”

After about two miles into the forest, where the trail turned from mostly southwest to mostly south, the party could hear what sounded like a horn trumpeting far to the south of them. Could it have been a bugle? An animal sound? Clayton mentioned that sometimes the deep woods played tricks with sound, and not to worry about the sound. This part of the woods was very dense, and it was difficult to see the sky at all. Also, it was rather dark as no sunlight could penetrate through the canopy of leaves above. Although it was still mid-spring, the southerly clime meant the trees filled out with leaves early, and there were a number of evergreen coniferous trees about. If one left the trail, there was a surprising amount of undergrowth, in spite of the low light conditions. Although it had rained steadily two days ago, the ground was barely damp.

Finally, after three miles and about one and a half hours of walking, the party reached the creek. Clayton encouraged everyone to remove their backpacks, rest, and drink as much water as they could, then to refill their water skins. He also mentioned that they would be near the stream all the rest of the way to the tomb, so water should not be a problem. The party also ate, and rested for a full 30 minutes. Then, they hoisted their backpacks once again, and proceeded on their way. At the rest stop, Falafela made sure to mark the trail they would need to use to return the way they had come. It was also noted that the trail crossed the creek at their resting place, and the creek was quite fordable at that place as it was only one foot deep. The water was clear and cold, and quite refreshing to drink.

It took another three hours to cover the three miles or so to the edge of the clearing where the tomb of Koban Hairfoot was located. It was now mid-afternoon, probably around 4:00 pm. The clearing was about 300 yards in diameter, with the creek along the south part of the clearing. The crypt itself was north of the creek, and just about in the center of the clearing. There were a couple of low, gentle rolling hills in the clearing, and on the far side of the clearing was a granite cliff about 50 feet high, with the creek tumbling down the cliff in a waterfall, then into a wider area to make a pond about 50 yards south of the crypt.

Clayton cautioned everyone to silence, and to stay out of sight of the clearing. He said, “This is strange, there is a herd of goats here, maybe 50 or a hundred of them. They were not here when I reconnoitered this area a few years ago. You all stay back in the woods while I do some scouting. Clayton was about to walk to the north through the woods, but Falafela joined him. The duo worked their way to the north of the crypt while staying under cover of the woods, noting that the wind was out of the south so that they were downwind of anybody or anything in the clearing, and that being downwind they shouldn’t spook the goats. That’s when they saw the cyclops! He was fully 20 feet tall, carrying a massive club that looked like a small tree trunk (it was probably 8 feet long). The only garment the cyclops was wearing was a fur loincloth. The duo waited a few minutes, didn’t see any other creatures other than the cyclops and his goats, then silently made their way back to the others of the party.

“Well, we have a quandary on our hands!” related Clayton. There is a 20-foot tall cyclops in the field on the other side of the crypt!” That sparked a bit of a discussion, so much so that Clayton wanted everyone to move farther back into the forest so they wouldn’t attract any unwanted attention from the cyclops. Gwenette stayed at the forest’s edge and kept an eye on the clearing in case anything came their way. The party discussed various methods to deal with the cyclops, including using Clayton’s and Vox’s bows to shoot it with arrows, at which time Vox mentioned that he had never even shot his bow at anything! Clayton remarked that he wished he would have had time to take Vox target shooting and then hunting. Clayton also reminded the party that a cyclops could usually throw a 40-pound rock quite a ways, perhaps as far as 50 yards! One good thing, Clayton noted, was that such creatures usually lived solitary lives so there probably wouldn’t be any other creatures to have to deal with. Vandin took the opportunity of the discussion to take another nap. By now, the long hike and the element of nearby danger had cleared Douag’s head and he took an active part in the discussion.

One of the options discussed were to go and try to steal a couple of goats to get the cyclops to chase, but that idea was shot down with a reminder of the cyclops’ rock-throwing prowess. Finally, it was thought a diversionary fire might draw the cyclops off in the opposite direction, but who would set the fire(s)? Flenda and Jorgio then volunteered for that hazardous duty. Everyone else figured that maybe Flenda and Jorgio would want to do that so they could be alone, as everyone had noticed how the two had been spending as much time as possible in the near company of the other. Flenda had even insisted on walking closest to Jorgio during the hike into the woods.

Between the two of them, Flenda and Jorgio possessed eight torches and enough food for a day or so. Flenda also mentioned they could probably catch a squirrel or a rabbit (or even a goat, chimed in Jorgio) to supplement their rations. They did not own a tinderbox, though, and to avoid them having to search for some flint (of which there was good chance to find some atop the granite cliff, although there was a chance of being spotted by the cyclops before they got a fire going), Vox loaned them his tinderbox. So off they went, as it was now around 4:30 pm, meaning there was less than two hours of daylight left. Clayton reminded everyone that it would be a moonless night, with only starlight to provide natural illumination. And while the dwarves, elves, and halflings all had infravision, it was of limited range meaning a cyclops could be almost upon them before they would sense his heat signature in the dark! At this point all of the party members made sure their water skins were full from the creek.

It took Flenda and Jorgio about 45 minutes to work their way around the south edge of the clearing. They first had to cross the stream, and then they went a hundred or so yards into the woods to make less of a chance of their scent being carried to the goats. They eventually made their way to the top of the cliff to the west of the clearing and saw that the cyclops was seated on a rock, watching his flock, looking quite contented. They then spent about 15 minutes gathering as much brush as they could, and getting it close to the edge of the cliff. Then, about an hour before sunset, they started a small fire back from the cliff with their torch, and then carried that fire on two sticks to the brush they had gathered. Within a few minutes, the bright yellow flames of the brush were standing out against the dark background of the forest on top of the cliff. At first, the cyclops just gazed with his mono-vision at the flames, but when the human duo of Flenda and Jorgio began to jump up and down, yelling and swinging their arms to attract attention, the monster stood up, and then began to walk in the direction of the cliff.

Flenda and Jorgio knew the cyclops probably wouldn’t directly climb the cliff, but would go to either side of the cliff to gain altitude. When he went to the north side of the cliff, the human pair swiftly ran to the south, going deeper into the woods. Flenda told Jorgio, “That cyclops will have to crawl to move quickly through the woods, otherwise his head will be up in the branches!” But Jorgio answered, “But what if the cyclops just breaks off the treetops and throws them at us…?”

When the rest of the party noticed the cyclops heading toward the cliff, they moved fast. They quickly crossed the 150 yards of open ground to the crypt, trying at all times to keep the crypt between them and the cyclops so that if the cyclops would turn around, he wouldn’t see them. The crypt itself was made of rough-hewn gray granite blocks, fitted together. The building was about 110 feet wide across its entrance, and a bit longer than that in its depth. At its tallest point, a granite domed roof, it was 25 feet high. At its front, facing the pond in the creek to the south, were several wide granite steps leading up to its entrance. The entrance had two black wooden doors, reinforced with iron bands, each door measuring 8 feet tall and four feet wide, making an 8 foot by 8 foot aperture. The doors had evidently been barred and locked from the outside, but they had been forced open from the outside previous to the adventurers’ arrival. The party was slightly out of breath when they reached the crypt, and then one by one they turned the corner of the building and crept into the dim entrance, watching to ensure the cyclops did not see them.

Once they were all within, Gwenette stood watch in the shadow inside the doors, watching to see if the cyclops was headed back their way. Inside the tomb, they noticed a strong body odor, most likely from the cyclops’ bedding. In the southeast corner inside the crypt was much debris, mostly old rags and some dirt and branches. There were also a number of animal (and possibly humanoid?) bones littering the interior, and some animal flesh, apparently the remains of a recent dinner. “At least the cyclops didn’t ‘do his business’ inside the place where he slept!” said one of the party, possibly Tureg. Besides the debris, the floor was made of white marble with gold veins in it. There were four rough granite pillars holding up the ceiling, and in the northwest and northeast corners of the interior were two circular staircases that went up about 15 feet to an observation deck across the back of the interior. But the main feature of the interior, in the middle of the floor, was a carved marble crypt that resembled a sleeping person on a padded bed, and the bed was suspended on the wings of eagles on all four sides. Around that feature was a red pentagram inlaid into the floor. And, at either side of the pseudo-coffin were two white marble angels, one on each side of the coffin. The angels faced the entrance door, and were in a battle-ready crouch, each holding a marble sword in its hand.

Although it was a little dark inside the building, there was enough of the setting sun to the southwest to illuminate the inside enough for the party to see these features. Quickly the party examined every part of the inside. The marble coffin seemed to be of a single piece of marble, and nobody was able to open it in any manner. Lightstep sensed an aura of some sort emanating from the coffin. Finally, Opalent noticed that one of the angels could be rotated. Then Lightstep verified that the other angel’s arm could move. Opalent turned the angel to the right of the crypt to have it face the marble coffin, then raised its arm. Lightstep then raised the arm of the angel to the left, then rotated it to face the coffin. After that, a loud “click” was heard, like that of a latch being released. Vandin and others were then able to raise the lid.

Some of the characters, particularly Vandin, were ready to grab for the Pendant of Winstone and be on their way, but lo! There was no body inside. Instead, what was presented to the party was a solid white mass of cobwebs! Vandin borrowed Opalent’s 10-foot pole and whisked away the cobwebs as quickly as he could. Then they all saw stairs leading down into a black void. Lightstep and Opalent lit torches, and then Vandin and Lightstep led the way, single file, down the stairs. While this was going on, the ranger Clayton was reminding others that Koban had found a dungeon below ground at this feature, and he was believed to have been buried in the lower reaches of that dungeon. Finally, when all the others had made it down, Gwenette brought up the rear.

The party speculated about what the cyclops would do when he returned and saw the lid to the marble coffin open. They also saw a large lever protruding from the floor at the bottom of the stairs. They quickly surmised that the lever would close the lid, but not wanting to chance possibly locking themselves in, possibly for all of eternity, Opalent used her dagger to wedge the lid so it would not close all of the way while Vandin and Douag worked the lever to close the lid. The party then proceeded down the hallway from the stairs. Inside the hallway, the walls were also of rough-hewn granite, about 10 feet wide with a 10-foot tall ceiling. At random places on the walls were iron sconces, sans torches. The iron of the sconces had surface rust, but were not rusted too badly seeing as they had been installed at least 100 years before. There was not much evidence of moisture.

The party only went about 40 feet when the corridor turned 90 degrees to the left, then back to the right. Although, if they were to have gone straight after the left, they could see 20 feet in front of them what looked like a solid wall of cobwebs. Lightstep used his torch to burn away the webs, and inside they found a circular chamber of 30 feet diameter. They noted that the dust on the floor had not been disturbed, and around the walls, frescoes had been painted many years ago, portraying ordinary life around the area, probably from 100 years or so ago. Some of the areas of the frescoes had peeled off. Douag and Opalent checked for stonework traps and for secret doors, respectively, but detected nothing. The party then went back to the hallway and took the other passage that was formerly to their right, although now it was to their left.

After heading in their new direction for 20 (human-sized) paces or so, the hallway once again branched. Ninety-degrees to the left was another hallway, while if they went straight ahead they could see a right corridor about at the extremity of the light from their torch. They decided to take the left passageway. About 25 paces down that passage was an anomaly in the floor. Right in the middle of the hallway, one of the paving blocks was raised about 3 inches above the normal floor height. Nobody wanted to walk on that stone, lest it prove to be a trap. The party members checked for stonework traps; none were detected. But not wanting to tempt the fates, all party members stepped around the raised block.

About 50 feet past the raised block, there was a side corridor to the right. That side corridor went about 30 feet, turned right, and then had a wooden door another 10 feet down the hall. The other corridor, in the direction the party had been heading, turned left, then back to the right after 20 feet, then went straight as far as they could see with their torchlight. So, the party decided to investigate the right hallway.

When the party came to the door, Vandin tested it, found it unlocked, and pushed it open. It opened surprisingly easy, in spite of no hinge lubrication for decades. Inside was a room about 40 feet long and 30 feet wide. Along the far wall were wooden racks full of wooden weapons, apparently once used for training purposes. Along the long wall to the right, many bones were fastened upon the wall, and in the center of the wall was a large skeleton, apparently of an ogre. The ogre skeleton was fastened to the wall intact, and there appeared to be writing on the wall around the skeleton. Although none could read the words that were written, they did point to various parts of the ogre’s bones, like they were part of training regimen, instructing trainees as to the best places to strike an ogre. Opalent moved in for a closer look at the writing, but as she quickly approached the skeleton, its skull suddenly dropped from its upright position so that its jaw rested on its sternum! This caused a moment’s consternation until Opalent figured it must have just been the air she moved that had caused the movement of the skull. The party did a thorough look-around of the “training room,” then departed.

After leaving the training room, the party resumed their original direction of travel, away from the raised stone in the hallway floor. The party’s marching order at this time was Vandin & Vox in the front, followed by Gwenette and Lightstep, then Falafela and Opalent, then Clayton and Tureg, and Douag was the rear-guard. Lightstep and Opalent were carrying lit torches. After several left-right 90-degree bends in the corridor, they came to a dead end at a wooden door. With a little bit of effort, Vox was able to push the door open. Inside the door was a room about 30 feet long and 20 feet wide, and it looked to have once been an armory. There were overturned empty weapon racks, with some old, rusted, broken weapons strewn about (such as broken sword blades and broken spear shafts), and a large wooden chest against the wall in the back of the room. As the party moved into the room, they noticed two full skeletons on the floor, mixed in with the debris. Vandin wasn’t taking any chances with the skeletons — he immediately set upon the skeletons and crushed their skulls with his hammer. Lightstep then prayed for the souls of the departed, whomever those skeletons may have been in their previous lives.

Falafela then went to the large wooden chest and checked it for traps, but didn’t find any. Not taking any chances, though, Vox then borrowed Opalent’s 10-foot pole and used it to open the lid of the unlocked chest. A quick observation showed the interior of the chest was empty. Vox and Lightstep then made a closer examination of the chest, and determined it had no false bottom or other secret storage areas. Vandin then kicked the chest in disgust. Opalent then examined the floor under the skeletons and the right side wall for secret passages, but found none. By this time the party’s two lit torches were about half-burned, meaning they had been in the dungeon about 30 minutes.

The party then retraced their steps, using the same marching order as above, until they once again came to the raised stone in the floor. Vox really, really wanted to step on that raised block to see what would happen, but several party members vociferously talked him out of that action. Vandin did a close examination for any stonework traps, and being satisfied that there were no traps, the party pushed on, once again carefully avoiding stepping on that raised stone.

About 10 (human-sized) paces past the raised block, the party re-entered the passageway to the surface. But instead of heading right towards the surface, they instead took the left passage, towards the unknown. About 30 feet or so, the hallway branched to the right, and they took that passage. After another 50 feet, the hallway split to the left and to the right. After 10 feet in either direction, there were closed wooden doors. Falafela was brought forward to check the door on the left, but didn’t find any traps. Vandin tried to open the door, but it was stuck, so he applied his hammer to it, and the door popped open. Someone towards the rear of the party commented, “If there is anyone or anything else around, they now definitely know we’re here!” Inside the room were several broken bunk beds, and some broken clay pots. The party did not spend much time in this room. The torches were about 2/3 burned by now, so the party had been in the dungeon about 40 minutes.

Falafela then returned to the hallway and went to the door on the right. She once again searched for any traps, and once again found none. Vox tried to open the door, but it was stuck. He put his shoulder to it, but still could not budge it. Vandin then brought forth his hammer and smashed the door open. (After all, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like it should be smashed with your hammer, n’est-pas?) Inside the room, the party saw more broken bunk beds on their sides, but also piles of loose bones. Some of the bones were wrapped in cloth, and the tattered cloth appeared to have been sliced by edged weapons. One of the piles of bones had an old rusted broken sword blade embedded in it. It did appear that a battle had taken place in this room, many years, perhaps even a century, ago. When the party looked closer at the bones, they found four humanoid skulls. Douag speculated that this room must have been a barracks or a guardroom, and it looked like the guards and been attacked and slain. There were also four intact, closed footlockers present.

The party then determined what was in the four footlockers. Vox checked the first one — it was empty. Falafela next checked one, and it was also empty. Opalent checked the third, although she was warned not to lest she trigger a trap, but it was merely an empty footlocker. Falafela then checked the last footlocker, and it, like the others, was devoid of contents. Lightstep said, “It looks like someone else has already cleaned out this place.” It should be noted that while in the room, Vandin did not feel compelled to smash any of the skulls.

So they all went back to the main passage, Vandin and Vox once again in the lead, and turned right to continue in their original direction. After 30 feet, the corridor turned 90 degrees to the left. After another 60 feet, the corridor branched to the right, and five feet into that branch was a closed wooden door. The party also noticed that if they would have gone straight, there appeared to be another passage diverging to the right not too far down the hall. But since the party was trying to be systematic about their explorations, they decided they must first see what there was to see behind this door. Of course Falafela did the obligatory search for traps, and when none were found, Vandin took his turn at trying the door. He was able to open it by degrees by putting his shoulder to it, but it squeaked and squawked ferociously all the while he was forcing it open.

Inside the door, the party proceeded about 30 feet when the hall widened into an octagonal chamber that was about 30 feet across from one parallel wall to its opposite wall. In the center of the room appeared the final resting place of Koban Hairfoot. Upon a marble table with the words “Koban Hairfoot” etched in its sides was a glass coffin, or at least a glass covering over the bones of Koban Hairfoot. Surprisingly, there was not too much dust on the top of the glass. Koban himself, or at least his skeleton, as all that was left of him was bones, was wearing a crown and a gold and jewel encrusted surcoat. Next to his body was his silver holy symbol, and a broken footman’s mace. It was at this time that the two torches were nearly burned to extinguishment, so the party lit two new torches (supplied by Vox and Gwenette). This marked about 60 minutes they had been below-ground.

When the new torches had been lit, the party noticed the murals in five of the angular walls of the chamber. From left to right, the murals depicted these scenes: 1) a young cleric watching what looked like cultists killing a family, perhaps the cleric’s family; 2) a cleric (presumably the same cleric) with an adventuring party; 3) that same cleric and his party posing with a slain green dragon; 4) the cleric healing peasants; and 5) that same cleric meeting his demise from electrical lightning bolts. Then four of the party, Vox, Clayton, Gwenette, and Opalent, lifted the glass covering off of Koban’s tomb and gently set it upon the floor. The party then examined Koban more closely, and inside his surcoat they found what looked like the Necklace of Harbinge, one of the artifacts that Karnack had mentioned had been buried with Koban. It was in the shape of a crescent moon, with a number of small opals and turquoises embedded in it, and was attached to a golden chain. Lightstep took the Necklace and placed it around his own neck for safekeeping. No other possessions of Koban were disturbed, and then Lightstep prayed most reverently over Koban for several minutes. When Lightstep had finished, he directed the party to replace the glass lid.

While all of the above was taking place, Tureg was watching their back-trail down the corridor. And Douag said he recognized the murals as being the story of Koban’s life. And since there was a door on the left side of Koban’s burial chamber (relative to the other door from which they had entered), Vox tried the door. As the hinges were on his side of the door, Vox pulled the door towards him. The door squeaked only a little, and opened with relatively little effort. Outside the door, which was set back about five feet from the main hallway, were passages going to the left and to the right, although the right passage turned to its left after a short distance. The party reckoned that the left passage led back to the hallway outside the other door to Koban’s chamber, so they proceeded to the right. At about this time Opalent made the observation that “Vox is learning to pray!” Lightstep answered with “Praying for wealth is not praying!” Vox then said, “I just want to find the Pendant and get out of this place!”

After the initial left turn of the hallway just after they left Koban’s chamber, the hall went straight for 90 or a hundred feet, then turned right. After another 30 feet, the hallway dead-ended, although there was a door on the right-side wall at the dead-end. Naturally, Falafela checked for hidden traps, and finding none moved back so Vandin could open the door. He had to put his shoulder into it, but with a moderate amount of squeaking the door opened. After a short passage inside the door was a sort of diamond shaped room, roughly 20 feet deep and 30 feet wide. It was quite apparently a library, as bookshelves lined all the walls inside the room, and the shelves were filled with old books. In the center of the room was a 4-foot square wooden table with two chairs. There were also some books and loose papers scattered about on the floor.

While Vox stood guard in the hallway outside the room, Opalent speculated that there might be a book here that could explain how to use the Necklace of Harbinge or the Pendant of Winstone! Lightstep cast a Detect Magic spell, but detected no magical auras. Opalent wanted to check the bookcases for secret passages that might lie behind them. And Vox leaned into the room and offered the suggestion to check the books and papers on the floor.

(to be continued)

— The Dungeon Master

DM note: What lies ahead for our intrepid party? Will they find the Pendant of Winstone? Will they all return to the surface alive? Check back in the future for more adventures!

Read The Tomb of Koban Hairfoot – Part 2

Tags:Anshar Forest, Bella Dora, Bridgefield Creek, Bridgefields, Clayton, Crystal Shores, cyclops, Douag, Falafela, Flenda Deathmar, Gwenette Deathmar, Jorgio, Karnack, Karnack's castle, Koban Hairfoot, Lightstep, Necklace of Harbinge, ogre skeleton, Opalent, Pendant of Winstone, skeletons, Tomb of Koban Hairfoot, Tureg, Vandin Lakesplitter, Vox the Just
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Posts Tagged ‘Tomb of Koban Hairfoot’

Curing Zombies at Crystal Shores

Back at Karnack’s Castle

The Tomb of Koban Hairfoot – Part 3

The Tomb of Koban Hairfoot – Part 2

The Tomb of Koban Hairfoot: Part 1

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