More Knavery to catch up on! This will be brief and mostly focusing in on the highlights of the most recent adventuring shenanigans, loosely dubbed the Runic Arc.
Session 9
Dramatis Personae:
Alma Tumbler (level 5) Aspirant Ranger, purple feather mutation, Wielder of Eventide, Hierophant, and the Lightning Bow, Chronicler and Sole Survivor of the first session
Olga Derippe (level 4) Body builder, Hammer Enthusiast, Haunted by a Revenant, Death Defier, Hoardmaster, Aspiring Gym Owner
Stratford Slee (level 4) Member of the Hunter's Pact, Arguably Australian, no longer stuck at 6 HP, ex-pirate
Piety Portendorfer (level 3) Gourmand, Survivor of a Death Curse, Notoriously not Pious, Aspiring Author
Hirelings: Penollyn the Archer, Lil' Ten Piece the Lantern Boy
The gang makes a loose appointment to speak with Cormac in the morning before finding where Piety ran off to (drunk, swallowing frogs in a competition with a muddy drunkard in the streets) and then crashed for the night with the rest of the town in the longhouse.
In the morning, Piety discovers she has a flyer for the town's local Crab Shack Combinator (entirely forgotten shortly later) and the everyone else decides to split up and do some shopping before meeting with Cormac. Alma and Piety get some armor made for Yellow Beedums the horse and Belle, the Pegasus. Piety then spends the rest of the morning working with a local pegasus rider and getting the hang of riding Belle.
Stratford, Olga, and Alma wander around in the meantime exploring the leatherworking industry and trying to find a boat to get back down the river to Yonwell. They find a merchant who offers them passage for a fee, and also offers a treasure map for a hefty 200 gold. The party, desperately strapped for cash as always begins bickering over who pays what percentages and whether or not Piety- being not present- should pay a fee. Ultimately, the three of them foot the bill and purchase the map, which points to the giant glowing moa head in the mountains far to the south, as well as outlines the solution to a puzzle to enter the head itself.
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| Midjourney |
Gathering back together once more, the party meets with Cormac to begin the lore dump that Alma has been desperately craving for the last year. To summarize:
- The Rangers Guild, of which Cormac was once grandmaster, supported Duke Konrad of Honorwatch, and in their time Honorwatch was a just and noble domain that protected the lands to the south from the various monsters and beasts that roamed out from Starmoore and the surrounding mountains.
- Cormac doesn't know what caused the undead uprising, and on the day of the first battle for Honorwatch he and his rangers were caught between the tide of undeath and the oncoming forces of Duke Conrad of Yonwell.
- Konrad and Conrad didn't get along at all, Cormac was helping Konrad and his spies had uncovered that the Duke of Yonwell was secretly meeting with the Witch Queen of Felltine, north of the Karst.
- The two swords of Honorwatch are familiar to Cormac, and he and Konrad had been searching for the third to unlock the vault beneath the castle but had not come upon any leads.
- After barely escaping the first battle of Honorwatch, the Rangers were broken and Cormac fled to the Beastwarren, wandering aimlessly for some time before encountering the Fairy Queen. She offered him her boon and he swore fealty to her, taking on his centaur form and becoming bound to protecting the Beastwarren- unable to leave it.
- The Fairy Queen's demesne is known as the Fairy Woods, sometimes the Mirrorwood. It lies south across the split in the Greenspine. She makes the ever-distant white pillar her home.
- The elves in the Beastwarren are descendants of the Ancients, loyal to the Fairy Queen, and possess extreme magical powers. Their enclaves are hidden and they keep to themselves and maintain their homes, especially abhorring anything they determine to be distasteful or ugly. Their human servants all wear masks to hide their imperfections.
- Hunters in the Hunter's Pact who attain rank are given the chance to accept the boon of the Fairy Queen as well, and become centaurs like Cormac.
- The Bellringers are welcome to taking over the remains of the Ranger's Guild, as Cormac cannot make his way there.
- The northern edge of the Beastwarren runs up against the Shield Wall, the sky-scraping mountain range encircles the last city of the Ancients, protecting it since their fall. Along the southern edge of the ring, the dragon Azamax the Cursed lairs in his shrine, bound to forever prevent any incursions into the lands inside the Shield Wall. Reports of late indicate Azamax has been more and more active in recent months.
Having only more questions, the party bids Cormac farewell and retires to an inn for the night.
In the morning, the group holds a lengthy debate about whether or not to brave the day-long journey south into the Beastwarren to make for the giant stone head and plumb its depths for treasure, or to save that for a later day and return to Yonwell. Ultimately, their lack of tangible funds from this expedition drives them to the call of adventure and they ready the party and head south.
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| Midjourney |
Through the enormous old-growth of the Beastwarren, the party makes camp just a short journey from the ominously glowing stone head up in the Greenspine. During the night, Stratford Slee catches sight of a towering silver Elk- and his Hunter's Pact compulsion to hunt any creature he's never seen before sends him off after it, with only a shout behind to rouse his companions.
What follows is a desperate night-cloaked chase through the snowy undergrowth. Stratford catches the elk by surprise, but to his dismay its call rouses the nearby trees to its defense- and its teeth are sharp and vampiric, taking a savage chunk out of Stratford. Piety rides Belle in, furious at Stratford going off on his own, helps strike the killing blow after Stratford's attempt at casting body swap on the elk fails. A new hide and some fresh meat now in their posession, the party sleeps the night away.
Session 10
Dramatis Personae:
Alma Tumbler (level 5) Aspirant Ranger, purple feather mutation, Wielder of Eventide, Hierophant, and the Lightning Bow, Chronicler and Sole Survivor of the first session
Olga Derippe (level 4) Body builder, Hammer Enthusiast, Haunted by a Revenant, Death Defier, Hoardmaster, Aspiring Gym Owner
Stratford Slee (level 4) Member of the Hunter's Pact, Arguably Australian, no longer stuck at 6 HP, ex-pirate
Piety Portendorfer (level 3) Gourmand, Survivor of a Death Curse, Notoriously not Pious, Aspiring Author
Hirelings: Penollyn the Archer, Lil' Ten Piece the Lantern Boy
The gang heads up the mountains in the morning and into the giant stone head's secret entrance, revealed by solving the puzzle (hand waved as it's on the treasure map). They descend down a long staircase and into the deeps beneath the stone head. Into... The Rune Dungeon (modified).
An aside: I read the Rune Dungeon posts years ago and have always wanted to throw them into a game. Knave as a system being pretty magic light, when I first mapped out the Dellen Plains around Yonwell I added this dungeon into the Greenspine. I'm pretty sure the party first caught a glance of the stone head somewhere back in the Unrecorded Sessions, so it has been on the map for awhile.
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| Midjourney |
The first few rune puzzles lead to the players figuring out how to make lights, and they begin to get a general idea of the rune abilities. They have a nasty time fighting the wave elementals in room 10, as they entirely avoid fighting normally and instead try to force themselves down the adventurers throats and drown them.
Moving in further, the party is ecstatic at finding the kitchen and the heating and cooling runes, with Piety scooping all that she can carry up and declaring she'll make the best bar in the world back in Yonwell.
The gang makes a brief excursion across the chasm in 13 and has an anxiety riddled time retrieving a great ruby from 14 as well as exploring the pits in 15.
We end up cutting the session after explaining the set up for room 16, as much of the time for this session was taken up with experimenting with runes and their effects.
Session 11
Dramatis Personae:
Alma Tumbler (level 5) Aspirant Ranger, purple feather mutation, Wielder of Eventide, Hierophant, and the Lightning Bow, Chronicler and Sole Survivor of the first session
Stratford Slee (level 4) Member of the Hunter's Pact, Arguably Australian, no longer stuck at 6 HP, ex-pirate
Piety Portendorfer (level 3) Gourmand, Survivor of a Death Curse, Notoriously not Pious, Aspiring Author
Hirelings: Penollyn the Archer, Lil' Ten Piece the Lantern Boy
Room 16 is defeated with some dramatic encounters with the skeletons. Lil' Ten Piece is put on Belle and flown around the room to keep the obelisks alight while Olga scrambles to slap a light rune in the middle of the room. Lil' Ten Piece is nearly killed when the skeletons launch each other into the air after the lantern boy, but the obelisks are covered in light in just enough time to prevent his death.
Creeping forward again, the party gets a brief look into 18, seeing the dozen or more clay men in worship of a great Clay Statue God and decide to book it back out of the room after a brief encounter leaves them heavily wounded. After making their way back across the chasm (again, only thanks to Belle), they rest and heal their wounds in the kitchen. They make a quick journey to explore the dorms back in 11 and learn to use mass runes to float over the deadly yellow mold and retrieve a very expensive looking crystalline statuette.
The next day is spent exploring the east half of the dungeon. Fighting the half-lich and its skeletons in 6 nearly wipes the party out with some cones of cold, but they scrape out a victory and head outside to try and retrieve Olga's hammer (once again crit failed and hurled out of reach, into the murky waters). A lightning arrow from Alma convinces the Watcher in the Lake to return the hammer and the group loots the room to find some shimmering silk, various coins, and a magical warhammer that causes gusts of cutting wind- which Olga takes handily. The half-lich and its companions are noted as having symbols bearing the Skull-Over-Ziggurat of the Lich King of the East.
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| Midjourney |
Murals are examined all along the journey- of Wizards triumphing over terrible Rune Wizards that were abusing poor peasantry, but little explanation is found. Scattered around though, the party finds more clues at how to work the runes, usually in the form of silver tablets with associations of effects hidden in caches.
After solving the weight puzzle in 25, the party finds the magical fountain of 26 to be similar to a previous one they encountered in the teleporting cairn. It bears the marks of the now-familiar long haired woman wreathed in oak leaves, and the water bears magical healing properties- at risk. Alma is mutated into more of a bird, now nearly covered in feathers and with talon-like claws. Olga also rolls up a bird mutation and sprouts white feathers, and Piety feels her guts expand with heat- becoming a living bomb (on death deal HD*d10 damage to everything in HD*10 feet). Some of the magic water is bottled for later.
Crossing to the other side of the bridge-chasm in 24, the party begins using runes to just absolutely wreck the clay men of the dungeon, clearing the pillar room with ease but deciding not to press into 18 in fear of the greater numbers of the clay men. They instead enter into 28 where Lil' Ten Piece and Belle (and the rest of the party) are nearly instantly obliterated by the rune-amplified fireball spell. The combat is near, but the party overcomes thanks to their earth-taking amplified rune weapons and they ascend up to the hub in 29.
The three layers of shielded lights protect the floating platform in the middle, with a azure blue statue of a wizard with hands outstretched. They peek into each of the puzzle rooms and discover they need to solve each puzzle to reduce the light shields and get down below- where clearly something terrible or valuable waits, as they can see a massive crystalline sphere through thick glass beneath their feet.
Solving the water room puzzle, the party gains the full-metal amethysts which are letting them now draw three runes in a glyph instantly and power it on the same turn as well, a massive boon for combat. They open the door to 34 and find inside a small library (not running the mirror puzzle room, didn't feel like it'd be fun to run or play with a theater of mind game) with several books on how runes work as well as the history of the runic wars clearly visible. To their dismay though, just in the middle of the room is a large golden statue of Gorebold the Devourer, waiting patiently for them.
Session 12
Dramatis Personae:
Alma Tumbler (level 5) Aspirant Ranger, purple feather mutation, Wielder of Eventide, Hierophant, and the Lightning Bow, Chronicler and Sole Survivor of the first session
Stratford Slee (level 4) Member of the Hunter's Pact, Arguably Australian, no longer stuck at 6 HP, ex-pirate
Piety Portendorfer (level 3) Gourmand, Survivor of a Death Curse, Notoriously not Pious, Aspiring Author
Hirelings: Penollyn the Archer, Lil' Ten Piece the Lantern Boy
Resting up first, the party easily (except for the crystal golems which only fail to murder all of them due to sheer luck, leaving heavy, heavy wounds) solves the rest of the puzzles around the hub and debate entering the library or not. Finally, they decide they desperately want to know how runes work and enter, finding the rooms surrounded with white chalk drawn in intricate diagrams.
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| Midjourney |
Spending their morning doing some reading, Piety uncovers the secrets of runes (I gave them the blog articles) and Alma reads about the history of the Rune Wars. It turns out that the Ancients had learned runes from the Orbital Gods and used them in conjunction with more advanced magics to run their empire, until one of their own (the name squirms and will not be read) taught the lower castes how to use the free and easy powers of rune magic, leading to a bloody war that brought down the empire and resulted in rune magic being sealed away under the protection of a guardian. Now knowing what probably awaits them below, the party is unsure of whether or not they should release rune magic back into the world (or if they can even defeat the guardian).
Opting to explore the rest of the dungeon, they find some charred phoenix strips (instant full heal) and more gold and trinkets, as well as a great guilded scroll bearing ornate calligraphy of the name Azamax. Twisting some curious draconic tapestry reveals a hidden vault and a hint leading them to another hidden room earlier in the dungeon. This one being clearly of different make and added later to the dungeon contains a clear glass box filled with warped purple sloshing liquid. A small note explains that this is a magical bomb (9d10 damage) and explains how to use it, bearing a signature that clearly points to this having been left by someone in the employ of Azamax. Bomb in hand, they decide to take on the guardian.
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| Midjourney |
Descending the floating platform back in the hub, the azure statue issues a dire warning (ignored) and the party finds themselves atop a giant glassy black platform beneath the crystal dome, a giant crystalline chandelier filled with writhing liquid hangs in the center. The liquid pours from the chandelier and forms into a 15 foot tall writhing ball of flesh and limbs- which Piety flies by on Belle and uses the magical bomb for a third of its health and a horrific violet implosion in its wake.
The battle with the guardian is dire, and its summoned clay minions keep Alma and Stratford on the run and eventually bring down Piety and Belle who come crashing to the ground- 3 HP between the two of them. Brought near the brink of a total party kill, Stratford reveals that he had spent the previous reading/lore dump time preparing his summoning ritual, and takes the gamble to see if it can summon into the room Azamax the Cursed.
Reality tears (along with most of Stratford's intelligence stat) and the head and front claws of the cursed dragon roars into the room, spouting golden flames in fury that nearly finished the party off. Then, spying the guardian, Azamax roars triumphantly and rips its open before filling it with golden flames- destroying it as Azamax pulls back into the tear in reality leaving laughter and flicks of golden light in its wake.
The crystalline chandelier shatters and the room vibrates before quieting. The party picks themselves up and heads back to the hub to sleep off the consequences of what they just did.
In the morning, they clear the Clay God room and find the books for making clay men, making three to carry their overburdened loot and help (with rune magic) to clear the stairs and escape the dungeon and exit into the light and make their way back to Taubey.
Just outside of Taubey, however, the party's camp is attacked. Late in the night, something is heard gliding amongst the tree tops, and a colossal feathered serpent swallows Stratford whole.
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| Midjourney |
Terrified and glad it left, Piety returns to the ground and checks on Alma and Stratford, wherein Alma reveals they must go after the snake- as it now carries the dark sword Hierophant that was being carried amongst her horse's pack.
Another desperate night flight with Alma casting bird person to keep up, she and Piety find a poisonous fog in a nearby valley and use their rune magic to clear the air- revealing the snake that struck once more. A quick combat ensues and the snake (failing badly again) vomits up most of Yellow Beedums and decides this not to be worth the trouble and leaves the party behind.
Sword recovered and now horseless (and losing a collection of valuable silks and cloths recovered from the dungeon), Alma rides with Piety and Belle back to the camp and sulk for the night. In the morning, they return to Taubey and get a proper meal and night's sleep.
Session 13
Dramatis Personae:
Alma Tumbler (level 5) Aspirant Ranger, purple feather mutation, Wielder of Eventide, Hierophant, and the Lightning Bow, Chronicler and Sole Survivor of the first session
Piety Portendorfer (level 3) Gourmand, Survivor of a Death Curse, Notoriously not Pious, Aspiring Author
Hirelings: Penollyn the Archer, Lil' Ten Piece the Lantern Boy, Salamander the Man at Arms
Short on players, the remaining gang decides to make for Yonwell and finally get their experience (xp only gets added in Yonwell). They hire along Salamander, a man at arms, and make the trek through the beastwarren and out to Magda.
Following the river out of Taubey, the party finds the riverboat presumably belonging to the merchant they'd bought their treasure map from is aflame in the icy river, a large treant battering the flames out and sending wood and embers flying.
Piety flies in on Belle and runes away the flames, causing the treant to trudge away back up river. The boat itself sinks shortly later, no survivors remained to be found- but it was notably covered with arrows from the north end of the river.
Getting creative with make air runes and make heat runes, Piety comfortably plumbs the icy river and recovers a healthy haul of coins from the ship before returning to the waiting party to make camp. Throughout the night, Alma watches vague figures across the river, until the sun rises and the distant figures melt back into the treeline.
The journey to Magda is relatively uneventful, and the party sets out in the morning eager to avoid the gaze of Honorwatch and make their way back to Yonwell. Another night spent camped out on the road, the party makes it to just two hexes out of Yonwell when they spy a (very, very unlucky) encounter up ahead near the blood-clay pond. A group of eight riders, clad in black, making their way in a line slowly along the north-road.
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| Midjourney |
In the Shellwood, Alma and the hirelings make for the teleporter cairn and have a brief moment to be distraught at the recent events, before the line of riders charge in from the treeline into the clearing surrounding the obelisk above the yawning opening of the cairn. The riders charge the beleaguered party with lancers at the front as a greater glaiver carrying knight circles around for a pincer attack- leaving the magic caster and the one that had captured Piety (in tow with Belle) at the treeline. The three lancers make a devastating attack against Alma who nearly falls as Ten Piece and Penollyn take Dunketello the pack donkey and his cart below into the cairn. Salamander charges the glaive-knight and prevents his charge. Alma flees below as well while Salamander, in the best performance from any hireling and with the most astounding rolls, keeps the remaining lancers and glaive-knight at bay for three rounds of combat.
During this combat, Piety manages to escape with the help of some clever glyph making, and, in a truly impressive display, succeeds in slaying her captor and the lancer that came to assist. She frees Belle and the two rescue Salamander, barely escaping the glaive-knight and company.
Piety and Salamander make the panicked flight to Alia the Bell Priestess's shrine outside of Yonwell and beg sanctuary as well as help rescuing their comrades. Alia agrees but asks to wait until morning and let the two rest while she gathers help. Unhappily, Piety assents and the party gathers again at dawn to break out for the cairn and rescue Alma and company with the help of four mounted Bell Priests as well as Alia.
Inside the cairn, Dunketello and his cart are abandoned in the entry way as Alma, Ten Piece, and Penollyn race for the teleportation platform and punch in their only know working codes, finding sanctuary at the corresponding teleporter inside the floating island above the bay of Wyv. They rest and find no one chasing them, then Alma makes the calculated choice to try and return back to the cairn the earliest she would think Piety could return with help. Alma and hirelings carefully head up and to the cairn's opening- only to be ambushed by four heavily armored dark knights of Honorwatch- as the sounds of battle crash in from outside.
In the meantime, Piety and the Bell Priests reach the Cairn and find the area untouched, no bodies or blood to be seen. She presses forward and finds this all to have been an illusion hiding twelve of Honorwatch's knights, including the magic-casting noble and the glaive-knight. The priests use their turn undead abilities to cause half the number to flee before the trap is sprung, and a horrendous melee ensues. Salamander is slain in the mess and Piety charges into the Cairn to find Alma and the rest. In this time Alma had used her stunning shield to blind the attackers and slay two of them, and with Piety's help they corral the rest as the sounds of battle suddenly fade above.
Returning above ground they find the bell priests slain and Alia to be the only remaining one- trapped in a self-casted bubble of Time Slow along with the magic-casting dark knight, the glaive-knight, and a lancer. The party prepares for the spell to end and manage to avert Alia's imminent death and drive off the remaining Honorwatch forces. With haste, the remaining group find the cart back in the Cairn smashed to pieces- but Dunketello to still be alive (luck roll). They gather what they can and quick march back to Alia's Shrine, depositing her to the care of her people as the party finally returns back to Yonwell.
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