Session 33: Hotel Blood (8/25/24)

Desnova 14, 1423.

After detecting magic, the PCs discover some of the spears held by the statue's horse are magical, and break them free of the statue. Nebol'shoy is also damaged when sweeping the room and seeing what the cat statue from the storage closet radiates. They head south to the next area where there are some moveable columns that affect wolf statue heads, producing a last will & testament from the architect of the castle as well as a magical saber. Next they find the smoking room where Nebol'shoy and Sludd partake of hookahs that make them glow with faerie fire of various colors. Rucia and Bjork enjoy ancient meat that still spins upon a spit in one of the hearths, and Aldren finds a jade key in an illusory hearth which radiates no heat.

They visit a master bedroom where they find yet another magical sword hidden in the spokes of a carriage like bed frame, a robe of stars in an armoire and a magical powdering kit which can de-age the user a few years after use. Rucia thrashes up the room pretty hard. In the next area, a study, they find some valuable tea sets, a spellbook once belonging to a green dragonborn wizard named Glimmerthorn, and a set of valuable encyclopedias too heavy to currently take. Nebol'shoy and Sludd are now fully radiating faerie fire of purple and green, respectively. A door to the south is covered in an undulating shield of blood which turns out to be a portal. Rucia steps through and is deposited outside the castle. The PCs lower a rope through and he climbs back up and in. Bjork fails to dispel the door, so they abandon this path for now.

They next find an organ hall with a few well-dressed skeletons, and while Rucia is dismantling them and Bjork is searching through the musical sheets, the group is attacked by spectral sentries that try to flank them between two doors. They hit fairly hard and manage to kill Sludd, turning him into one of their own number, who also has to be brought down by the PCs. Gentle repose is cast upon the fallen D'vryn, and the PCs decide to take another long rest, though it drains them, by setting up Leomund's Tiny Hut in the servant's closet where they found the cat statue.

Desnova 15, 1423.

Something tampers with the closet door overnight, but otherwise the PCs are unmolested, waking up drained further by the castle's cumulative curse. Rucia uses revivify on Sludd's preserved corpse, and the rogue rejoins the world of the living. The group decides to wheel back to the blood door, and this time Bjork manages to dispel it. To no one's surprise, this is where Razakhel has decided to make her stand, some sort of torture chamber with a cauldron of blood that feeds various taps and pipes throughout the castle. The fight is tough in tight quarters, especially after the blood-fiend summons a pair of sanguine golems to assist her, but she no longer quite overpowers them the way she once did at the brothel in the village of Zolovny. After nearly instagibbing Aldren with a blood-port into his body, she is taken down, which disables her creation.

Rucia finds a sword made of Razakhel's blood-spikes, all that remains of her, while Bjork finds the second half of the rune-key needed to access the subcellars where the rest of Nebol'shoy's former associates must wait in hiding...

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

At this point we will be taking a brief recess for a couple months, and will be updating the characters to the next edition of D&D rules.

Session 32: Between a Rock and His Rocks (7/28/24)

Desnova 14, 1423.

After surviving the attack of the hunting trophies, the PCs continue to make their way around the first floor of Old Bloodwalls. They find a pair of gems in the eyes of a demon statue in a southern vestibule, and then a bunch of chambers that must be used for guests and special servants. In one wardrobe they find a gossamer gown spun out of moth-wings, and Aldren finds a skeleton babe in a basinet beneath one of the beds. They find a hideous shrine with a statue of Eshebel and what looks like a torture device to be used on the flock, and then a smaller organ hall with leads to an outdoor courtyard overgrown with thorns. In that area they find a rapier hidden in a wolf's statue north of the fountain.

They continue to explore more chambers and find a poisoner's kit, and then a washroom which runs with blood from the taps. They then arrive at perhaps the largest room in the castle, an Assembly hall where Grittnar the earth-druid awaits them. He laments that Nebol'shoy couldn't have just kept well enough away from it all, and let his guilt lead him to befriend Rucia after Grittnar apparently dragged the unconscious gnome away form the former Naturalists' slaughter of the dragonborn village under Csunori. The battle is ferocious, with the dwarf summoning up a massive rock form to protect him, while his pet Krusty and a bunch of animated gargoyles harass the rest of the PCs.

At one point, Grittnar slams out a devastating force with shatters the windows of the Assembly, nearly destroys his own gargoyles and items, and wreaks havoc on the partys' magical goods, destroying some outright and rendering others temporary useless. Despite the damage done to them, the party manages to survive the grueling battle, and before killing the dwarf, learn that the Bloodwalls' sub-level has been warded off by powerful death magic to prevent access without two halves of a ruin, one of which the druid has upon him. For the other, they will have to find and deal with Razakhel...

The PCs take a short rest and then trek further into the Castle, finding some scant servants quarters where they uncover a servant's note about the many keys in the castle, and that one important one might be found in the Count's Smoke-Room upstairs. They leave the rest of the first floor for now and head up a stairway, ending up in a linen closet. They exit to another broad breezeway that allows access to much of the upper floor of the castle, and find a maintenance entrance to the chamber where they just fought Grittnar, as well as another linen closet which contains an onyx statue of a cat with a pentagram in its chest and a pair of black wings.

They continue to find an iron statue of the war god Bartan aimed at a great window which looks out east over the clearing in the Tzarswald.

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

Session 31: Rugs 2 - The Throw Down (6/30/24)

Desnova 14, 1423.

The PCs press the battle against the undead defenders, nearing victory when another spell cast into the courtyard causes the withered old tree to come to life and attack! Though it makes deadly crushing attacks and sends hurtling through the courtyard stones at the PCs, they still manage to come out ahead and fell the last of these initial defenders. They then search through the courtyard, noting the gardener's cart that seems to be a recent arrival and the property of a gnome, as well as the other which looks more like it might belong to Csunori and Boriya. They find broken doll pieces in the fountain and a magic pitchfork in the stables, and also a locket on the corpse of a guard up on the battlement.

They enter the Bloodwalls proper through the Eastern Vestibule, finding a cache of treasure and keys hidden in the floor, and some strange heirlooms and carvings. They search through a nearby study where they discover a letter addressed to Csunori and some precious books, and then they move onward to some servants quarters. The castle seems to have a strange flow of time, and many of its interiors are magical, with animated brooms and brushes in various chambers, and candles or chandeliers that will ignite upon entrance into a specific area. The PCs search through a nearby grand ballroom with strange stone murals of muses that perform music, and a stained glass figure in the window that seems to 'track' them as they wander through the area. They mess with the music of the stone muses to create a blood shower from above!



They next make their way through some kitchen areas off the side of the ballroom, and then find a chamber full of hunting trophies which animate to attack them! Bear rugs wrap themselves around Rucia to attempt to take the paladin out of the fight, while stags' and boars' heads float about, cackling with laughter that effects the PCs sanity! Fortunately, they don't possess the fighting skills of our heroes, and they manage to put down these beasts for good.

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

Session 30: Bones to Pick (5/21/24)

Desnova 13, 1423.

After spending considerable time looting through all the bugbear corpses, T-Rucia discovers something odd about the statue to the goddess Odhinnei, and soon the PCs confirm that it shifts aside and a stone stairwell descends into the rock beneath. They decide to rest in a Leomund's Tiny Hut and then venture down in the night. During one of the watches, a pair of ettins happens on by, but ignores the opaque barrier of the spell and focus on all the bugbear bodies our heroes had stacked off in the woods nearby, eating some and then dragging several others off with them.

Desnova 14, 1423.

Well before dawn, after watches, the PCs explore the hidden crypt below the statue, and find that it's some sort of abandoned hunters' sanctuary, with several chambers devoted to the bones and remains of prey, a lot of weapons which have brittled with age, and in some areas, skins hanging from the walls. They also find a riddle in one of the chambers, which asks the following: Bring to me, these prizes three, that I may brand my gift on thee. The gift of Claw, Great and Deep, The Beak of Eternity, stalking Steep. And between these objects, thou must lie, The Heart of Forest’s frenziest Eye. After farming for some difficult mushrooms that can be used in potions, and catching a slick blind cavern fish to remove a glittering ring from its stomach, they leave the place.

The PCs forge onward for several hours towards their destination, and soon arrive at a massive clearing which has been circled with a ward of bone relics that prevent the strange 'nightening' effect within the clearing from spreading. Sure enough, there's a misty castle ahead of them, though strangely it seems to stand renewed among the ruins of some older structure or outer wall which is more what they would have expected to find of Old Bloodwalls. The old architecture of the castle seems to pulse with an eerie crimson light, and the place is surrounded by silent dead who stalk the fogs, possibly sentries left to waylay them. After loosing an arrow at a random zombie, they all seem to moan and activate in unison, moving in to defend the courtyard from incursions.



Led by an intense Rucia, the PCs follow their undead quarry into the courtyard and a mass battle ensues. With area effect spells, they manage to destroy a lot of the lesser undead who await them, including most of the skeletons and zombies, some of which they recognize as former residents of Zolovny! Some of the other enemies seem more difficult to put down, including zombified beasts like a giant serpent, a bear, a small black dragon and a hill giant! What's more, certain lasting effects that are cast into the courtyard by our heroes cause ribbons on a central tree to set ablaze; obviously there are some wards in place. As Aldren kites about as many of the beasts as he can, and Rucia is regurgitated from his near-devourment inside the giant's stomach, the tide of the battle evens out...the PCs have used up many of their best tricks, and the remaining dead are starting to land their blows!

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

Session 29: Everything's a Drum (3/26/24)

Desnova 12, 1423.

After capturing the second ethyrean prison relic from the hidden rotja stocks at Crumblemoor, the PCs decide to trek eastward into the Tzarswald before camping. They manage to clear the marshland, and Aldren finds a suitable covered grove in which they can rest. Throughout the watches, they hear some occasional horn blasts off in the woods somewhere, perhaps belonging to a hunting or war party.

Desnova 13, 1423.

Our heroes press on into the woodlands, but soon encounter strange rows of pines, several of which seem to sway or uproot themselves to create formations on the forest floor that seem more like a curated garden than a wild wood. They are 'approached' by one of the trees, which wields a set of drums and has a halo of birds fluttering about it. In a low-toned timbre, it introduces itself as 'The Roost', and is quite surprised to find that Bjork Two-horns is among the party. A friendly bard-off is initiated, and The Roost turns out to have lost to Snowcock the Sonorous in the past, so a prize is determined to be that disgraced bard's instrument, if the minotaur should lose.

A competition ensues, and the pine tree metes out an incredibly moving performance, with its low, rolling tone, steadily escalating drums, and tweeting bird accompaniment. Though Bjork does his best in return, using mage hand to play his cowbell while he slings his lute, it's not quite enough to dazzle the already entranced audience. In the second round, The Roost adds in some swaying pines that he animates with his natural ability, while Mockleg and Nebol'shoy attempt to spice up Bjork's next piece with some shimmering illusions and giant owls that can fly through them, an impromptu air show! Alas, Bjork critically fumbled his performance, breaking strings and causing the giant owls to misdirect and crash into one another, a disaster. Since The Roost has clearly won the first two rounds, there is no need for a third. It offers some wisdom to the PCs, and a warning to Aldren to 'watch his Six' after learning the half-elf's identity. It returns to its pines, the circle changing form to rows once more.

The PCs travel deeper into the Tzarswald, the sounds of horns seeming to close in on them, from all directions now, and an occasional thundering of paws or feet somewhere off in the wood. They come upon an idyllic scene of a statue to the goddess Odhinnei, surrounded by a man-made brook, but in a state of some disrepair, and they decide to make their stand against whatever it is that must be tracking them. It turns out that it is indeed the Blood Lake Band, the bugbears whose camp the party destroyed some weeks back, and whose scouts have spied them from a far once or twice since then. They are arranged into a quartet of small warbands, each led by a fearsome chieftain riding a dire wolf.



The PCs press into a defensive area about the statue, but it actually works against them as the bugbears rain javelins down upon them, and seem to be canny to avoid some of the defensive spells set up by Aldren and Nebol'shoy. The wolves and riders rush in to combat while their underlings continue to press the missile attack, eventually closing themselves. While the Blood Lake Band gives a good accounting of themselves, they are inevitably no match for the magic, missile and melee prowess of our heroes, and as the tide turns, several lightning bolts from Mockleg, and a polymorph turning Rucia into a T-Rex, help the party finish off the fanatical remnants of this hunting party!

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

NPCs

The Redhatch Roost (male? treant): 

Session 28: The Twistening (2/25/24)

Desnova 12, 1423.

The giant boars' cries immediately alert the giants within the Crumblemoor Keep, who rush out to join the battle against the intrusive PCs, only to be met with magical traps set up by Aldren and others. The two boars are taken out quickly. Spiky terrain, lightning bolts, and bardic musical assaults all slow down the giants' rush, but eventually the twisted creatures' brute strength, enormous damage thresholds, and ability to send out curses at range, that warp the flesh of their victims, inflict heavy casualties on our heroes. Almost all of them are felled numerous times, only to be revived with desperate magic and potions being stuffed down their throats by companions nearby. At one point Sludd had to flee into the nearby forest, leaving just a few of the PCs standing, but through a twist of fate and tactics they managed to survive, and the devious D'vryn returned to the fray when things started to shift once more in the reverse direction.

At long last, the giants are all slain, and the PCs, now decimated, begin to recover within the shelter of the Keep as they make some final explorations of the interior. They throw out a shelter spell, but on his watch, Nebol'shoy notices Krusty, the earth elemental familiar of his former compatriot Grittnar, snooping about the ruins, probably looking for his party. Before he can alert all the other PCs and deal with the creature, it disappears, burrowing into the dirt, likely to report back to its master. The party finishes looting about the area, finding a huge sack with some treasure that belonged to the giants, and then they prove further about the grounds. Aldren decides to dip himself into the rotja-filled well in the courtyard, and discovers a sealed, rusted panel at the bottom. After a few attempts, the half-elf uses a crowbard to wedge open the panel, emptying out the well into a chute and hidden chamber below. It appears to be the long abandoned stash of the brewers that once made the Crumblemoor their home.



Nebol'shoy and Sludd join Aldren below while the rest of the PCs wait at the top of the well, and they begin to take some of the old stores of liquor, when suddenly the possessed lantern begins to react to something in the chamber, a yellowish light that intermingles and responds back to its blue. A pair of shadows form defensively, and are quickly taken out by the trio of PCs, especially once Aldren dowses the lantern's glow, and then they discover the source of light...a golden censer on a chain of copper and brass, which also seems to contain some sort of swirling, ethereal being! When attempting to contact the device directly with his person, Aldren notices that it attempts to wrest control of his mind, perhaps this particular prison of efirnyy has a different defense than the lantern! Nebol'shoy cautiously prompts it into a sack, and the PCs join their companions above to figure out their next move.

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

Session 27: Moor's the Pity (12/17/23)

Desnova 12, 1423.

Rucia continues to smash up the eggs within the ditch, although no more of them squeal and there is no further response from far off in the Flailing Marsh. Satisfied with the carnage, he climbs out of the pit and the PCs marsh northward towards where they heard the hideous cry. They arrive at the Crumblemoor by moonlight, an abandoned keep that supposedly once belonged to a rotja-brewing family. They approach through a side entrance that leads to a terrace and the south tower of the keep, where they find a pair of strange magical kites tied off to a stripling in an ancient stone planter. The kites give a bit of a lift when held, so they decide to leave them tied back off, and proceed into the South Tower. The structure is in quite bad condition, and they proceed with caution up a central staircase. Aldren and Bjork remain on the 3rd floor so the half-elf can explore some of the wreath-covered pennant poles, while the rest of the group goes to the top floor and confronts a banshee...

The undead creature wails hideously, knocking out three of our heroes: Rucia, Nebol'shoy, and Sludd, and so Mockleg and Bjork begin healing them up before they die from the sonic attack. Eventually Aldren arrives and finishes off what Rucia started, dissipating the woman by the moonlight. Nebol'shoy finds a scroll case near a shattered chest, and the PCs head back downstairs, where they find a crushed human that might be one of the missing Gravers' Guild adventurers similar to the lady in the pit from earlier. The party takes a short rest before pressing on into a Gatehouse around the fallen entrance Gate. Nebol'shoy pokes out of the structure only to encounter the legendary crayfish Old Marrow in the courtyard. It grabs Aldren as he rushes to the roof, and the rest of the PCs file out to engage the creature. Though it hits hard and even manages to hurl an enlarged Rucia across the courtyard, the terrain doesn't favor its particular maneuvers, and severals of the PCs and their support staff deal massive blows to it, including a critical strike with Mockleg's shadow blade and a nasty sneak attack from Sludd! The beast finally topples, never to terrorize the shores of the Jaggerhead again...

The PCs find numerous magical-aura items on the creature, including one of the nets cast over it and several items from its stomach. They proceed to explore the courtyard of the keep, finding an old guard house, a covered well that appears to contain a supply of muddy old rotja, and a stable in which Rucia and Nebol'shoy inquire with some small alligators about what might lie further inside the keep, and the missing lad that the paladin has been tasked to find. The creatures don't know much. Aldren hears some creatures speaking raucously in Giant, and reports to the group. They decide to press further on into the Keep but first examine a boathouse near an old dried up waterway to the northeast of the Keep. As they return from this, they notice a burning projectile fired off into the sky above the keep. Aldren tries but cannot track where the thing lands, so they check out some more of the inner keep. Eventually, they worry that the projectile might attract more allies of the giants within, and forge a plan to assess their forces and perhaps draw them out. 



Four twisted giants and two giant boars eventually answer the summons with the blast of a horn, and the giants hustle into the Crumblemoor before dawn. Sludd, who hid out in the Keep, heard some bits of broken Common that they were searching for several individuals, including some of the PCs, and have some association with a dwarf named Grittnar, who Nebol'shoy identifies as an associate of Borya and Csunoir. Aldren continues to plan a potential trap where he can use a spell and then lay down suppressing fire against the giants, but as they are about to initiate it, several of the PCs stealth poorly, alerting the boars to their presence, who begin to squeal horridly at their approach!

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia