D&D An American Institution- What I'm Reading This Weekend

 

Just got it from Drive Thru.  Compelling, well-researched, can't put it down.  Get this.

Nappendixia Campaign 3.0- Session 142

 Nappendixia Campaign Session Report

Session #-  142

Session Date-  9/25/26

Time Passed-  5 days

Roll Call-  Party 1

Roland- P5

Jirel- P4

Fletch- F6

Foyt- M/U5

Party 2

Ard- M/U4

Father Iniri- C1

Ferge- D F1

Adventure Log-  Chapter 13-  In the aftermath of the Plague of Lice, Godhard forms a plan to bring order back to Fort Dawnbreak-

“Here’s a four point plan for dealing with the lice crisis:

Clearing

The first response to the infestation will be to assess the camp and begin dismantling the tents as well as moving livestock. We’ll determine who is afflicted and quarantine them from the rest of the camp. As for the rest, we’ll create a temporary staging area at the pond in hex 3501 where bedding, tents, clothing, etc are boiled or burnt. Men who are currently deployed in the field will be moved to the Pelorsburg site on return.

Cleansing

The priority at Dawnbreak will be cleansing the permanent structures (the barracks, settlers’ settlement, and the merchants quarter) with smoke and lime-wash. Once these are cleaned, the afflicted will be quarantined in the barracks. All Dawnbreak personnel will be shaved to prevent reinfection and follow strict quarantine procedures to prevent reinfection. Kenny has promised to work on providing ample soap and shampoo so as to prevent the “filthy conditions” modifier from DMG 13.

Curing

From then on, assuming Godhard, Laurentis, and Atagon along with the two paladins work together to cast cure disease, they can cure 10/day and 72/week. Those with severe cases will be magically cured first. Alongside that, afflicted people are to be shaved and given hot baths then moved to a clean structure.

Compensation

• All personnel’s wages will be doubled during the infection as hazard pay.

• The Merchants will be granted tax pardons for six months (which could save them between 1,500gp-9,000gp/caravan!) as they rebuild their lost inventory.

• The leader of the Gorge settlers will be granted 1.3mi hex 3412 and the status of manor lord for his people’s troubles, giving him a say at the annual Thing.

Soon I’ll calculate the amount of infected and the time it will take to cleanse the fort. Hopefully this plan can retain the troops and merchant’s loyalty as I was betting on them staying around as I built the new site. “

Meanwhile, after assisting for a few days, a party of mid level adventurers, mostly assistants of Godhard and Kenny, travel about to see how the plague has affected the area.  They investigate the 2 columns of green eerie light that extend up into the sky.  The smaller one is coming up from the ground near the entrance to the Sandpit Dungeon, and the larger is centered over the Lost City- the buried step pyramid, which has now sunken deeper into the muddy depression, now completely covered and in need of excavation to access.  Only the heads of the 3 statues built atop the pyramid remain exposed.  They move on to investigate the Hill Giant Steading, and find the chief, now a fomorian giant as a result of the taint of the Loc-Nar, still drunk and despondent, alone and offering adventurers entrance into his lower dungeon.  They pay the fee and deliver him another cask of cheap wine and descend down an L shaped stairwell.  They are about to investigate the first large open chamber, but one of them inadvertently finds a secret door, and they proceed to find the means to open it.  It opens into a small treasure room filled with coins and coffers, but as they move into the room to investigate, Foyt triggers a pit trap and falls to his death, impaled on poison spikes.  At the same moment Jirel, on watch, sees 3-4 manticores enter the room and eye her hungrily.  They decide to flee, Roland climbs down and retrieves the body while Fletch investigates a barrel that turns out to be an illusion.  Behind the illusion he finds a large rock and grabs it as well as a case of gems as the party retreats back up the stairs before the manticores can pounce.  They head back to Dawnbreak where Godhard is able to raise Foyt.  He begins rest and recovery.  The rock they recovered appears to be the same type of rock that makes up the huge mesa faces to the south.  It must be further investigated, as it could reveal some secrets of the mesas.  

The lower level party is in a jam.  Rumors are spreading that they were seen returning from the sandpit dungeon just after the strange columns of green light appeared and the lice plague occurred.  Accusations that they may be responsible for the lights and subsequent plague are starting to become known.  Ard makes contact with Kenny and pleads his case, they were simply adventuring in a local dungeon, and triggered some kind of magic statue.  They tell what they know about the Eyeless Void statue, and its seeming connection to the residual Loc-Nar energy that seemed to activate it.  This information is shared with Godhard and the rest of the leadership and the higher level adventurers understand their position.  Concerned that the average citizenry will be less accepting, they decide it may be a good time to get out of town and see some other sights and explore some other settlements.  They have heard from several sources of a small desert village far to the north, and think that may be their long-term goal, but decide to check in on Bartertown first to see how they are faring in their cleanup after the destruction of the Blood Thing monsters.  They arrive there after a day's travel on horse, and goings are slow in Bartertown.  Few travelers are hiring on to help with the cleanup efforts despite offers of full citizenship and a residence from Papagallo. The whole area is still caked in gore from the explosion of the monsters.  They are unable to get an audience with Papagallo but they are welcome to help with cleanup.  They feel like they may get more traction if they made a name for themselves locally, and set out the next day to the north to the Crevasse dungeon, a dungeon location known to be carved into the side of a large rock crevasse.  They arrive after a day and a half of travel, and cautiously survey the lowlands surrounding the crevasse finding signs of an orc warband on the flat wastelands, a few crude standards and skeletal remains litter the grounds.  They have heard rumors of the legendary Headhunter Orcs that are known in this area and are considering returning to Bartertown right when they are surprised by a column of 10 orcs huddled at the base of the slope.  They charge on foot, but the party on horse are able to turn and retreat before they can engage, suspecting more orcs in tow.  In the rush to escape they take a different route south, and discover an old rickety hunting cabin out in the middle of nowhere.  They approach and call out to the cabin, hailing any occupants and asking for water, but they get no response.  About to leave, they decide to open the cabin door, and find 2 nomads, starving and dehydrated inside.  They give them aid, and offer to take them back to Bartertown to recover.  They ask if the nomads are of the famed tribe of nomads known as the Kazarians, and they confirm they are.  They get the men who had lost all their gear and horses in a battle back to Bartertown to convalesce, and in thanks one of the men produces a fine pearl he was secreting in his cheek and gives as payment for their rescue.  The party is pleased to make inroads with this powerful tribe of nomads, should they ever encounter them again in force.  After rest and resupply, they decide to investigate another nearby settlement, the twin villages of Wore’s Rest and Oak Cross, located east of Bartertown.  They arrive in the strange village and find the rumors to be true, the area's people are known as Juggalos, a crude filthy culture rife with moronic behavior.  They cautiously secure lodging in one of the many taverns/inns and tactfully begin gathering information about the area to see what adventure they may find.  

Session Notes-  This was an odd session in that we had lower attendance, and a late arrival so we ended up doing 2 shorter delves with 2 different parties, and the players took some time to do some future planning.  They decided to check out some of the closer settlements nearer to Godhard's domain before ultimately heading north to the desert village of Leibitz.  We all decided it would be cooler to have more separation between the lower level PCs and the higher level ones.  Plus there’s so much going on in Godhard’s domain, the guys are doing lots of stuff there, clearing lairs, preparing for stronghold construction, and dealing with all the after effects of the Julystein battles, the Loc-Nar, and the lice plague.  I absolutely cannot keep up with it all and that is so cool, I hope in the future we can get some session play involving all of these cool elements happening run by Godhard or others in the know.  I myself am in a better position with a new settlement to be running out of; I have no constraints, there’s plenty of room for new things to develop from emergent play, and I’m not ignoring all the stuff the players are doing in their home hex.  Plus they can go back at any time.  I’ve got some new ideas for that northern part of the campaign map that no PCs have explored yet, and not much exists yet except a few ideas and starting locations.  We will see how things develop.  For next time I’ll be pulling out my old notes from Whore’s Rest and the nearby dungeons and rolling out some new stuff. I was a little disappointed in myself this week.  I thought I had done a correct deep dive into raise dead and all the steps and after effects, but upon looking it up again last session, I was incorrect on some things.  I guess that’s just the nature of  AD&D 1e, you can’t always get everything right, even with consistent earnest effort.  And that’s OK, correct and move on.  

Treasure and XP-  Party 1-  Treasure- gems 4x 100gp, 13x 500gp, 8x 1000gp= 14,900gp/xp/ 3PCs= 4967xp each.

Party 2-  Treasure- Pearl 500gp/xp/3 PCs= 167xp each.

Add % bonus if applicable.  

Graveyard-  Foyt the magic user, who fell on poison spike in a pit trap in the Fomorian Giant Chief’s Steading dungeon. (session 142) (raised by Godhard)

Nappendixia Campaign 3.0- Session 141

 Nappendixia Campaign Session Report

Session #-  141

Session Date-  9/11/26

Time Passed-  10 days

Roll Call-  Party 1

Laurentis- C10

Trotter- R2

Godhard- C11

2x Pal hench

C3, C4 hench

Party 2

Trotter- R2

Ard- M/U4

Bakarit- I1

Primus- F2

Ferge- DF/C1/1

Adventure Log-  The one where the upper level guys delve a wraith's tomb, and the lower level guys delve the Sandpit Dungeon and trigger a plague.

After tending to some work at Fort Dawnbreak, Godhard assembles a party of holy men to eliminate the evil undead presence in the SW they learned about from the hermit Illusionist Old Ben.  Trotter the ranger accompanies them as a guide.  They arrive at the location safely, using the newly constructed road south.  They stay the night in the village of Marshfield, dispensing cures and healing, further improving relations.  The next day they head west and find a low sandy area and find a flat rectangular structure jutting out from the dunes.  Digging through the opening, they begin staging in the opening T intersection, but a wraith moves forward and touches Jirrel- chilling her and draining her life energy.  It is quickly turned and destroyed.  In another roughly dug out room they are attacked by 2 more wraiths, and defeat them.  Pushing past a heavy stone door they enter the tomb's main chambers and 6 more wraiths descend on them.  Their holy might and heavy armor protect them, they are dispatched and in the main chamber find 9 ruined sarcophagii and a huge hoard of treasure consisting of coin, gems, jewelry and magic items.  They take what they can and when they arrive back at Dawnbreak send a team of troops and wagons back to gather the remaining hoard.  The Wraith’s Tomb

On the 19th the low level team heads back to the Sandpit Dungeon to try to locate the stolen bolts of silk.  They arrive and drop down into the sandy hole, avoid the sound of scurrying critters and head to the stone door they had not investigated the last time they were here.  They push it forcefully and it glides forward and slides to the side, revealing a 30x30 room containing a statue of the horrific Eyeless Void-  a cloaked figure with one hand pointing up, one hand pointing down, a massive close lidded eye where its head should be. Wherever the party moves about the room, the stature appears to be facing each of them.  It sits upon an iron base, and when manipulating it, it swings to the side on a hinge point and reveals an opening down, down into what can only be an entrance to the Mythic Underworld.   Before they can react or investigate, swirling green energy the same color as the Loc-Nar’s energy begins swirling into the room and 3 small demonic creatures form from the swirling energy.  Ard casts Scar and one of them jumps down into the Mythic Underworld in fear.  Trotter launches a volley of silver arrows but finds them to be ineffective.  A Sleep spell puts the other 2 out (demons sleep?) and when they dissipate  the swirling green energy forms a pillar that extends up into the ceiling.  Low on spells, they forge ahead hoping to find the goblins that stole the bolts of silk.  They make their way to some rough hewn stairs down and Trotter silently guides them to the first lower chamber and finds it full of lizard men.  They surprise them with a volley of arrows and javelins, but they hold.  Bakarit stuns on with Color Spray, but is clawed by a lizard man and forced to retreat.  They are overcome by the claws and bites form the creatures, and Trotter bravely holds the line as the party retreats back up the stairs heavily wounded.  They emerge from the sandpit and see a horrific sight.  The pillar of green energy extends up from the ground into the sky.  Above them hovers a massive hooded figure who points to the southwest where a few miles away an even larger pillar of green Loc-Nar energy extends upwards into the sky.  The huge floating figure then regards them and turns to point out into the distance towards Fort dawnbreak.  Upon doing this they see a cloud of debris fall down and cover the fort.  They quickly mount up and head to the fort.  When they get within a mile or so, they notice tiny white dots wriggling across the ground.  Just then their horses begin nipping and scratching at themselves.  As they investigate closer they realize that the whole area is covered in a plague of lice.  They fell from the sky and covered the entire fort, infecting everyone.  The lice carry a painful ear disease that infects 14% of the fort’s population.  The vile plague also causes some troops to desert and some residents to leave the area.  It also ruins all of the merchant’s perishable goods and the fort will become a pariah of the area for at least the next 3 months, no new residents will arrive, and troops and mercenaries will not look for work there.  The party worries if the triggering of the plague will ever be traced back to them, and they begin discussing if they should also depart the area until the heat cools down.  Godhard and crew have much work to do to remediate the area of the plague of lice.

Session Notes-  So this session we did have to look up and discuss if demons can be put to sleep.  As we read it, only the HD cap and any demon magic resistance would preclude a demon from being affected by sleep.  These measly manes had no MR, and were only one HD so it appears they can be affected.  I guess the way to look at it is- it’s not so much about whether or not demons need to sleep, but more can these weak demonic creatures be affected by magical slumber the same way they could be affected by magical holding.  Makes more sense framed that way.  I do enjoy doing a deep dive occasionally during a session, but generally I think it’s more important to keep things moving.  Our group particularly enjoys the rules discussions, and it over time helps with rules knowledge and clarity.

Treasure and XP-  Wraith Lair- Monsters- 9x Wraiths 6255xp.  +Treasure- 20k sp (1000xp), 10kgp/xp, 3300pp (16500xp), 7x gem 3500xp, 40x jewelry (20x 1000gp, 10x 700gp, 10x 1600gp= 43000xp), shield +1, Crossbow of Accuracy, Plate +1, Potion animal control= 77,900xp= 84,155xp/3 PCs= 28,052xp each.  Hench get 15% each from Godhard.

Sandpit Dungeon- Monsters- 3x Manes 66xp, 2x Lizard Men 130xp= 196xp + Treasure- Gem 1000gp/xp= 1196xp/4 PCs= 299xp each.

Graveyard-   10x Gnomes killed by Guidon’s Brigands cavalry charge into the siege camp outside the western brigand Keep.  (session 134)

109x Troops of the Coalition of the Good killed at the assault of the Brigands Western Keep (session 135)

30x Lt Foot, 180x H Foot, 30x Lt Cav, 30x med Cav, 15x Crossbowmen (Coalition of the Good troops), Zalde- M/U5, Seth F6 (raised/failed, permanently deceased), Foyt- M/U5 (raised) killed at the siege of the Loc-Nar forces at Atagon’s ruined tower. (session 136)

Pentagon the cleric killed by Brigands outside the gnomes keep.  (session 137) (revived, 1 week bedrest)

Pentagon the cleric slain by carnivorous apes outside Slithers keep lair.  (session 140)

Jirrel the Paladin level drained by Wraiths in the buried tomb. (session 141)

Nappendixia Campaign 3.0- Session 140

 Nappendixia Campaign Session Report

Session #-  140 Session Date- 8/28/26

Time Passed- 1 week

Roll Call-  Ralph- F1

Pentagon- C2

Ard- M/U3

Bakarit- I1

Trotter- R2

Adventure Log-  The party is hired by the mysterious Anastasia, who says she can lead them to the fallen dragon Slither’s treasure.  She brings a party of other adventurers with the PCs and leads them off east to a ruined keep in the forest.

Pentagon’s Journal-

“I have decided to depart from Atagon’s service and forge off on the path of an adventurer, spreading Pelor’s word along the way.  My fellows have proven themselves to be true and courageous, and I pray for Pelor’s strength to bless us on our journey.  We are off to locate a fallen dragon’s treasure, I wonder if my efforts are pure.  I pray I am on the right path.”

(Pentagon was torn in half by carnivorous apes while the party rested to enter the dragon’s lair.  His body was crudely and hastily buried as the surviving party prepared to delve the lair.  Such is the life of an adventurer.)

Session Notes-  Back to school and I’m beat.  I washed out early on in the game and just kicked back and listened to the session.  Hope the bros scored big.  

Player Session Report-

We met this broad Anastasia at the Broken Sword in the Merchant's quarter. Claimed she had looted the Tomb of Durkha Durkha, whoever that was. She was dressed like a noble though, so it must've been a big haul. She said she was looking to make a big score and needed our help. "Say less", is what I thought. I just needed a few more gold pieces to train. The party sure wanted to say a hel of a lot more.

We agreed so she introduced us to the rest of her crew. Greenbeard the half-elf Initiate of the 2nd Circle led a party of two adepts Tut and Ankh who worshipped some god named Apophis (never heard of him) and a veteran named Teal'c. The other crew had a less clearly defined leader. Two adepts Phobos and Deimos who worshipped another god I wasn't too familiar with named Hermes and a  pair of magic users Affelnar the Theurgist and Zarinthar the Prestigidator who seemed like a master and apprentice pair (Affelnar was clearly the most experienced). Green Beard was apparently a local but the rest definitely looked like foreigners to me. Instantly my compatriots wanted to scrutinize the fellows down to the last detail. Pentagon cast some sort of detect evil spell and whispered to us that the clerics, magic users, and even our patroness were red hot. It didn't much matter to me.

We set out later that day, joined by a pair of drivers named Fred and Frank. The trip was smooth sailing for the most part. As we approached the keep, a pack of wolves eyed us but didn't decide to mess with our caravan. It seems all the carnage of the recent weeks left their bellies full. By the time Anastasia told us we were getting close to the keep, the sun was starting to set. I didn't want anyone running off with the gold in the middle of the night, so I convinced the group to wait until the morning to delve. My mistake.

As we were settling into camp, we heard a rustling in the tree canopy above. Turning we were faced with six giant apes staring us down with hungry eyes, licking their chops in anticipation. As I rushed to pull some fine sand out of my belt pouch, the apes jumped down from their perches and attacked the party. One of them bit me! In the chaos, the druid shouted something and most of us were caught up by plants and held fast. I was pissed until I noticed the apes were caught too. The fighters in the party finished the apes off. A few yards away we found the young watching in horror. We put them to rest too. Unfortunately Pentagon our trusty cleric was ripped to shreds in the carnage and so were Zarinthar and Deimos. More cuts for me, I supposed. 

That morning we set off for the keep. The druid was able to blaze a trail, and soon enough we were standing on the precipice of a ruin. Anastasia cleared away some vines and revealed an entrance that led below. After spending some time to make sure the coast was clear, we roped down into the belly of the beast. Looks like this spot was where those damned apes came from. We mucked around in their lair and found some gems. They gleamed pretty bright once you cleaned the dung off 'em. Anastasia was apparently familiar with the place, and was able to point out a secret trap door while we messed around. We pulled the stone to the side and roped down to another level. 

About this time, Anastasia started freaking out. This was apparently where the gold was supposed to be. All that was left were some arms, armor, a potion, and a pearl. I scooped up the potion in any case. The druid had one just like it, and he claimed it was a potion of animal control. There were a few mangled giant ant corpses amongst the horde, so, with the druid's help, we figured they must've been the culprit. Taking a look around, we found yet another hole leading down. 

This one was an old well that had apparently gone mostly dry. Anastasia was the first down and the rest of us followed. We entered into a long tunnel that we followed for probably a hundred feet until we found a side passage. We figured the ants must've built this one, so we took it. After a few winding curves, we found a pair of chambers. About a dozen ants found us! I quickly quaffed that potion, blindly trusting that druid, and it turned out he was right. The ants were immediately turned docile. Whoever wasn't got their head bitten off. 

We took a look around and Anastasia let off a sigh of relief. Looks like this was Slither's horde. Well, at least half of it. The other chamber was filled to the brim with pinecones. Seems this was the ant's food. We continued on following the tunnel until we found another pair of chambers. This was the queen's room. My ants made short work of her and her minions. Apparently I was their new "queen". She was sitting on a huge hoard of coins, so, as Anastasia started greedily packing them away, I split from the party and followed the tunnel further until it sloped up and towards daylight. I was so relieved not to have to climb those ropes again.

About that time, I started getting the itch to explore a little further down here, but I was worried my new ant friends would realize that I wasn't their queen. I mirrored myself and led them into one of the pinecone chambers and Ralph set them ablaze, cooking the ants. It smelled awful in there.

As the rest of the group loaded up sacks full of coin, I slipped away with Ralph to take a look at the rest of this place. That tunnel we had originally been following led us to a huge cavern with a pool at the bottom. Suddenly, Ralph jumped into the water! I don't know what's wrong with that guy, but something isn't quite right about him. It didn't take me long to gather we were dealing with a group of nixies, and luckily the druid spoke their language. We were able to convince them to let go of Ralph as long as we gave them some of the copper. I was going to leave it anyways! Bakarit decided to be the one to deliver the bag. He said he probably had a better chance at resisting their charm. Yeah right. As soon as he heard their call, he fell for them hook line and sinker. The nixies let go of Ralph, claiming they held up their end of the bargain. To free our little illusionist friend, we'd have to pay them more copper. Great.

Ralph came up with a plan (that probably worked better in his head). We tied a rope around him and sent him charging back towards the cave with even more copper. Like a fish out of water he jumped right back into the water. We tugged hard but he was fighting back! I put my back into it and we pulled him out, but the poor guy was unconscious. Apparently they had a giant catfish in that pool and he was fish food. 

The nixies weren't too happy we had taken him again and demanded another copper payment. Luckily Slither had a penchant for the coin and there was plenty left to go around. This time we just left the copper in the shallows away from that pool. They reluctantly let Bakarit go, who was a little disappointed himself. A couple of hours later we emerged back into the sunlight laden with coinage. After being shaken down from some sylvian spirits (were they centaurs? Satyrs?) for six gems and a bunch of ant eggs we made it back to the fort that evening. Anastasia dealt out our shares at 1,811gp a piece. I claimed the pearl too and some of my buddies claimed the various arms and armors. Later we headed to Atagon and had him raise Pentagon from the dead. He's not getting off that easy! Luckily I now have just enough gold to train. Now I just need to find Boldvay. 

Treasure and XP-  TBD

Graveyard-   10x Gnomes killed by Guidon’s Brigands cavalry charge into the siege camp outside the western brigand Keep.  (session 134)

109x Troops of the Coalition of the Good killed at the assault of the Brigands Western Keep (session 135)

30x Lt Foot, 180x H Foot, 30x Lt Cav, 30x med Cav, 15x Crossbowmen (Coalition of the Good troops), Zalde- M/U5, Seth F6 (raised/failed, permanently deceased), Foyt- M/U5 (raised) killed at the siege of the Loc-Nar forces at Atagon’s ruined tower. (session 136)

Pentagon the cleric killed by Brigands outside the gnomes keep.  (session 137) (revived, 1 week bedrest)

Pentagon the cleric slain by carnivorous apes outside Slithers keep lair.  (session 140)

Nappendixia Campaign 3.0- Session 139

 

Nappendixia Campaign Session Report

Session #- 139 Session Date- 8/14/26

Time Passed- 8 days

Roll Call-  Hex Crawl Party-

Roland- P5

Bakarit- I1

Fletch- F5

Ralph- F1 hench

Pentagon- C2

Trotter- R2

10x mounted Archers

Sandpit Dungeon Party-

Ralph- F1

Bakarit- I1

Ard- M/U3

Trotter- R2

Pentagon- C2

Adventure Log-  Julystein final Wrapup Post-

The Triumph of the Coalition of the Good

A great timber beam is raised across the southern road into Ft. Dawnbreak, set on two posts and wrapped with garland. At dawn a bull is slaughtered beneath it and the meat is burned.

The Host Returns

The whole of the Coalition's strength forms up on the road and passes under the beam in column, every man with his head covered. They go through in silence. On the far side the covers come off and the shouting starts, and it does not stop for some time.

The Yoke

The surviving goblins and the brigand prisoners are brought up last and made to pass under the same beam. They are not bound afterward.

The Procession

Spoils taken from the enemy keep are carried up through the fort on carts — arms, standards, a fire drake head on a pole. Godhard rides at the head on a plain brown horse, in a wreath. Walking at his shoulder is a settler from the Gorge Hamlet in his working clothes, holding a second wreath above the high priest's head and speaking to him without pause the entire length of the route. The army follows, and the army is howling abuse at him. Every man in the column, the whole way up, and nobody stops them. Some of it concerns the high priest's horsemanship. Rather more of it concerns a week spent in a tent. Godhard does not respond and does not appear to mind.

Guests Under the Sun

At the gate the Patriarch dismounts and receives each foreign leader personally — Ted Nugent of Sunrize, YoinkusGrandPoobahsmasher The IV of the Rustic Gnomes, and Diana of Myrina — naming each a guest under Pelor's protection and setting a crown of green on each head with his own hands. Crowns are handed to every man and woman at the tables.

The Silent Course

The first dishes are eaten without a word spoken anywhere in the fort.

The Reckoning

Godhard then speaks the business aloud in front of everyone:

• The gnomes are paid what they were promised for the defence of the fort, and spells are handed across in the open.

• Terms are set with Sunrize: Hex 2414 will be left as untouched wilderness, though an exception will be made for defensive improvements such as roads and fortifications.

• Myrina's offer of fealty is answered: The Many Mothers must swear fealty to Godhard but they will govern internal affairs within Myrina.

• A new sheriff is named for Cowpens, Curtis, in the presence of Atagon, who is crowned beside the Patriarch and named as the man who put the Loc-Nar off the world.

• All will be called to settle disputes at the Thing during the Summer Solstice.

The Atonement

Godhard kneels and communes for some time in full view of the tables. Whatever answer comes, he rises, calls Diana of Myrina forward, and lays hands on her. A light comes off the two of them bright enough that the men at the back stand up.

The Fire Goes Out

At dusk every flame inside Ft. Dawnbreak is extinguished, including the chapel light, and the fort stands entirely dark for about an hour — long enough to be noticed from a considerable distance. Then a single fire is struck in the tent chapel by the young priest Meinhard, and carried out from his hand to relight the rest.

The Feast

Everything after that is loud and rowdy, and goes on until dawn breaks. 

8/14/26 session-

In the aftermath of the war between good and evil, Godhard gains recognition as a leader in the area.  Through troop and scout movements and reports from local villagers he is able to get information on terrain and inhabitants of the southern part of his domain, as well as some reports of nearby undead lairs.  Banking this information, he sends out a mid level party to explore the unexplored SW of his region.  After several days of exploration and mapping, they reveal the area to be drier, mostly scrub, rough, and plains, with some forested areas.  They are interdicted twice by a group of 17 ogres, but keep their distance and avoid encounter.  In the area they discover a N town of 4500; they make some introductory diplomacy with them and spend the night.  They also discover a CG village of 200 who receive them coolly, wary of the lawfulness that paladins bring to their lands.  Probably the most interesting thing they discover is a lone Illusionist hermit living in the wilderness.  Bakarit is able to make very friendly relations with him and finds a future trainer and mentor.  After 5 days in the field they return to Dawnbreak to rest.  With his entire hex now revealed, Godhard can now begin the task of clearing out lairs and planning construction for his keep.

Sandpit Dungeon Delve-

While resting, the low level guys find out that in the aftermath of the battle at Fort Dawnbreak, a group of goblins made off with several bolts of very valuable fine silk from their raid on the Merchant Quarters and are offering a reward for their return.  Bakarit is able to add to this rumor that while travelling to the fort he had seen a group of goblins descending down into a sandy area carrying some large bundles.  They quickly put 2 and 2 together and plan a delve into the nearby Sandpit Dungeon which up until now they have heard only vague rumors that some more powerful adventurers deemed the delve not worth their time.  They gear up and get to the locale, about a mile of scraggly pine nestled among low dunes of sand.  At the lowest spot they find a sand clogged hole, and Ard lowers himself first into a sand covered cavern, 2 piles of bones knit together into a skeleton and attack, as 2 more creep forward, the party pushing through the upper hole as fast as possible.  Ard holds them off with a mirror image spell, and the fighters smash 2 skeletons and Pentagon chases 2 more away with his holy symbol.  They consider chasing the fleeing skeletons down a natural stone stairs going east, but instead elect to finish exploring the larger cavern, where they avoid some fire beetles and giant rats, and find a small rear chamber containing 2 zombies which they turn and chase into a dead end staircase filled with sand and finish them off.  A small amount of treasure and some possibly magic arrows are found.  They search the NW part of the cavern and trigger a spray of spikes trap and a subsequent charge from 5 angry weirdly evolved bird men.  Their double talon attacks are quite formidable, but 3 fall to a sleep spell and the other 2 are brought down.  Three fine rubies are found on their meager garments.  Feeling like the larger cavern has been cleared, they move east carefully hoping to locate the fleeing skeletons; they also find a few scraps of filthy silk discarded here, and carefully avoid another trigger trap on the crude staircase.  The passage narrows and they continue east, opening into another large chamber, this one even larger, and containing a large pond fed by underground streams flowing SE.  They are besieged by giant ants, but defeat them, and notice a strange carved stone door that they avoid.  To the east they find another set of rough stone stairs, and again evidence of soiled scraps of silk leading down the stairs.  Before they can follow they are hailed by a group of gnomes who are stuck and lost down here, they ask for assistance and promise a reward.  They oblige them, tired from being sand covered and breathing the dusty air for hours.  They rescue the gnomes and make it back to Fort Dawnbreak.  

Session Notes-  We got a new player this week, so that was good to get some new player energy and make the party more robust.  I didn’t over-prep in anticipation of a new player, but I did finish off the Sandpit Dungeon, the “other” low level dungeon I'd given rumors on but had gotten no interest so far.  I figured a hook of some sort would have come in the aftermath of the big battle, and came up with the stolen bolts of silks, as the goblins actually had raided the merchant quarters looking for loot.  I figured at least one band would have escaped with some valuables.  They took the hook they didn’t have to.  This map took me no time at all, just improvised it and all rolled off the DMG dungeon level 1 table.  I did swap the dire corbies in for some orcs that I had actually rolled.  They just piqued my interest recently when I was browsing Fiend Folio, they seemed fun, tough, and were.  I think DMs can neglect the usefulness of just browsing the monster books in AD&D and only refer to them when needing a specific monster.  I’ve come up with several cool ideas recently just browsing the monster books.  I do recommend taking the time to do a little cross hatching border for your hand drawn maps, if anyone else still does this. Though tedious, it does really help make them pop and more fun to use.  

Treasure and XP-  Monsters- 4x Skeleton 44xp, 5x Dire Corby 145xp, 2x Zombie 100xp, 2x Giant Ant 88xp= 377xp + Treasure- 3x ruby 750xp, 5x Arrow +1 20xp, 100sp/20xp, 300cp/3xp, 50gp, 300ep/150xp= 1053xp.  Total 1430xp/5PCs = 286xp each.  Add % bonus if applicable.  Hench get 15% of their PCs xp.

Graveyard- 10x Gnomes killed by Guidon’s Brigands cavalry charge into the siege camp outside the western brigand Keep.  (session 134)

109x Troops of the Coalition of the Good killed at the assault of the Brigands Western Keep (session 135)

30x Lt Foot, 180x H Foot, 30x Lt Cav, 30x med Cav, 15x Crossbowmen (Coalition of the Good troops), Zalde- M/U5, Seth F6 (raised/failed, permanently deceased), Foyt- M/U5 (raised) killed at the siege of the Loc-Nar forces at Atagon’s ruined tower. (session 136)

Pentagon the cleric killed by Brigands outside the gnomes keep.  (session 137) (revived, 1 week bedrest)