Saberstrath Campaign, Session 6: Not In My House!

November 8-10, Caudex Annales, 70 AUP

Returning triumphantly to Hemmelmark the following day with a fine collection of ancient crypt treasures, the party quickly realized that the whole city of Hemmemark was in a state of disarray. Guards had left their posts, and the crowds that had previous lined the streets to gawk at the adventurers were instead hurrying along in a state of anxious panic. Accosting a random passerby revealed that the central keep had been invaded by assassins making an attempt on Duke Johann's life!

The party arrived in the bailey courtyard to find a ring of guards surrounding the keep. The assassins were holed up inside with hostages, after blowing their cover. Scrying on the visitor's hall revealed several ruffians threatening a group of captured keep staff, including a young girl at knifepoint. Duke Johann, arriving in animated conference with the court magician, revealed that his own daughter was a prisoner of the invaders, and implored the party to do whatever they could to spare her life. Meanwhile, Sir Robin and Viserion peaked through the upper windows to try to identify the location of other assassins.

Zelmar and Thorvald teleported directly into the chamber to catch the hostage-takers by surprise. The rest of the party flew up to the roof and battered down the access door to the upper floor. Fortunately the guards by the hostages were weaker, allowing the room to be secured before the leaders could return from patrolling the hall outside.

The actual fight itself ended quickly once reinforcements arrived to support the initial strike team -- though just in the nick of time, as Zelmar had been paralyzed and Thorvald was surrounded. Fighting went man-to-man, and then vicious dragon attacks from Viserion cleaned out the survivors.


The Duke expressed his gratitude, and gave the party full permission to seek out the source of the assassins -- he suspect the Burrgrave of Hochgrube, Ristovarius of House Wittigis, one of his longtime rivals. He warned the party that Hochgrube was a slaver city that had taken prisoner many of the citizens of the northern Timberlands, so that it would not do to merely burn the place to the ground.

After that, the party continued preparations for an assault on the frost giant fortress in the high saddle glaciers of Mount Isigbar to the southwest. A few party members traveled to neighboring Hainburg to look for magical items, but with little success beyond a few minor trinkets. They did hire a single mage, Adoniram Hewer, a graduate of the nearby Hedgecliff, a tower of high sorcery several leagues southwest along the coast. The tower is tall enough to be visible from Hainburg, shining in the seeing sun; here, many wizards have pooled their apprentices to create an enhanced educational environment. (Adoniram describes himself as "Grifflepaw prefect three-year nonconsecutive with honors", which sounds like it's probably a good thing to be, at least so far as anyone can tell.)

"A tower of high sorcery several leagues southwest along the coast" (Art by Andreas Rocha)

Roster

• Zelmar Krackiss, 5th level fright knight
• Anatolia, 4th level bladedancer
• Frigodria, 5th level paladin
• Viserion, 4th level white dragon
• Oin "Dirtface" Orinson, 5th level dwarven sapper
• Sir Robin Silverfall, 5th level spellsword
• Herrohnin, 5th level summoner, and his scads of spooky scary skeletons
• Sir Rock Boulder Fist, dwarven 5th level summoner
• Thorvald, 5th level spy

=> 7 PCs + 2 henchmen = 8 shares

Not appearing in this adventure:

• Tu'a'than, 5th level spriggan
• The very young white dragon, Namazu, who is off monitoring the frost giants

Casualties

Lots of skeletons and spirit dwarves

Treasure

Coins: 12,400 gp

Magical items:

• cloak of protection +1
• 9 bolts +1 
• 3 arrows +1
• Nightblade spellbook: read magic, choking grip, stinking cloud

Total gold per member: 1550 gp

Experience

Killed: 8th level nightblade [1600 xp], 8th level witch [1100 xp], 8th level thief [1100 xp], 7th level gladiator [790 xp], 5th level thief [350 xp], 5th level ruinguard [350 xp], 4th level thief [135 xp], 2nd level barbarian [29 xp], 1st level antipaladin [13 xp]
Total:  5467 xp

Total experience from treasure: 12,400 xp
Total experience from kills: 5467 xp
Total experience from exploration: 0 xp
Total experience: 17867 xp
Total experience per member: 2233 xp

Saberstrath Campaign, Session 5: Pay No Attention To The Mummy Behind The Curtain

November 7-8, Caudex Annales, 70 AUP

Anatolia, mystic oracle

The party overheard a tavern rumor about a hidden tomb in a great chasm somewhere in the forest. After paying a nominal fee for the exact location, a few interested members of the party formed up into a small group of the living (and a larger group of the dead) to investigate. Zelmar had been hunting for a henchman, and after he turned up an oracle from the Niobraran deserts to the southwest, the party waited an extra day to allow her to complete a prophetic vision before setting out. The chasm was incredibly narrow, more like a rift that had opened during some sort of cataclysm, rather than a canyon formed by natural erosion.

The hidden mummy lord

The location proved to be the site of a tomb that had been carved into the cliff wall centuries in the past. Descending down the wall on ropes (several hundred feet of joined rope!), the found a pillared terrace with a single entrance. The entrance led into a twisting passage with unnaturally cut walls, warded by eternal silence. The passage was deserted as it led past ancient tableaux showing the preparation of corpses for preservation. Disturbingly, the corpses did not appear to be very human, but instead looked like hunched and neckless creatures with broad mouths and no noses -- not human, and not any of the more common sorts of beastmen either. The party progressed in the middle of a long column of skeletons and dwarves.

In the next room, the party encountered walls of skeleton sentries that clattered into action, barring further passage. As the first waves of skeletons clashed with one another, the party heard the report of scraping sarcophagus lids in the room beyond. The battle was soon joined by four mummies and the foul chanting of an unseen fifth. As the battle with the mummies progressed, strange magics began to emerge from the doorway: a cloudkill spell, a summoned cave kraken, and a massive earth golem that scraped huge gouges in the ceiling.

After clearing a path to the burial chamber, the mummy lord was discovered and dispatched. The chamber was mostly empty, but a bit of searching turned up a door hidden in the corner -- a secret treasure hoard!

Roster

• Zelmar Krackiss, 5th level fright knight
• Anatolia, 4th level bladedancer
• Viserion, 4th level white dragon
• Oin "Dirtface" Orinson, 5th level dwarven sapper
• Sir Robin Silverfall, 5th level spellsword
• Herrohnin, 5th level summoner, and his scads of spooky scary skeletons
• Sir Rock Boulder Fist, dwarven 5th level summoner

Not appearing in this adventure:

• Tu'a'than, 5th level spriggan
• Frigodria, 5th level paladin
• The very young white dragon, Namazu, who is off monitoring the frost giants

Casualties

Lots of skeletons and spirit dwarves

Treasure
4000 ep
4000 gp
1000 pp

Crown: 30,000 gp
Mask: 8000 gp
Fan: 6000 gp
Ceremonial dagger: 6000 gp

Total value: 66,000 gp

Note: This stuff is hard to sell, so you don't actually have this much gold until you find a buyer. This value is just a claim against the share of treasure.

Magical items: sword +1, flametongue, short sword +2, short sword +1, sword +1

Total gold per member: 11,000 gp

Experience

Killed: mummy lord [5400 xp], earth elemental [3300 xp], cave kraken [1560 xp], 4 mummies [4x460 = 1840 xp], 14 skeletons [14x13 = 182 xp]
Total: 12282 xp

Total experience from treasure: 66,000 xp
Total experience from kills: 12,282 xp
Total experience from exploration: 0 xp
Total experience: 78,282 xp
Total experience per member: 13,047 xp