Scribe's Work - OD&D Play Report Arthurian West Marches Campaign (Referee) - Part 33
PREVIOUSLY
Last time they went out, they found a lord they had heard about and (unwittingly) helped. They killed a basilisk that was on his land and gain massive loot.
PARTICIPANTS
- Ernold the ranger (Dan), level 4 ranger
- Ludwig le Fol (Vince), level 4 Fae Knight (my version of elf)
- Follower: magic-user level 1 (he has sleep so he's actually very useful to them, although he has poor loyalty and most of the time he run away to return back later)
- Durance (Oli), level 4 fighter
- Follower: Jules, skald (1st ed. Bard) level 1
- Arkadius (Ron), level 4 druid
- Follower: Depardieu, magic-user level 1
- None this time!
(their map)
Their plan was simple: get to the tower at 11.20, explore it and come back.
They followed the road south for half the day on horses, and then decided (as always) to skip the village of Bartok (home to a powerful necromancer). They traveled south-east / south in the forest and fell down some wandering skeletons. Traveling south, they found back a mound-tumulus-crypt they had previously encountered. They decided to "quickly" check it out.
The mound door was actually a large rolled stone, undecorated, but with vines of a rare herb (Rinat). They decided to push away the door and get inside, where they found a corridor, a beautiful wooden doors and etchings that it was the resting place of a "great warrior".
Inside, Durance wanted to announce himself (by yelling) just in case there was still inhabitants or Lawful beings. Of course it doesn't work like that, so a group of primitives from another room went in and attacked them. They made quick work of them. In the room there was a Ballista with marking showing a dragon getting killed by said ballista.
They explored some room with strange markings, mostly empty, but also sometimes torches and candles. They didn't trust the layout and decided to not interact with some of the stuff they found, such as weird stone on the floor (which where actually just a floor that wasn't completely done and hid tombs with loot inside of them).
At some point they bashed down the door which woke skeletons nearby that decided to take revenge on the living. They killed some primitives and then moved to attack the players (but were quickly dispatched).
At some point they found statues and a destroyed effigy of a god (which they moved to find underneath a small treasure). Furthermore, they also found a group of non-hostile primitives that only wanted to live. They actually made the right move and gave them some rations. The primitive, in their old and twisted tongue, explained basically that the door was shut and they couldn't leave.
They made "friends" with them and continued the exploration. They found rooms with skeletons (which the primitives helped fight), some with unholy shrine, strange markings, etc. One was of particular interest as it was written in an old language that only one of them could read: "The Axe is Cursed".
Finally they found the resting place of the warrior of the crypt. They made a small prayer, took away the lid and decided to place gold coins on his eyelid to allow him rest. The ultimate goal was to loot him, so the Ghast woke up mad and tried to kill the adventurer. It was a fierce fight but he was felled. They decided to pick up the axe (lol) and operate it on the last door of wood there was. This was a bad idea.
Firstly, the axe was cursed on hit. So as he it, the Fae Knight was affected by the curse (he saved this one but was now stuck with the axe). And on the other side was a woken very young white dragon that was waiting for them because of all the noise (and the bringing down of his door with axe shot). So he (almost) vaporized the Fae Knight. Since he was brought to exactly 0 and the others used heal, I made him survive with dire consequence.
In any cases, a fight ensued with the dragon. He didn't have much HP, so it actually wasn't that bad: in the end, he was of the lowest type of dragon of the lowest age. In his "lair" they found a small hoard, chewed up primitives and a hatched drake egg.
They patched up the Fae Knight as good as they could and went their way. But the door was now blocked ! They had to forced it open from the inside and then left to get some better healing for the Fae Knight that was unconscious. (It was actually a curse by the Ghast that whoever enters is trapped, which is what happened to the primitives; but now that he was dead, the stone could be rolled from the interior)
AFTERMATH
Somewhat good XP and GP was acquired from the hoard of the dragon. They always have good loot. Nothing else of note since the axe is cursed and they decided to get rid of it.
For a while now the Fae Knight player will play his follower, the magic-user, while his main character heal (he will have permanent damage and 5 weeks of resting).
TLDR
In a sentence, what happened: They cleared a crypt/tumulus of a great warrior only to find a very young white dragon and a cursed axe held by an old powerful warrior now turned ghast. One of them almost got killed and will have to rest for 5 weeks with permanent injuries.
What impact all of this will have: It will change a bit the power balance since the Fae Knight player is a very active member. But at the same time, it will help boost up the magic-users since I have none over level 1 (the highest one, level 5, died a couple of game ago).
What I take from this: Dragon's breath are strong, but hero-level players can take up great challenges even without preparation/surprise on their side.
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