The Third Edtion Campaign:
Adventure 01: The
Forge of Fury
Date 02/01/02
The adventurers are:
Faramir, Emma and Cammeron are all formerly from Hommlet, a village in the Border hills south of Stormhaven. They left the town three years age to seek their fortune but are returning home to attend the annual Midsummer Solstice. On their journeys they picked up a human warrior from Druthnia called Anton De Mail, and an elven sorcerer called Cammeron Blade.
Reaching town they spend a couple of days having family reunions, Faramir's father is a notable ranger called Duarion, Emma's mother the local canoness of the Church of the Source, and Phyphor's uncle the local wizard, Burne.
Having spent a few days around town they learn that humanoids have been raiding the outlying farms and that their is abounty on any humanoid head. Of course the party decides to investigate. They head to the farm where the last attack occurred and then Faramir tracs the humanoids, which he estimates to be orcs.
The following day they reach a low, bald topped, hill. The tracks lead up into a cave, so the party decides to investigate. They spy two sleepy guards and lauch a surprise attack, thus silencing them, but not before the alarm has been raised. They are soon ambushed by orcish bowmen firing from hidden arrow slits. They manage to get nto an alcove out of line-of-sight and then break down a barred door. Ahead is a natural chasm with the sound of rushing water rising from it, a rickerty bridge crosses the gorge.
Anton bravely charges across the bridge but only makes it half way before two orcs step out and plug him with arrow fire. The warrior sways, loses his footing then tumbles off the bridge and into the water below. Phyphor then leaps into the water and manages to save the floundering warrior just before he sinks forever beneath the waves.
The rest of the party engages the marksmen but fail to do any real damage so they decide to retreat back to Hommlet, to get some supplies and plan a second attack. Pyphpor becomes a minor celebrity after he designs and gets a local wainwright to build a... wheelbarrow!
Returning a few days later to the caves they manage to seal the arrow slits with carefully placed boards, which they'd had purpose built. Thus negating the outer defences. Then they attack the bridge. With co-ordination, ropes and an ounce of luck, they get across, well Anton does, while Emma falls into the water. Unfortunately an ogre steps out and proceeds to bash up Emma.
Returning a few days later, they manage to seal the arrow slits with carefully placed boards, which they'd had purpose built. Thus negating the outer defences. Then they attack the bridge. With co-or dination, ropes and an ounce of luck, they get across, well Anton does, while Emma falls into the water. Unfortunately an ogre steps out and proceeds to bash up Anton but with the spell and arrow support of his companions Anton wins through and the ogre topples into the ravine, dead.
Adventure 2: Forge of Fury
Date 06/01/02
The adventurers continue into the orc lair but they are already wounded and low on spells after their encounter with the ogre. They also know that a spellcaster escaped somewhere into the lair and that he, or she, is still unaccounted for.
In the next room the orcs counter attack. Archers fire on the party and when they charge in more orcs pour out of side passages. The odds look overwhelming but the party stand, and die. First to fall is Emma; then Faramir, he is literally cut in two by an orc warrior; next Anton falls and finally, Cammeron. At least the sorcerer gives a good account for himself managing to dispatch three orcs.
The adventurers awake to find that they have become prisoners and that they must watch as Faramir is cooked up and eaten at a victory feast.
A few hours later, the survivors, with the aid of a druid prisoner (Curly Greenleaf), break out of the prison and manage to dispatch their three guards. They then sneak around the caves and locate, and kill, most of the orcs. They also find quite a bit of loot and their missing equipment which was with the orc shaman.
Satisfied that they have killed the orcs they return to
Hommlet for some much needed rest. They found one stairway
leading down so while in Hommlet decide to return to the caverns
and explore that.
Once back in the caverns they find the orc lair abandoned and
head down into darkness. They manage to kill a few stirges before
discovering two huge underground galleries, and a couple of
troglodytes, which they killed.
Adventure 3: Forge of Fury Continued
Date: Thursday 10/01/02
The adventurers continued to explore the second level of the dwarven complex. In the large cavern where they had just dispatched the trogs they found a bear kept in a cage but decide to ignore it as they couldn't see anything of value in its cage. Instead the chose to explore a side passage which soon led to a smaller cavern which was infested with moulds and fungi. They could just make out a couple of skeletal forms, all but buried beneath a layer of growth. A sword hilt also protruded form the multi-coloured pile of fungi. Phyphor tired to use a mage hand spell to remove the sword but it proved too heavy and the enchanted hand was unable retrieve the blade. After a few minutes thought the party decide to make a noose and get Phpyphor to use another mage hand to drop it over the hilt and then the party would simply drag the blade free. After several minutes of careful manoeuvring they were successful and had retrieved a finally crafted weapon, which Phyphor informed them was magical after using a minor enchantment to detect magic.
Further into the cavern they spied a second skeleton, this one with a finely made helm upon its head. Again they used a mage hand to retrieve the helm, but this time in doing so they disturbed the corpse and a cloud of yellow mould spores erupted out of the corpse. This caused the party to flee back away form the cloud.
Having successfully claimed sword and helm they moved onwards and soon found themselves back in the large central chamber, the floor of which was also covered in fungi's and moulds. They were very wary but moved into the chamber and soon found a path which was clear of the underground fungi's so followed it eastward.
As they passed by a ledge something sped out of a small opening in the cavern wall and tore into Phyphor leaving him a bloodied mess on the floor. Whatever it was it was small, fast and deadly. Emma and Anton leapt to their fallen comrades rescue but their mundane blades were unable to affect it so they drew the two enchanted blades recovered so far and were greatly relieved to find that they easily clove through the protection's of the tentacled horror that had floored Phyphor. Within a few minutes the tables had turned and the two creatures lay dead.
Making use of Phyphor's wheelbarrow (he must have known something) the party retreats back to the shaman's quarters, where they barricade themselves in, and rests for several days. During that time they occasionally hear the sounds of movement in the larger chamber beyond their barred door. Eventually curiosity overcomes them and they surprise a troglodyte that had wandered up to explore the upper level.
Once rested the adventurers head back down stairs and free the bear after finding an exit nearby. The grateful bear heads out to freedom and Emma informs the others that they are not to let the druid (who had returned to Hommlet) know of their deed.
Heading deeper into the caverns they locate another series of stairs that lead down and descend into third level. Here they encounter, and kill, a gray ooze but not before several weapons are damaged beyond repair by the ooze's acid.
Not far beyond the ooze's cavern they find another subterranean stream rushing through a natural cavern so decide to follow it. It leads them into another cavern and here they notice a strange rock formation on the far bank of the river. As they warily try to pass the danger point the creature, for creature it is, lashes out with a half dozen tentacles.
"What is it?" cries Emma, so the DM shows
the party a picture.
"Well, it looks like this."
"Cool, a roper, I haven't seen one of those in ages!"
These turn out to be famous last words, For the creature strikes the paladin and proceeds to draw her into it's maw and eat her for the Source has surely abandoned its champion (with some truly woeful dice rolling). Both Phyphor and Anton try to defeat the creature, Phyphor using up the last of his spells in the process. The creature appears to be susceptible to flame so they hurl all their oil at it and it finally is immolated but not until after the hapless Emma is killed.
With heavy hearts her two companions free her from the monster and prepare to return to the surface world.
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This page was last updated on
Sunday, 17 March 2002