Session 12 of an Ongoing Roll20 AD&D 1e Campaign
After feeling from the Mausoleum after a rolling battle with the Blue Moon Bandits the adventurers fell back to the dilapidated Inn. The Cleric of Pelor and the sole surviving Man-at-Arms retired to the Keep while the party opted to rest in the old Inn with the Ranger Nyloch rejoining the party. Wounds are bandaged and the Ranger takes to the trees to scout the surrounding area, he does notice some sort of movement near the old stone path they had taken to the Caverns of Chaos but no figures are seen. Night falls.
(Yeah, they got followed by a member of the Blue Moon Bandits)
While taking the time to go check up on the second floor of the Inn the Ranger Nyloch makes it up but the ruinous stairs collapse under the weight of the Plate Clad warrior Brax. Falling back to one of the shattered windows he sees cloaked figures skulking amongst the tombstones of the old cemetery behind the Inn. This is observed by the Ranger on the second floor as well while Ash checks the other ruined windows seeking any creatures approaching the Inn. An arrow is loosed and the bandits who had paused upon hearing the collapse of the stairs rush forward towards the inn. Revenge for their fallen brothers !
(The bandit's plan was to sneak up on the already damaged party and kill them in their sleep. A mixed group of 5 1st level Bandit NPC class and 2 2nd level Bandits. They know the party is injured and if they get away their chances of surviving the reprisals of the diabolical cult of Acerak is low.)
A volley of arrows from Nyloch kills a Blue Mon Bandit while the other rush forward under crossbow fire from the Warrior Brax as well. As they converge upon the Inn they begin hurling daggers through the windows at Brax and Ash while others moved around the Inn on the south and north of the Inn. While the Bandits try to run underneath the eaves of the ruined Inn Nyloch leaps down only to be attacked by figures in the colors and armor of the Keep's guard. Their eyes aglow with a hellish light.
(Remember those men-at-arms who got level drained in the mausoleum against the cultist wight? I remembered & Someone failed their spot check to see the fallen men-at-arms clawing out of their earthen prison. Smelling the blood of the living freshly spilled they rushed to get some of that vital energy and drained the Ranger of a character level)
The newly risen guardsmen now become Wights attack the ranger who flees towards the attacking bandits diverting the Wights onto their enemies. While this chase is occurring daggers disrupt the wizard while more bandits enter through the broken windows. Ghastly howls can heard outside as the Nyloch jumps through a window to flee the wights while Brax brutally cuts down a bandit forcing the other bandits to flee outside through the other window. The Wights close upon the fleeing bandits and the party waits.
(This "train to Zone" moment warranted some bonus XP, 100 to be exact. The wights make quick work of the low level bandits and then close in on their prey. Bandits had damaged pretty much every member of the party with their fusillade of daggers but with a round of combat reducing a level 1 bandit to negative 20 hit points I made a morale check and they bear feet instead of facing the massive Half-Orc warrior)
Pounding upon the front doors of the old inn can be heard, they wait. Wights come climbing-in through the windows saying "Its your fault ! we never wanted to be adventurers you have dragged us to this terrible place and made us like this. I am going to drag your miserable souls into my hell" . The faces of the wights now clearly recognizable as the fallen Men-at-arms they had buried just a day ago. Brax and Nyloch rush forward to quickly take down a wight while the wizard Ash hopelessly cocoons another in her Web spell. In the melee Brax is injured by the Wight as had been the ranger earlier. Along with magic missile fire from Ash the warriors destroy the vile undead who blames them for their tortured existence.
(Figured I would cheese it up a bit since i had roleplayed the Men-at-Arms not really being down with the accompany the adventurers to the caves of chaos in the first place. Character fear is actually noticeable since they do not wish to face level draining undead. The Web spell reduced the threat considerably and having won initiative I allowed the party to rush the Wights when they entered the old Inn through the windows. The Half-Orc fighter got level drained again for the second consecutive session and then regained the level at end of session again. This is an actual pattern for this particular player from my home table days. If there is level draining undead anywhere near the party he will engage and get love tapped and bounce to level 3 or 4 at least 3 or 4 times before attaining 5th. It is fekkin ridiculous how bad his luck is about that.)
After quickly looting the bodies of the bandits and noting one had escaped they build a bonfire of the dead and decide to force march back to Quasqueton. While in the forest they hear many footsteps heading towards the old Slaughtered Lamb Inn and their bright bonfire. They make it to the Dungeon of Quasqueton in but a single day and discover backpacks left for them near the entrance from Spring Garnet. A month of elfin rations and several pouches of goodberries along with a note apologizing for fleeing during the final battle she had with the party.
(If they had stayed in the Inn it would have been a party wipe. This time they made sure to destroy the remains of any one drained to death by the wights. Bonus XP again for learning from their mistakes of the past. The bonfire would have been clearly visible by any nocturnal guards of the inhabitants of the caverns. As a bonus for he party I reintroduced the Half-Elfin NPC and a connection to a small Half-Elfin village within the Felgrimm. Adventure hooks and closer to Quasqueton than Castellan Keep)
The Party retires planning their next foray into the Caverns of Chaos allowing a single day to pass between the assault.
(Short session this week but it is progressing well and the players seem excited for the next series of unfortunate events to be played out)
62 SP & 49 GP taken from the slain bandits
973 XP Nyloch/Ghost, 1025 XP Ash/Jamie, 1025 XP Brax/Brent
(The Half-Orc leveled back up to 3rd for the 3rd time with the Ranger needing another good session day. its odd but I think when they are done with the Caverns of Chaos the Wizard will be the highest level party member. Not sure I have ever had that happen in an AD&D 1e campaign)
#OSR #DnD #RPG #1e