Session 13 of an Ongoing Roll20 AD&D 1e Campaign

    This week's adventure started with the adventuring party in the reclaimed Dungeon of Quasqueton after the retreat from the Mausoleum within the Caves of Chaos. A quick recovery with aid from the pink pool and they fell back to Castellan Keep to be reunited with the Cleric of Pelor Mark Antoney. They inform Mulhoon Corporal of the Watch and Bailiff Burnsides of what has happened at the old dilapidated Slaughtered Lamb Inn who in turn relay that a road patrol saw a large fire which was maybe the old Inn burning.

(Allot of hand waving stuff early on as we were short a player, power outage in the asscrack of West Virginia. After the last session the creatures of Caverns burned down the Inn as it was used by the party as a resting area and a pair of Bugbears left to keep an eye on the place)

    Reunited they seek aid from the Keep but are directed to the Church of Saint Cuthbert since undead were encountered. The small church offers 2 vials of holly water each for the party in case they encounter more undead and offered to pin a scroll or two of "cure light wounds". Egress was not allowed back into the Main Keep at this time although the Scribe informed the party he would relay the information personally. The Half-Orc Brax was informed by the Keep Guard he would not be allowed in to the Main Keep but was allowed access to the rest of Castellan Keep like any normal traveler. Half-Orcs and other Humanoids were simply not allowed into the Main Keep unless directly invited by the Castellan.

(Bad rolls so no free Potions of Healing and if you do not RP up the racial enmity then every fighter is a Half-Orc or Dwarf regardless if you are playing elfin city or borderlands beset by orcish raids)

    Having no luck garnering any volunteers amongst the Guard or Watch to return to the Caves of Chaos the party sets out to Quasqueton before heading to the caves and equip themselves with the quickly evaporating pink liquid from the pink pool. They opt to make their journey in two parts even though they could do it in a single day and approach the Caverns in the early morning just after sunrise. They find the mausoleum has been recently sacked after their battle and fresh blood from their battle a few days earlier dry upon the floor. They quickly inspect room by room until the encounter a trio of giant rats which they quickly put to route felling two but allowing one to flee. The Cleric Mark Antoney has made a pet of a Mimic which is currently appearing as a satchel and after feeding it two giants rats it appears as a large full satchel. They talk and chat which is odd until he starts feeding it carrion then its kind of creepy, I am digging the uniqueness of it. Getting to the section they had not entered previously they find a side alcove with Iron Gate, large sturdy lock and chalk with the phrase "Danger: Wight". They investigate no further and continue down the hall finding another Iron Gate, Sturdy but damaged lock and broken bits of bone. They are unable to access this dustier version of the precious alcove and as the other can plainly see a stone sarcophagus up on a dais back about 10-15 feet. The next set of rooms appears to have been a private room and the discover a dead Redcap goblin in front of a chest and a hastily searched room. He has a swollen purplish finger so they open the chest from the side and it opens with a loud click as a poison needle springs near the lock. But the contents have been looted already.

(Was surprised when the party went past multiple closed or partially closed doors in the upper level of the Mausoleum. Also, zero inspection of the artwork on the sarcophagi or inscriptions. There had been about 5 days since the last incursion by the party so I figured the Bandits were holed up on the lower level and Orcs from the neighboring tribes had taken advantage of the situation. I had not decided yet who stolen "Stick's" stash yet though as it was a fairly sizable potion of the treasure for the Bandits.)

    Backtracking to a common room they had fought Bandits in before they descend to the lower level of the crypts. A large bright red stain they discern is paint is in front of a lit door while muffled arguing can be heard through an arrow slit. While the Cleric holds a Shield over the Slit the Half-Orc Brax forces the door with a crowbar. The chamber beyond is dimly lit and there is an open door on the far side of the room and a light shines in from another room where arguing can be heard and the smell of coffee and breakfast food can be smelled wafting into the chamber. The party creeps up on the open door listening to the discontent of staying within the Caverns of Chaos after the previous raid and subsequent raid by Orcs in the ravine as well. They opt for the subtle approach...

(I was not surprised, nor were the Bandits...)

    The Party rushes the superior numbers of Bandits in the other chamber, Three versus Nine. Brax is confident of his fighting prowess against these bandits but does not quickly down his opponent but a well placed "Web" spell from Ash immobilizes most of the Bandits while Brax and Mark Antoney of Pelor engage the others. While dispatching the immobilize bandits closest to the edge of the web the Bandit known as Olaf makes good his escape by leaping up to and off of a torch sconce to gain exit from the room leaving his fellow bandits to their fate. " You're on your own ya' sumbitches. See you all in Hell", as he flees the lower level. Knocking the torch loose from its sconce Olaf 'accidentally' sets the Web aflame and kills one of his own men as the remaining bandits plead the party for their lives.

(Battle was basically 3 rounds of conflict and 15 minutes of conversation. Ash the party wizard focuses primarily on two spells Magic Missile and Web but the Web has been used officially on fleeing opponents and main fights so its been the low level fireball so far. The Bandit Leader Olaf made his save and I played up his escape making it flashy. A 5th level Bandit class recurring villain it is but I am unsure if he will report to the Devil Masked Priests, Sneak into the Keep after shaving his beard or seek out becoming an underling  of the players to rip them off using his disguise ability but I am sure Olaf shall return. He is definitely sneaking back into the mausoleum and getting the treasure left behind first as the players have missed hidden treasure multiple times)

    Interrogating the Bandits they learn the name of the Bandit leader and from the eavesdropping earlier they know the Bandits are the ones who scouted the keep disguised as passing merchants.That the "Temple of Doom" at the rear of the ravine is where the cultist priests live and operate, there are two tribes of orcs in the valley and they call one weird and obsessed with 'MoM' and have a sigil or spilled or broken jugs on a field of burnt orange, you cant trust the Redcap goblins but they helped them in their raids on merchants and on a small hamlet along with the fat jovial priest a member of the temple, there is a Troll named Killary who wanders the ravine who is immensely greedy and easily bribed, bugbears but they rarely see them and there used to be a Minotaur but they are pretty sure Killary killed it. The priest allows them mercy if they leave with but loin cloth and dagger to return to the Castellan Keep and turn themselves into the guard. They agree and leave.

(I was even more surprised they didn't kill every bandit wrapped up in the web. So I allowed them to get a ton of information and not a single confirming plot point was confirmed for their 'astute' eyes. <eyerolls> I do not know why I craft even the simplest of plots for players they never notice things. Them sparing the lives of the Bandits was cool too. Putting them into the wilderness in their underwear... kind of cruel but they did give them daggers.)

   Investigating further they discover sleeping areas of the bandits and more faceless robed statues on dais. A set of stirs in a corner appeared odd to the party so they searched for secret doors and discovered a long dark passage while close by was short passage ending in a very stout bronzewood door strong as steel. They fell back to the upper level to go through the captured merchant supplies but these had been thoroughly looted by neighboring orcs. Peering out into the ravine they see a group of redcap goblins returning from foraging with the partially naked bandits in ropes being lead to their lair while another goblin runs towards the temple at the rear of the ravine. The humans are receiving much abuse from the goblins and the goblins peer and shrug at the mausoleum entrance and look to be waiting for more goblins or something more sinister. The party opts to flee via the secret passage which lead back to the mausoleum by the ruined Inn. Much time has passed so they loop back around to the goblin lair. Entering the goblin lair they proceed into a large 20 foot hall with arched ceiling and two small five foot wide side passages but of only eight foot height. The clerics keen ears and eyes detected a goblin running down the hall and heard one behind them in the other side passage running away. Brax charges to the attack only to fall into a pit. Leaping up and climbing out as returning goblins hurl oil into the pit they flee back towards Quasqueton.

(Yeah, the goblins found the fleeing bandits and the party finally found a secret door entrance. I like to put secret ways into and out of Dungeons so players can opt to be stealthy or mount a nice raid upon the rear of a complex gaining some surprise. They could have surprised the entire Bandit complex from below which would have been a single session route for the Bandits instead of a two session clean up. But they missed the other end of the secret entrance which is in the Mausoleum near the old Inn. IS it connected? Yeah the old Chaos Demon cult was big there until displaced by the Cult of Acerak guys seeking the Tomb to offer supplicants to their cult's patriarch and building a base of operations. The differences in architecture was not noticed by players in the goblin lair and this could lead to a party wipe. I do indeed put a TPK opportunity near the entrance to an adventure which is easily avoidable. You just have to pay attention.  I allowed them to see a robed priest escorting the dead but now walking bandits out of the mausoleum accompanied by small winged creatures with forks who poked and prodded them forward. This is to prompt them to greater action and maybe this next time at the Keep they'll actually go looking for Henchmen instead of asking Men-at-Arms and Priests of a small country temple to volunteer for their less than stellar survival rate of return of hirelings/volunteers which is 1 out of 7.)

Party XP:  652 XP Brax/Brent 877 XP Ash/Jamie 777 XP Mark/Jack

Loots: 600 CP, 188 SP, 57 GP & a Vial, thick greasy black liquid (Poison for the Chest Traps, +2 bonus to save or die in d6 turns in agony)

#OSR #1e #RPG #MindsGaming #Roll20