Don't Eat That

Dara 27 - A'Chiad 7, 6638

Next holiday: Dragonning, Treas 35 (the spring equinox)

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Midnight, the Panther
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Aroof, Wardog familiar
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Laurita Gomez, Priestess
  • Sal Rrentath, Thrassian Gladiator
• Quetgar, Thrassian Assassin
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• Gottes Segen, Cleric
  • Betül Tirmizi, Ectomancer

With the godmurder dealt with and the pockets stuffed, the party made one last shopping trip before leaving town, picking up a strange ring that seemed to be a +1 Ring, a Duck of Many Things, a Bag of Banking, and a Tankard of Theft. All handy items in their own right. The duck (currently in the form of a cat) seemed ambivalent about the party, but that may simply be because it's in the form of a cat. Gróin, meanwhile, opened a bank account at the nearest Gnomish Bank, which immediately linked it to his Bag of Banking.

The party moved on, leading their caravan out of the city. They stopped at the few cities and towns on the way to the Wall, but none had any prices good enough for trade. Nearly to Crabbale, the party spent the night bivouacking under the stars. At midnight, the darkest part of the darkest night, and ill wind blew... what it meant, however, no one knows. The next evening, they spent partying with the folks of Crabbale; several members of the party awoke the next morning with a hangover, a lack of pants, and/or a bright orange traffic cone. No one is ever sure where these traffic cones come from, but anyone who becomes overwhelmingly drunk on New Year's Day wakes up with one.

Back at the Mareten Tower, the party was ready to begin their assault anew. It was a new year, and they were itching to try out their new weapons and gear. Unfortunately, their gear was not quite enough; the 8th level was full of magical traps, and more than a few doors were left unopened, as they were guarded by magical wards.

After clearing a few rooms on the 8th floor, they found a secret door. Inside, they found a hidden floor panel, covering a chest. In the chest was a rich purple Corundum and a Moonstone, along with 120,000 copper pieces! The chest was far too heavy to lift from the hole; the copper pieces barely fit into the Bag of Banking, and had to be scooped up by hand. Eventually, the chest was emptied, and the party moved on.

Another secret room was found; with the ring of X-ray vision, a figure was observable inside. Once the door was opened, it was revealed to be a terrible undead creature, its flayed face and bulging belly swiveling towards the party. Caranthir slammed the door shut, and after some discussion, cautiously opened it again... but couldn't see a thing. Listening hard, all he could hear was a panting breath, rasping like a bag full of coins. Steeling his nerves, he looked up - and spotted the creature! He struck out with his sword; as the blade ripped through the undead flesh, a shower of gems fell from its belly. All who gazed upon them were entranced by their beauty. Caranthir grabbed two, and the others scrabbled for others. As they picked up the bounty, they realized that there was only one way to keep their treasure safe - by eating it! For a moment, they basked in the delicious smoothness... and then the gems turned to acid in their stomachs, burning them. Caranthir was nearly killed, but shaking off the enchantment of the cursed gems, the party began fighting in earnest. Soon, the creature - a Nathaghol was slain. The party dragged its treasure out and closed the door. The magical items were sorted through, and all but one potion were identified, including four treasure maps!

Further along, two ghouls were slain, then eight more, swords and spears slashing through them like paper. Ghouls pose little threat after the horrors they have faced. Five vampire spawn were cut down, and the stairs to the lower level were found. After some discussion, it was decided to finish clearing this floor, in case there were other creatures that could track them down. With only a quarter of the level mapped, there was sure to be something horrible waiting for them.

Yet more wards were found; an invisible servant was sent to open yet another warded door, and triggered a trap - a wall of force sprang up, then suddenly, 8 beetles crashed into the tiny space! Untouchable, the invisible servant poked the beetles a few times, waiting for the force field to fail. When it did, Luce impaled half of the beetles on her blade, and Sal Rrentath pierced the rest with his spear. The beetles dealt with, the party entered the next room...

Inside lay a pile of bones... and once they entered, the bones shifted, scrabbling on the hard floor, lifting into the shape of a young dragon! It screeched at them in an unearthly wail, striking out, but to no avail. It was cut down swiftly, and the coils inside its rib cage crashed to the floor.

The party realized it had collected a significant amount of treasure; perhaps it was time to move this bounty upstairs. Heaving and grunting, the party lugged the crates up flight after flight of stairs. By the time they were through, they were thankful for the clean beds offered them by the guard.

The magical treasure recovered from the Nathagol, the bone dragon, the hidden area, and the various ghouls is as follows:

• Potions:
  • 2x unknown potions
  • 2x Fire Resistance
  • Giant Control
  • Speed
  • Undead Control
• 6x Treasure Maps
• Scrolls:
  • a Cursed Scroll
  • Scroll of Divine Spells (Written in Common): Delay Poison (2nd lvl), Command Word (1st lvl)
  • Scroll of Ward against Lycanthropes
  • Scroll of Arcane Spells (Written in Dwarven): Locate Object (2nd lvl), Clairvoyance (3rd lvl), Projected Image (6th lvl), Hold Person (3rd lvl)
  • Scroll of Divine Spells (Written in Elven): Resist Cold (1st lvl), Create Food (5th lvl), Resist Cold (1st lvl), Purify Food and Water (1st lvl)
  • Scroll of Divine Spells (Written in Draconic): Cure Light Wounds* (1st lvl), Protection from Evil, Sustained* (4th lvl)
  • Scroll of Arcane Spells (Written in Dwarven): Fly (3rd lvl)
  • Scroll of Ward against Lycanthropes
• Sword +1
• Sword +1
• Sword +1, +3 versus dragons

• XP from Encounters:
  • 10 ghouls (29 xp each)
  • 1 Nathaghol (2950 xp)
  • 8 beetles (20 xp each)
  • 1 bone dragon (1600 xp)
  • 5 vampire spawn (80 xp each)
• XP from Treasure:
  • 120,0000 Copper (teleported with the Bag of Banking)
  • 3,000 Gold
  • 1,000 Platinum
  • 1,000 Electrum
  • 1,000 Silver
  • Gems/Jewelry:
    • 1 emerald (8,000 gp)
    • 1 whorled nephrite jade (1,500 gp)
    • 1 Rich purple Corundum (900 gp)
    • 1 Moonstone (70 gp)
    • 1 jasper (50 gp)
    • 1 Agate (25 gp)
    • 39 jade carvings of heroes, monsters, and gods (7800 gp)
    • 7 opal intaglio erotic tableaux (5600 gp)
    • 22 bone fetishes and figurines (572 gp)
    • 4 silver unholy symbols (270 gp)
    • 1 Glass trinket (160 gp)
    • 1 bronze trinket (140 gp)
    • 1 beast parts jewelry (15 gp)
    • 1 scrimshaw jewelry (12 gp)
  • Crated things:
    • 20 ingots of precious metals (12000 gp, 40 st)
    • 49 pieces of ivory (4462 gp, 44.6 st)
    • 99 6HD monster horns (2970 gp, 29.7 st)
    • 42 7HD monster horns (1176 gp, 14.7 st)
    • 5 crates of glassware (1000 gp, 25 st)
    • 4 barrels of whiskey (800 gp, 64 st)
    • 3 crates of armor and weapons (675 gp, 30 st)
    • 1 bundle of rare fur pelts (500 gp, 5 st)
    • 23 animal horns (460 gp, 4.6 st)
    • 1 roll of silk (400 gp, 4 st)
    • 1 crate of dragon claws (300 gp, 5 st)
    • 8 jars of lamp oil (160gp, 48 st)
    • 1 pouch of saffron (15gp)
• Total XP from Encounters: 5,400
• Total XP from Treasure: 53,832
• Total XP gained: 59,232
• XP per PC: 7,404
• XP per Henchman: 3,702
• Treasure per PC: 13,458 gp
• New character starting XP: 19,558

GM Notes

It's a Happy New Year - and back to the dungeon! As a note, the created goods, gems, trinkets, money, and so forth weighed a total of 322 stone; quite a bit of weight. Not counting the 120 stone of copper pieces the Gnomish Bank of Slowhaven has to deal with, of course! And speaking of the bank, I haven't noted here what the contents contain; since it was Gróin who opened the account, I'm leaving it to him to keep track of what funds remain inside.

Also of note: starting characters are 442 xp away from starting at the Adventurer level, as laid out on page 253 of ACKS Core. That mans new characters will start with 16,000 gp, and may trade starting gold for a chance of getting magical items. Not that anyone seems keen on changing characters just yet, though that may change as the creatures get tougher, deeper in the dungeon and further from civilization, and things eventually manage to get through Caranthir's armor...