The D&D Dynasty: The New Path of Alzar the Mighty

[hoopsguy]

Hmm, the old Alzar might have had some very different approaches to a pair of red dragons than the current iteration.

[Abe Sargent]

Or maybe not....

[Abe Sargent]

There is a thin loud freezing cry as one talks to the other. Their heads move from side to side, scanning the valley for something. They are younger, but a mated pair, which is unusual for reds, assuming they have the same habits on Hamedh as they would on Thorasia.

Alzar’s strength potion should last another hour or so. His staff has fire resistant properties for defending against the fire breath, and he has two extra healing potions to bring his hp to a fighting chance. Can he take on two younger dragons? Pashtun would be roasted alive, so Alzar would need to solo them. He does a quick check of his inventory. Nothing jumps out at him.

He leaves behind anything that he wont need – vials of acid, magic jelly beans, and everything else. He quaffs both potions and rises to full health. He heads back to the Bracers and the Ioun Stone which will give him an AC of 6.

He keeps his rings on and moves out. He has a trick in case things don;t work. He can mentally turn into a statue and wait for days until they get bored and then transfer right back.

Let’s see!

[Abe Sargent]

With his staff, fighting as a mage, Alzar needs a 14 to hit these and will deal 1d6+10 from his strength. They have just 30 hp. They breathe fire, and have three attacks.

Alzar moves out and they seen him despite his Ring of Chameleon Powers and they swoop down. One breathes fire on him and he takes 5 damage while the other lands. Then she breathes as he runs up to her and the male lands.

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Alzar’s staff is out and he swings and…misses. She breathes and the male hits him for 4 damage with a claw.

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Alzar swings and this and puts three charges into it and hits the dragon for 20 damage. He jumps back in surprise and leaps off the ground breathes for 5 more damage while she attacks and bites for 6.

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Alzar swings and…..misses. She breathes and he misses.

16/51

Alzar hits and smashes the female for 15 damage. She flies up as well and the two soar up and away and disappear.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar casts Lesser Rhadomancy and uses his diving rod to follow them

Ten minutes later he finds their cave, a hidden cavern with no other entrance, about twenty feet wide, and cannot be seen from below. He moves in.

The two dragons see him and charge in. The last breath hits him for 5 damage. His staff is out and he wins init.

11/51

He swings and…cracks the female for 13 damage. Not enough to drop her. She roars and flies past Alzar,batting him to the ground as she does. The male flies over him and they are out of their cave.

Leaving behind their treasure.

Alzar waits a few minutes to see if they return and then moves over. He skips the coins, which are too heavy to take back, and casts Detect magic on the pile.

He takes back:

+1 heavy crossbow
+1 club
Helmet of Underwater Action
28100 gp in assorted jewelry


The Helmet allows him to see 5 times further underwater, and creates a globe of air, allowing wearer to breathe underwater.

[Tellistto]

Almost got them!

Tell

[Abe Sargent]

True true!

[Abe Sargent]

They manage to make it home without being hit by any dragons along the way, and in the morning, they arrive back at the Tower of the Heavens, swapping the Elder Sage the new set of Books of Destiny, which did not detect as magical, by the way, for an item chosen by him as needed for them.
Pashtun gained +2 chainmail armor and Alzar was given

Pearl of Power, 2nd level

This allows him to regain and cast again any 2nd level spell once per day.

Alzar opens the boxes safely in here and inside were:

Destroyed and burned out Ioun stone
Potion of Heroism
Potion of Poison
Cleric Scroll – Prayer
Wizard Scroll – Strength, Fire Shield
Keoghtom's Ointment – 3 applications left



The Ointment will pull out poisons and diseases and such from a person upon application.




Alzar spends a few days here gathering, identifying and packing before heading back out.



Pashtun is now AC 0


End of UK4. When a Star Falls

[Abe Sargent]

That was a fun adventure! Alright, let’s pack it up and move on back home.

Twelve days later, Alzar celebrates his 2nd year anniversary on Hamedh. While he is getting stronger here, he can also feel his life on Thorasia getting further and further away.

He celebrates his new level by learning Riding, Specialization as taught by Pashtun. He has been learning for a month or so, and now officially has the proficiency.

A few days later they arrive in Arjuna with their things intact. The hunters did a good job of guarding his things. They were very happy with his destruction of the Derro outpost and the end of raids there, plus his releasing the escaped slaves there as well, who quickly became important members of the community. They really made sure his stuff was okay.


Alzar arranges with the local priest to Resurrect Yaghoub and heads to Watershead for a few days until the priest can arrive to perform the spell. Alzar paid him 5000 gp in Arjuna and now waits…

A day later, a very exhausted Yaghoub greets him and they spend a week trading stories about the badlands and desert there and the old kingdom of Neconolis. Sure, Alzar raided his stuff, but he also ressed the guy and paid for it. My books and old stuff is worth my life! He has his more valuable stuff elsewhere.

He trades the man back his staff for a chance to look at his spellbook and copy one spell that he likes. Alzar sees and takes one of his favorite spells. Vampiric Touch. He will begin memorizing it instead of Lesser Rhabomancy.

After 40 days have passed, Alzar has cast Dispel Magic on the book from Neconolis 40 times, which means he has likely destroyed any wards it has. He cracks it and begins to study the book. He learns:

Animate Dead
Summon Shadow
Protection from Good
Wizard Lock
Ghoul Touch
Bewilder

Bewilder – Charm spell. 3rd level spell. For one round per level, the target (failed save) cannot cast spells, and loses their action for one round (fighting, spell casting – spell is gone). They have to roll INT check to take any action at all. Affects 1 creature per level of caster in 20’ radius.


Now he is beginning to feel a little more comfortable.

[Tellistto]

Nice spellbook, that one!

[Abe Sargent]

It's been a while since he got a good number of spells, so he was due I think

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar on Hamedh
7th level Fighter (Myrmidon), 5th level Path Mage (Fivefold Mage)

Lawful Evil
Human

Str: 17
Dex: 12
Con: 10
Wis: 15
Int: 21
Cha: 17

Hit Points: 51
THACO: 14 as Fighter, 19 as Mage
AC: 10
Total XP: 22100
Age 56, Body - 22

Race Abilities:

None Taken

Class Abilities (Cannot use as Fivefold Mage without losing XP gain):

Specialization
Leadership (Alzar can command the tactics, strategy, logistics and more that a large force requires)
3 attacks every 2 rounds


Non-Weapon Proficiencies:

Myrmidon Bonus:

Tactical History 14
Fire-Building 16

Riding 11
Swimming 12
Reading/Writing 15
Survival 14
Blind Fighting
Etiquette 13
Endurance
Heraldry 14
Hunting 10
Fishing 14
Weather Knowledge 10
Orienteering 15

As a Necromancer/Fivefold Mage

Necrology 17
Netherworld Knowledge 14
Herbalism 14
Alchemy 15
Poison Use 11
Ancient Languages 10
Spellcraft 12
Ancient History – 14
Bookbinding – 16
Papermaking - 16
Sage Knowledge: Outer Planes, Inner Planes – 13
Divining: 15
Genie Lore: 16
Riding, Specialization: 10

Languages – Thorasian - Typic, Sis’sharr, UnderTypic, Kuo-Toa; Hamedhi - Arjuni


Traits:

Empathy
Fast Healer
Precise Memory
Obscure Knowledge


Weapon Proficiencies:

Bonus Kit Specialization:

Battle Axe

Battle Axe
One Handed Weapon Style x2 (-2 AC when using one weapon in combat)
Crossbow
Battle Axe Weapon Mastery
Spear
Dagger

Total with normal battle axe - +3 to hit, +3 to damage, -2 to AC. An additional +1 with the axe and +1 damage for strength


Staff – Can only use this as a Necromancer, +1


Class Ability:

1). Alzar can control undead as an evil Priest of the same level, and this ability extends to extra planar beings which are considered undead with the same hit dice for this purpose.
2). One Extra Spell/Level is Gained, must be Path.
3). Fivefold Mages reduce the spell level by one when researching spells in The Path.
4). Chance to Learn spell in The Path increased by +15%
5). Saving Throw of Targets when targeted by spells from The Path at -1.
6). No more than one spell per level can be from the group: Abjuration, Alteration, Alchemy and Geometry barring a highly unusual and temporary circumstance.
7). Fivefold Mage must invest a focus item as the method through which magic is cast. (Alzar’s Father’s Ring)
8). Must have a lab and library and workbench with 1,000 gp value per level, and an upkeep of 50 gp/level/month
9). They can store spells like an Artificer, but cannot begin to do so until level 6
10). Fivefold Mages have a chance to identify a magical item by spending a turn peering at it closely and examining it - chance is their level times 5.
11). Fivefold Mages never suffer from a negative reaction penalty due to controlling or animating undead.


Immune to starvation

[Abe Sargent]

Pashtun decides to spend a few days out in the badlands with his former people and Alzar returns to regather some things and organize himself in the city of Arjuna. Two days have passed since he returned.



MV1. Midnight on Dagger Alley



One of the final solo adventures that TSR made, this 1984 module uses a Magic Viewer, or a piece of red plastic, to read the texts. I prefer it to the invisible pen because it doesn’t mark up the stuff, and it remains hidden information after you’ve played it through once or twice.

This is really cool. It has a really big map of a district of the city you are in. You have this huge, double-sized map pull-out maps disguised in red, for the rooftop, dungeon, street and upper levels of a section of the city, laid out on a grid. (If you use something, like a monster attacking, roll for a potential wandering monster to face – 1 in 6 chance of facing one.). You just have 8 pages of the book however (and the first three are the cover and rules), and the general reviews of the module have been – great ideas, but way too short for your money.

There are also three different quests you can do. I’ll do one, and perhaps I’ll add one or the other to the list. So three quests for fun. That’s not bad replayability!

[Abe Sargent]

On his third day back, Alzar encounters an interesting puzzle in one of his books. It is a poem, and it discusses collecting a set of magical ingredients all after sundown and before dawn the next day. It will enhance their value considerably.

The poem reads:

From the bottom of a grave, a handful of earth
From the hand of a knave, a tankard of mirth
Sweat of a mare, feather and mud
Tooth of a bear, leather and blood
Pieces of gold, copper and electrum
Riches of oil, silver and platinum
Bring a rat’s tail with ring for finger bone
Wing of bat, sail, and sparkling gemstone
Find leaf, bark and root of same tree
Reward the favor and see what will be

Alzar decides to head out tonight and gather the materials as the night falls.

Here in Arjuna it is foggy as the evening rolls in and the sun has fully set. He is in the same district that is run by Bakri.

Alzar crawls out onto the roof of a local inn to get a glimpse of the city and his area of town.

[Abe Sargent]

He begins at U5, on the rooftop map. The ground is 20 feet beneath him. He moves north and after a few moments, there is a ledge down. Alzar finishes exploring the roof and in the corner is a scroll tied to a branch with some sort of code written on it. He decides to secure it and heads down.

He moves south a bit and heads to the roof of a nearby building. On here are a trio of giant bats that flap to Alzar. His staff smashes one and the other two fly off and leave him with a dead bat on the roof. He grabs the wing of a dead bat. Back down to the road he goes, and he heads north, and then continues at a crossroad.

As Alzar crawls up the next entry a piece of roofing breaks and he falls! He drops to the Upper Level, at Q8.

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Alzar falls into a small room underneath the roof, and there is a door to the rear. This room is the living area of a shoemaker who runs a shop downstairs. Thinking Alzar is a thief, he moves to attack! Alzar grabs his staff as the merchant grabs his club, and Alzar cracks him easily for 2 damage. Then everybody misses each other for a while before the merchant is slain by Alzar.

[Abe Sargent]

A search of the room ends in disaster as Alzar falls into a pit trap for 3 damage! He crawls out easily but leaves the room behind.

44/51

Outside of the room is the upper level of houses and such, but other buildings open into this level as well. Alzar moves to the so8uthern building in front of him he was on top of earlier and opens the door. Inside is another merchant, and this one beckons him to sit down. She looks badly wounded. She saw some men of Bakri’s abduct the daughter of a local noble, and was beaten for it. She saw them head here somewhere with the daughter, but who knows where they could be now.

Alzar adds it to his list of things to look for, just in case he runs into them. The next door opens into a small room with a door on the other side, and a sleeping fighter. He chooses not to pick its pockets or fight and opens the door and moves into the building. Back here is a large steel chest and dimly lit with candles smoking. He opens the chest and its hit by a trap for 4 damage from a dart. Inside is…

40/51

Magical Shoes he cannot identify but clearly magical.

[Abe Sargent]

He takes the shoes. There are two more door here and he opens up one to a Sleeping elf, whom Alzar also skips. The other opens to a sleeping merchant and another door. That door opens to an irate wondering monster, which is…

An elf

He rises and moves to attack Alzar for disturbing him. Alzar retreats and flees from this building. He moves north and finds two more buildings with sleeping people and a third empty. The last building in the west section of the upper level opens to a broken ceiling, and in here are a group of 5 Stirges. They fly in to attack.

Alzar slays one and takes 3 damage from one. He hits another and badly wounds it and it flies away, and the others follow. Alzar takes 2 from the one attached, and then kills it too. Back in here is a small wooden chest. It is locked so Alzar uses acid on it and it dissolves. It also dissolved ad broke a trap mechanism as well. In here are

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10 pp
10 gp
10 cp
10 ep
10 sp
10 bp
Gem – 250 gp

[Abe Sargent]

He moves east to inspect the buildings out there. As he does, a group of rats peel at him, and he slices one with a knife. Then he takes five damage after missing with his staff and hits one the next turn for death. He takes another 2 before killing two more and pushing them away. Then he cuts off the tails of the dead rats and moves on.


28/51

The first building on the east side is reached and opens into nothing. The next has a ceiling fall trap that hit Alzar for 5 damage. He also runs into some sleeping folks.

23/51

The fifth building however, is locked. He uses a vial of acid and breaks in. In this small 15 by 10 room, tied to a chair and bound, is a young woman, about 20 years of age. Alzar unties her and says he is here to help. She agrees to come with him and she is the daughter of a local noble of some reputation but little money.


He has her stand back when he opens the fifth and final door up here. Another trap triggers and a spear juts into him for 3 damage. Nothing in here.

20/51

[Abe Sargent]

He chooses to drop down to the ground level at U25, just ten feet from the ground. His released prisoner follows. She tells him that her father and guards would likely be at the gate to the inner distract, where many wealthy and the noble live. She knows this area and tells him how to get to that gate. Alzar begins to move along the streets. They pass by several doors and shops before they run right into a poisonous snake that has crawled out of a nearby grate. The woman is back as Alzar engages the creature.

Alzar smashes and misses. The snake does too. Alzar misses again, it hits for 2, Alzar makes the poison save. Then he crushes sit for 7 damage and slays it. Dead snake.

18/51

They continue on the street. Then they hit the wall at the back and turn west and follow a rear alley there. They pass a fish market, now closed for the night. They also pass by a closed smithy, and a stables. As they continue and close to the gate, from the room of a nearby hovel leaps a giant rat. It bites Alzar on the way down for 5 damage. Alzar casts Vampiric Touch on it and gains 18 life while it dies.

31/51

[Abe Sargent]

A few moments later they arrive at the gate, and as expected, there are a large retinue of guards here from her father’s house. Her father is notified and arrives in fifteen minutes and shakes Alzar’s hands. He was an opponent of Bakri’s for years, and now that the scandal that accompanied Alzar revealing some of the dirty laundry of Bakri has passed, he is moving again, and capturing her was a first step. He hands Alzar a letter as a thank you and heads off.

Alzar opens the letter and inside is a deed for a property in Arjuna that was recently assessed at 950 gp.

He heads back onto the street level. So far, he has been really unsuccessful. He hopes to penetrate and find the right stuff.

Alzar decides to head down a nearby grate to D2 on the dungeon level. Perhaps there will be easily found items down here. As a soon as he arrives, a huge spider moves out from around a bend to the west and moves in to attack him. He backs away and decides to face this as a warrior. His axe is out and he hacks it easily enough. He doles out 12 damage with his maximum power hit, and it dies in one smash.

Rar!

[Abe Sargent]

He moves out to the dungeon and glances around. He heads west and sees a large grate that has been built into the tunnel to keep out anything, or anyone, nasty from this area getting the wealthier district to the north. Makes sense.

He takes the leftmost tunnel south and follows it for some ways, and arrives at some more bars at the far end, again blocking things. He backs up and notices a door he misses. It’s concealed by rock to the east. Alzar pushes the old door open and inside a family of wild boar nest, and the parents move to the opening and move towards him. He slams the door on them (the room looked small) and heads back.

The eastward moving tunnel soon hits a door on the left and right, while continuing. He opens the door and in here is the remains of an old tree. It was killed some time ago. He is able to get an old leaf, bark and roots from it here in this room.

The other door opens onto a large corridor that heads south. He slides down and moves, the corridor widens. Some fungus call this home, and as he nears them, a shrieking noise can be hear – shriekers. He moves over and slays them and waits to see if any heard the noise.

A small cave bear moves toward the fungus from up ahead. Alzar pauses and waits, using his Ring of Chameleon Power to hide. It arrives, and then he leaps out to kill it, with axe leading. It roars and engages Alzar, who misses it. A paw hits him for 3 damage but it otherwise misses. Alzar attacks twice and smashes it once for 6 damage and once for 5. It attacks him and hits twice for 4 damage. Then he finishes it with a cut to its head. Afterwards, he skins it, gets its blood and teeth, and moves on.



24/51

[Abe Sargent]

There is a small door to the west that he opens. In here is a silver chest in the far wall. Alzar casts Skeletal Hands to help him.. They head over to the chest and open it and take a trap. They gather the contents and bring them to Alzar (and he misses a pit trap un the room by doing so). Inside is….


Potions of Invisibility and an unknown one (Infravision)

He heads back to the room and other creatures has heard the commotion and is there – several large centipedes, about two feet big each. They back off as Alzar approaches and bends south to follow the continuing corridor. It ends at a door, and Alzar opens it onto a rear corridor that stretches east to west. It heads west and he hits a door to the right and opens it into a small empty chamber. He returns and as he moves east, he runs into a wererat in the sewer, who is in his half-rat/half human form. He sees Alzar and squints and grins, shaking his weapons off as he does.

Alzar casts Charm Person and he made the save so the spell fails. The Wererat swings at him and misses. Then Alzar casts Hold Person and he fails the save and is paralyze.d. Alzar slices his neck and slays him. On the body was

74 gp
Oil Flask

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar opens another door moving back north a few feet later and this is an old treasure storage vault. A pair of thieves are guarding it. They heard his battle with the wererat and were gathering up the things in here. There is a door on the far side. A quick Sleep spell drops them both and he slays them

In here is:

250 gp
25 pp
1 gem – 125 gp

Alzar moves to the far door and opens it with has Skeletal hands. There is a small corridor her that goes east He follows it and it ends at a long north south corridor. Heading back south, he winds up in the same corridor as before . Two doors off this area reveals that this part of the dungeon are old crypts or mausoleums . He pulls out dirt from both. He also grabs mud in the walls on the way back north. This area is wet and damp. He passes a third door but the Hands spell has juuust disappeared. A Vial of acid destroys the lock and he opens it.

As he walks in, a ceiling deadfall trap hits him for 7 damage. As he extricates himself, a small group of rats move out. He pulls himself out and back into the corridor and they don’t follow him.

17/51

He heads north and then hits a door and the passages bends back west. The door opens into a large chamber, the back of which has another chest. He opens it, takes a pincer trap for 2 damage, and finds..


15/51


An unknown cloak by itself. It is even magical? He takes it.

[Abe Sargent]

He returns to the corridor and heads west and arrives back at the place he started. He crawls back to the streets and moves to the stables he saw earlier. He heads it and scrapes the sweat off one of the mares and stores it in a small vial in his backpack full of various and sundry items.


This time he heads south. He passes a tailor shop on the right and knocks. After a few minutes, a sleepy lady opens the door. He asks if she has any sails and offers to pay double their price. No, but I could make some in an hour. Alzar pays her five times their normal price to make them and will return later.

Alzar passes a small earth Gen moving north clearly on route to some determined destination and not looking to talk to him as all. Then he arrives at a local inn, the Gooseneck Inn. He opens the door and heads in.


It’s quite late and most of the patrons have left. Only four or five are still here. Alzar moves to an old drunken lady in the corner and asks for her to give him her tankard. She sleepily looks at him and hands it to him and it drops a GP on the deck to pay for it.

There is a mascot here, the head and body of a stuffed goose. Alzar orders some food, and as he waits for it, (with the staff gone), he swipes a feather from the body.

He grabs the food and heads out, eating it on the way. All he needs is a ring and return to pick up the sail.

[Abe Sargent]

As he leaves, he encounters a light horse that broke free of its stable and is now afraid. He moves at Alzar panicky, and Alzar makes a Riding check to control it and it works. He lets him go gently and ties him to a local post, and then moves on south. He arrives at a large path east and takes it. Again, he passes closed stores and quiet houses. A pair of townsguardmen pass on the left on patrol.

A tattoo place on the left passes by. Alzar sees a glint in the light and bends down. There, in the street, is a shiny silver ring. He adds it to his backpack and returns to grab the sail. After he does, he steals over to the nearby Goosedown and grabs a late room for the night and heads out in the morning.

Alzar gains 500 XP for his adventure, quest, and 250 XP for kills and such.

He gained:

Potions of Levitation and Infravision
Cloak of Poisonousness (Cursed)
Sandals of Speed – Make Alzar go 1.5x as fast when walking or running – no other benefit
35 pp
400 total in gp
Deed worth 950 gp



End of MV1. Dagger on Midnight Alley

[Abe Sargent]

It’s hard to find the next module to run. Alzar tends to be too powerful for modules for levels 1-3 but too weak for ones 4-6. Modules are usually designed for a group of characters in that level range. He blew through something like B1, so its hard to find something.

There are a few modules in the 1-4 range, like L1, Secret of Bone Hill, U2 and U3 (which don’t fit the plane at all, and are sequels to U1 which I ran to jumpstart the Isle of Dread mega-campaign earlier), B10-12 and N3. Destiny of Kings. Maybe I could run the boring Silver Key, just because.

What I need is for Alzar to gain strength without mass leveling. Before, around this time we had a mephit familiar and a homunculus. We also had undead animal skeletons among other controlled undead or other-planar stuff. Then add in Aleigha, Estaish, and we had some muscle. Soon we would add Carum as the Isle campaign was underway, as well as Maerie, more controlled creatures, and a more powerful spell selection.

Most of the next level adventures are in the 5+ range, and typically are from two series of modules – the I line and the X line. We only did four X modules before, X1 – Isle of Dread, X2 Castle Amber, Fire on Something Mountain and the War Rafts of Kron. I also did one of the Is in the underdeep campaign, Tomb of the Lizard King. They are meant for people in the later single digits, so you see numbers like 5-8 or 6-9 on the cover (and sometimes even 8-10). The lowest level X or I is Quagmire, which is rated 4-10, and that’s a pretty wide spread. I have a mega adventure with X4. X5 and I3, 4, and 5 together in one giant arc out in the desert. But for now, I need an adventure.

I honestly held off on L1, because I thought it might empower Alzar overly much, but that’s what we need. There are not a lot of henchmen characters running around that seem like good additions to the party like Derek Densleigh, Aleigha, or Estaish appeared. I had to create Pashtun all on my own to give him something.


So, with that, let’s move to…

[Abe Sargent]

L1. The Secret of Bone Hill



This 1981 adventure is the direct prequel to L2, which we ran earlier. It takes place on an island, and L3, written in 1979 was published late in the 90s as part of a special anniversary collection for D&D. A fourth one was also released by the author, to add another entry to this series, set on an island in the land of Oerth. (Greyhawk).

It’s a nice module, and looks the part of an early module, with a lot of setting (such as maps of towns and shops and such) and details, (and virtually every NPC has a class and level) but a weaker plot that allows the GM to flesh it out. It resembles modules such as T1 The Village of Hommlet and N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God. This one will require a bit more work to make it work with the location of Arjuna and Hamedh, but it’s quite doable.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar hears about some issues that a farflung town has been having with undead raids from local ruins. They seem to be pretty organized. He decides to investigate. However, it’s a bit further away than the towns nearby Arjuna that are well protected. He’ll have to cross into some dangerous territory.

So Alzar gathers up a few things. He unloads horses and oxen for the trip and grabs six wagons. These include his library, his laboratory/workshop, and his home wagon, plus an extra wagon with extra items he owns, and two more for supplies and the others. He also hires nine people to manage the wagon train, because he’ll need more.

He has researched the three “zombies” he controlled and they are really Coffer Corpses. They are undead that were created when the body did not get a proper burial. They have three interesting abilities – a death grip, an illusionary death, and some basic immunities and resistances to different types of weapons (some non-magical weapons do full damage, some half, and some none.) These are not just three cannon fodder zombies, but really interesting creatures he controls. He has them inside of his wagon to guard it.

So Alzar, Pashtun, Gilded Ears, and the eight hirelings move out after three days of preparations. He purchased a large amount of food and water, just in case. He also has extra steeds, tools, ropes, and more. He spent 175 gp getting everything up and running. Everything he owns is coming with him.

[Abe Sargent]

They are heading to a town more than two weeks away and could run into any number of things along the route. However, it is along a major road. Before he leaves, Alzar gets a message from Marilla. One of her acolytes is being sent to a temple near the town he is heading to, and he agrees to take him along as an escort. The acolyte is Samir, a level 2 priest.

Their destination is the quiet village of Phraya, roughly 16 days away. It’s a small hamlet, with a small amount of services, like smith, armorer, weapon-maker, millers, and while it has a few places, like a market and such, it does not have an inn at all. The last one burnt about a year ago, and no others were built yet. There are a pair of taverns, but they have no place to stay. The town also features a tower held by a pair of local mages, a small keep with descendants of the old Emir that has lived there, but their power diminished quite some time ago.

Because the place is missing an inn, Alzar made sure to stock things like bedrolls, blankets, tarps, and other camping necessities.


(As an FYI, at level 5, Alzar’s control chart for undead looks like this: Can automatically control skeletons, zombies. 4 or better for ghoul, 7 for shadow, 10 for wight, 13 for ghast, 16 for wraith, 19 for mummy, 20 for spectre. You roll a 1d20 to resolve, so some are a lot harder to control than others. Unlike evil priests, Alzar may not attempt to turn a paladin).

[Abe Sargent]

The caravan gets underway. Alzar talks with Samir for the first two days to get a chance to know him. He just recently got enough knowledge and skills to head out, and he will be joining an interfaith temple that is near Phraya, about a half day’s ride away at the center of a small set of forest called Ash Woods.

After four days have passed with relative quiet, the caravan moves past the last village that is near Arjuna and sort of protected by her shadow. Now they are heading south along a major road. The group passes a lot of travelers, such as merchants and more. Late on day five, they catch up to a group of travelling troubadours and on the 5th evening they spend the night together. Both are going in the same direction for the next two days, so for safety, they travel together.

On day 6, the large group of combined caravans hits its first snag. As the rain begins to hit in early fall, it has muddied the area. One of Alzar’s horses breaks its leg. As Samir comes over to heal it, the massive pain cries of the horse attract the attention of some local predators.


A gentle noise can be made out from beyond a copse of trees. But in a few seconds, a trio of displacer beasts arrive and move towards the horse. Alzar shouts at Samir to grab the saddlebags from the horse and he does. The beasts will arrive in about thirty seconds. Samir grabs the things on the horse and its cries get louder and louder.

Alzar orders everyone to back away from the horse and let it be the meal. They do, and the beasts tear into it and eat it while the caravans move on.

[Abe Sargent]

On the morning of day 8, the troubadours take a separate road and Alzar’s caravan continues to the south. The mountains are still in the distance, but slowly shrinking in size as they parallel them. They’ll grow again soon enough.

Later that day, a local water hole is spotted and they head over. As they do, a group of 8 men leap out from small brush and rocks to ambush the caravan and take its things, but a Sleep spell that drops 4 of them scares the others and they run off, but not before another is paralyzed by a Hold Person. The bodies had no gold, and Alzar gave the items to others in the caravan. They resupply their water reserves here extensively, and spend the night by the water hole.

As day 9 is underway, a cloud of dust can be seen off the horizon. Within thirty minutes the cloud has really picked up in size and scope and is heading their way. Everyone stops and gets inside wagons and secures steeds and items on top of the wagons and then heads in. For hours, windstorms beat down the area, blowing in sand and dust from the nearby desert about 100 miles away, but close enough to be used in this storm. The entire day is wasted just holing up, and then getting out and verifying everything is here. A few small items went missing, but nothing too valuable.

[Abe Sargent]

The next day passes fine, but on night 10, as the late watch is on a few hours after midnight, a quartet of Nasnas notice the encampment and move in. These are creatures that look like half a person – half a face, torso, with just one leg and arm, plus a wing to help them move. (Another entry from the Al-Qadim Monstrous Compendium – check out the real mythic creature - Nasnas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

They are mentioned in the bestiary Alzar was reading. They are created by an obscure process that requires the brewing of a potion with the priest or mage’s blood as a major component. Then it is added to fruit, and the fruit is cut in half, and one half is fed to a women, who then becomes pregnant with a Nasnas. Two halves of a fruit can make two Nasnas. They mature quickly and are a bit insane, but very obedient. There are also some free Nasnas, which must include these. They cannot talk, but they make odd gargling cries.

The group swings down to attack and push, and an alarm is shouted. Alzar emerges from a few minutes later and notices them. By the time he is able to respond, one of his men has been stabbed by a nasty curved and serrated blade in the hand of a Nasnas, and Samir is moving over now to heal him. Alzar orders his people to move to iron or steel weapons only. Just iron or magical weapons will harm them.

He tries Sleep, but it fails. He wasn’t sure if it would work or not. Two recognize him as a magic user and cry out to the others, and they all move towards him, swooping down to attack and land at him. He is hit once for 7 damage. That was a strong hit, they are quite powerful creatures.

44/51

He grabs his proficient staff and swings and hits for 4 damage. He is hit twice for 17. Then one is hit by an iron crossbow bolt from one of his men.

27/51

Alzar casts Vampiric Touch and kills one after draining 13 hp from it. One other hits him for 6 damage. The wounded one is smashed by Samir’s magical gada and dies. Two down.

34/51

Alzar stabs out and misses. They choose to retreat and fly out and away and leave the place.


570 XP (Split three ways, not the normal two)

The bodies have nothing of value on them, just odd bits of bone and such. Alzar cuts off various parts of them for study later.

Over the next day, Samir heals him and within a day he is fully healed.

[Abe Sargent]

On day 12, they come across the dead corpse of a giant, now fetid, elephant. It has been eaten by something with large claws, and then left here. Elephants are valuable steeds and used only by the elite. Alzar didn’t even grab any when supplying – they take too much water and food for his taste. A quick search uncovers:

Gem-laced elephant bridle – 1550 gp



Two more peaceful days roll by as quiet follows. Then a man is dozing during midday lunch on day 14 when from under the ground burrows a large beetle. It grabs him and slices him nearly in half, killing him instantly, and then burrows back underground with his body before anyone even notices. In about twenty seconds, the man was killed and pulled under.

After about a minute, someone notices and calls out. A quick inspection is ordered, and Alzar considers chasing him. But instead, they load up the caravan and move out with alacrity. No more attacks happen.


That is the last major incident that occurs on the road south.

[Abe Sargent]

As the 18th day begins, they approach the Ash Woods, far on the outskirts of the area that includes the town of Phraya, the nearby ruins, and a variety of other locations as well. Alzar agrees to escort Samir to his temple, so they head off the road and move through the woods. Here are many animals, squirrels, birds, and more singing and chirping. Plant life is lush for this time of year once they enter an area close to the temple. Samir tells him that the temple keeps life going. Bushes of green berries are thick here. Soon a green knoll can be seen ahead, and on top is a small egg-shaped building that has a remarkable yellow stone wall.

The dense animal life increases as they near the knoll. The path remains wide, but the area around it thickens with healthy bush. Then they begin up the grassy knoll, which is clear of trees, just flowers and bushes. In a few moments, they have arrived at the temple.

Samir opens the door and calls out. Inside are six windows of a one-way glass-steel that enables people to see out, but not in. The distinctive sheen Alzar saw as yellow stone was actually this effect. The temple has two levels, and they have entered on the worship level. Above are the quarters for the staff. Several people begin to move down the stairs. Alzar, Pashtun, and a few of his men who came are brought to various tables around the worship area. While it features a dais, lectern, the rest of the area is a fireplace, some tables and chairs, and none of the normal pews or benches anything. It almost looks like a dining room with a speaking platform to one side.

Several clerics arrive and split up among the people Alzar brought and then introduce themselves to Samir after he gives them his letter of introduction. They offer to begin a service, and an old women steps to the lectern and asks for everyone to begin. Priests take out various instruments at the tables and a holy chant begins as they move them around and toss them. A prayer is spoke, “Oh Master of Lots, bring the Divine Intervention on our behalf, and enable us to peer into Your Guidance and Your Pattern!”

The devices are fortune telling instruments. The clerics try to read them, and then toss them again and make more measures. The objects sparkle and seem to shift magically as things occur, so the same result cannot occur more than once. After three intonations and three castings, the service ends.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar introduces himself to the high priestess and they talk for a bit. This knoll is supposed to tie into old magic in Hamedh that exists on certain lines or places. The shape of the temple enables the priests to investigate that energy and explore predictions of the future. Various faiths send priests here to assist in the investigations, and Samir is the newest one.

They also offer various services to local travelers. They can heal or cast priestly magic. Like many temples, they are always interested in special items that they can use; they have purchased items from other travelers or explorers before.

The priests here know a bit about Phraya. Sometimes locals will come by. It’s about a day travel from here, and they have no lodging, so not that many people visit. There’s a small shrine there that performs local cleric services for their community.

The Phraya area has a large number of smaller places around it – Bald Hill, Bone Hill, Dead Forest, Guardian Peak, Lark Hill, High Top, Low Point, Pebble Hills, Spring Glade, Tri-top, Kelmani Woods, the orchards, and Reddy Forest. All of these areas are around the town of Phraya. The trouble has been coming from Bone Hill and the surrounding Dead Forest. Most of the names here are very ambitious. The forests are more like small woods, Guardian “Peak” just happens to be the largest hill in the area, and High Top is a small hill with delusions of grandeur. Some of the areas are relatively safe, and there are ruins is a few places, including Bone Hill. There are some bandits active, but not a lot, and they seem to strike near Bald Hill. It is named because its top is denuded of plantlife and just has exposed rock.


The road to Phraya passes near Bald Hill, and several attacks in the last few months have occurred along it. The road south hits a small river as it winds south and that river goes right past both Bald Hill, the orchards, and Phraya.

[Abe Sargent]

Forewarned, Alzar decides to do some pruning. Today he wants to head to Bald Hill – the likely spot for bandits, and then head in and investigate. If he can eliminate one of the threats in the area, he can make it a bit safer to travel and explore later.

They return to the road and move south, hitting a river about two hours later and the Bald Hill area shortly after that. He can see it long in the distance before they head toward it. A nice fat caravan like this will hopefully prove a juicy target for any raiders or bandits watching. As they move towards it, Alzar spots a few nice ambush places, and prepares himself.

In an half hour, they have arrived at a place along the road where the river has closed on the right hand side and leaves little maneuvering space there. Meanwhile, Bald Hill is tight along the road and is quite steep here. There are some minor covers there – rocks and trees. Then some in front. An ideal ambush spot.

As expected, a figure steps out from above and hails them to stop. Meanwhile, people fade into view in the front and above/left, with bows in hand. There are fifteen in all, and they look like a mixture of humans and orcs. A quick Sleep spell drops four in front, away from the leader. Then a female half-orc right beside the one shouting casts a spell at Alzar. It works, and Alzar has been silenced. They smile and ask if anyone else would like to resist. No one moves. They shout orders to the ones in front to begin waking the sleeping quartet. Alzar nods at Pashtun towards them, and he moves out and challenges the three still awake there to force them away. Gilded Ears is silently ordered to join Pashtun and is leaping in as well to nip at them. Pashtun waves at the men, and two grab crossbows and move to attack the e three

[Abe Sargent]

Suddenly seeing themselves targeted, the three waking in front change up to take out the charging Pashtun, jackal, and missile attacks. Meanwhile, the man in charge orders three more his men to head in and support the front while Alzar unhooks his axe and moves up towards the spellcaster, the leader, and their three supporters. (Initially 7 in front, 8 on hill. Four sleeping in front, three dispatched to help them leaves 5 on hill and 6 in front)

The shaman casts Hold Person at Alzar and he makes his save. He will arrive in two turns. Other caravan men have grabbed weapons for firing. The leader orders his men to ignore Alzar and fire at the caravaners. Pashtun arrives next turn for battle.

The shaman casts Cause Light Wounds at Alzar and he takes 8 damage. The Leader tosses a trombash at him and hits for 3. Pashtun and his people arrive and begin to battle the six in front. Alzar orders the people in back to concentrate on helping Pashtun with signals and then moves to the people in front.

(We’ll fast sim the battle in front with random.org but slaw it with Alzar).

Alzar deems the half orc shaman his primary threat and his axe swings as her. He misses her. She casts Cause again and he takes 8, and the leader and his bowmen miss. Alzar’s second turn gets two axe attacks. He cracks her chainmail armor once for 10 damage. She grabs her club and the leader hits him once for 9 damage. That’s a powerful hit, empowered by something. That’s a lot more damage than a simple yataghan can do.

23/51

Alzar’s axe slices the shaman for another 11 damage. She pulls back while the leader hits for 8 damage and a bowman hits for 3.

12/51

Alzar grabs the potion of Heroism and quaffs it as he swings twice. He gains 20 temporary hp, and his level rises several fold, increasing his ability to hit quite a bit. He cannot reach the cleric anymore, so he turns to the leader, with his chain mail, shield, and yataghan. Alzar hits twice, enabled by the potion, and deals out 16 damage. The leader hits back for 8 and a bowman hits for 6. The priest moved to a sling to fire at him.

16/71

Alzar wins init, and smashes the leader for 6. He pulls out and quaffs a healing potion and heals 10 damage. The others miss. Alzar closes on the leader and hits once from two attacks, and doles out 8 damage. The leader misses, but Alzar takes 7 from an arrow and a slingstone.

9/71



Alzar swings one, hits, and slaws the leader when he hits for 11 damage. Seeing their leader fall, the others move back. Alzar throws his axe at the priest, hits her and she dies as she pulls away.

[Abe Sargent]

Meanwhile…

Pashtun and his company have killed three of the bandits, and Gilded Ears was damaged so much she fled.

Gilded Ears – 5 hp left
Pashtun – 10/23

The six remaining solders move off. Alzar orders them to follow, and they grab horses to catch the bandits who are on foot. After a quick half an hour chase, the bandits surrender, and they will be turned into the local authorities nearby.

Alzar finds their lair, a cave in Bald Hill proper. On the bodies and in the lair they find:

+1 Medium Shield
+2 Chainmail
Girdle of Ogre Strength
+1 Chainmail
+1 Sling
Wizard Scroll – Dimension Door
Potion – Gaseous Form

624 gp
71 pp
156 ep


Alzar identifies some with his class power and the rest over the next few days with Identify spells.

[Abe Sargent]

He dons the Girdle of Ogre Strength, but it causes him to begin to float as if gravity stopped working. He pulls off the boots and all of the items work together nicely, but the Ring of Chameleon Power is not working with anything else. No more boots of varied tracks, and he has to leave on the Ring but it won’t work. If he wants to use the Ring, he must pull off the Girdle and put on the Boots. (As per funky magic miscibility rules on Hamedh)

Like Gauntlets, the Girdle grants Alzar 18/100 strength. In battle, he now does +3/+6 damage. However, they can only be used by a warrior, rogue, or priest. In other words, Alzar cannot wear them unless he wants to fight as a fighter (And thus skip learning experience). He swaps the boots back on right now to head back to fighter mage hood.

He casts Vampiric Touch on a sleeping bandit to heal up (he was going to kill them anyway).

[Abe Sargent]

They rest on Bald Hill that night, and then the following day make their way past various orchards and into town after daybreak. Alzar moves down the road and sees more than 30 houses, as well as the keep of the local Emir on a small hill to the northeast. There is a bridge here that crosses the modest river, and on the other side is about a third of the town. They pass the burnt out husk of an old inn. A few places advertise as a fletcher/bowyer, a brewery, a general store, and more. An armorer, cobbler, smither, follow before they arrive at a tavern. Alzar and his group secure the wagons and head in and he orders refreshment for them and talks with the tavernkeeper.


The woman greets him and they discuss the town for a while. There have continued to be occasional undead attacks from Bone Hill and the Dead Forest. But there hasn’t been one for at least ten days. People who stay in the area are directed out of town – you aren’t allowed to stay outside in town at night. There are some campsites up on the Kelman Hills, right by Reddy Forests, Low Point, High Top, Lark Hill and Garden Peak. Others are camping up there too, and Alzar’s crew will need to do so as well.

Alzar gets the lay of the land. There is a mage tower with a married couple and several apprentices here locally. She is a rhadomere and he is of an unknown specialization. She also tells him about another tavern in town, and a local abbey with a small cleric population that heal, as well as several homes. On the other side of the river across the bridge are where the homes are for fishers, people who work the orchards, and such. A town like this doesn’t have a lot of people but likes to gossip. Within a few minutes, Alzar has the basic rundown of all of the major players in the area. He stays for minor updates too.



Then he heads out to the abbey. After a payment of 100 gold, he is fully healed – he pays for Pashtun too.

[Abe Sargent]

The next place he visits are the homes. On in particular strikes his fancy and he knocks on an old door of wood. The rock house is roughly put together, but very well made. A few seconds later, an attractive young woman answers the door. Alzar asks if Fahd is home. She steps aside and Alzar looks into the eyes of a veteran of many battles. There is a look a man gets that other veterans know, and Alzar knows it well. A man of roughly 40 offers the chair across from him on the table, but does not rise.

Fahd looks Alzar thoughtfully as Alzar tells him that he came from the tavern and heard about Fahd. He needs good soldiers to hire for exploring Bone Hill. Fahd tells Alzar his price is 300 gp a week, plus expenses. If he dies, Alzar has to bring him back to the abbey to be raised. Alzar knows a professional when he sees one (both are Myrmidon kit soldiers, which are professional soldiers, such as mercenaries. Alzar was the leader of a mercenary army for quite some time, as a reminder)

“Alright, it’s a deal, but I may only need you for the week. I hope to have everything settled now. Here’s 300 gp.”

Fahd has been hired:

Fahd
Neutral, 4th level Fighter, Myrmidon Kit
HP – 31
THAC0 – 16
STR: 16, DEX: 13, CON: 15, INT: 12, WIS: 11, CHA: 9
AC: 3
XP : 12000

Fights with Shield, +1 chainmail, +1 khanda (1d8, 1d10+1 vs giants)
41 years old


Fahd agrees to meet them later at camp that night and begins to pack and gather his things.

[Abe Sargent]

The next place Alzar intends to head is the mage tower. He knocks on the door and introduces himself. After meeting a trio of apprentices and the married couple, he begins the business of trading. Four hours later, he has traded for these spells:


Level 2 – Unpickable Lock
Level 4 – Charm Monster
Level 5 – Conjure Water Elemental, Greater Rhabdomancy

As the night ends, he swings by a tavern on the way to the campsite and grabs food for everyone. An hour and a half later they leave the road and enter the Kelman Hills area. This is a section of hills off the road. The Reddy Forest is in the front of the Hills and goes up it about halfway up before petering off. In the Hills are four “peaks” – Lark Hill, Guardian Peak, High Top and Low Point. In between the four peaks, and just outside of the Forest are a trio of campsites that people use. Several are being used right now.

Alzar’s men and the wagons arrive – the trails here are quite good – they were widened and strengthened over the last year when the inn burnt down. The Kelman Hills area of the town of Phraya is typically calm and quiet. The hills are all grass covered, with bushes and rock outcroppings every 50 to 300 feet or so. A few small stands from the forest continue and the leafy plants are quite tall.

All three campsites are being taken, each is about 500 feet or so from each other. He heads to the one that only has two people by it. They introduce themselves as a pair of merchants that were travelling by and hoped to get past Phraya today but were caught in the wind. They find and bargain for large purchases from farmers, woodsman and others for their boss, who will come later to gather and pay.

They bind up everything and Fahd arrives just before dinner is served. The three fighters (Alzar, Pashtun, Fahd) go over details such as watch, battle calls and what various motions mean, and so forth. That way, they know immediately what to do if something happens, and how to signal each other.

[Abe Sargent]

Night has fallen and about an hour into the full night, a cry and howl can be heard and soon the voices of many people strike at the three camps simultaneously. 20 gnolls are attacking the area!

Pashtun is on watch and he has a loud pot by him he clangs when danger is seen. Out pop Fahd and Alzar and they move to the gnolls attacking their camp. This attack is so early Alzar wasn’t even asleep yet. He orders the normal men to move into the wagons where possible and Gilded Ears spots a gnoll hidden by Alzar and he jumps away from it as it prepares to spring.

Alzar drops sand and intones a Sleep spell to hit the gnolls on him. Two fall. As they do, a trio of dire wolves attacks camp from another angle, having flanked while his group was concentrated on the 7 gnolls on his camp. 5 gnolls and 3 wolves to handle.


Battle is enjoined and weapons swing. Alzar casts Hold Person and freezes the gnoll right by him. Fahd and Pashtun hit once for 7 damage. Fahd takes 4 back from a wicked looking mace head on the end of a sword like club, called a shishpar.

Alzar casts Continual Light and blind a 4th gnoll. With four down, one calls a retreat. Meanwhile a dire wolf cuts into Alzar twice for 8 damage before retreating off.

43/51 - Alzar
27/31 – Fahd

Alzar orders his men to kill the sleeping, paralyzed and blinded gnolls while him, Fahd and Pashtun head to the other camps where battle is engaged.

120 XP for the three of them.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar arrives at the next campsite. Here four people are fighting, one already dead at their feet. Alzar casts Hypnotism, and four of the six gnolls drop their weapons. Meanwhile, he orders Pashtun and Fahd to intercept the wolves. They cannot arrive for a few minutes. One of those fighting is a female half-orc who swings her tulwar and smashes dead a wounded wolf.

Gilded Ears is ordered to follow the retreating gnolls to see where they go. One of the humans here leaps down and gathers the dropped weapons quickly and takes them from the gnolls, in order to keep them unarmed. Within a moment they call a retreat as well and begin to move off. Two gnolls die retreating.

Alzar orders all people surviving and up to head to the final campfire. Here are two people fighting. Three gnolls are sleeping, put to sleep by a mage here, who cast invisibility and is hiding but sneaking around behind the gnolls (Alzar can see through low level illusions due to his very high intelligence). A elven looking male has slain a dire wolf but is under pressure. Alzar’s arrival relieves him, and Alzar casts Vampiric Touch as he nears another wolf and kills it, but heals himself.

With two wolves down and three gnolls sleeping, the last of the group orders a retreat, but they are in bad straits. The female half orc, the man from the first fire followed, and the mage is behind them. As they retreat he stabs out with his dagger from invisible and slays a wounded gnoll. The elvish man has dropped his weapon and grabbed his bow and an arrow stabs the wolf. Fahd and Pashtun are moving to cut them off and within a minute, this whole group has been slain.

XP divided 75 each to Fahd, Pashtun and Alzar

[Abe Sargent]

Gilded Ears is noticed by the fleeing dire wolves and chased and cannot pursue. The remaining gnolls and wolves have left. Alzar gathers everybody together and they will all spend the rest of the night at one fire, just in case.


Among the campfire is:


Locinda, female half-orc, level 3 fighter
Tolvar, male human, level 3 mage
Martin, male elf, level 2 ranger
Volcifar, male human, level 3 thief


They spend the evening with the other merchants and such. There is apparently a nearby gnoll camp which Alzar wants to check out the next day, and these four want to go with him.

[Abe Sargent]

The following morning, the civilians head back to Phraya while Alzar, Pashtun, Fahd and these four go to the gnoll camp. They want to investigate the raid last night. They are moving to the Pebble Hills, which is on the other side of the river, behind Phraya. There are three bridges to this area, and the seven of them cross one right at the foot of the Kelman Hills and Reddy Forest.

On the other side are the Pebble hills, with a tri-top group of peaks to the south. There are some woods here too, confusingly named the Kelman Woods, which are not on the Kelman Hills. There is a small glade on the Pebble Hills called Spring Glade, and that is where the gnoll village is.

A few hours later they arrive, but the village has been quickly abandoned. It looks like they left it last night as soon as they returned. After losing more than half of their fighting strength and fearing a reprisal, they must have booked it out here. Well, with them gone, Alzar lets them be and moves back to deal with Bone Hill. Martin wants to follow the gnolls and put them down, because he cannot let evil scum like that live. Martin leaves the group.


It’s nearing night, and they agree to camp here and spend some time checking to see if the gnolls left anything of value behind. They didn’t and night passes smoothly.

[Abe Sargent]

At night, Alzar gets the basic stories from the three new people with him

Locinda – a mercenary looking for work. She is new to the area, and just arrived to Phraya two days ago. If she was unable to find it here with someone like the Emir, she was going to head north to Arjuna. She’s from a small tribe of orc/humans who live and hunt together in the mountains to the east about ten days journey away.

Tolvar is a Conjurer who was adventuring with his group when disaster struck, and the rest died. H has been down on his luck ever since and looking for an opportunity to get involved. He is the son of a minor mage and has left home years ago when apprenticed and never returned.


Volcifar – A professional thief from Arjuna, and has been working his trade for some time here and there, picking up some money. He makes most of his money from making and setting traps for people who want extra protection – often wealthy people.

Alzar offers to hire Locinda, and they work out a deal. He mentions he wants to explore Bone Hill. She will work for 100 gp a week starting out. It’s one of her first deals. Tolvar just wants to join up so he can be protected in a large group again and is clearly looking to Alzar to mentor him. Volcifar offers to come with them to Bone Hill to check things out, but after that, it’s anybody;s guess

(Yes, Fahd, Martin, Locinda, Volcifar and Tolvar are ALL in the module and available as hirelings or henchmen. The only named I changed was Fahd, who was originally Felix.)

[Abe Sargent]

The following day the six of them move out to the Dead Forest, and from there to Bone Hill and explore the ruins there.


Locinda
Lawful Neutral, 3rd level Fighter
HP – 24
THAC0 – 18
STR: 17, DEX: 14, CON: 13, INT: 14, WIS: 9, CHA: 8
AC: 5
XP: 6500

Fights with Shield, chainmail, +1 khanda (1d8, 1d10+1 vs giants) too
25 years old

Tolvar
Neutral, 3rd level Conjurer
HP – 10
THAC0 – 20
STR: 13, DEX: 14, CON: 10, INT: 16, WIS: 14, CHA:10
AC: 6
XP: 7500

Fights with dagger, bracers of Defense AC:7 and Ring of Protection +1
20 years old

Volcifar
Lawful Evil, 3rd level Thief
HP – 16
THAC0 – 19
STR: 14, DEX: 17, CON: 13, INT: 16, WIS: 10, CHA:11
AC: 6
XP: 3500

Fights with Dagger of Venom or +2 Sling of Seeking, and Ring of Protection +1 and Ring of Spell Storing – Dispel Magic and Mask Alignment. This Ring, unlike others, cannot be charged with any spell other than Dispel Magic and Mask Alignment (reverse of Know Alignment).
29 years old


Because he is expecting trouble today, Alzar learns Hold Undead and Vampiric Touch at 3rd level.

[Abe Sargent]

The Dead Forest is called that because no large animals seem to live here, and its’ very quiet. There are bugs and some worms, but it is not lifeless. The plants are fine, and do not appear to be poorly impacted by anything. Bone Hill is in front, and it rises to a height of more than 1400 feet and is the highest point in the area by far. Atop it at the ruins of an old structure that might be a castle. The hill itself is rocky and boulder-strewn. After much of the day passes, they have reached the top of the Hill.

Plant cover dissolves within 3000 feet of the ruins, but the Bone Hill is quite flat on top.

As they approach, Volcifar and Gilded Ears break off to slip in closer. After a few minute they return. There are a large number of bugbears guarding the place. About 6 adult males, 5 adult females, and at least 7 or 8 children. It appears that the castle ruins are their home. The group begins planning. Alzar coats both Fahd and Locinda’s weapons with poison from his Scarab. Then they move in.

The castle has collapsed in a variety of places, and its largely exposed. They begin a pincer movement from two sides, and each one is led by a mage and two fighters. Both Alzar and Tolvar lead off by casting Sleep and soon five bugbears are sleeping. The alarm is shouting and bugbears beginning moving to the center of the castle area. Alzar is leading Pashtun and the thief while Tolvar is leading the two mercenaries.

Tolvar jumps up and casts Burning Hands and ignites two bugbears for 12 damage each. They were both females and they die. Alzar’s Hold Person stops two more bugbears, one child and one woman. Then battle is met.

[Abe Sargent]

Fast sim

Two rounds later, the bugbears are in a nice fighting retreat and Alzar’s side have suffered very little when the whoosing sound of a Fireball is heard and smashes among the group. Everyone is hit save for Tolvar, who has gone invisible and snuck away. One of the bugbears is hit and dies. Everyone takes 18 or save for half.

Alzar notes the spellcaster coming in from behind a door to assist the bugbears. Joining him are a paur of bugbear shaman, and one casts Cause Light Wounds on Alzar for 8 damage.

Alzar is down to:

22/51

He casts Continual Light at the mage but he makes the save. Alzar mentally orders Gilded Ears to come in from her position outside the ruins and behind the mage to help. Alzar orders himself and Fahd to charge the spellcasters, as the others stay behind, wounded, to deal with the bugbear remnants.

Magic Missiles stab out from the mage and hit Alzar three times for 15 damage. He casts Vampiric Touch on a shaman who is guarding the mage and deals 14 and drains it. The shaman casts Cure Light Wounds on itself and heals 10. Fahd misses.

21/51
13/31 – Fahd

Alzar wins init because of his ring and casts one of his last spells. Using the Pearl of Power to recall the Continual Light he again tries to blind the mage. This time is works and he is blinded. A shaman drops Silence on Alzar and he makes the save and is okay. The other casts Cause Light Wounds on him for 8. Fahd hits the wounded shaman for 5 damage. The mage roars and orders a retreat.

The bugbears in the back are all defeated and now the party moves to support Alzar. He orders fire concentrated on the blinded mage, who is being led by the shaman. Alzar just knows Hold Undead, Detect Magic and Charm Person. Gilded Ears pops up from behind them and nips at the mage to slow them down. A stone from the sling of seeking hits him for 4 damage. But the mage is assisted by the shamen through a corridor. Alzar pursues and grabs a magic jelly bean. This corridor is broken and open to the sky but there is just one way for about twenty feet. He flings his grey one and it breaks into a grey ooze in front of them and forces them to stop and deal with it. That gives him and his group time to close.

In one turn they have killed the blinded mage. Alzar absorbs another Cause Light Wounds. But that;s it. The shamen have been killed.

13/51

200 XP for each person