D&D Dynasty: 3rd Path of King Alzar the Mighty - FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Abe Sargent]

Month 4, Year 5:

Some more growth as Spring arrives.

How does building go? 56, 46, 38. Saffir Castle – 12 man weeks; Evenarrow Walls – 9 weeks; Havendrop - Full defenses, castle, etc – 25 weeks.

Alzar hosts his first major tournament!


For prizes we have:

+1 Shield
+1 Longsword
Ring of Protection +1
Arrow of Thief Slaying

Alzar gets a lot of visitors, including fellow nobles and their various knights and such. At the end of the event, including feasts, lodging, entertainment and more, Alzar spends 12,660 gp from the Treasury, but his Confidence raises 15 and 7 fellow lords attended, including Sandralane, Count Essex, Baron Douglass, Claransa the Seer, Maltus Fharo from Twolakes Vale and more. Alzar has quite a reputation, and giving out magical items for every prize is a bit unusual.

Alzar gains a bunch of XP too.

[Abe Sargent]

CM8. The Endless Stair






Yes, this is a module, hidden in the back of the CM line and penned by no less a luminary that Ed Greenwood. Is this a hidden gem? I think so! It’s my second favorite of the CM modules. (I don’t have CM9). One of them is a dopey solo module, and the CM2-4 line is not exactly scintillating. One is a sylvan adventure that doesn’t really suit the CM style of epic play and the final one we’ll do later on, after I’ve established some of the things in the campaign world that it’ll use.

[Abe Sargent]

Now, it’s a quick little sidenote, an almost-vignette style adventure in 32 pages that has a lot of backstory. And Greenwood does his classic shtick of ”adding spells, creature and magical items” to give the adventure his own spin, and that in turn fills up a lot more space in the module.

In fact, let’s see how many of these 32 pages is really the adventure. Hold on:

2 pages are the PCs that one could play (each adventure comes with sample PCs that can be played).
1 page table of contents
4 pages of maps
1 page of new spells
1 page of new items
3 pages of new monsters

And then in the text itself, it goes over the artifact and spellbooks in detail, so it doesn’t touch on them later. That takes one full page.

So – total of pages that aren’t the adventure, 12 out of 32. Now many modules don’t have maps in the middle, they are in the cover or have some foldouts, or might have a few smaller ones in the text, but nope. Not this one.

Now, of the remaining 20 pages, how much is background info and NPCs info? 4 pages. So there are just 16 pages, or half of the module, is the actual adventure.

The module is published in 1987,long after the Master rules were published, so it assumes the DM and players have it. It uses spells, items, rules (such as artifact rules) and creatures as part of the module.

[Abe Sargent]

While at the tournament, after the joust is completed, Baron Fharo approaches Alzar – it seems that at an inn a few miles outside of his barony, a wizard was brought in, dead, a few days ago. He failed to be raised back from the dead. The investigation hasn’t turned up anything, and they have struck out on who or how this mage wound up where he did. But the Barony doesn’t have a high level wizard, just some clerics and a druid who were unable to suss things out. He gives Alzar information on the area if he wants to check it out.

The next day, after the tournament ends, Alzar has memorized a more divinatory set of spells, and he teleports to the Inn and then speaks with locals. 6 days before a mage was found dead about three hundred feet away beside some rocks. The Star reveals nothing. Priests were unable to raise him (he failed the roll) and is permanently dead.

They have nothing on him other that his robes and clothes, none of which detected as magical, good or evil, or anything else. They buried him in an above ground crypt, and Alzar is welcomed in, and the Star shows nothing. Speak with Dead magic by the clerics revealed he was a mage, and his named was Ulthun and that he didn’t see how he died. That’s it though.

He heads up with his Flying Carpet over the site, and uses Greater Rhabdomancy, and has his divining rod out. He uses it to locate and find the place where the wizard died. This magic doesn’t exist on Pandius, and Alzar is using his best rhabdomere skills to suss things out.

[Abe Sargent]

After a few moments, Alzar finds the space and descends. It’s about a fifth of a mile up the hills, and there are a pair of griffons that have nested here. Alzar chases them off and grabs five griffon eggs from them. He places them into his OtherSpace and will give them to Saffir to add to their guard later on. (One is infertile, the other four are fine).

Up here in the hills is a small lake, Lost Axe Lake, and a rock spur that sticks up against the water is where the mage supposedly died, just outside of it on the ground.

To the left of the large rock formation by about 400 yards alongside the Lake, is a bard who has set up camp for the night and cooking some fish he just found. He welcomes Alzar as he swings down. Alzar surreptitiously uses his ESP spell and the man is exactly who he claims to be.

He introduces himself as Thassil, a wandering minstrel who can play a variety of instruments. He has a tent and inside are some of his instruments. Thassil finished a performance in Twolakes Vale about a week ago, and then came up here to see the famous Leaning Stone, the rock to the right. But it’s just a rock, and after a few days, he wasn’t able to find out anything from it.

Alzar introduces himself, and Thassil’s eyes get large. This’ll make a better song than anything he could have done with the Leaning Stone! Thassil invites Alzar to share the night and Alzar relates why he is here. Thassil arrived after the mage would have been killed and was found, and didn’t notice anything.

Grabbing the Star of Mo-Pilar, Alzar heads over to check things out. The entirety of the Leaning Stone is gently glowing magical. But nothing else can be gleaned. Alzar heads back and spends some time with Thassil.

[Abe Sargent]

After eating some fish, Alzar is taking first watch when midnight hits, and suddenly, he can make out a very gentle sound coming from the Stone. Alzar heads over and sees that a large archway has opened in the Leaning Stone. Thassil heard Alzar head over and woke up, and grabs a weapon and his armor and moves in behind Alzar. This is his lucky night! After all, it’s free land, there’s nothing stopping Thassil from coming in.

Alzar hands Thassil a continually lit stone from his Bag of Holding and he’ll use it as light source if needed. Visible through the arch is a small dark silent chamber beyond. The Star reveals an illusion and the floor is not really there, and there is a gently descending shaft instead. Forewarned he tells Thassil.

They head down and Alzar pauses a moment to conjure an earth, greater earth, and invisible stalker as company, in case they are needed. They lead the way, Alzar and Thassil behind. Azzil perched on Alzar’s shoulders.

Soon the shaft bends into a very vertical shaft, and there is a Levitate spell her that gently moves everything down. A cluster of magical eyes see them and move to follow them, and Alzar gets several sets following him and Thassil one. Alzar doesn’t recognize them (he failed his Sage Knowledge roll, they are a new monster introduced in this module).

They land gently in a hemispherical unnaturally-smooth chamber with solid walls and a smooth floor, and a corridor that exists on the far side. As they arrive, a specialized undead phantom called a Vision begins to play through the final moments of its life. This is the place that the mage Ulthun was wounded, and then he crawls outside and dies. This room saw seven robed, hooded men bearing daggers stab out and wound him.

A check of the room shows nothing more.

[Abe Sargent]

The corridor heads left and right and forward after a few yards. Left is a small chamber with the skeleton of a human who died a very long time ago. A search turns up a few items that were not touched. Amid the scraps of her rotten backpack is a large, thick book with a stained cover of hide, a spell book, and the words “I Belong to Naera” on the cover in Pandius Prime runes. It was a very small traveling spellbook.

A silver dagger
Bone Tube with Wizard Scroll – Tenser’s Floating Disc; Hold Portal
Steel Vial, Potion of Invisibility

Naera’s Spellbook: Magic Missile, Read Magic, Detect Magic, Mirror Image, Web, Haste


They return and take the right bend instead, and the passageway ends in a rough stone face, with the marks of picks and prybars still on the wall. There is nothing else so they head back and go forward.

The passageway hits an arched entrance (without a door) in a chamber that is empty save for a solid stone block (7’ by 4’ by 4’). There are doors out to the left and right.

Alzar’s Stalker touches the stone slab after it detects as magical and a Magic Mouth spell says: “The Cheiromar rests not here, but has been laid to rest where in life he strove, and where in death he is safe from those who would rob and destroy. If you seek the power that was his, and have knowledge enough to take and leave what it right, seek the Endless Stair.”

[Abe Sargent]

As the voice speaks, dozens of the eyes come over and swirl around the speaker, and then all of them fly back off and head away after it is done. The door to the left opens and behind her is a wall that was walled up in rubble. It’s completely caved in. Alzar skips it for now.

To the right is a another walled up doorway as well, and in here, a jagged opening was broken through. Alzar has the elementals widen it to a larger hole so they can pass through. The unearth a old human skeleton with a few minor items such as a old worn scrap of parchment that dissolved long ago.

As they head down the hallway, the Elementals break open the floor, and fall a few feet. They were just too heavy to keep on moving, but checking to make sure everything is okay before moving across, Thassil and Alzar are able to scurry over it easily enough.

The corridor Ts with a relief carved on the stone of a shield bearing the arms of an unknown person (Alzar gets no Heraldry check to see if he knows anywhere but on Thorasia). However, Thassil knows it. It’s the former Baron Elktazar, whose family ruled this area long ago. There are steps to the left and right down. They head left.

Here the passage ends in stairs, six steps each dropping a feet. The last three are under dark cold moving water. The chamber beyond has been flooded through the natural rock by a stream running from Lost Axe Lake. Three massive stone caskets can be seen in the room poking their heads above the water. A handful of bats are here in the ceiling, just coming back from feeding down the shaft. The Earth Elementals opens the three, unlocked, stone caskets, and there’re three skeletons, with the same seal, and nice items., but nothing worth a lot of money, and a magical Staff of Curing in the woman’s casket. These appear to have been the Baron, his wife and their child.

[Abe Sargent]

They head back and down the stairs on the other side. Again, there are 6 broad one foot steps but this room is dry. There are three iron-bound wooden chests within a chalked circle on the floor. They have been magically preserved and appear new. Alzar has the Stalker enter the circle and open the chests, There appear to be 400 gp,m 400 g , and a glowing golden sword. The Star of Mo-Pilar shows the gold’s real but the sword is a trapped, polymorphed monster they skip and leave.

They open a secret door in the back of the room after Alzar uses a vial of acid on the lock. There is a small stone chamber beyond with a irregular edges and another door on the far side of this room. Between the two doors in an otherwise empty-looking room is a twisted human skeleton missing its head. A quick Star check shows a trap here that falls from the ceiling, and crushes the whole room. The greater elemental heads in and triggers it, and it falls and hits the Elementals shoulders, and does nothing to it, and they have plenty of space under to move through.

The next door opens into a much larger chamber that held 7 oaken chests that were open nd empty, two large casks in a corner that are nasty smelling, the skeleton of a horse, and now everything seems moldy, and the place was raided. There is a small door on the other side that they open. A trap triggers from the other side as they do and an Axe flies out and hits (no damage) to the elemental that opened it.

On the far side of the room is another axe and its glowing in the center of the room. It suddenly fires off a Web spell on everyone at the door. Alzar, with his Ring of Free Action, moves through the Web and another is fired, but he grabs the axe and it stops. It’s just a +2 battle axe.

The Star reveals a secret door and then open it up. In the wall is a carved bas-relief of armored men on horseback hacking and slashing at each other in battle. In front is the Baron Elktazar with a battle axe in triumph, over the falling enemies.

[Abe Sargent]

There is a stone plinth in the center of the room. On it is a head cast of platinum and resembles a human. Suddenly it’s eyes open up and it speaks!

“I am Artonn; I speak to the glory of Elktazar the Magnificant. I bear witness to Elktazar the Great! I record the doings of the realms that are his. What would you?”

Alzar talks with it. It’s a magical construct of great power and intricacy. It was alive centuries ago, and can answer questions from then with great detail. It will answer any question asked, whether or not it was addressed to Artonn. He then asks a question back that must be answered, before he will answer another. As far as Artonn knows, it’s the 13th year of the reign of Elktazar, who rules from Moonkeep.

Alzar and Artonn exchange some questions back and forth. Moonkeep? Like Moonhold, the castle that Sandralane runs the Barony of Moonland from? Apparently, her area near her used to be Elktazar’s old stomping ground.

The construct is not shocked to find out about Elktazar’s passing, but is greedy to find out more. A feeling Alzar is all-too familiar with.

Alzar asks about the Endless Stair, and is told about the Stair to Nowhere, on the edge of the Baron’s old lands and gives a location. It’s actually just inside Alzar’s own territory today in the foothills of the Wyrmsteeth Range near-ish, Spearhold.

Artonn is unable to be moved, it’s magic its tied to its location here on the plinth, underground. There’s another secret door in here, and they open it and there is a crystal sphere on a carved granite plinth. The sphere appears to contain a miniature scene of an iridescent dragon. The dragon moves around and opens its eyes, stretches like a cat, and then returns its head to its claws, watching Alzar. There is nothing else in the chamber. The dragon scratches its name, Phelzaron, on the ground of the globe when asked, but otherwise cannot speak and doesn’t answer any others questions. Artonn tells Alzar that Phelzaron was the court Magist for Baron Elktazar.

Alzar and the group leave, Alzar has the Elementals collect the three stone caskets and move them to the back room, and then has the Earth Elementals collapse the tunnels into this area of the dungeon. He wants to leave this area unseen. The chest room is destroyed. Alzar can teleport back to Artonn or Phelzaron if he wants to.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar teleports with Thassil and his group back to Evenarrow and has his Magist begin to search to see if she can find anything about Phelzaron. Thassil stays behind, and Alzar teleports to Spearhold and then flies south and west.


About 13 miles away is a odd looking construct. Alzar lands. In front of him is a large, grassy clearing, out of which rises a spiral flight of white steps – steps without railings that glow faintly, and spiral up, up, to…..nothing. Just empty air. On the turf round are several old and weathered skeletons.

Alzar flies up and around it. There are 300 steps, and they are in good condition, totally dry. There is nothing at the top, nothing hiding invisibly or anything else. There is nothing between the stair and the area around it. Alzar tosses a coin onto a stair without any issues from his flying carpet. Alzar casts Mount and gets a Griffon. The Griffon will shadow him, in case he falls or something, and will catch up. He still has his Stalker, Too. The star of mo-pilar won’t work at all, it sees nothing no stairs, nothing else.

Alzar steps onto the first stair and nothing happens. Then #2 and #3. He walks up the Endless Stair.

When he reaches the 8th step, there is a shimmering curtain of force that’s between himself and step #9. He steps through and takes 4 damage and is affected with a faerie fire. The Stalker took 2 but is not fire’d.

More steps pass, the Fire fades after 9 rounds. The 23rd step occurs and a another pair of those eyes appear from the steps and move to follow Alzar and his Stalker. More steps follow. When the 40th step is reached, the step itself begins to glow. A puff of white vapor rises from it. Out from it steps a creature, a malfera, that moves to attack!

The Malfera is a creature from the Nightmare Dimension that is only encountered on the Prime as the result of a powerful summoner.



Alzar’s Axe is out and…9 vs 5. The Malfera’s poisonous breath misses Alzar (immune due to Necklace of Adaptation). It attacks and misses with claws. Then Alzar uses his axe and…16, 18, and 7 – two hits for 34 damage. 3 vs 7. Alzar kills it with a 3rd Axe hit and it dies. Alzar gains 6k XP

[Abe Sargent]

He continues up. The 44th step has a Ivory Tube which is non magical. Inside is:

Unidentified Wand (Wand of Wonder – 63 charges)

Alzar will check it out later.

More stairs pass by. On the 64th, a sudden magical gale wind strikes! Alzar must save vs Breath or be swept off and into the sky. Alzar drops a 17 and it fine, but the axe in his hand blows away and lands on the ground. The gale wind has ended and the Griffon fetches it and ferries it back to him in its beak. The Stalker, as a creature of air, is immune.

At 112 there is a sudden appearance of a beautiful older human female clad in robes of purple. She speaks:

“You are come to the Seat of Power, where the Cheiromar sits in vigil. You have not the key, you are not welcome here. Please leave, and you will suffer no harm.”

She then fades.

Alzar arrives at the 200th stair and sees an odd hand in the middle of the 204th stair, as though it belonged to someone buried under the stair, with just the hand showing. It’s not undead, he can’t control it. A trap? Construct? Magical creature?

When he hits 202, the hand levitates quickly, and then makes a sign as if to say “stop.” It has an eye in the palm of the hand. It appears to have been made of Marble, and it’s just hanging there. Alzar steps back to 201, and then fades to OtherSpace, grabs the whistle and returns.

He blows the Whistle of Golem Control and…it is a construct, but it rolls a 14 and it cannot be controlled. Sensing the hostile action, it flies towards Alzar. Alzar’s axe tries to hit the thing and it fires four rays from its fingers. Init!

4 vs 6. Alzar’s axe….14 and 17, hits for 31 damage. The shield? 4 misses. The Hand uses an Energy Drain, Paralysis, Fiery Beam and Whirlwind at Alzar. The Energy Drain pulls a charge off the Scarab he has, the Paralysis misses (Free Action) the fire does )(no save – 4d6 – 15 damage) and the whirlwind tries to push him off the stair (same as before but no gust blowing items – it’s not that strong an effect) Alzar rolls 15. 2 vs 8. Alzar finishes the hand and it’s destroyed and pieces fall everywhere. Alzar grabs a few for later study.

[Abe Sargent]

On step 229 a Symbol of Spell-Loss, a hitherto unknown variant of the Symbol spell triggers and Alzar loses….(I roll randomly) Banishment.

Alzar continues up. As Alzar nears 300, suddenly a pair of wizards cast spells from outside the staircase. They are both invisible, and using Fly spells!

Level 24 Mage, Lathkoon – Currently has Fly, Protection from Normal missiles, used Invisibility 10’ radius to get 10 gargoyles up here that are now flying out to attack Alzar. Casting a spell at Alzar.

Level 22 Mage, Zelazel – Currently has Fly, Spell Immunity – Evocation, 10 bats flying in to attack, currently casting a spell.

Both have magical items on of various sorts.

They get their spells off before Alzar can respond. They agreed, before this, to see if they can just kill Alzar quickly and they are launching two sets of Magic Missile Spells. That’s 10d4+10.

Random.org the rolls and Alzar takes 39 damage.

39/78

Initiative . Man, Alzar wishes he had his Ring of Quick Action right now, but he doesn’t…8 vs 8. Whew, roll again. 4 vs 6. Better.

Alzar casts Time Stop. He casts Cleaving and then Maze on the one with the Gargoyles, since he looks like the more deadly one and…Alzar gets anther free turn so he casts Mordenkainen’s Disjunction on the one with the Bats. Time resumes.

The one with the bats, Zelazel, loses his magical spells and begins to fall. Lathkoon loses his protection spells and disappears for…2 rounds. Alzar orders the Griffon flies away to where the Mazed guy was.
The gargoyles have neared Alzar and can melee him next turn. Falling guy, Zelazel, casts Dimension Door and moves to the stairs, around 12 or so below Alzar.

1 vs 4. Alzar casts Wail of the Banshee and…7 gargoyles die, and all of the bats are dead save for one. His stalker moves to intercept the wizard and the remaining gargoyles miss. The wizard casts Dismiss and the Stalker is sent back home.

7 vs 6. Alzar takes 7 from gargoyles and the wizard casts Power Word Stun but it doesn’t work (Ring). He carves with his axe and drops two gargoyles and quaffs a potion of extra healing and gains 25 HP.

6 vs 2. The Mazed guy pops back in, right next to Alzar’s griffin. He casts Meteor Swarm and hits Alzar, the Griffin, the gargoyles, the one bat left, and the other mage for…everything is dead except the mage who took 19 and Alzar who took 23 after he made the save. Alzar grabs the Gem of Delusion from his belt and intones the command word. Both of his foes make their save. Lathkoon is immune to paralysis, so he’s just feebleminded for 2 rounds and Zelazar is stunned for…just 1 round and then feebled for 5,

7 vs 6. Lathkoon can’t do much, he’s feebled. Alzar casts Dispel Magic and…drops the Fly spell. He begins to fall.

2 vs 7. Alzar casts Finger of Death at the feebled Zelazel . He rolls a 4 and dies. Mr. Falling Mage cannot cast a spell. Now, if he had a potion to pop or something…He has one of healing one of speed, those aren’t working. He falls dead.

But, as the dies, Alzar sees the body disappear, teleported away. Alzar heads over to check the bodies and items:

Zelazel – Potion of freedom, 2 Potion of Healing, Button of Blasting, Helm of Telepathy, +3 dagger, Ring of Pro +2

Lathkoon – Wand of Cold (12 charges), Dagger +3, Rung of Pro +3, Ring of Fire Resistance.


Lathkoon’s remains are gone, Alzar grabs a few pieces of his flesh and such for spell components. Tomorrow he’ll memorize and use his Backtrace Teleport.

[Abe Sargent]

He heads back up.

When Alzar reaches the 300th step, then, and only then, do a spectral door of faintly glowing white light appear. He has to step on all 300 stars o trigger their. Alzar grabs the door and pulls, and it swings wide open. Azzil and Alzar head in.

They arrive at an extradimensional space beyond, sort of like Alzar’s OtherSpace or the inside of a Bag of Holding. This area has the appearance of a subterranean complex of rooms with stone walls. All of the chambers are softly lit by a gentle Continual Light from the ceiling. Everything here radiates magic. (The Star still works though)

At the far end of the corridor in front is a floating skull, with flames glowing in the eye sockets. Alzar reaches out, but it’s not undead. He grabs the Whistle and tries it and it doesn’t work, but again, can tell that it’s a construct.

As Alzar walks in, it intones that this is the chamber of the Cheiromar and gives other sorts of information as they move around. Sort of like a living memento or gravestone. There is one large room, with three doors to the left, one to the rear, and one to the right-ish.

There in an illusion of the Cheiromar on the crypt in the center of the room. In the right corner is a stone plinth with a glass sphere on top with a huge glass sphere in a hollow on the floor, filled with a swirling lime-green gas. The skull warns that this is a threat to all magic everywhere inside the big sphere, and the small sphere controls it.

[Abe Sargent]

The first door on the left is full of dark wooden shelves, climbing from floor to ceiling and crammed with jars, and bottles of experimental ingredients, and various implements. They include a ton of spell components, as well as other stuff.

The next door is a bed chamber. In here us a magic item, a Table of Plenty, that can be used to make 12 meals a day, with items listed. It can be shrunk down and regrown, and all five command words are written on it. Alzar shrinks it and takes it. A magical Gem is secured and a magical cabinet. Nothing else in here leaps out when scanned via Star.

Gem of Magic Missile Reflection
Cabinet of Ministering

The final door opens into a library. With bookshelves lining three of four walls and its a scene of neglect as something that likes paper for dinner have eaten steadily on the shelves, leaving behind a lot of pieces of books and such. Five magical volumes, untouched by the rest, are on the table here. They are all spellbooks, and Alzar places them in his bag. On the table are a jar of 6 cream colored bone buttons and a dark crystal hexagon.

Crystal of Death Scrying
6x Button of Blasting

[Abe Sargent]

The back room opens to a 60’ chamber, oddly open and empty. A featureless golden metallic globe hands down from the ceiling. The skull announces that this is a spellcasting arena, and there is an anti-magic sphere around it, so you can head in, try out and cast spells without any chance of hurting others.

Alzar opens the final door and the skull tells him that this is the Seat of Power. A place of great usefulness and great danger to those who wrok magic. Use no magic here and strike it not or perish.


This circular chamber has one thing in it – a stone seat set atop seven concentric rings. Alzar scouts it out, and then sits down.

He goes into a trance, and an anti-magic shell surrounds the chamber. He cannot see save through the Rune-Eye. The Seat of Power, a lesser artifact, gives Alzar its full powers immediately –

It can cast these spells – Dispel Magic, Meteor Swarm, Create Any Monster, Curse, Teleport, Reverse Gravity, Heal, Remove Curse, Prismatic Wall. They can target the user of the Seat, or they can target the location of the Rune-Eye. Using them will damage Alzar permanently, but he doesn’t know exactly what that means. He can also cast any spell in his memory at or through the Rune-Eye. This object moves at the speed up to 2 miles every ten seconds. It’s an eye about the size of a head, and it flies or floats or swims as needed.

Alzar is confused for 1d3 rounds – 2 rounds the first time he enters it. But now he is fine . Casting a touch spell through the Rune-Eye requires contact with the Rune-Eye (that includes the curse/remove curse abilities) Alzar sees through the Rune-Eye like a Gem of Seeing or truesight, but without any chance of failure. The eye goes blind after Alzar uses a spell through it, and he’s blinded for a round.

The Seat’s powers are at the 40th level of ability.

The Seat’s use is mentally exhausting, and cannot be used that many rounds in a row (no more than 21, Alzar’s INT score) without ill effects.

Alzar creates the Rune-Eye and sends it out, seeing if he can find the dead remains of a certain mage, but no luck. He leaves the Seat of Power and it shuts down.

Alzar needs some time with this area. He can use his Bookmend to restore some of the damaged books in the library, he can now teleport to the 300th stair and head in now that he’s used the place (and in fact he can Teleport without Error in and out, like any plane).

The next day Alzar has memorized his spell suite and uses the Backtrace. He arrives in a hot and muggy swamp thousands of miles to the south. There is a high level cleric here with the corpse of the dead wizard, preparing it for a Resurrection spell. Alzar’s arrival ends everything. The priest sees Alzar, and knows who he is (Speak with Dead spell) and backs away from the body. Alzar takes the body and places on it the Death Mask of Ptah. In a day the soul will have been carried away and there will be no chance of restoring it.

[Abe Sargent]

Meanwhile, he gained these five spellbooks:

Splecters’s Conjurations, Masteries, and Summonings:

Protection from Evil, Detect Invisible, Web, Infravision, Water Breathing, Charm Monster, Control Bats, Plant Growth, Polymorph Other, Conjure Air Elemental, Control Gargoyles, Hold Monster, Invisible Stalker, Monster Summoning IV.

Alzar learns Control Bats, Control Gargoyle and Conjure Air Elemental.

Najirit’s Tome of Wonders:

Warning Trumpet, Wizard Eye, Teleport, Detect Magic, Ventriloquism, Hold Portal, Charm Portal, Detect Magic, Detect Invisible, ESP, Clairvoyance, Phantasmal Force, Improved Phantasmal Force, Haste, Dispel Magic

Alzar learns Warning Trumpet


Phenalon’s Phantasmagorica

Symbol of Spell Loss, Entrap; Legend Lore, Phantasmal Force, Improved Phantasmal Force, Phantasmal Killer, Shadow Creatures, Hallucinatory Terrain, Projected Image, Change Self, Invisibility, Audible Glamour, Dancing Lights, Unseen Servant

Alzar learns the Symbols.

Asztellor’s Book of Deadly Spells


Animate Dead, Animate Dead Animals, Undead Mount, Summon Shadows, Ghoul Touch, Lich Touch, Vampiric Touch, Mummy Touch, Energy Drain, Spectral Hand


The Book of Dolzhabban “The Dread”

Magic Missile, Fire Ball, Stone Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Burning Hands, Cone of Cold, Melf’s Minute Meteor’s, Flaming Sphere, Flame Arrow, Melf’s Acid Arrow

Stone Bolt is new, but Alzar skips it.

Scrolls of Spell – Lower Water, Dissolve, Power Word, Stun, Legend Lore, Phase Door, Wall of Force, Prismatic Spray, Lightning Ring


There is a Dart of Death that he unearths – it’s a bronze disc that turns into a Dart that can be controlled and flies about, hitting targets for 2d4 without needing rolls to hit or anything, just by concentration, and anyone can use it.

The Crystal of Death Scrying is a cursed item that only reveals the violent death of a creatures, three times daily like a Crystal Ball, rather than what Alzar wants to see. But Alzar can use it to scry an area where something dies, and then teleport is to animate it and then teleport back out.

The Gem of Magic Missile Protection has 66 uses. It just has to be held on the person. Magic Missiles strike the stone, not Alzar. The energy can be used to reflect back to the user their missiles, redirect to another target Alzar chooses, or to heal Alzar of the damage that it would have otherwise done.


And we are done, ish.

Done with CM8. The Endless Stair

[Abe Sargent]

This is a very typical Ed Greenwood adventure. For example, he can’t help but create five more spellbooks that are detailed and talk about the user and such, exactly like his feature column in Dragon Magazine for years called Pages from the Mages. This is exactly his style. He loves that way of writing.

Alzar can use the Seat of Power, and he can teleport back to the folks at the bottom of the Stone as well by the Lost Axe Lake. Meanwhile he has more stuff, which is always a good thing.

Thassil the bard hangs out in Evenarrow for a while and will perform in a few places there, and elsewhere in Alzar’s dominion, and then eventually move on to see new things – always the quest for the new.

Alzar will spend the next two months finishing off the Silver Golem to animate it. He’s also taking the Amber Golem the foundry prepared, and using his Manual of Amber Golems to make that one.

Near the end of Month 4, there is an Earthquake in the Ljallenvals. It’s not a major one, it’s on the northern edge of the mountains. It’s barely noticeable in Alzar’s March.

[Abe Sargent]

Month 5, Year 5:

Dominion Growth.

How does building go? 51, 13, 73. Saffir Castle – 8 man weeks; Evenarrow Walls – 5 weeks; Havendrop - Full defenses, castle, etc – 25 weeks after bad weather hits the area. Spring storms keep any building from occurring for the month in Havendrop.


No other events occurs.

Alzar decodes his spell books that he got from a previous adventure:

Tairdo’s Spellbook:

1st Level – Magic Missile, Cantrip, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Identify, Burning Hands, Find Familiar, Feather Fall, Grease, Taunt, Nystul’s Magic Aura
2nd Level – Invisibility, Detect Invisible, Summon Swarm, Mirror Image, Melf’s Acid Arrow, Glitterdust, Knock,
3rd – Fly, Fireball, Flame Arrow, Dispel Magic, Non-Detection, Monster Summoning I
4th – Charm Monster, Fire Trap, Massmorph, Polymorph Other, Polymorph Self, Stoneskin, Monster Summoning II
5th –Hold Monster, Demi-Shadow Monsters, Mordenkainen’s Faithful Hound, Leomund’s Lamentable Belaborment, Teleport, Monster Summoning III
6th – Anti-Magic Shell, Ensnarement, Enchant an Item, Stone to Flesh, Invisible Stalker, Project Image, Monster Summoning IV
7th – Phase Door, Simulacrum, Teleport Without Error, Spell Turning, Drawmij’s Instant Summons, Limited Wish,
8th – Power Word Blind, Permanency, Monster Summoning VI
9th – Astral Spell, Monster Summoning VII, Power Word, Kill, Mordenkainen’s Disjunction.

Alzar learns Simulacrum

Eyes, Vision, and Arcane Sight: Infravision, Wizard Eye, Clairvoyance, Blindness, Deafness, Vision, Blur, Eyebite

Yuck

Glandar’s Grimoire: Flesh to Stone, Finger of Death, Disintegrate, Fellblade, Melisander’s Harp, Disruption, Immunity to Undeath

Hmmmm…. Disruption will destroy an undead or created creature. Rnge 10 feet per level, no material component needed, 40 foot radius sphere, every 6 HD or fewer creature is dead instantly. Any 6 HD or more save or dies. Even if it makes its saves, stunned for 1d2 rounds, and that works on undead and constructs. That’s not a bad spell at all. It’s also Necromancy.

Fellblade is odd. Maybe later. The Immunity renders all beings in the 40 foot radius globe immune to energy-draining attacks, strength draining, mental control and all undead powers that cause fear, Paralysis, aging or death. Alzar learns it.

[Abe Sargent]

Month 6, Year 5:

Minor Growth

How does building go? 18, 91, 24. Saffir Castle – 4 man weeks; Evenarrow Walls – 3 weeks; Havendrop - Full defenses, castle, etc – 21 weeks.

In Evenarrow, a sea-based punitive raid in punishment for the push against pirates a few months ago occurs. More than 50 workers die and Alzar puts in a person appearance to speed up the project with his extra spells and allies and such.

Alzar teleports over to Landfall and destroys three more smugglers after the raid is over.


This month, Alzar has completed both the Silver Golem and Amber Golem projects:

“Kitty”, Amber Golem –

AC 6, HD – 10, HP – 50, THACO – 11, 3 attacks for 2d6, 2d6 and 2d10. Movement 18.

Looks like great amber lion, Detects Invisible, +2 weapon to hit, can follow a trail 12 hours cold, for every 12 hours more its -5% at tracking. Half damage from fire magic.

“Lance”, Silver Golem –

AC 0, HD – 12, HP – 65, THACO -9, 4 attacks for 1d8, 1d8, 1d8, 1d8. Movement 30.

Fastest known golem, has mercury in it. Always wins initiative, even against magic that would take it. +2 weapon to hit. Magic fire heals it, and causes it grow for a time (full damage from magical cold and it will shrink temporarily). Not affected by spells.

Alzar wishes he had more Warp Marbles for carrying Lance and Kitty around. He can store them in OtherSpace if he wants, neither are that big.

He also summons a Spectator and binds it to help guard the castle’s treasury

[Abe Sargent]

Month 7, Year 5:

Minor Growth

How does building go? 11, 35, 38 Havendrop - Full defenses, castle, etc – 17 weeks.

Saffir Castle and the Evenarrow defenses are now fully operational!

Alzar hires some new folks for running those.

S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks





I want to begin a four module series:

S3
CM6
DA2 – 3

I didn’t run this module because it’s out of flavor, and doesn’t fit in Dungeons and Dragons or the various campaign worlds we did. But it does fit Pandius. So we’ll run it.

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s talk about Science Fantasy and such.

Adding science fiction elements to your fantasy wasn’t exactly new ground. In fact, it was extremely common during this era. Having just finished reading the novel Hiero’s Journey, by Sterling Lanier, an early 70s novel that was in the list of works that heavily influenced D&D and Gygax, I can vouch for that. We have psionics and post-apocalyptic fun with radiation and computers and such, but all in the venue of fantasy. Take a look at late 60s Dragonrider of Pern by Anne McCaffrey, a hugely influential novel that combines science fiction and fantasy. Early video games like Ultima and Might and Magic have no compunction about adding in science fiction elements to something that seems like normal fantasy. Early campaigns like Blackmoor and Greyhawk make no bones about including various science fiction elements. We have Metamorphosis Alpha and Gamma World printed very early, and are adding things like psionics to D&D in ‘76.

And we’ll even add in stuff like Spelljammer later. So I get the affectation to all things science fantasy from that era. But that’s not the game. That’s not D&D, no matter how much that veneer might look appealing to some, it’s false window dressing that obscures the point. D&D is something else. It can be pulp-ish, it can be epic, it can be dark, and so forth. But at the end of the day, it’s not Star Wars.

And this module? Ranked very highly by like everyone? Ranked 5th best in that Top 30 ranking they did to mark the 30th anniversary of D&D? It wasn’t even written for D&D. Nope – it was for Metamorphosis Alpha, a different RPG. Gygax mentioned that he turned to his notes from the Greyhawk campaign where he had a crashed starship as the location for an adventure, and used that concept.

[Abe Sargent]

About halfway through the month, Alzar begins to hear about some areas on the north side getting hit by local creatures. At first, Alzar thinks it might be a nearby tribe of around 250 Mountain Giants that live in the northern part of the mountains, but after flying by, it doesn’t seem likely. Probably monster that came out in the recent earthquake.

With those thoughts, he heads down to the area near where the foothills and mountains meet, checking out potential landslides, exposed caverns or caves that appear recent and that sort of thing.

And then he notices an odd-looking entrance to a place.

He flies over a rise and gained the first view, closer in, of the metal doored “Cave.” There is a hillside where the recent earthquake has exposed two doors, a small upper door and a much large lower door, on the north side of the cave. As Alzar flies over and approaches, the door is open and there is a metal room, about 18 by 20 with a curving rear wall.

As he slides in, the door gently and quietly glides closed behind him. An inner door opens and a 60x60 entry area with a drop tube is in front of him.

Drop Tube –



The tube is dark, and there are no lights here.

[Abe Sargent]

The area is dark and Alzar turns the Ioun Stone. There are doors that flank the area with purple bands on them. The Star of Mo-Pilar doesn’t find anything unusual here, but when he looks up, he spies a creature, a Lurker above in the ceiling about 20 feet down the room on the left.

The walls are oddly marked with words he can’t read, so head heads to OtherSpace and grabs his Helm of Reading Things and tries it. But it doesn’t work either and he sends it to the Bag of Holding for later in case. The room had exist to the left past the Lurker, to the right and forward. There are numerous doors in the corridors to the three directions that appear to have jet black bands on them. None of the doors seem to want to open. Alzar heads forward, there appears to be two doors to the right and left without any colors on them. The Ear Ring is used to spy into them.


The left door opens into a30x30 room with mechanical devices that appear to test someone’s accuracy and speed. They might be for educational purposes, or perhaps for entertainment, like games. In the back is one such that has a stick that is aimed and used to fire at glowing targets. The stick is used in a way similar to a gun or a crossbow, but is not held in a normal way. Alzar uses some time to acclimate to using the weapon on the targets.

[Abe Sargent]

There is nothing else here so Alzar heads back to the hallway and checks the other door. These 30x30 area was once very posh and comfortable, but now is quite messy and there are torn easy chairs, small broken tables and upturned furniture of other sorts. There have been fire and more in the room. Alzar checks to see if he can find anything, and…

He finds a Jet Black card. It’s about 2 inches by 3 inches with a thin metal. Alzar heads back and there, in the corridor, moving is….



It looks like an odd metal golem of some sort. Alzar grabs his Whistle of Golem Control and tries, but no dice, it’s not working. It’s moving to attack him it’s just moving down the corridor, so Alzar lets it.

Alzar uses the jet black card in a jet black door next to the lounge and it opens and reveals an empty, room, which was thoroughly looted by others long ago. Another jet black door opens for a room that has some odd creatures in it. As they see Alzar, they move to attack!




Alzar is not familiar with them. There are a subchief with 5 HD, 2 thornies, and 2 sprouts at 3 HD. The thorny is that small plant-like dog creature in the picture. They are clearly plant-like foes. Which is something Alzar doesn’t have a lot of ways to handle. Alzar uses his axe and moves in. These mold men have spears. They have a 4 AC, low intelligence, attacking simply, and battle begins!

3 vs 4. Alzar’s axe bites into the firs Mold Man that nears him and hits twice and it dies, and then he shield-smashes a second for 12 damage, They miss (Cloak). They win init, and one hits with a spear for 2 damage. Then Alzar kills them and will regenerate back the minor hits very quickly. A quick search turns up a Brown Card. The Star shows no magic or interesting here (The cards aren’t detecting as anything)

One more Jet door is here in the corridor before it hits a long corridor. Alzar opens it and finds…

[Abe Sargent]

More of these Subchief of 5 HD, 4 3HD sprouts and 4 thornies. Alzar again wades in, will take 9 damage, heals that quickly enough with the Imp’s regeneration powers, and finds a Violet Card in this room with the sub-chief.

There is a hugely long corridor next that is 100 feet down to the right (west) and 230 to the left (east). It also continues forward. There are a doors with black stripes. Alzar heads left and opens up a bunch, and slays several more groups of vegepygmies, all level one dorks and he carves them down. After more and more are defeated, they begin to gather into bigger groups an then floor. Finally, Alzar enters a room with a Sub-Chief at 5 HD, 3 3HD bodyguards, 3 thornies, and about 12 smaller ones that fled before him. Alzar conjures an Earth Elemental, and then steps back and lets it kill them all in the room (no exit) without taking any damage. There is a yellow card on the sub-chief

Alzar hits the end of the corridor and heads left, and then opens up some empty rooms, Alzar heads back, and the tunnel turned and is back to the front, and the Lurker Above is, well, above him. Alzar has the Earth Elemental attack it when it falls and kills it. To the left is a large chamber with the Vegepygmy chief. And then a few minutes later, all dead. There is a red card on the chief, and then Alzar also finds:

Poison Gas Grenade
Sleep Gas Grenade
Broken Communicator


These things are unusual looking, so he secures them in the Bag of Holding. Then he uses the purple card to open the doors that flanked the entrance - they each hold one suit of armor, similar to leather, but fully covered.

2 Suits of Armor? (Space Suits)

[Abe Sargent]

This time he heads right from the entrance and opens some jet doors, revealing more empty rooms denuded of anything interesting by the Vegepygmies or perhaps others. As he walks down the corridor, he spies…




Just sitting there in the hallway. It has been battered and its main guts have been scattered about. Alzar brings the whole thing (it’s small for one of these automatons) and moves it to his OtherSpace and adds some of the small tools and such there as well.

Broken Repair Robot
Variety of Handtools


As Alzar finishes securing the thing, from behind him, down the corridor, comes a small group of vegepygmies and a dog-thing and they see him and his elemental and flee. Alzar lets them leave, and has begun to play with the various colored cards and has found out that thus far, any card works in a Black door, and some cards, like his red card, work in everything he’s seen thus far. He has Black, Yellow, Purple, Brown, and Red.

[Abe Sargent]

The tunnel bends and winds its way around some rooms, and as Alzar checks them, he hears some activity behind a door to his right. There’re no colors on it. It opens and inside is a



There are a variety of automatons that approach Alzar, but they see he has a Red Card and back off and ignore him. Alzar waits, and then slowly moves around. In this room re some 3 robots on patrol and duty Alzar heads to the back room off this one and this is a storage facility for the automatons. Alzar searches and finds:

12 Power Discs

There is a door off this one, coded in Red. He hasn’t seen one of those before, but he inserts the red card into the slot to the left of the door and it slides vertically open. In here is a repair facility for the style of automaton in the first room. There are 11 of these in various stages of repair, and a mechanical one is repairing one at the moment. The worker is not bothering Alzar. Alzar decides to take four of these automatons that appear to be in better shape and see if he can repair them later. Another red door is off this one, and is opens into an armory or arsenal. Most of the items here were taken long ago, But there are still some cases of grenades and power discs. As Alzar looks, an automaton moves in on patrol, and then back into the main room. Alzar waits and it repeats this pattern every three minutes. He waits until it leaves, then grabs the items and moves them to his OtherSpace and that way they aren’t on him or visible. The robot doesn’t notice the next time it returns, so he finishes with that.

4 broken police robots
24 Power Discs
24 Each of Explosive, Incendiary, Poison Gas and Sleep Gas Grenades

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar grabs one of the grenades and tries to figure it out, in the major area. He grabs one of the two styles that he has 25 of. (it’s the Sleep Gas one, determined randomly). He rolls on a flowchart that comes with the module.

He gets -1 to the rolls for his INT. He rolls a 6 – which he spends a round doing. Then he rolls a 7 and spends another round trying to figure it out. Then a 2 and he’s back to start. Then a 1, and then a 3 and he’s figured it out and used it and it explodes in a puff of gas. He would be given a save to prevent himself from falling asleep for an hour or so, and the gas persists in eh area for about a minute. But his Necklace keeps him from breathing that air, and he’s fine.

These devices are around the size of a large apple, and they have a small dial on the front that can be set to how long the device will take before exploding. Then another dial is pushed, turned, and then pushed again and that sets the device, and then it explodes after that time – 3, 4 or 5, seconds.

He next runs into two dining areas, quite large. They have mess tables and large benches. They are now in ruins. There is a ruined kitchen here as well. The hallway hits the long grand done in the back, and Alzar crosses to another room that opens into a another lounge, much like the one he initially found, and a search turns up:


2 Pieces of Jewelry worth 2400 Gp

[Abe Sargent]

In the hallway to the right is a seemingly unconscious Human woman. As the Elemental nears it, she/it rises and fires at the elemental 2 and then sues a bar to smash it. The weapon actually hits the Elemental once for minor damage – just 3 points. But it’s immune to the bar, and it kills the humanoid looking automaton that is new broken. Alzar inspects it and takes:

Paralysis Pistol, 4 charges,
1 Power Disc

The Pistol has a place where there is a slot on the side that takes these power discs and they can be pulled out and placed back in it. Having seen it in use, and having used a weapon in the game room to try things out, Alzar tries to use the Pistol…

He rolls a 7 – turns into a 4. Then finishes it. He doesn’t even use a charge or a shot, he’s figured it out.




Take 1d4 damage, and then save to be stunned for 3d4 rounds, and if made, then slowed for the same amount instead.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar heads to doors at the end of this cooridor and double doors are here. Inside are a bunch of damaged tables and such, and a large 30’ by 60’ room and more double doors follow, with a similar shape on the far side.

Alzar heads back the corridor that bends to the right round. A large pile of trash is here, and inside is a:

Blaster Pistol, 6 Charges

They enter a section of the dungeon that has doors with yellow bands on them. Alzar’s yellow (and red) cards work on them. A few doors pass by, and then the hallway opens and there is another of the drop tubes in here, this one appears to be working, a group of phase spiders teleport here from elsewhere and move to attack Alzar!

(Random.org) a few minutes later, Alzar and his minions have finished them off, and he took 18 damage which will regenerate soon enough. To the right are two doors that have yellow cards and Alzar opens then. In here are a automaton of a different room which blares out something in an unknown language and then. Alzar heads to the room, and the first




Looks like this male automaton who appears to want to heal folks, and it immediately moves to secure Alzar who orders the Elemental to get in the way and the Elemental and Alzar kill it easily enough.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar takes it to look at later. Then he moves into the next room.




In this room, the woman automaton moves to heal Alzar, but with the dangerous attack he just sustained, he forces her away and she does not heal him. After checking, there is nothing else in here and they leave.

Broken Medical Android


As they emerge back into the large room, and group of 5 displacer beasts have moved down the hallway and move to attack. Alzar moves up to them and casts Wail of the Banshee. 3 drop dead, and battle is reached. Init. Alzar can see their real location (21 Intelligence) and hits one twice (Axe and Shield) for 30 damage and his elemental finishes the creature up, and then it hits Alzar for 9 damage with one of its tentacle s(immune to his Cloak). It wins init, misses, and Alzar finishes the creatures off.

He skins them, takes some tentacles and blood for magical items, and then leaves the rest.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar heads south (Forward) and a few empty rooms greet him and then they arrive at a large50 x 60 recreational room, laid off for doing exercises or games or training. There is nothing else here and the corridor bends. Another empty room on the left and then a complex that requires a grey card, which he doesn’t have, passes by (none of the other cards work on the grey either), awith a few black rooms that open into empty rooms across from it. Next is a complex of five rooms that require red cards, and Alzar opens them up.


This place is basically intact, and there were an personal office and study with three chairs and some books and a desk. The desk opens to reveal

3 orange cards
Broken Pistol

And Alzar takes these for later perusement –

11 Books on Security and 24 Fiction Novels

Back here is also a bedroom, a dressing room and a pair of skeletons. There is a small metal box with a dials, a grille, and a few buttons. Alzar takes it for later.

Police Robot Control Box

He heads back out and finds the drop tube here in the back of this level. He is entering a section that requires the purple card he has. Alzar opens one door to a normal room and out pop a pair of displacer beasts! Alzar quickly kills them and takes little damage. He carves them and adds them to his pile of Displacer Bits

[Abe Sargent]

There is nothing else here, and then Alzar opens a few more and finds a room with a tube of some gems, and it’s a plastic tubular instrument of some sort. Unlike the other devices Alzar has found, this one looked powered and ready to go. He tries to use it.

He goes all around the device once for a few moments before figuring it out, again without wasting any charges.


Language Translator, 6 charges

A few rooms later, Alzar finds and kills a grey ooze and then a Alzar finds the fourth and final drop tube. He turns back to the center of the area, having scanned the outskirts, and there is a room that opens and some Shrieker mushrooms give off a loud cry. Out come some Vegepygmies with a different coloration that the first group Alzar encountered.



Alzar’s Earth Elemental blocks the exit, and soon enough the Vegepygmies flee back from this side of the complex.

About 30 or so, including the leader and around 5 of the little thorny dogs have created a defensive formation in a lounge. The Elemental crashes kills, kills a bunch, and more escape to Alzar at the door, who kills them as well. They are carved down viciously and quickly.

In this lounge is….3 Ampoules of Serum that will cure diseases when used..

Alzar finds in some of these rooms:

Purple, Orange cards
2 Sleep Gas, 1 Explosive Grenades
1 Laser Pistol, 4 charges
1 Blaster Rifle, 2 charges

[Abe Sargent]

There is another empty kitchen and dining area. Alzar moves to the central area of the complex. Here in the hallway is an area patrolled by more automatons. There are a few here, and they shout out some random stuff to Alzar. He speaks back and they spend a few minutes translating his speech, and then the policing constructs scan Alzar, see the Red Card, and then allow him to continue.

They announce themselves as security “robots” and that everything is fine on certain levels. Two leave, and there is a jail here the orange card opens. There are six small cells, all empty, and a chest, locked, which opens to the orange card, and inside:

2 Gas Masks
12 Sleep Gas Grenades
2 Needle Pistols, 1 full clip of ammo each

Next to this room is a security door guarded by a red card requirement



There is a nice console on the desk, and it shows every room in the area. Many are destroyed. But it seems like there are six levels, and Alzar is just on the first.




Meanwhile, there are some lockers here at hat are opened with a red card as well:

Rags of Full Dress Uniform – 3 Gem Encrusted Medals worth 3, 4, and 6k each
Blaster Pistol, 6 charges
Suit of Powered Armor, Malfunctioning

[Abe Sargent]

Outside of this area is a central storage facility that Alzar opens next. Inside here are large numbers of boxes of food, still good, and


Repair Robot Remote Control

Next to this is a library and a small arms lockers. The locker:



Has been stripped but there are tons of items still inside:

10 Needler Pistols
8 Paralysis Pistols
4 Laser Pistols
2 Laser Rifles
1 Blaster Rifle

20 of Sleep, Incendiary, Explosive Grenades

Fully Operational suit of Powered Armor

20 Power Discs
20 Needler Clips

And then the library has not been damaged much – the Vegepygmy host didn’t care about it that much. There are 24 viewers that appear like giant magnifying glasses. Many still work and there are items that are rotated by the machine that can be seen. Many are creatures or concepts that Alzar is not familiar with, and he even gets to see schematics of the dungeon, which is apparently a craft that traveled through the stars like the seas. A star boat.

There is a skeleton in here that has a lot of medals and such, decayed and broken. But there is a gray card on it.

[Abe Sargent]

The next three rooms are three different forms of laboratories, with small cages of animals, long since dead and such. The first has a worker robot still working, and it turns to question Alzar, but after scanning the gray card, it pulls back. Alzar moves forward and begins to search:

2 Ampoules of Poison Antidote, 3 of cure disease
Canister of Healing Spray – (2d12 hp healed/spray, 12 sprays)

The next lab is more of a culture and plant lab. The room looks like it was just taken over by Russet Mold, which sprays spores out. Alzar won’t breathe them in (Necklace of Adaptation). He skips the rest and the 3rd lab is a chemical one. There are many old and dissipated chemicals here. None detect as magical, so he heads on.

The central room on this floor has been found:



There is an altar-looking platform in the center, and supported by a metal column and arms bent toward the door. The wall opposite the door is made of glass, but is dark and can’t be seen through.

Alzar closes to the item in the room:



He looks over the various dials and levers, but decides to skip this, at least for now, and heads to the gray area he could not enter before. This opens into a five room suite that includes decorations, skeletons of the deceased, and other various items. The first room has a small desk, bedroom furniture, a sell set of all cards on a twine, and there is a safe that Alzar cannot open, not with acid, or the Gauntlets of Dexterity or even the Chime of Opening he just used.

[Abe Sargent]

Next is a private lounge and dining area. There are some old liquor bottles in here, still with the gas in them. A master bedroom is unremarkable, save for a platinum model of the boat ship that they are on, worth 1000 gp. The wife’s chamber has some jewelry worth 8760 gp.

He heads out and moves to the nearby drop tube. He floats down from the machinery and arrived in a very different sort of floor. The first one was packed with a variety of rooms.




That’s not this floor. It has almost no doors, just a bunch of pillars and machinery. The wiring and piping here is protected by metal, and there are a large number of machines that power the place. Alzar checks things out, but other than the occasional robot. This one is recharging at a power station:



There isn’t a lot here.

[Abe Sargent]

No creatures jump out or anything. There is a dead skeleton right beside one of the four drop tubes, and it has a laser pistol with 4 charges. There are also these fun looking sleds that could be used if the directions were worked out. They would move things around quite nicely.



But for now, Alzar takes the drop tube down to the next level.

After stepping out, Alzar arrives at a huge walkway:




Basically this level is a narrow walkway around the next level, and there are a variety of rooms off the walkway. It’s 80 down the floor. Meanwhile, this appears to be a recreational level, and the rooms here are larger ones like lounges and bars.

[Abe Sargent]

As Alzar leaves the drop tube, He approaches the walkway and begins to look over, and suddenly a number of birds, 17, fly over and begin to harass him.



Each one is roughly the size of a hawk or raven, and they are beakless, and have a three appendage from their chest. Suddenly they begin to spray webbing at Alzar and his group from it. He is immune to it (Ring). He grabs the Flying Carpet and heads up to face them in the open. Some start to fly at him, trying to bite him with their toothy mouths. Alzar casts and uses Blastbones to clear out the area. The birds all die and Alzar takes 8 damage himself.

Alzar lands and continues on. There are violet doors to his left that open to reveal some cargo holds, and one has a lift that heads down. They are otherwise empty. A violet door here reveals a room that has a station of four robots ready to help out, one police and three workers. In this room, all four are shut down. Alzar secures them.

Alzar moves on and finds another pair of cargo holds, but without any lifts. Then a kitchen opens up past them and there is a robot here, that tells Alzar to sit down and eat. All of the robots here now speak Pandius Prime, as it was analyzed upstairs. Alzar sits down and some nasty, molded food is brought down and placed in a bowl. The robot won’t take now for an answer and tries to force feed Alzar, so he stands and uses his axe on the thing and breaks it. He takes the pieces. In the back are a black and purple card, and an empty needler pistol and some jewelry worth 3400 gp

Shortly after the battle, Alzar’s elemental leaves it’s duration done.

[Abe Sargent]

A lounge is next, and there’s nothing here. All around the walkway are these



Machines that can be bent and used to look at the lower level, magnified like a spyglass.

Alzar passes one set. On the walkway itself here is some green slime that Alzar kills in a few places. There’s also some plants that have grown up from the bottom level, and some are in front of him now –



It looks like dangerous conditions in front. The tendrils are moving. Alzar grabs a bit of furniture, a chair, from the lounge and throws it. The vines lash at it nastily and pull it down. Hmm…Alzar grabs a Wand and uses Cone of Cold to destroy it. It freezes up and ices over, and Alzar destroys it with his axe.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar passes some more cargo holds and another servo room with all four robots here working. There are Brown cards required back here, and another lift down in one of the holds, plus he passes by a drop tube. In front of him is a large lounge, and the area is in much better condition than upstairs, but there’s nothing left here. Then another kitchen and cargo hold pass by and…


Here’s another place that some plants have come to lurk from below



This plant looks a little different. But again, a quick toss of a nearby object shows that this is a deadly plant as well, blocking the corridor right in front of this drop tube. Another Cone of Cold takes it out.

There is another servo room off here, with one not working worker and three that are. Alzar grabs the not-working one. Another cargo hold opens up, and again with the brown cards required. There’s nothing revealed though. Alzar kills another green slime on the walkway. The next cargo hold has a triad of ropers in it. Now this is more like it. Alzar’s axe and shield are out and he moves in to attack them

Init. 9 vs 8. They miss. He needs a 6 to hit with his axe and…7, 14, and 14 rolled for 49 damage and one Roper dies. 5 vs 6. Alzar carves and kills a second, and then other bites him for 16 damage. It wins init and hits him automatically for another 12, and then he kills it.

Normally, Ropers can be dissected for gems or other items they have eaten, so Alzar does the same, and finds:

Fire Extinguisher
3 canisters of propellant
Anti-Grav belt
Spool of Platinum wire worth 1600 gp

Alzar kills two more vine creatures that have come up here with Cones of Cold. A lounge and bar pass by, and nothing else, and that’s this floor.

He heads down.

[Abe Sargent]

This floor was clearly designed to be a garden or zoo or something for the ship once. Maybe it was used for food. There much be a sonic nullification device of some sort, because this area is downright popping in danger and noise. From the multiple plants, birds, and slime that he encountered above, this will likely be a very toxic level.

Underneath the walkway above, the flanks of this level are one big circular inner area. Alzar is going to head around the circle, checking out the various rooms and things in here, and then head out to the plant/animal/fungus/whatever area.

The areas back here appear to have once been storage, viewing, and access in ring around the garden. The builders built large hill like structures to increase the size of the floor by adding vertical places for homes and plants. There are access points beneath these small lifts and hills for feeding, serving the area, and so forth. There’s another bar, like the ones above, and the lifts heading back up to the cargo holds above. He passes by the tubes up/down as well.

There are some crew quarters that he passes with some skeletons, and he finds a few items mixed in with the dead stuff. Beyond the quarters are a crew room. With various tools, implements, and such.

2 Brown Cards
Paralyzer Pistol, 3 charges
Portable Spotlight, 5 charges left
Defoliant Sprayer, 20 containers

100’ unbreakable rope


There is a Robobar behind them different from the others, because there is a



Robot here that answers some of Alzar’s questions about the area. It only knows what it’s programmed too, but the creature shows Alzar how to mix the defoliant with the container and use that, but that’s all it can do. Alzar thanks it and heads back to the main garden chamber afterwards.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar wants some additional protection beyond the Wand and Defoliant. But for now he’ll see.

Alzar heads in from the south side. To the right is a large plant with purple blossoms and and branh-less but fern-like foliage over it, a bit like an evil palm-tree:



Alzar’s isn’t that good on his plant knowledge, but there are a few animals that have been poisoned and killed by the tree’s sap here. Alzar wants to kill it. Meanwhile, to the left are a large patch of whgat appears to be open grass.




The blades of this grass have become corkscrewed, and they are boring into a human skeleton that is here. The grass is a large patch, and it’s looking really lethal across the board. Alzar reaches down and plucks a few blades to examine them, and then places them in a Jar of Preserving for later use or research. Then he uses the defoliant and kills a 10x10 patch of the stuff dead. He steps into and through it, to the left of the tree, and moves north.

[Abe Sargent]

In front of him are a group of deep green stalks of orange and yellow tipped plants that shock red here and there.




With the enzymes dripping evilly from it, Alzar tosses a small object, and the different colored flowers each have a different way of attacking the object, and it‘s physically destroyed in a moment. The defoliant needs two charges to clear them out, but does.

Alzar steps north again. Another of the tall purple trees is on his right. In front is an animal burrow. To the left is a broad, ribbed leafed plant with leaves that radiate out deeply, and white berries that spell really appealing. The leaves appear to be sharp.




Alzar again uses defoliant to clear it out. Two more charges used (The area was thick with them).

[Abe Sargent]

In front is a is a small marsh, and it empties into a medium sized pond. Alzar can make out an island in the pond, and a bridge to it on the west side. In the swamp Alzar can make out these large leechoid type creatures.




There are 15 or 16 of them moving around. He grabs a skull from his belt and casts Skulltrap and throws it 40 feet into the swap and kills them all, cleaning them out. He also killed a black pudding in the swamp he hadn’t gotten to as well.

[Abe Sargent]

On the edge of the pond and the swamp, outside of the range of his Skulltrap, is a leprous, sickly looking plant, that’s yellow-grey and ugly scarlet, with a nasty smell.




As he moves in closer to get a better feel for it, it communicates with him telepathically, tells him that it’s not a bad plant, and warns Alzar about the other evil and nasty plants here. Alzar uses Detect Lie on it, and the plant is not lying. Not even telepathically. It won’t hurt him. There is another plant here, beyond the grass, the evil palm, the saw-blade plant, and the vampire thorns and creeper vines he already encountered – globe palms that hurl giant globes they grew at potential prey. There’s one about 55 feet to the southeast. Alzar looks and sees it. The other tall palm-ish plants dip their purple flowers and turn over a poisonous resin that will kill and paralyze victim, and the roots absorb their nutrients as they die.

Alzar thanks the plant for its assistance, and then approaches the palms to his east and south.

[Abe Sargent]

He uses Cone of Cold to kill a bunch of these at range and then chops them up with his axe. As he is finishing them off, a group of 6 baboonoid like creatures move out and protest his presence in their section of the area, especially now that he’s destroyed some of their food.



Alzar casts Death Spell as they approach and half of their number drop dead and the others scurry away for their lives.

Alzar destroys some more nasty plants as he moves up the east flank of the area, but just evil grass, nothing more is here to be a stumbling block. A few webbirds fly away from him, and he kills a pair of green slimes. Alzar nears a section with a pair of shambling mounds stand up from the rest of the foliage and move to attack him.

Now these are a creature he has fought before and is familiar with. They are hard to wound – slashing and bashing do half damage, piercing nothing, and stuff like fire, cold, acid, lightning, doesn’t hurt them, or helps them grow. His best tool here will be magic. He drops a Maze on the larger of the two and it disappears as the other reaches melee range.

Init. 4 v 7. Alzar tries to hack it for 3, 18, 7. He hits once for 8 damage. It misses him. 7 vs 4. It hits him once for 8 damage. He hacks it for 14 damage. 4 vs 9. Alzar hacks for another 11. It misses him. (Ac of -7 is hard to hit sometimes). 7 vs 6. Alzar takes 7. He hits for 10. 3 vs 4. Alzar finishes it. Three rounds later, its friend comes back, and Alzar has taken 12 damage still. Init. 3 vs 9. Alzar carves it twice for 16. It misses (cloak.) 7 vs 1. It smashes Alzar once for 12. Alzar hits just once, with the shield, for 5. 2 vs 1. It misses, Alzar takes off 14. 8 vs 3. It hits for 7. Alzar hits twice more and slasy it.

Alzar is at 35.

There is nothing on the dead guys. Nor in their home. Ah well.

[Abe Sargent]

He continues, and on the far side of the pond, he sees a pretty little bunny.




Alzar conjures an Invisible Stalker, who approaches the pretty little bunny on the stump. As it gets near 8 feet, the creature attacks the Stalker, sensing it.




It will try to drive the Stalker into its maw for food with the root-tentacles.

Alzar heads in to him his Stalker, and tentacles that resemble roots try to grab him too. Init! 5 vs 1. Alzar is missed (Cloak) and the Stalker takes 8. Because it’s bound, the Stalker can’t attack. Alzar rolls a 7, 2, and 14 and hits the stump three times for…1, 5, and 5 for 11 + 13 +13 + 8. Dead creature. (It had 50 hp).

[Abe Sargent]

The Stalker is freed. Nothing else here. Alzar kills the occasional deadly grass or vampire thorns over here. He arrives at the bridge on the west side of the pond, and has the Stalker head on over. There is a door that heads down to an underwater viewing area:



As he nears it, a creature moves to strike from the water at Alzar suddenly out of nowhere!




This creature lands on the bridge and cuts Alzar off from heading that way. It can attack with the four tentacles and the giant tongue as well. It’s huge, around 20 feet tall! Battle begins!

5 vs 6. Alzar casts Time Stop. Then he casts Finger of Death and and Flesh to Stone and….that’s it. Do they work? 13 for FtS and…11 for FOD. Nope, it’s still here.

1 vs 5. Alzar does this the melee way as his Invisible Stalker arrive. AC4 for its body. 17, 2, and 10, it hits three times for 41 damage. The Stalker misses. It’s immune to the cloak and nails Alzar three times for 23 damage.

Alzar – 34/78

6 vs 2. The creature nails him for another 19. Alzar casts Vampiric Touch and drains 21 from it.

Alzar - 37/78
Unknown – 62

5 vs 4. The creature hits him for another 17 damage. Alzar uses his Pearl of Power to recall that spell and casts it again, Vampiric Touch on it for….bad rolls - 11 damage. The Stalker finally hits for 8.

Alzar 32/78
Unknown – 81

4 vs 7. Alzar carves into it with his axe twice and drops the shield. He hits twice for 33 damage. Then he grabs an extra healing metal vial from his belt and heals 25. He lashes out and hits him for 20.

Alzar 38/78
Unknown 114

5 vs 2. Alzar is carved twice more for 15 damage, and then his axes lights into it once for 17 and then again for 20 damage and it dies. Whew!

24/78