Session 10 - Scene 1 (of 7)

Two days ago...

With the last of the undead remains burned in Scrag's fire pit, Krolec heads out in search of Zena.  Once he finds her, he plans to catch up with the others.  Scrag elects to hold back and wait in his shack until the group comes back to finish clearing out the cemetery.

Heading back west and to the south, Krolec eventually comes upon a small clearing with the ruins of what appears to be an old caretaker's shed.  Moving cautiously inside, he spots some recently moved boards.  Nudging them aside, he discovers a sleeping Zena.

After carefully waking her, Krolec asks Zena what happened to her when she disappeared the previous day.  She explains that while scouting, she encountered a roaming pack of zombies and zombie hounds.  Knowing that she couldn't take them on her own, she ducked inside the old remains to hide.  She stayed there until she was sure they were gone, but by then it was nightfall.  She made herself the temporary shelter in the ruins so she could get some rest.

Zena also mentions a note she found in an old scroll case among the remains, apparently written by the last caretaker of the cemetery – a man named Ryerson – discussing that the ground has "soured" and the dead have begun to rise.  According to the note, an evil necromancer named Herwest the Reanimator placed a dark crystal in the cemetery filled with dark magic that caused the dead to begin to rise.  And due to the local army forces being depleted from the Minotaur Wars, there are not enough able-bodied men to go in to kill the undead and destroy the crystal.  Instead the city fathers have decided it is enough to contain the area.  Ryerson's last words indicate that he is leaving the area the next morning, but if someone is reading the note then he must not have made it.

While Krolec and Zena find the new information interesting, they decide the best thing to do is try to locate the others.  They stop by to update Scrag first, and then head back into town.

After asking around at the House of the Sun, the two eventually find their way to the Temple of Erathis, only to find that the others have already left with Rhogar restored.  The high priestess, Dirina Mornbrow, explains to them about the mission the group agreed to undertake.

Krolec and Zena decide to head out immediately, hoping to catch up to the others that night.  Unbeknownst to them, the group did not actually plan to leave on the mission until the next morning.  After traveling for several hours, Krolec is surprised they have not caught up with the others yet, and decides they must have taken a different direction.  The two make camp for the night.

Their travels the next day are relatively uneventful, with exception of spotting some remains of dead pilgrims.  They still catch no sight of the group, and Krolec is impressed Merend has apparently made such good time.  The day after that, they finally reach the Cave of the Three Brothers.  Outside are some hastily discarded pieces of pilgrim baggage and fresh tracks leading inside.  Krolec pauses to investigate the cave carefully, and is certain he hears some kind of creatures moving around.

With just him and Zena, Krolec decides to avoid entering the cave for now.  Obviously Merend and the others have not reached the cave yet.  He and Zena decide to scout around the immediate area.  While they are about half a mile away on a different hill, Krolec spots the group moving hastily into the cave.  He and Zena begin heading out to meet up with them.  As they get close to the cave, Zena spots a large gray dragon in the sky.  And it appears to be heading their way.

Session 10 - Scene 2 (of 7)

Krolec and Zena make their way into the cave, and Krolec greets Merend then quickly explains about the dragon coming towards the cave.

 As Merend begins to make preparations for what to do next, one of the pilgrims has a bad reaction to the news, yelling "We've got to get out of here!" while quickly running out of the cave before anyone can stop him.  The pilgrim is almost immediately hit with a blast of green gelatinous acid after he exits, dissolving him instantly.  It's too late.  The dragon has already reached the cave.

With the main cave exit cut off from them, Merend orders everyone to begin searching the cave.  A frantic search ensues.  Krolec discovers a low passage in the rock behind the the webbing where the pilgrims were held by the spiders.  Merend is disappointed in Mitka, their rogue specialist, for not discovering the passageway, but says nothing.

Before anyone goes through, Mitka goes up to examine the passageway.  It's a natural fissure in the cave.  It is only about two feet high, so they will have to crawl.  And the ground is covered in cobbled stones, making it slow going.  Mitka does not detect any traps, but does see a faint light at the end.  Checking for a breeze, it does appear some air is flowing into the chamber beyond – which is a sign of encouragement for everyone, as it may be a way out.

Merend reminds everyone they need to move immediately.  He has half the group head in, followed by the pilgrims, with him and Silas taking up the rear (Silas insists on taking up the rear position as it is his responsibility to safeguard the pilgrims.).

After crawling nearly 50 feet, Mitka reaches a small cavern, with a slightly higher ceiling, allowing them to crouch instead of crawl completely prone.  At one end of the cavern is a large pile of debris – mud, rocks, and leaves.  The immediate concern is the possibility of this cavern being used as an animal den.  Krolec and Al examine the area carefully, and determine it does not appear to be so.   The cavern appears to be where water drains into, with the debris washed in from outside.

There only appears to be one other exit from this cavern, a narrow low passageway leading in a slightly upward direction.  The faint light appears to be coming from it.  Merend prepares to order everyone out, but Mitka suggests they search the debris first.  

While Mitka fails to find anything of interest, Sa-ika has more luck.  In between the mud, rocks, and leaves, she locates an old metal rod.  It appears to have a crude engraving of a star on it.  Al examines the rod for magical properties.  He concludes it is magic, and has a triggering enchantment on it, designed to activate some effect when it comes in contact with another magical trigger component.

Merend resumes with the plan to get everyone out of the area quickly.  While the dragon cannot make it through the low passageway, he certainly can make it into the cave, and Merend doesn't want it trying to flush them out with his acid breath weapon.

Mitka tries to climb up the passageway leading out of the cavern, but has a hard time gaining traction.  Krolec and Sa-ika assist by shoving him up it.  Once Mitka climbs the rest of the way and gets to the top, he hammers in a piton and sends a rope down to make it easier for the others.

Session 10 - Scene 3 (of 7)

The passageway leads up to a large circular cavern of around 400 square feet, with a 30 foot high ceiling.  The walls appear like rivers of frozen orange stone.  The remains of an ancient campfire (arranged rocks) appear in the middle of the room, below a natural chimney high up in the ceiling.  The natural chimney appears to be the source of the light, but Mitka is dismayed to see the chimney is only a couple of inches wide.  They won't be able to use it to get out.

Mitka also notices a large open pit on one side of the room, and a fissure in the far side that could be a continuing passageway.  Finally, a small songbird appears to have flown in from the chimney, and sits perched on a rock, singing.  Mitka relays the information down to the others.

Merend orders everyone to move up into the cavern.  Once there, he is slightly concerned about the bird.  Krolec remarks that it appears to be a perfectly normal yellow finch.

The discussion then turns to making camp and resting for a day so everyone can recover from their experience with the spiders (particularly the remaining pilgrims).  Merend wonders about using the leaves and other debris as a campfire, but the others remind him it will likely be too damp.

Mitka wants to check out the fissure first, to see if it is an exit.  Krolec decides to go with him, he doesn't want anyone going off on their own if they can help it.  But the two of them find that the fissure curves around a short distance then ends.

They do, however, discover something sitting back in the corner of the fissure – a suit of skinned bear armor.  It appears to be thinned down to use as leather armor.  Krolec notes the pristine condition it appears to be in despite likely being hundreds of years old.  After Mitka makes sure it isn't infested with insects or anything, they grab the armor and head back to the main room to show the others.

Sa-ika, Al, and Leigh group together and examine the armor.  It is clearly magical.  They determine it to be a suit of Bestial Leather Armor.  Although Al wants the armor, Sa-ika and the others remind him that the group will benefit more from her wearing it since she is trained in its use and needs better armor.  Al relents, and Sa-ika heads back into the fissure area to change (much to Merend's lecherous disappointment).

Krolec decides to make sure there are no other ways out of the cavern, and thoroughly searches for any secret passages.  He finds none.  Stymied for now, everyone rests for the next day, setting up shifts.  Merend designates the fissure area as the latrine area.

Session 10 - Scene 4 (of 7)

The next day, everyone is ready to proceed with exploring the deep pit.  Merend and Silas form a plan – Silas will stay back with the pilgrims while Merend and the others look for a way out.  Once they find it, Silas and the pilgrims will follow.

Mitka activates one of his sunrods and goes over to examine the pit.  It appears to drop down into another cavern, but it is too difficult to see how far it is because of a thick mist in the cavern below.

Mitka ties a rope around his waist and tucks the sunrod into his belt.  He draws his sword, and has Zena and Rhogar lower him into the pit like a worm on a fishing hook.

As he heads down, he sees that the cavern below is quite immense.  It is a very dark, large area with a thick mist that makes it difficult to see very far.  Mitka listens carefully for noises, but the cavern is eerily quiet.  It is over 30 feet until he reaches the bottom.

Once Mitka is down, the others begin to follow, starting with Sa-ika.  Krolec has a scary moment as he begins to slip while heading down the rope, but quickly recovers.  Leigh, Al, and Merend follow just fine.  Rhogar, however, is rather clumsy and manages to slip and fall.  He crashes to the ground, knocking the wind of out him, cracking several ribs, and spraining an ankle.  He moves off to one side to rest for a minute and recover while Zena, the last of the group, climbs down to join the rest of them.

Merend begins forming his plans to organize everyone for their advance, and expresses his concern that they should be very careful.  Al reminds him that so far, they have seen no evidence of anyone being around here in the last several hundred years.  Despite this, Merend remains vigilant about proceeding carefully.

He has Sa-ika and Mitka out front a short distance from the others, scouting ahead.  As he barks out orders, Sa-ika wonders to herself why Krolec has not re-assumed control of the group.  Krolec does, however, defy Merend's arrangement a little by putting himself between the advance scouts and the rest of the group.  Al decides to follow him for his own reasons.

As the scouting group moves slowly ahead in the dark, misty cavern, Mitka spots something shiny along the ground over by one of the walls.  Moving in for a closer look, it appears to be a crop of quartz crystals.  Sa-ika examines them carefully for any magical enchantments, but finds none.

The others move in for a closer look.  Krolec notices the red line moving through the crystal and declares it to be bloodstone quartz, a relatively valuable gem.  While everyone is discussing possible ways to extract the quartz from the wall, Merend moves in and uses his knowledge of the underground to remove it without damaging it.

Everyone then resumes their previous positions and begin moving ahead, this time staying against the wall.  They don't find any more crystals, but they do come upon a natural staircase leading up slightly off to the right.  Mitka pauses to listen carefully for sounds up the stairway.  He hears nothing except a fluttering.  He turns to discover the finch has followed them into the deeper cave.

As the others walk over, Merend becomes highly suspicious.  He doesn't believe a normal bird would follow them in.  After everyone has a brief argument over the possibilities, Leigh decides to check to see if the bird is magic.  It is not.  Merend tries talking to the bird to no avail.  Finally, he tosses it some crumbs from his rations and focuses his attention back on to the stairway.

After Mitka makes sure there are no traps, he ascends the rocks upward.  They lead to a small, dome-shaped cave with no exits.  There appears to be a message carved into one of the walls, written in an ancient dialect of common.  After Mitka reports his findings, Al and Leigh move in to decipher the message.  It roughly translates to, "these stairs won't lead you out".  Merend and Krolec are suspicious of the message, and search the area thoroughly, but it turns out to just be a case of a primitive sense of humor.

Leaving the dome cavern, the group resumes their journey in the large hall of mists.  Eventually, Mitka and Sa-ika notice that the cavern ends in a yawning chasm, stretching 40 feet long.   The mists in the cavern appear to originate it, as it is too dark and thick with mist to see very far down.  Looking around, it runs the width of the chamber, and there are only very thin footholds on either side.  Crossing would be very perilous indeed.

The group decides to check back through the rest of the cavern along the opposite wall first, to rule out any alternate exits.  They find none.  Back at the chasm, Merend spots the bird again, perched up on a rock, singing.  He wonders if it is mocking them.  He holds out the magic rod for a perch, but the bird comes no closer.

With no other options visible, Merend decides they will have to make the crossing.

Session 10 - Scene 5 (of 7)

The plan is decided that Mitka will make the crossing, as he is the smallest and most agile.  One rope is tied around him and held by the group.  He is then to cross along the ledge and hammer in a piton, looping the rope through it, every ten feet.

Mitka's thin stature and excellent balance serve him well.  Despite the very narrow ledge and complexity of hammering in pitons, he makes it across quickly.  As he reaches the other side, he hammers in the last piton.

Just then, an axe whizzes past his head from out of the darkness beyond.  He looks out, but cannot see his attacker.  It does, however, sound like something moved away after it threw the axe.  The others see the axe as it plunges into the canyon below, and Merend calls for Mitka to come back, but Mitka feels it makes more sense for him to stay.  He readies his hand crossbow in case of another attack.

Krolec is next to go.  Now with the rope in place, crossing is much easier.  With some effort, he is able to get across, followed by Al and Zena.  

The next to cross, however, is Rhogar, who is still weakened from his resurrection.  He slips several times, eventually toppling into the chasm.  The rope holding him breaks, and he starts to fall in.  As he is falling, Zena rushes back over and grabs the fragment of rope still attached to him just in the nick of time.

Using all her strength, Zena holds the rope fragment as Rhogar tries to climb up.  But he is still weak, and slips back down a little further on the rope.  His bow and quiver break free in the jostling, and fall into the mists.  

Merend listens carefully as he waits for them to hit ground.  He estimates the chasm to be around 200 feet deep.  If anyone falls in, they not only face certain death, but their bodies would never be able to be recovered, causing them to be lost forever.

Sa-ika moves in to assist Zena, and the two of them are able to swing Rhogar up enough to get a hold of him.  They get him across to the other side where he sits to rest for a minute.

Merend attempts to cross next.  But he, too, finds crossing extremely difficult.  He slips falls, grabbing onto the ledge before he topples into the brink.  But he can't get a good hold, and begins to slip.  Zena again rushes to help her falling comrade.  Weakened by her experience with Rhogar, she finds it too difficult to lift him up, and Merend can't hold on to her, either.  He begins slipping back down, certain he is about to die.  

Just then, Leigh rushes over from the other side.  She helps support Zena, and the two of them manage to get Merend back up on the ledge.  But Zena is still very fatigued from the experience, and slips herself on the way back to the other ledge.  Luckily, Sa-ika is able to rush back over to make sure she doesn't fall, and eventually everyone makes it to the other side.

Session 10 - Scene 6 (of 7)

Knowing there is someone dangerous about, Merend and Krolec begin to take a look around the area.  Others wonder how they'll ever be able to get the pilgrims across.  Merend makes sure to remind Al that despite no one being around in hundreds of years, they were attacked.  Then, Merend and Krolec both make an interesting discovery – a small boulder near the chasm has a suspiciously circular hole of an inch diameter in it.

They have Al come over, and he detects it as magic.  It's the other trigger for the rod, just as they all suspected.  Everyone wants Merend to put the rod in the hole, but he is still very cautious.  He arranges the group in a circular formation first, wary of any creatures that may appear and attack.

Sticking the rod into the hole, Merend watches as a magical bridge of glowing pink crystals appears over the chasm.  Everyone realizes they now have a way to get the pilgrims across.  Several head back over the bridge to the other side and look around for a corresponding boulder there.  Krolec finds one.

After everyone heads back to the far side, Merend decides to remove the rod from the boulder to see what will happen.  The bridge disappears.  Placing the rod back in makes the bridge reappear.  He removes it a final time, not wanting to leave it up for now.  Everyone also looks around to find another rod on the other side, but cannot locate one.

Merend orders everyone back into position, and has Mitka and Sa-ika begin stealthily moving ahead.  Al doesn't understand the point, as they've already made enough noise to alert anyone even remotely near them with their disastrous crossing.

Moving in, Mitka and Sa-ika discover some food on the ground.  Mitka reports back and the others move in to examine it.  Krolec determines it is a type of tasty lichen.  Merend is confused by the word until someone explains it as "cave moss".  Whatever threw the axe at Mitka must have been eating it.

Back on the move, Mitka and Sa-ika discover the cavern does not extend much further, and ends in a natural stairway leading down.  Merend wants them to sneak down the stairs and investigate, but Al impulsively casts a light spell on a small rock and tosses it down the stairs.

Everyone heads down the stairs, weapons at the ready.  What they find is a small, empty cavern.  The only exit appears to be a small passageway whose ledge is eight feet off the ground.  Krolec has Al illuminate one of his arrows, and fires it into the stone of the passageway to illuminate it.  They do not see anyone hiding there or waiting to attack them.

Mitka prepares to go first into the tight passage, though not everyone agrees that it makes sense.  He has Rhogar lift him up, and tries climbing into the passage.  But he can't get a good grip, and falls to the ground, injuring only his pride.

After some debate, Merend decides Zena should go in first, instead.  The others help her up into the passage.  She is able to get in, but immediately triggers some kind of trap.  Several spear-like spikes fall down from the passage ceiling, skewering her.  She screams out in pain.

With Zena stuck in the passage by the skewering points, Rhogar helps Mitka up to see if he can disable the trap.  Mitka quickly disables the spikes, and Zena is lowered back into the cavern so she can take a minute to recover.

Meanwhile, Mitka heads back in to the passage.  He checks the area for more traps, but finds none, and so proceeds ahead down the passage.  It takes only a moment of crawling in the confined space before he can see to the other side.  Unfortunately, the other side contains a small duregar, holding a crossbow aimed at him.  

The duergar fires, hitting Mitka in the shoulder with a solid attack.  Mitka gets out his hand crossbow and returns fire, but misses.  Al starts to head into the passageway to help, but Krolec insists on going first.  Al, who planned to help by firing his phantom bolts at the duergar, hopes there is enough room in the passageway for Krolec to use his bow.

Merend, however, doesn't thing an exchange of fire will benefit them.  He yells for Mitka and Krolec to charge the gray dwarf.  Krolec heeds his advice, and squeezes by Mitka instead of attacking with his bow.  The duegar takes the opportunity to get in a piercing shot on Krolec, hitting him square in the chest with a crossbow bolt.  The creature then disappears out of sight as Krolec recalls the duergar's ability to turn invisible.

Krolec cautiously emerges on the other side of the passage, Mitka close behind him.  No one is there, and the small cavern appears to have three exits – either by continuing on, taking a short passage that leads up, or taking a short passage that leads down.

Holding a watch position, Krolec calls for the others to follow in.  They initially all decide to take the passage leading up, until they head in a little ways and discover it will be a long, slow crawl.  Feeling safer about having more room to maneuver, they head further down the current cavern.

Mitka checks the area for more traps as they advance.  He finds none, but does discover a carving in the cavern wall, "XYZZY".  Sa-ika determines the carving is not a magical enchantment, and Leigh confirms it is neither the name of a historical figure, nor does it appear to be any real word.  Merend tries verbally saying the word and its equivalent backwards word, but nothing happens.  Zena wonders if it is part of a pattern, but Sa-ika isn't so sure.

Moving in further, the group discovers the caverns turns into a maze of twisty passages, all alike.  There appears to be a cavern leading off to the right, one moving ahead, and one curving to the left.  Sa-ika wonders if the letters were some kind of code with "X" meaning "left", "Y" meaning "center", and "Z" meaning "right".  With no better option, the group decides to follow her instincts, and they quickly make it out of the maze, with Mitka making sure to mark the way they take so they don't get lost.

Session 10 - Scene 7 (of 7)

Emerging from the maze-like series of caves, the group finds themselves in another large cavern.  They spot, but ignore, a small passageway leading down and back the way they came (surmising that it merely leads back to the lower passageway they discovered on the other side).  Up ahead, they can feel the rush of fresh air and see some sunlight coming in to the cavern.

Heading in further, Sa-ika and Zena take the lead.  They hear a faint buzzing sound ahead, and the group is suddenly besieged by a swarm of angry giant insects, hellwasps.

Al immediately reacts by firing off a phantom bolt, but misses.  Merend likewise misses with a blast from his lance of faith, as does Mitka's crossbow bolt.  Krolec, however, hits a wasp with one of his two bow shots.  He then strategically positions himself off to the side.

The wasps swarm in.  One of them attacks Zena, viciously stinging her, while two double-team Sa-ika, injuring her as well.  Another two are able to reach Krolec, bloodying him with their vicious stinger attacks.

Zena attempts to retaliate with her sword, but misses.  Rhogar opens up a blast of his poisonous breath on most of the wasps, but they all shrug it off easily.  Sa-ika, however, has more luck, hitting three of them with her swordburst attack.  As does Leigh, with a scorching burst that singes two of them.

Al decides to bring out the big guns.  He blasts at two of the wasps with his rolling thunder, injuring them badly and pushing them back from Sa-ika (which she isn't overjoyed about).  With several members wounded, Merend calls upon his beacon of hope, healing them, and following up with casting his healing word on Krolec to restore him back to full health.

Krolec swaps out his bow for his swords, then attempts a hit and run attack on a wasp, but misses.  Mitka fires at a wasp again with his crossbow, and misses for a second time.

One of the wasps breaks off to follow Krolec and attack him, but misses.  The other moves in to attack Merend, also missing, as do the three on Sa-ika and the one on Zena.  Inspired by their inability to hit, Zena fails herself with her harrier's ploy maneuver.  Likewise, Rhogar equally fails using his paladin's judgment prayer.

Leigh has better luck with another scorching burst, blasting two of the wasps again.  Meanwhile, Sa-ika misses with her first swordburst attack, but follows up with a second, very effective attack that kills the wasp attacking Zena.

Al fires another phantom bolt at a wasp, but fails to find his target.  Merend decides to heal himself, and tries backing away from the wasp in front of him.

On the other side of the cavern, Krolec stabs the wasp on him with his swords using the jaws of the wolf maneuver.  It is half-effective.  Which is more than can be said for Mitka, who switches out his crossbow in favor of his sword to perform his handspring assault tactic, only to fail yet again.  He wonders to himself if he needs more practice.

The wasps continue assaulting the group with their stingers, causing fresh injuries for Sa-ika, Krolec, and Merend.  Leigh responds by blasting several of them with her scorching burst while Zena attacks one in front of Sa-ika with a cleaving strike.

Rhogar then moves in to assist Merend, but misses with his enfeebling strike.  Behind him, Sa-ika uses her swordburst to kill two of the wasps attacking her as Al kills the wasp attacking Krolec using his phantom bolt.  Krolec takes the opportunity to move in and kill the remaining wasp on Sa-ika using a twin strike with his blades.

With only one wasp remaining, Mitka moves into flanking position and attacks with a torturous strike.  But what should be a killing blow turns out to be another missed opportunity as his attack fails again to hit.  Rhogar also keeps the tradition going, also missing from a flanking position with his divine strike.  Zena, however, is able to deliver a cleaving attack, slicing into the wasp.

The wasp's attention, however, is still focused on Merend.  Luckily for him, it misses with its stinger attack.  But it isn't the only one, as Sa-ika misses with her flanking attack.  Finally, Al softens up the wasp with a phantom bolt, and Merend steps back and blasts it away with his lance of faith.

The battle over, the group makes sure there is nothing else in the cavern.  Their search reveals nothing except pieces of wasp hive and the exit to the outside.  Merend is relieved – he thought they'd never find the end of the cave.

Part of the group then heads back and escort's Silas' group to the cavern, where Merend has everyone rest up another day before heading back to Fallcrest.  Two days later, everyone is finally back home in their own beds for the night and the stories of the dangerous journey through what is now being called the "colossal caverns" is told all over the city by the surviving pilgrims.

Session 10 - Session Notes

I'll start off by acknowledging Will Crowther's pioneering computer game, "Adventure" (aka "Colossal Cave Adventure") - based on the real life Bedquilt Cavern in Kentucky, for being the heavy inspiration for this session.  The name "Colossal Cavern", most of the rooms, the magic bridge, the bird, the rod, the inscriptions on the walls, and even the evil dwarf and his axe attack all come straight from there (though I do change things around a bit and added extras like the wasps and the spike trap).

As Adventure came out the year I was born (1976), I, personally, have never played it.  I went googling for something interesting about caverns to inspire me for this session, and came upon an excellent paper written by a man named Dennis Jerz from Seton Hill University that was on the Digital Humanities Quarterly site from Summer 2007.  His paper was discussing the game and had lots of good pictures (or photo illustrations, as the paper calls them), showing how the game matched up to the actual caves.  So, really, his paper was the impetus for this session's design.

With that out of the way, here's more information about the session itself:

The first scene was actually just written up by me, it never occured as part of playing the game.  We needed a quick way to catch up Krolec and Zena, and the short week (from Memorial Day) didn't give us time to really do it over email, nor did we want to spend session time with two split up groups, so it was decided I'd just write up a little story to get them there.

Careful readers will no doubt notice the necromancer's name, Herwest the Reanimator, is a play on HP Lovecraft's character, "Herbert West" (from Reanimator).  Sadly, no one in my group noticed (which is par for the course for my culture references).  Very careful readers may figure out the name of the cemetery caretaker, Ryerson, is taken from Stephen King's 'Salems Lot (Mike Ryerson being the doomed caretaker killed by the undead in the novel).

My original idea was to invite the Scrag and Silas PCs back as well (going over my limit of 8 PCs), but run half the session with one group in the graveyard and the other half in the mountains with the second group.  No one but me liked that idea, lol.  The Scrag player ended up deciding to do something else, so I invited the Mitka player back.  This was the first session I actually had to turn someone away (the Silas player), but he'll take the drop-in slot next time.

For this session, I wanted to add some exploration and puzzle solving to keep things mixed up a bit.  And as I said above, I thought the elements of the Adventure game would be a perfect fit.

It was a rather long session, lasting 4 hours instead of our usual 3.  The combat was actually the shortest part of it (being much easier that I was expecting - but then the stats came from the minis card, and I've noticed before those aren't always reliable for balance).  I could have removed the wasp encounter, but as I've said in the past the players really prefer at least one fight a session.

Session 10 - More Session Notes

More things people might find interesting about the session -

* I used some of the phrases from Adventure during the game to describe rooms and passages.  The phrase "cobbled stones" caused confusion right off the top because the Krolec player was thinking of paved cobblestone.

* In the Adventure game, the bird has to be captured and then saves the player from a snake attack.  In my game, I just had the bird follow the PCs along every once in a while.  It proved most unnerving for them.

* No one is still quite sure why the Al player was trying to take the armor he couldn't really use.  Sometimes he likes to be contrary I think.

* The Merend player was the only one who thought making a fire out of mud-packed leaves from a damp cave was somehow plausible.

* The latrine comment comes from a rather long discussion in the game over whether or not to use the open pit or the passageway they came in from as a urinal.

* The Al and Merend players bickered several times about the whole "no one's been here in hundreds of years thing".  The Al player thought the Merend player was being too paranoid and cautious.  The figure kept increasing every time he made a comment, it was "thousands of years" by the end of the session.

* I kept forgetting about the "Dungeoneering" skill.  So most checks this session were Perception or Nature checks (but many probably should have been Dungeoneering).

* The chasm encounter was a rather hard skill challenge that took a fair amount of time to do in game.  Rhogar and Merend were both literally 1 bad roll away from death the way I was doing it.  In retrospect, if I was really using the 4e skill challenge rules, it probably should have just cost them a healing surge or something.  The comments about "fatigue" are really just the story version of the player making a bad roll.

* I always mispronounce chasm and lichen (as "ch az uhm" instead of "kaz uhm" and "lit chen" instead of "like en"), which gave some humor to the session.  The comment about Merend not knowing what lichen was came after the discussion of pronunciation (which led to jokes about lycans), and I finally said "ok, it's friggin' moss!" at which time the Merend player remarked he finally knew what we were all talking about, lol.

* The Zena trap moment was hilarious (at least, to me), because I had the trap planned there all along and it was the only time they didn't check for traps first.

* Funny thing about XYZZY - in the Adventure game, saying it aloud really does do something (which Merend tried here).  If they would have not figured out that puzzle, I would have had a skill challenge for them to find their way through (with failure being loss of a healing surge before they find their way out).

* If the PCs had gone up the narrow upward passage, they would have encountered the green snake (which would have wasted its first attack eating the bird, as in the Adventure game).  The snake was only a minion and could be killed with one hit.

* If the PCs had gone down, they would have found the duergar and a troglodyte lair.  I would have made that the combat for the session and skipped the wasp lair encounter.

Hey man, I've been searching around for a good 4e AC to read, and yours has been the only one that I've found. I've only read the first two sessions so far, but it seems pretty awesome. I've been trying to start up a 4e campaign around where I live, but unfortunately I'm not as lucky as you, and as of yet I only have 2 other players.

Glad to hear you are enjoying the story so far.

Sounds like you could use a couple more players.  Though if each player has two characters it could work.

I can still remember how that was.  Growing up in small towns, my usual experience was to have only one or two players most times.  I didn't start having large groups of players until college and after.

Session 11 - Cast of Characters

Krolec Jar'bin - Elven ranger
Al Trueism - Human wizard
Leigh - Elven wizard
Merend - Dwarf cleric
Sa-ika - Genasi swordmage
Zena - Human fighter
Silas Ballard - Human avenger
Rhogar - Dragonborn paladin

Session 11 - Scene 1 (of 5)

After a day of rest from their most recent expedition, the group reconvenes and decides to resume their mission into the Tombwoods. Silas decides that he'd like to stick around with the group for a while, and will accompany them. Merend is particularly anxious to complete at least one of their missions soon, lest the group get a reputation for being unreliable. Krolec doesn't disagree, and is happy the mission to sketch the Relcoff statues ties in well with his preference for ridding the immediate area around the city of its threats.

After a brief stop to sell the quartz they found and buy some spell components, the group heads off towards the Tombwoods to resume their mission. However, as they get close, a halfling comes running up to them. Al recognizes him as Tobolar Quickfoot, a hapless local wizard's apprentice (who is known for his lack of skill in using magic).

Tobolar expresses his delight in having caught the group before they went in to the forest. He explains that his master, Nimozaran the High Septarch, wishes an audience with them. When Krolec tries to explain they are busy and tries to reschedule, Tobolar explains that the meeting has something to do with their current activities.

Intrigued, Krolec decides the group may as well go meet with Nimozaran before continuing on. They all walk back across town to the High Tower of the Septarch. Tobolar leads them inside, and after a long climb up the winding tower stairs, they eventually reach the main audience chamber. Inside, the old wizard sits in his chair at a table, surrounded by walls of old books and scrolls.

Nimozaran rises when they arrive, and greets the group warmly. He explains he's been keeping track of the group's activities, and is particularly pleased with Al and Leigh. The old wizard feels that they represent the future of the city's wizard community.

He goes on to explain that he is approaching his final years, and is hoping Al and Leigh will return the local mage guild to its former glory. Nimozaran expresses disappointment in that the guild's only current member is his apprentice, Tobolar, who even he admits is not very good. To that end, he offers to waive the normal fee and provide a free apprenticeship membership in the guild for Al and Leigh. They express some gratitude, though Merend feels they should have done more.

Nimozaran appears to not notice one way or the other. He goes on to say he has something for the leader of the group, but implies he believes Al to be the leader. Krolec gently corrects him, and the old wizard expresses his surprise – in his day, groups were always led by a wizard. Al makes an aside to the old man, implying that he "lets" Krolec be leader in order for him not to feel inadequate next to Al's superior powers.

Focusing back on the task at hand, Nimozaran finds the scroll he was looking for among his shelves, and unrolls it and hands it over to Krolec. He explains it is a map of the old cemetery. Krolec and Leigh notice that the map does not include the three crypts they found earlier. Nimozaran explains that the map was made before the expansion cemetery was built (as part of the Minotaur Wars). The path the crypts were found along does eventually reach the main gate of the cemetery.

Looking it over, Krolec sees a large area of barrows, some crypts, and several large plazas. One of the plazas is in the middle of the cemetery, up a little hill. Nimozaran explains that is where Herwest placed the dark crystal. The old wizard then warns Krolec to clear the surrounding areas as best they can first, for the crystal attracts the undead and if they go for it first, they will quickly find themselves surrounded by an army of undead.

Nimozaran then goes on to discuss the history of Herwest the Reanimator. Several hundred years ago, before the Septarch was born, Herwest was a member of the mage's guild. But he became corrupted by his study of dark magic, and turned to evil. He created the dark crystal and took it to the cemetery, where he used it to create an army of undead. His plan was to use the army to take over the city (and eventually the entire Nentir Empire).

A group of local champions is said to have stopped Herwest, killing him while perishing themselves in the ensuing battle. With many undead still around and no one left to fight them (most local heroes having died or gone missing in the war), the town fathers decided instead to seal off the area with a large wooden wall. After another hundred years or so, the remains of the wall were mostly gone and the undead activity died down enough to where most people just avoided the area without really worrying about it.

Everyone thanks the old man for his assistance. As Krolec begins to head them out, Nimozaran remarks that he'd like to see them again once they are done in the graveyards. He has something else to discuss with them. Merend assumes it is another mission for them to perform.

Session 11 - Scene 2 (of 5)

Heading back into the woods, Krolec carefully arranges everyone in a double diamond formation marching order. The others notice that Merend seems to have backed off from his previous attempts to assume the leadership, leaving Krolec firmly in charge this time.

The first stop in the woods is back to Scrag's shack, to see if they can still get his help assisting them in clearing the area. But Scrag appears to not be at home. Mitka offers to go off and search the surrounding area for him, and meet up with the others later. As he heads off, Krolec reminds him to be careful of roaming zombies.

After that, the group heads on to the area of the three crypts. The third crypt has yet to be opened or cleared. But first, Merend rechecks the first two crypts to verify that nothing has taken up residence since they were last here. The crypts appear undisturbed.

Krolec carefully approaches the crypt door. Merend is nervous about traps, particularly since their expert in that area, Mitka, isn't around. Krolec decides to investigate himself, and several others assist him. They find no traps or anything else unusual about the crypt door.

Merend suggests that trying to lure out whatever is inside the crypt might be the best course of action. That way, they'll have more room to maneuver and avoid any traps that may be present inside. He is still wary of another set of scythe blades.

Krolec agrees and arranges everyone outside the crypt door. Merend quietly observes to himself that the group is still a little too bunched up, but says nothing. Krolec quickly pushes open the door, then steps back. In the faint light pouring into the crypt from the open door, several zombies can be seen shuffling towards them.

Session 11 - Scene 3 (of 5)

Zena reacts first, stepping back to allow more room for the zombies to come out.

Off to the side of the crypt, Al's hair stands on end as he spots a vaporous apparition emerging through the wall. It appears to be a pale, ghostlike creature with violet tendrils emerging from its hair. Al recognizes it as a pale reaver. He alerts the others to its presence.

Merend springs into action. Stepping forward, he approaches the reaver and attempts to drive it back using the power of his faith. But he is no match for the powerful apparition. Silas charges in, hoping to blast it with his radiant vengeance, but misses as well. Al, however, is able to score a hit with his phantom bolt. As does Rhogar with his enfeebling strike.

Back near the front, a glob of rotting filth flies out from the darkness in the crypt beyond, sailing past a strategically covered Krolec to hit Sa-ika in the face. In addition to taking injury, she immediately feels its weakening effect.

The zombies begin pouring out of the crypt. Two walk past Krolec, giving him opportunity to attack them. They begin beating on Sa-ika, injuring her further. A third zombie stops at the doorway and hits Krolec with a hard slamming fist. Krolec responds by slicing back at the zombie with his swords.

Leigh decides it is time to take some control of the situation before they are overwhelmed by enemies. She uses her rolling thunder spells to blow away the zombie in the doorway, and knocks the one behind him back into the dark of the crypt. Sa-ika follows up by moving into a strategic position to attack the zombies, then striking away with her swordburst. She misses the zombie directly in front of her, but strikes right through the brain of the one next to Zena, killing it instantly. Zena tries to return the favor by making a covering attack on the zombie in front of Sa-ika, but misses.

Back on the other side, the reaver's tendril thrusts out, striking Rhogar. Silas responds by blasting it with his radiant vengeance. As the holy light pierces the reaver, it turns solid.

Knowing it will be easier to kill now, Merend attempts to hit it with his lance of faith, but his attack fails. Adding injury to insult, another glob of vile filth comes flying out of the darkness, this time striking Merend's mid-section. Covered in the rotting goo, he begins to weaken. Al, however, hits the creature again with his phantom bolt.

Back in the doorway, the zombie attempts to emerge out of the crypt again, but the remaining ball of thunder causes him to explode when it tries to pass through it. With no one immediately threatening him, Krolec switches to his bow and fires two shots over at the reaver, but misses.