The Mines of Korth - Session Two

Date
Rotsdag, Domečar 18th, 1483 AA. Year of the Forest.

Characters
Mimir Gorinson, Northur Wizard (Canute) [151]
Oigal Tetrahedrite, Northur Guardsdwarf (Cass) [152]
Durizat Grurror, Suthur Burglar (Void) [150]
Kroneman, Wildling Spearman (Krusher) [150]

Significant NPCs
Count Dhodroum Karazul
A really scary cave bear
Some Orcs
Some Cultists of the Hunter
An invisible force
A terrifying Jottyr/Troll

    The session started out with a meeting with the Count of Korthtown. They mentioned establishing the Adventurer's Guild proper, to which Count Dhodroum Karazul said that it would be okay, but would cost each member 20d per week in expenses, half of which going to a group construction fund for their guildhall. They said that they would come back to this proposal once they had more money.

    The group's cleric, Ivrul, also decided to take up the adventuring guild's official Cleric position. She offers to heal party members, for 10d/HP. She also can perform other minor magical tasks, but that costs more and has a chance of failure. A new adventurer also joined the party this week, named Kroneman. He is a wildling from the north, who carries a pike and strikes enemies from range.

    They then departed to Thjor's Door, and quickly made their way up the stairs. They moved on into the dungeon, moving into the first room on the left after the stairway. Inside of the room was a bear, which attacked the party. They made quick work of the bear, but Mimir, who charged into the room, was terrified at first.

    They then moved on to the Snake room, which they didn't enter yet, but Mimir tricked Durizat into opening. Durizat swiftly shut the door, and was terrified. They moved down to the south, checking the collapsed and skeleton room again, but they found nothing. In the room to the north in the area where the collapsed and skeleton rooms were, the group found five goblins, which they quickly dispatched. 

    They continued poking around, exploring the dungeon. They returned to the room where they had killed the bandits previously, and tried opening every door. Two of the doors did not budge, and one of those two even broke some of Durizat's lockpicks. The other six doors were opened fine, and the lockpicks were mended by Mimir using magic. Inside one of the rooms was an engraved bronze key, which had irregular divots all along the shaft. They took note of the key and clipped it onto their belts.

    They then moved towards the east, to explore more of the floor. They entered a hallway that continued further east and snaked up. They went up the passage that went to the north, which had three stone doors. They opened the one on the left first, which had disfigured corpses in it. Mimir and Durizat walked into the room, but were quickly fatigued and assaulted by something they could not see. They decided to shut the door and come back later when they could see what was attacking them.

    They then opened the west door, which had four robed men in it. The men quickly turned to strike the party. Mimir identified that they were not speaking any Mannish or Dwarvish language, and decided that they were speaking Elvish. The men had fancy black robes, which were worth some money. They attacked the cultists, but the battle did not go favorably for the party. One of the cultists, in the rear, was using some sort of magic. The first spell he used shot black arrows of energy from his hands, which homed in on Durizat. The second spell afflicted Mimir, and made him flee, and see images of the End Times. However, the cultist promptly blew himself up with his magic, when Kroneman struck him.

    After the battle, they deduced that these men were Cultists of the Hunter, an evil figure in the Anubism religion who will bring about the end times. They decided to take the robes and quickly leave the room. There was also a bow that they looted. They then moved onto the final door, which had a small altar with a slightly more impressive bow on it. They picked it up and left.

    They then backtracked, and went down the hallway to the east. At the end of it was a door, which Mimir opened. Through the door was a Troll, who Mimir knew was weak to Iron weapons and Fire attacks. The group, however, could not harm the Troll with their weapons! Before fleeing, Mimir tried casting a fire spell on it, but afterwards, the Troll went from looking malnourished to well fed! They quickly fled, with Mimir narrowly avoiding being dragged away by the troll. They then decided to disembark the dungeon for the day, due to dwindling resources.

GM's Notes

    I was very satisfied with this session. We lost another player, who ghosted me. Boo. The group are skeptical of the Troll being actually weak to Iron and Fire and also proudly declared that the invisible force attacking them was a ghost. They managed to narrowly get enough loot to get a character point from it, and also got a point from exploration. They also got a point for roleplaying well. Mimir almost died using his magic once again, as his skills are not honed in yet.

Total Loot and Take

    3pts to all players present.
    Mimir spent 1pt to buy success.
    77.00d to the three Dwarves and one Human present.

The Mines of Korth - Session One

Date
Rotsdag, Domečar 11th, 1483 AA. Year of the Forest.

Characters
Mimir Gorinson, Northur Wizard (Canute) [150]
Oigal Tetrahedrite, Northur Guardsdwarf (Cass) [150]
Ivrul Siphyrzin, Northur Cleric (Gage) [150]

Significant NPCs
Four troglodytes
Many snakes
Unnamed Bandit Captain

 

    Not long after their first Delve, Mimir and Durizat had established a guild for the adventurers that they were hoping to attract to Korthtown to organize further expeditions. This was successful, attracting two more adventurers, named Ivrul and Oigal. Ivrul is a Lady of Siph, a cleric who heals people. Oigal is a Guardsdwarf, a low-ranking veteran member of one of the northern mountainhome's armies. They are both women, which are very rare for dwarves (a ~1/25 chance).

    Oigal and Ivrul spent the morning asking around town for work, but found none. They also talked to a guard of the local Lord's manor, who they did not figure out his name, though they found that the name of the local Lord is Sir Dhodroum Karazul, a Dwarf. His manor, Karazul Manor, is a fine manor made by Dwarven masons in the classical style. Eventually they went towards the Mines of Korth.

    They entered through Thjor's Door once again, though only Oigal and Ivrul were there to begin with. They opened the door rather quickly using what Mimir told them the password was (which was fire-forge), quickly turning to the right to go up the main stairs, which they had falsely assumed they hadn't gone up yet. Oigal and Ivrul wandered up the long stairs, until they encountered a group of Troglodytes. Oigal made quick work of them, but Ivrul was injured and used healing magic on herself to heal her wounds.

    Afterwards, Mimir came running over from the entrance, confused that they were there. They greeted each other, and then continued inwards. They first opened the moss room once again, to see that there was a dead Troglodyte in the moss. They also saw that treasure was strewn about the room, but did not decide to try to loot it.

    Moving south, they opened first a room on the left, which was locked. After unlocking it, they found that it led down an unfinished, empty hallway. On the other side, was another door. Mimir checked it for any traps, in which he succeeded and found no traps. Opening the door, they saw many snakes, some larger than they were, which caused them to quickly shut the door.

    They moved south, quickly remembering to not open the door with snakes, and made their way to a door on the left. Opening the door, which was not trapped, revealed another door. Mimir became suspicious of the hallway, and checked for traps. He did not find anything, and they marched along to the other side. They opened the door and found a few bandits.

    One of them was rather armored, wearing a hauberk and a pot-helm. They had a quick exchange, but Mimir then slung a very harsh missile at one of the bandits, causing a brawl. Cass charged straight in, dropped her weapon, and almost died, but the two bandits next to her missed, and she was able to recover. The battle ended within six seconds, but it could have been deadly for the party. After this, they decided to depart, as they weren't quite ready for a further delve due to the fright of being inside the dungeon for a long period of time.

GM's Notes

    Almost full attendance today. We have a full roster now (as of writing) and will be able to have a proper five-player game. The group had two close calls, as both the snakes and the bandits would have proved to be deadly foes. The bandits, however, had an unnatural amount of failure amongst their ranks and quickly died at the hands of Oigal. Oigal has a very powerful Fine Long Axe, which is already great. Finding a Very Fine Dwarven Long Axe could quickly make her one of the best warriors in all of the Korth region. They also will be able to visit the North Gate next week, though they might need to find a key.

Total Loot and Take

    2pts to Mimir, Ivrul, and Oigal
    Mimir spent 1pt to buy success both this and last session
    63.00d to the three Dwarves present.

The Barrow Wight Slayers - Character Backstories

    Below is a list of all of the backstories of party members. Punt is compiled here as well, for reasons you will all learn later on in the story. The short hiatus of my postings were because I had to wrangle, compile, and edit all of these backstories into one legible post. It was harder than you might think. Enjoy reading about all of the main characters featured in this campaign!

The Mines of Korth - Session Zero

Date
Rotsdag, Domečar 4th, 1483 AA. Year of the Forest.

Characters
Mimir Gorinson, Northur Wizard (Canute) [150]
Durizat Grurror, Suthur Burglar (Void) [150]

Significant NPCs
Blue-goop beast
Four troglodytes
One human skeleton
Brown mold

    It is Rotsdag, early Domečar. Two dwarves -- a Wizard from the North and a Burglar from the South -- have set out to the Mines of Korth to explore their ancient homeland to become rich and famous. They hope to find more adventurers on the way to join in their journey! 

      They hiked their way to Korth from Korthtown, encountering nothing on the way. Their first destination was Thjor's Door, to which they climbed up to. The door was magical and made of stone, and was enchanted to only be opened if the group answered a riddle. It said the following:

I stand where stone meets dying flame,
Westward bound, yet never came.
The river hums with iron’s song;
A path for none who dwell too long.
When gold turns red and shadows grow,
What stirs my heart in fire’s low glow? 

    Eventually, Mimir recalled that a name for the sun, which was the forge-fire, could be what it was mentioning. At that point, he said it aloud in front of the door, which opened for the two. They then, for the first time, stepped foot onto their ancestral homeland. They entered a hallway, which extended on for fifteen yards, that split at the end. They first went down it, and headed towards the left way, the two dwarves muttering "Left for Loot."

    Inside the room, was a blue, glowing pool of water. Mimir had not heard of this pool, but he had found that this was the earliest constructed portion of the Mines of Korth. Mimir steps forward to drink from the blue glowing pool, but a large beast of goop slinked out of the pool, to strike Mimir! He then dashed out of the room, and casted a spell upon it, which fried it. They then walked back into the room, which had 8d, 7f in it (~$27).

    They then moved the other direction, where they found a long staircase leading further into the fortress. However, while climbing the stairs, they were ambushed by two Troglodytes -- stupid cavern dwarves. They made quick work of them, with Mimir casting another spell to kill one of them. They found no loot on the troglodytes.

    They then continued up the stairs, and explored further. At the top of the stairs was a large, 2yd wide hallway, going East-to-West. They first went to the left, as they once again said "Left for Loot". They found nothing in that room. They tried to find secret doors, but found nothing.  

    They then looked towards the first room they saw, at the top of the stairs, which had a brown moss on all the walls. In the room was around seven or eight pence. Mimir tried to cast a spell using his runes to ignite the moss, but it only grew in size. He then recalled that early in the history of Korth, brown mold like this caused issues, as it could not be removed through fire, and it froze dwarves to death. They then decided to leave the room alone.

    They continued down the hall, where they found two more doors. They found three along the way, but did not check them out. The first door, to the left, led to more doors. They tried opening the first door they saw, but it would not budge. From the other side, it sounded like the room collapsed. They realized that it had truly been almost four thousand years since this place was built.

     They then turned around, and entered the door behind them. It led to three doors, two on either side and one at the end of the hall. They went to the one at the end of the hall, where the skeleton of a human adventurer sat behind a door. He had a mace and a decrepit leather helmet. Mimir went to loot him, but the skeleton stood up and thwacked him. Quickly, however, Mimir exploded the skeleton into a pile of bones with a swift strike from his mace. 

    After resting for a short while (during which, Mimir felt interference and could not regain MP), they left the room to continue their exploration. They opened a room immediately outside of the room they rested in, which had two troglodytes in it. They repeatedly fumbled their attacks, pretending that they were much worse fighters than they were, before finishing off the troglodytes. At this point, both dwarves had sustained bad damage, thus they decided to hike back to Korthtown and come back next week.

GM's Notes

    The session went fine. We were supposed to kick off with three players, but one bailed after the session had been set to start. They solved the first puzzle exceedingly quickly, thanks to Mimir's 14 in History (Mines of Korth) and many languages. They also almost died due to enemies, in the easiest region of the dungeon, which shocked me. They also did not look for silver, meaning that they got very little gain this week, being one point.

Total Loot and Take

    1pt to Mimir and Durizat
    No cash to either dwarf, as they had to spend it to buy room and board in Korthtown. 

  

The Barrow Wight Slayers - Rags to Riches - Part Six

 Domečar 1st, 1483 AA. Roccastra, Republic di Virella. Unknown.

    The crank slots into the door quite perfectly, which Argun, the strongest, then cranks furiously. Eventually the door locks, as they can slide a piece out to prevent it from spinning back. Peering through, they see a larger hexagonal room, On each wall is a single burial niche, though only four of the six walls have niches. The farthest wall has a large mural engraved on it, with very small flakes of remaining paint left on it. 

    The mural is a story, of a group of adventurers -- heroes and leaders at the least -- slaying a wyrm of yore. In the later parts, they spend time making armor from its scales. The central figure wears a laurel of grapevines, seeming to be some sort of leader of the clan. On his chest is a rune, which is flipped sideways.

    "That rune, it symbolizes that this man would have put his family and clan over everything else, including himself." Gunbu says. "That must be him."

     Gunbu points to a burial slab in the center of the room, where a mummy lies with a brass laurel. The man is clearly the one depicted in the murals, as the laurel looks almost completely similar. Under his wraps are various glimmering silver adornments, including a sword. However, the group knows better than to steal from a long forgotten king.

    They also see, that under the mural, is another stone-hewn staircase, also hewn out of the bricks that were already set. They approach, to see a grizzly sight. A trail of blood leads down the crudely made staircase, which leads to a pile of bodies. This sickens everyone but Gunbu, who stares at the bodies. Argun, who turned her around, recounted later that he saw a glint of fire in her eyes.

    They then dragged them out, with Thalyros sanctifying their mutilated bodies, which have bite marks and missing pieces on their bodies. The stairs continue further down, into a darker place, where no light has shone in many eons. They hear a noise, like a low bird chirp mixed with a clicking and hooting, almost like an owl. They knew this noise very well. It was Orcs; Goblins; Goelins; the foul spawn of the deep earth.

    They charge down the stairs, immediately swinging upon them! Argun hits one with his polearm, knocking the jaw off of his face! Thalyros hits one in the shoulder, crippling it. Levius stabs one in the ribs, hitting the vitals. The shadowy Gunbu takes runestones, made of agates, out of her pocket, casting a spell! As fast as it began, the fight was over, the foulspawn lying on the floor, their black blood flowing onto the cavernous and rough stone. 

    However, the chattering of more orcs is heard from down another winding stone hall. As the fight ended, they quickly started picking over the crude weapons of the orcs, and then moved to the next room. Handing his polearm to Thalyros to hold, Argun charged into the room, firing an arrow into one goblin, then a second, who fled into a much larger cavern. However, as that orc fell, many started to chatter -- possibly twenty -- started to run towards the group.

    Argun managed to fell one, but there was too many. They fled, sprinting up the stairs, and shutting the gate! The leader, who wore a cloak made of patchwork chainmail and leather, made many hoots and hollers as he entered the room. However, their leader pointed to the corpse in the center of the room, then the niches, and fled!

    The group took some time to rest, as they had expended some energy running for their lives, and then peered back into the hexagonal room. Whatever the orcs fled from terrified them, so badly that they wouldn't return back into the crypt. 

    After that encounter, they decided that it was time to return to town and collect their reward. They did one last sweep of the place, looking for anything to take. On their way out, Levius stared at one of the mummies. He saw an ornate sword under it's wraps, which he dearly wanted. He cut the wraps open, but a specter rose sharply out of it! They were all greatly shocked, and to this day, Thalyros dislikes crypts for this very reason. They then decided to not take whatever was inside, including the sword, as they assumed it would not be great. 

The Barrow Wight Slayers - Rags to Riches - Part Five

Domečar 1st, 1483 AA. Roccastra, Republic di Virella. Early afternoon.

    Peering down the staircase, the group sees a spiral of intricate compacted dirt and mud stairs woven from the earth. It is dark, so much so that they can't see anything past the torchlight. After some contemplation, Argunijin is the first to descend the staircase. It does not go far down, but they go slowly, watching for who, or what, made those marks on the Auxilia.

    As they descend, the stairs slowly go from compacted earth to being carved stone bricks, though in the sense that the bricks were there first, and these stairs were carved into the stone after the fact. While it is odd, they continue onward. Eventually, they come into a much older area made of stone bricks. On the right wall is an entry way with an arch made of engraved stone. The engraved stone is purely decorative.

    Looking through, they see a burial chamber of some sort. They have managed to find themselves in a crypt. The stone here looks old, much older than the group. The group steps into the crypt, waving the torch around to see the room. In the center of the room are three burial slabs with wrapped mummies on them, with almost twenty niches in the room, two stacked on top of each other on the walls. The three in the center have weapons and jewelry under their wraps, but the group staves off from touching them.

    "How queer. This stone is much, much older than the building above." Levius says.

    "These engravings," Thalyros says, pointing to the engravings on the slabs, which show the deeds of the men who are strewn on top of them. "they must be of Yhranians! No Imperial nor Dwarf carves like this still!"

    In fact, Thalyros was correct. This crypt was much older than the structure above, and Men and Dwarf no longer engrave stone pictures in that manner. The crude engravings depicted that the men on the three slabs were no doubt ancient Yhranian warriors of yore, heroes of some sort.

    "There's a passage to the left, follow me." Thalyros said, holding the torch.

    They came to a passage shaped like a plus, with an arch instead of a door on all but one of the passages. The passage forward was a portcullis, made of iron, which was lowered. This was odd for how long ago this strange structure was constructed. On each arch, including the portcullis, were more engravings --engraved knotted ropes behind a sun, and on either end of the rope, they go behind a mountain. The ancient runes of the Yhrani people are also engraved into the wall. 

    Gunbu steps closer, grabbing the torch. She is literate in the rune-script of the north, though the group have yet to discover why. They assume she is the daughter of some important chieftain.

    "Idek mol aval. Remember our love." She says.

    "Well, surely that spells good luck for us!" Levius says, sarcastically. "I feel that there is magic here."

    "I believe there are no spirits here, but I could be mistaken. Nevertheless, we should stay cautious of spirits and all that might assault us." Thalyros says, though he pauses. "Levius, pray tell, how do you know there is magic here?"

    "I have a gut feeling, one could say." He responds.

    They check both rooms, first the right room, then the left. They are similar, with many more burial niches on each wall, stacked twice. In the south room, are two people, in puddles of their own blood. One is a younger child, a slash across his back. The other is an Auxilia, with multiple puncture marks all over its body. The Auxilia reaches toward a silver ring, with a stone of polished obsidian set in it.

    "Hmm, my first spoil of adventure!" Argun says, kneeling down and grabbing the ring.

    "Why, are you dense!" Levius says. "Don't grab items like that before we inspect them!"

    Despite this, Argunijin had collected his first spoil of war. The ring itself is nothing special, but it was just large enough to fit snugly around Argunijin's thick finger. The obsidian stone inside of it reflects off of the torchlight, shining a beautiful purple-black color.

    They then went to the other room, where they found another Auxilia. On the wall, in Imperial, Do not open is written, in the man's own blood. His hand is covered in the blood he used to write the message, with the other hand holding a crank. 

    The group does not heed the message, grabbing the crank, and then looting the corpse. The man has the most intact armor and weapons, which the group collected. Argun specifically, taking the chain shirt, which he plans to have repaired and fitted to him back in Roccastra. He says it is possible, which the group trusts, as he was born in the Year of Iron. 

The Barrow Wight Slayers - Rags to Riches - Part Four

Domečar 1st, 1483 AA. Roccastra, Republic di Virella. Noon.      

    The group reconvenes at the door, which Thalyros has not broken sight with since they entered. Argunijin enters first, with the group following. It leads into a small entry way, where there is a hall on either side and a ladder leading upwards. They first go left into a small armory. Most of the weapons are covered in dust and were underway repairs. Argun takes a spearhead from a spear set on the table, which has had it's shaft broken in two. They also grab a key.

    Moving across the hall, they find a small kitchen, with a locked trapdoor. They choose not to open the trap door.  

    "This is very strange." Levius says, opening a sack of flour, which has seemingly spoiled. "This fortress shouldn't be unmanned like this, yet it is. There are no signs of life here either."

    "Yes, strange indeed." Thalyros says.

    They then moved to the upstairs, going up the ladder one by one. In the barracks that they entered, an Auxilia¹ was present. However, he was not alive. A large gash was present along his chest, and he was strewn in a pool of his own blood. His left hand was on the floor, covered in blood, but his right hand was clutching a Gladius close to his chest. The gash on his chest cut through his chainmail and padded tunic, meaning that whatever struck this man was both large and powerful.

    "What in Voden's name..." Argun said, climbing up the ladder to see the sight.

    Thalyros, second up the ladder, quickly started muttering burial prayers.

    "...ura ebka mal cañi. Whatever struck this man must be swiftly brought justice. No Men shall fall to these beasts no longer, whether the beasts be Man or else." Thalyros says. He closes the Auxilia's eyes, and then points to the sword. "Perhaps we shall take the sword?"

    Levius, the last one to come up, squints at it. He then gets closer, to look at it.

    "Hmm. It seems to be magical in some way. I am not sure how." Levius says. He then picks it up along with the sheath off of the Auxilia, and attaches it to his bag. "We can bring it to an expert to learn more. I am curious why this blade is enchanted. Why would an Auxilia like this have an enchantment on his weapon? Aren't enchantments of Mythos?" 

    Levius then turns to Thalyros and Gunbu, expecting answers. However, it is Argun who answers. Argun is a Wildling, much like Gunbu, from one of the many Steppetribes. He was a chieftain -- or something close to it, at the very least -- in the Noyakin Clan. He has short, black hair and a mustache, with light brown skin. However, what you would first notice, is that he stands at a staggering 6'10" (~208cm) and is both muscular and fat. While he doesn't talk about it much, he was also a former slave in the Empire.

    "Hark! Whatever he carried is now our spoil, and we shall rectify the death of our fellow Man, by relieving whatever beast lies here of its life!" He says, proudly. He tends to make sentences more complex, as he is not the best speaker of Imperial, and learned most of it from the Noble who owned him long ago. "So, we shall sally forth from here to the basement!"

    "First, maybe we should go up the stairs?" Thalyros says, pointing to a wooden staircase, under which lies a stockpile of old food.

    They head up the stairs to a lookout, much like the top of many lookout towers. There is an inner area and an outer area, with the outer area being like a balcony. There is an unlit torch hanging from the balcony, which is usually lit. An unstrung longbow and a half-quiver of arrows rests on the inner wall, near the trapdoor which Thalyros peeks his head up from. 

    The rest of the group follows suit, looking over the lands. It is still early spring -- many of the trees are budding. Dark clouds brew to the north east, and it looks like it will soon rain. They had heard on the way here, when they stopped in Vireqosta², that this outpost was one of the oldest outposts in this region of the Empire, and was originally built to overlook the Montis Virella so they could warn the cities of southern barbarian parties. Levius wonders how many Auxilia, current and former, have looked at this very same view.

    They make their way back to the bottom floor, where the trapdoor lies. The group stand and look at it for some time, before Levius speaks up.

    "One us needs to open it, and that one of us will be me. So, stand back!" Levius says. He crouches down with the iron key, and opens the trap door. Below, is darkness. After thinking for some time about how to overcome the darkness, Thalyros goes up and grabs the torch, which he lights. The group descends down the trapdoor.

    Underneath the outpost, they find a small wine and grain cellar. Nothing out of the ordinary. However, they hear distant and faint dripping water from somewhere. They eventually notice that behind an empty crate, is a staircase down, dug by whoever lived here. It goes down for some time, spiraling. The dripping water continues, slowly. It echoes from where ever it is dripping from. The group stays silent, as they peer down the staircase, into the darkness. 

¹: Auxilia: non-citizen soldiers in former Imperial states
²: The capital city of Virella
³: The great southern mountains that bisect Virella