Drums on Fire Mountain – Game Session – 005

Game summary for February 23, 2012, In Search of Adventure campaign, X8: Drums on Fire Mountain adventure; present characters included Dinendel Telemnar (elf hero-magician), Meriwen Arnatule (elf hero-magician), Nicholae Dragos (cleric curate), and Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf hero).

The Conquerors of Chaos proceeded into the hallway, the pounding of drums louder than ever.  They followed a branch of hallway to discover an empty room garishly painted in reds, yellows, and greens.  After looking around, they found they had circled back to the room previously containing the wood golems.  The team then explored the other branch with the drums growing louder with each step.

The group opened a door at the hall’s end to find themselves beside nine drumming kara-kara warriors near a pair of manwu-papas beside a drop down into the fiery heart of the volcano!  Across a swaying bridge danced and chanted hundreds of kara-kara!  Overlooking the scene sat a pig-faced creature on a stone throne.  As the party entered, the drumming stopped and hundreds of kara-kara charged forward in a rage, hurling spears and guttural curses.  The pig-creature stood off the throne and vanished from sight.

A brutal fight ensued, with Meriwen shooting one of the kara-kara off the swaying bridge while the rest of the team fanned out to interfere with the approaching orcs.  Legend ran forward brandishing his ancient sword of power and sliced through one of the support ropes, toppling the swaying bridge and dumping a dozen kara-kara into the flaming lava!  From the far side came hurled spears, and the manwu-papa from near the throne closed in.  They unleashed hold person spells that Nicholae shrugged off before he succumbed to a cause fear.  He bolted for a doorway while kara-kara tried to maneuver around the party to close them in on two sides.

Meriwen, seeing Nicholae compelled to bolt, grappled with the priest to try and keep him from running into the kara-kara down the hallway.  Ma’Kala, knowing the cleric’s deep infatuation with her, flung open her bodice to distract him and help shake off the magical compulsion.  It took several moments for him to clear his mind, but the shock was sufficient to break the spell!

Regrouping, the party laid out several kara-kara warriors and surrounded the manwu-papas, cutting them down with swords, arrows, hammers, and spears.  They then spiked the doors shut and blocked them with the massive drums.  The party then ran to the throne to investigate.  Finding no sign of the pig-man, they ran down a hallway discovered behind the throne.  Beyond the throne was a confusing room filled with hanging crystals that caused intense disorientation.  However, the party overcame it by each party member going to one of the six exit doors and opening them at the same time.  They then proceeded out of the short southern exit to find a room of mirrors.

Nicholae discovered the mirrors were flexible when he struck it with his hammer, getting it stuck halfway through.  Meriwen saw this and ran face first into the mirror, finding herself able to pass through to the other side revealing another mirrored room.  The team found several such rooms and continued going through southern exits until they stumbled upon a lavish bath.  Past this room, they found a bedroom with a toppled chair to which a beautiful woman was bound.

Legend ungagged the woman who revealed herself to be named Maerie, a hostage from the Lady’s Triumph captured two weeks ago by green-skinned pirates.  The group untied her, and she revealed the leader of the pirates to be a man in a pig costume named KalnaKaa.  She said he came in, tied her up and fled right before the party arrived.

The above summary is for a game session of Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC edition played by the Phoenix Gaming Club.

Drums on Fire Mountain – Game Session – 004

Game summary for February 16, 2012, In Search of Adventure campaign, X8: Drums on Fire Mountain adventure; present characters included Dinendel Telemnar (elf hero-magician), Meriwen Arnatule (elf hero-magician), Nicholae Dragos (cleric curate), and Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf hero).

Following the dark hallway, the group proceeded to find a room filled with four wooden pig-headed statues and the pounding noise of ritual drums echoing from deeper within the complex.  The group crept in and was attacked as the statues revealed themselves to be wood golems!  The menaces proved impervious to mundane weapons, making several of the party ineffective.  The elves unleashed an onslaught of magic missiles once this was discovered.  Legend used his ancient sword to cut down one of the golems in a single swipe.  Theobald’s trusty spear proved the end of all the rest.

The group then moved into another room occupied by eight kara-kara warriors and a rotund kara-kara manwu-papa!  The kara-kara began chanting and working themselves into a frenzy as the party swarmed in and cut down several of the green-skinned orcs.  The manwu-papa caught Borislav and Theobald in a hold person spell but was unable to lay a curse on Nicholae.  The warriors proved fairly ineffective, but the manwu-papa and his iron mace were of tougher stock.  The pig priest fought like a dervish, smashing his mace into Legend, driving the elf into retreat.  He then found a clear shot on paralyzed Borislav and slaughtered the mighty warrior with a single blow.  The party closed in around the witch doctor and brought him down, but only after suffering several more injuries.

Nicholae performed a quick ritual over the fallen body of their companion while they waited for the hold person spell to dissipate.  Once it did, they found a large chamber with thirty-foot deep pits spiked with sharpened bamboo around the edges.  Within one were three naked kara-kara males cowering in a corner.  Enraged over the recent death of Borislav, Meriwen rained arrows down on the three, killing them in the hole.  The team then recovered some skeletal remains from the other pit and found a platinum belt worth a king’s ransom.

Faced with two exits from the pit room, the team decided to follow a trail they believe cuts back close to where they came.  What dangers lie down the dark hallway?

The above summary is for a game session of Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC edition played by the Phoenix Gaming Club.

Drums on Fire Mountain – Game Session – 003

Game summary for February 9, 2012, In Search of Adventure campaign, X8: Drums on Fire Mountain adventure; present characters included Dinendel Telemnar (elf hero-magician), Meriwen Arnatule (elf hero-magician), Nicholae Dragos (cleric curate), and Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf hero).

Following the tomb looting, the Conquerors of Chaos decided to go through the far door and into a short angled hallway.  Examining the apparent dead end, Legend discovered a hidden catch to swing open a secret door!  As the opening pivoted, they gazed upon a silent tomb filled with corpses that suddenly sprung to life!  Five ghouls and two agarats charged into the group paralyzing Borislav!  Legend may have fallen victim to the ghouls as well, but his elven blood proved impervious to the undeads’ touch.  Then, the agarats began screaming.  The unearthly wail ripped through the souls of the adventurers filling them with despair and self-doubt.  Rattled and shaken, the party tried to engage.

A brutal melee ensued, and Meriwen planted an arrow right on target, but the agarat she hit didn’t seem to mind.  Meriwen and Legend swapped to silver-tipped arrows for the next volley.  Theobald landed a telling blow before succumbing to paralysis as well.  Desperate, Nicholae read a scroll of hold person that didn’t seem to affect the creatures.  The ghouls were very ineffective against the teams’ armors, but a claw here and there started to add up.  Still desperate, Nicholae turned the ghouls, causing them to cower in the back of the tomb while the party finished off the agarats.  Then, they moved up and hurled the ghouls back into the grave and the end of a blade.

After nursing their injuries and mustering their courage once again, the party went through a secret door found by Legend.  This lead to a room with three stone plinths, two holding crystal vials and another a crystal skull.  Meriwen scooped up the skull into her backpack, causing a whistling sound to fill the air.  Then, she ran full tilt out the door, causing the whistling to rapidly escalate pitch, shattering potions and other glass items in the group’s possession.

The group got out with several items of value, including the skull and four potions of healing but not without losing several other potions to the breaking glass.  The group then went through another door to reveal a zig-zag hallway heading into the unknown.

The above summary is for a game session of Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC edition played by the Phoenix Gaming Club.

Drums on Fire Mountain – Game Session – 002

Game summary for February 2, 2012, In Search of Adventure campaign, X8: Drums on Fire Mountain adventure; present characters included Dinendel Telemnar (elf hero-magician), Meriwen Arnatule (elf hero-magician), Nicholae Dragos (cleric curate), and Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf hero).

After resting from the tarantella spider dance, the group moved further into the jungle and discovered an old village.  Inside a sturdy stone tower, they found a trio of angry white apes!  A brutal fight ensued, with the apes pounding on several party members.  However, Borislav proved his might, cutting one ape in two with his greatsword.  Nicholae brained another with his war hammer.  The fight was quickly ended.

The team continued through the jungle to discover the Trail of the Dead, a stonewalled ravine lined with crumbling humanoid statues.  The group used a rope of climbing to traverse across the ravine rather than enter and tracked alongside it in the jungle.  Before long, they came across a perpendicular ravine and followed it to a colorful bamboo gate before a cave entering the volcano’s side.

Cautiously, the team crept into the cave and moved forward to find two iron doors held closed by an intricate knot.  Theobald examined the area and discovered the knot system was tied to a trap that would drop the ceiling down on them.  Meriwen used a knock spell to open the doors and reveal a muddy passage with light at the end.  As they moved closer, Elasha noticed a secret door beside the iron doors.  The group opened it and found a half-mile tunnel leading to sunlight.  They moved down this parallel tunnel to see where it would lead.

Down in a valley below the tunnel mouth, the group discovered three stone tomb entrances, each decorated with different patterns.  They began fiddling with the stonework trying to find if something would open the way into the tombs.  Nicholae sprung a flame trap that blasted him with fire.  Meriwen puzzled with another entrance and stumbled upon a sequence of stones to depress that seemed to melt away the blocking stone doorway.  The group quickly moved within.

Once in the area, they found a room with two doors and four alcoves.  From the back two alcoves sparkled the gleam of gold.  Meriwen moved to examine one alcove and walked face first into a gelatinous cube!  A second cube slithered out from behind him, and a battle was on!  Borislav became paralyzed by the cubes, but several attacks and a magic missile later, the cubes were reduced to residue.  The team found golden anklets which they liberated from two bodies.  Meriwen also spotted a secret door.  When she tried to open it, poisonous gas sprayed all over her.  Fortunately, she was able to shake off the effects.  With the alcove lay another interred body and several valuable antiquities which were scooped up and dumped in a sack.

The above summary is for a game session of Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC edition played by the Phoenix Gaming Club.