Castle Xyntillan Session 15: Where There's a Will, There's a Way

In the last session, the party continued to explore the dungeon level, discovered new enchanted treasures, withstood another ambush by Mandrake Malevol, and succeeded in capturing and interrogating the hunchback. They encountered the miniature domain of the King of Swine, and continue their journey in relatively safe territory. What remains to be discovered in the dungeons of Castle Xyntillan? Is the hunt for the party over? All this and more in this week's session of Castle Xyntillan!

The Party

Longo Lightfoot, Halfling Thief, wears a sky-blue headscarf. Played by CaptainSabatini.
Corby the Joyful, Human Cleric of Sucellus, wears a short, conical hat. Played by diregrizzlybear.
Idred the Most Omniscient, Human MU, wears a full-visored greathelm. Played by David Perry.
Boroth Swinney the Joyous, Human Fighter, wears a masked helm depicting a happy human face. Played by Justin Hamilton.
Francois, Light Footman, noticeably dogless. 

Rodolfo, Heavy Footman, running from a warrant in town.

Hubert, Heavy Footman.

Gwynefa, Arbalist.

Herman, Arbalist, escaped convict and former boar.

Emil, Lightbearer, strange obsession with some Malevols.

Karo, Arbalist.

Allan, Arbalist, claims to know a great secret, pursues a Malevol for past crimes.

Bruno, Light Footman, a talented sharpshooter.

LaBeouf, Camp Cook.
Raymond, Mule.

Casualties

Rodolfo (unconscious and resuscitated)

Loot

900gp cash

450gp sapphire (inside dead rat)

Bottle of Amontillado

Bone-carved wand (unidentified)

The Last Will and Testament of Aristide Malevol the Patrician

The Game

• The session picked up where they left off last time, in the pigsty court of the King of Swine. They investigated a nearby room which the swine apparently had no interest in. It was clean, with plush carpeting, a well-made bed, a table set out with food and some odd features; a spiral painted on the ceiling, plus a painting of an eye being cut by a sword.

Longo: This place seems boring.

Idred: Boring can be good in a dungeon.

Longo: Anyone want to stand under the saber?

Boroth: Don't we have hirelings for that?

Longo: They have names, Boroth.

• They retraced their steps back to the excavation, and check back in on the toy closet. They found a pair of lead soldier figurines, which Boroth pocketed for use in his Kriegspiel game.
• Down an unexplored corridor, they located a pair of doors, with heavy locks and barred openings. They heard pacing and muttering past one, and the chittering of rodents past the other.

Idred: Any size of rodent is usual.

• Investigating the chittering, they found a wide, domed chamber, filled with dozens of niches inhabited by corpses. Chains led down from a hole in the ceiling.

Idred: Guys, I think this is an oubliette.

• Searching the corpses, they discovered several items of note, including a large sapphire which a rat had choked on, and a sack of gold.
• Exploring further, they came across two great double doors, which rhythmic scratching and marching beyond. Boroth took a peek inside, and saw a convent of zombie nuns, dancing around a giant pillar.

Boroth: Nundead!

• They left the nuns to their own devices, not willing to risk their numbers. Further ahead, they were stopped in their progress when a figure swathed in bandages and covered in jewels stumbled into their path. A Mummy! It demanded tribute, in gold or in people, let they feel the mummy's curse.
• The party refused, and prepared for combat. In that moment, a trio of ninjas melted out of the shadows behind the party!

Corby: They have auditors!

• They held off the attack from the back, with Corby suffering only a scratch from the ninja's blade and getting a neat scar. The Boroth and the arbalists held down the mummy before it could cast a spell using a wand. It turned out to be much weaker than anticipated. On closer inspection, it was revealed to not be a mummy at all, just a ghoul wearing bandages. They looted its bone-carved wand and the jewels on its body, and moved on.
• The room they had been ambushed from was a sort of dressing room. A pair of outfits hung on hooks, though one was infested with fleas.

Idred: Can I Sleep the fleas?

• A nearby statue depicted a priest in prayer. Idred took an interest in it, searching extensively for hidden switches or triggers, going as far as probing it with his dagger. A voice spoke inside his head, and he lost a point of Wisdom!

Idred: I though priests were supposed to grant wisdom!

• A grille was set flush with a nearby wall, not unlike a confessional booth. The party pushed Longo to speak to it, and they got a response. It identified itself as Nancille, a hermit living a simple life of self-denial and isolation.

Longo: Corby, your kind of  guy here.

Corby: You take me for someone who's all about peace and love and self-denial?

• The main tunnel they had been traveling down turned into a rough cavern, opening into an underground lake with mist pouring out from the north. Uncovering Idred's sunstone showed that the lake was quite small, though it connected to the larger grotto they had mapped previously.
• A post and bell was set up on the shore, along with a sign that read: 'Three coins for passage.' The party debated its meaning, and settled on this being a passage to the underworld. They weren't prepared to risk it at the moment, but they made a note to come back and ring it later.

Boroth: How many Hit Dice is Hades?

Longo: Like, 2.

Boroth: Let's get 'im!

• They located what appeared to be a small shrine, occupied with the statues of several saints, and nearby the source of the mist; a font and pool producing gold and silver bubbles.
• Then the party came upon a gruesome sight. More than a half-dozen ghouls feeding from open caskets, which attacked swiftly.
• The party formed ranks, and their entire front line were savaged by the ghouls. Boroth resisted their paralysis, but Hubert was struck stiff, and Rodolfo was brought down to 0hp. They depended on Corby to Turn the ghouls...
• ... and Corby rolled minimum for his Turning, sending only two of the ghouls scattering.
• The party defended the bodies of their downed hirelings, killing more of the ghouls until their morale broke and they ran. They took a moment to breathe and overcome the paralysis, and used the Xyntillan vintage they bought from Blobert to restore some health.
• Advancing further into what appeared to be a tomb complex, they found a corpse sitting on a bier.

Corby: I'm not sure there's a culture for Turning etiquette.

• They left it be, and listened at two other doors: at one they heard shoveling, at the other, a chattering, like teeth.

Longo: We should get some treasure-sniffing weasels.

GM: I'm sorry, is that a new sentence?

• At the end of the hallway, they found a strange well, with an inscription encouraging them to throw something in. A coin elicited only a contemptuous statement from an echoing voice. Boroth decided to throw in the lead figurines. As soon as he let them go, they began to scream in tiny pitched voices as they fell into the depths. The well responded: 'Mirror, mirror, on the door, take thy chances, one in four.'
• Unsatisfied with the well, they returned to the tombs and gambled on the shoveling sound. They encountered an animated shovel, transferring dirt from one hole into another, and back again. They Turned it using their hammer and sickle, and discovered a coffin in each hole. One made no sound, and they opened it to find it empty. The other was the source of a rattling sound.
• They opened this one as well, revealing a squirming mass of bones!
• Which the party swiftly annihilated with some very lucky attack and damage rolls. 
• The fight broke the coffin, and revealed a sack of gold under a false bottom. This prompted the party to search the other coffin for a false bottom. 
• They found one, but there was no gold there. Just a parchment scroll. They opened it up. The title read: 'The Last Will and Testament of Aristide Malevol, the Patrician.'
• The session ended on that cliffhanger. What is contained within the will? How will this affect the campaign going forward? Find out in next week's session of Castle Xyntillan!

Takeaways

The encounter with the bone mass took place right at the end of the session as it was winding down. I figured the party would either locate the will and leave the bones alone, or find the bones and get ripped to shreds. Color me surprised when they annihilated the damn thing.

A great part of the party's success has been their hirelings, especially their arbalists. It turns out that a wall of light crossbow fire solves a great many problems.

Next Chapter: Let's Not Go to Hades, 'Tis a Silly Place