The Party
Agatha, human paladin with a smiling-masked samurai helm, played by Anne
Sir Hulodrin, knight of Chamrousse
Ingvar Duram, human cleric with an extravagant tricorn hat, played by Jackson
Sir Vertoful, knight of Chamrousse
Nachman, human mage with an open-faced plain helm, played by Ali
Sidonius of Willow Creek, very buff fighter
Dany Mossé, human ranger with a spike-and-plumed helm, played by Finn
Casualties
None (yet)
Loot
Golden sickle and bowl, 450gp
1200gp
Golden snuff box, 400gp
Gem-encrusted silver goblet, 1000gp
The Game
17 High Summer 1113 (Team Holy)
- Where last we left off, the party spent a week resting in Chamrousse while Count Claude Malevol gathered a force to assault Corby's hidden lair. At last, joined by the Count's inner circle, two rangers of the Order of the Swan, and two dozen experienced knights, including the recently return Sirs Hulodrin and Vertoful, the party set out into the mountains.
22 High Summer 1113
- They arrived, weathering unseasonably cold rain and hail, at the illusory mountain spring. The party showed them the way through and the force burst into the grove... but found it deserted. In the deepest part of the lair, they found a rune-convered menhir and golden implements, a scythe and bowl. These, they determined, were the ingredients in a druidic ritual, likely one being perverted to sap the land of vitality.
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| Arrest that rock, officer! |
- The rangers determined that Corby and his gnolls decamped a couple of days prior, and found the tracks led in many directions. However, Dany found that many were illusions and fakes strewn with shreds of goat fur. The true tracks led northeast, further into the mountains.
- The assault force disbanded, returning to Chamrousse, but the party, including Hulodrin and Vertoful, determined to follow the tracks and find out where Corby had gone.
27 High Summer 1113
- They followed the tracks for five days, delving deep into the mountains. As evening came on, they heard a familiar loud stomping, but this time there were many pairs of footfalls.
- Agatha stepped out to greet the new arrivals: five stone giants dressed in reds and browns, the colors of the Stoneclaw clan. Though wary, the two groups conversed civilly, and the party learned that they were quite close to the Roaming Forest: a mysterious pocket dimension that periodically relocated throughout the region, trapping anyone who crossed its threshold. It first appeared within the last decade, and the Stoneclaw giants, led by their elder Granny Elm-Walker, a powerful druid, had come to make an offering to the Roaming Forest's genius loci to prevent it from approaching closer to their territory.
- Realizing that Corby and his gnolls must have gone into the Roaming Forest, and showing Granny Elm-Walker the ritual implements from the hidden grove, she became convinced that Corby wanted to slay the spirit of the Roaming Forest and take control of it himself.
- The giants were not wholly opposed to this: it was an evil and avaricious spirit, but hearing the party's description of Corby, they figured he would be no better a neighbor.
- That night, the two groups camped together. The stone giants allowed the party to join their ritual and confer with the spirit, in exchange for the party bringing Count Malevol to the bargaining table to set up a treaty between the Stoneclaw giants and Chamrousse.
- It also turned out that Sinead's ex-lover, Kethlîn, was with this group, and Agatha got to hear her side of their (not so) sordid breakup. This had little impact on the wider session, but the players were very enthused.
28 High Summer 1113
- As midnight fell, Granny Elm-Walker lit the bonfire, buried a pouch of jewels in the earth, and called up the spirit of the Roaming Forest. The flames burned high, and an angular face topped with a crown of thorns and holly appeared in the fire as Granny invoked the spirit of Runcius Malevol.
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| WHO SUMMONS THE GREAT AND POWERFUL RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUNCIUS? |
- The party spoke with the druidic spirit, and informed it that the anticleric Corby had entered its domain. To their surprise, the spirit knew Corby, and had a great deal of enmity for him. The spirit confirmed that Corby was within, and declared that it would slay him for his impudence and past offenses.
- The party was happy to hear that, but still wanted to make sure of this death themselves; in addition, of course, to leaving the Roaming Forest alive. Runcius offered them a deal: he would allow them entry and exit once, and permit them to aid in hunting down and slaying Corby. In exchange, they would spread the name and glory of Runcius Malevol upon their return. The party agreed, and the pact was writ in fire upon oak leaves.
- So the party walked down the forest path, the intertwining canopy making it as dark as a subterranean tunnel. Then they stepped out into the light: the sun shone high, illuminating the colors of early autumn as they stood in the middle of a great clearing. A flock of sheep grazed nearby and a shepherd dozed under a lonely tree.
- On closer inspection some of those sheep were literal wolves in sheep's clothing, and the party was certain not all was right within this realm. They determined to get through it and find Corby as swiftly as possible.
- Along the way, they encountered creepy lawn gnomes, a gazebo (this completely went over the players' heads) and a river that appeared to wind through itself without regard for physics. They despaired of finding anything in this wilderness, until the sun suddenly dipped in the sky and the scent of sulphur filled the air.
- The party followed the scent to a hermit's cave, a dead end. Within, a hermit in haircloth rags welcomed them... but this hermit was too large, with a strange, bulbous head and the suggestion of metallic wings sprouting from its back. The scent of sulphur was strong here, and the back of the cave was like a muddy shadow obscuring something beyond.
- This fiend set upon the party, raking Sir Hulodrin with life-draining claws and deflecting Ingvar's spells with a word. Nachman smote it with lightning and Agatha and Dany cut it down, and it turned to foul smoke, promising to see them in Hell.
- The cave beyond was bare, but the muddy shadow on the far wall intrigued them. The sulphurous scent emanated from it, and, with Agatha leading the way, they stepped through.
????????
- They felt as though they were moving through quicksand, and then all of a sudden thye felt fabric rustling against their faces. They emerged out of black curtains and onto a stage, with a packed audience of skeletons facing them.
- Luckily, the skeletons didn't animate. They all appeared to have been watching a performance when they were struck dead. Nachman pilfered their valuables, including a golden snuff box from which he took a sniff. Whatever was within was dramatically more potent than expected, and for a few moments he felt that a great weight was lifted from his shoulders... but then it was back, and he was suddenly keenly aware that he was experiencing an acute, subtle pain with every moment he remained in this place.
- The party left the auditorium, exploring and looting storage chambers and a tap room, all abandoned. Soon, they found a stairway leading up, and followed it.
- As they crested the top of the stairs, they felt an ominous presence behind them, that cried out pitifully, 'I didn't kill them! Not... technically...'They bolted, running far from the stairs and bursting outdoors.
- A great castle surrounded them, ancient stones under a red sky. A well-cultivated garden of blooming, gigantic thorny roses, sharp-toothed gargoyles, and an ornate banner over two great double doors: THE GREAT DOMAIN OF SERPENTINA.
- At that moment, sparkling clouds manifested around them and started draining their blood! The battle was over swiftly, but several members of the party were injured. Then the great doors creaked open, and a beautiful, pale woman in an ornate wedding dress stepped out, followed by a swarm of dozens of black cats. As she went over to water the rose garden, Agatha stepped out of hiding to make contact.
- This woman was Adelaide Malevol, and she was most interested to see a newcomer to the castle. Agatha learned that this was none other than Castle Xyntillan, the same castle which Corby had cast down into hell a decade prior. In reality, it had gotten stuck, sandwiched between the planes, a little slice of nowhere which the Malevol family was unable to leave.
- When Adelaide learned that Corby was nearby, she grew furious. She too, apparently, had beef with him. She promised to help Agatha hunt him down, if she did a favor for her first. Cautiously, Agatha agreed, and Dany went with her while the rest of the party remained behind to catch their breath.
- Adelaide led the two deeper into the castle, past a torture chamber, clambering up the side of a crumbling tower, and into a cramped chamber with a crystalline coffin.
- Within the coffin rested a woman in an elegant gown, like an older, nobler Adelaide. This was her elder sister Aurora Malevol, once among the most powerful members of the family, until she was imprisoned by their uncle, the former Count of Chamrousse, for her defiance. She made a pact with Agatha and Nachman: only one pure of heart could break open the coffin, and both of them qualified (and were very, very strong). If they broke it open, she would aid them in finding Corby and provide them with his weakness.
- Though conflicted, they agreed. Agatha shattered the coffin, and Aurora awoke, the stench of undeath filling the air. She tore at Adelaide and only narrowly restrained herself from attacking Agatha and Dany. In accordance with the pact, Adelaide summoned the Beast: a hulking wall of fur and muscle in a velvet doublet, crowned with a halo of hellfire: he showed them a vision of what might come to pass: Runcius Malevol and his anti-druids slain, sacrificed upon a altar amid a circle of stones, as Corby took control of the Roaming Forest and used it to cast the castle further into Hell. Along with instructions for reaching that stone circle, they provided an opportunity: Corby received his magical powers from Serpentina, the current ruler of the castle. With Aurora awakened, they had the strength to fight back. During their fight, Corby's magic would be greatly weakened, so if they wanted to fight him head on, he would soon be more vulnerable than ever. Then with a snap of his fingers, the Beast sent the whole party back to the stage.
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| Ariccia Sunset, JMW Turner |
28 High Summer 1113
- The party emerged from the muddy shadow in the sulphurous cave. Following the Beast's directions, they rushed along forest paths to reach a circle of great moss-covered menhirs.
- And at the circle, they found Corby, heavily armed and armored and bearing the ram-horned helm of opposite alignment, a dozen gnolls stepping out from behind the menhirs.
- That was where session ended. The party is greatly weakened, Ingvar wholly out of spells and many are injured. Can they defeat Corby? Will they run and leave the Roaming Forest and the castle to his machinations? Will I have my first real TPK? Join us for next week's session of Cascabel!
Takeaways
This session was, at once, very unexpected and deeply nostalgic.
For those unaware, the events of this campaign, especially the events of the last few sessions, follow from my Castle Xyntillan campaign back in 2020-21. My current batch of players are dealing with the fallout from the end of that campaign.
My plan for this session was that the players would find the abandoned grove, loot it, and return to civilization, where I had some hooks waiting for them down the river. Rather foolishly, I did not consider what would happen if the players just decided to leave behind the rest of the force and follow after Corby.
As a result, the last three quarters of the session was swiftly improvised. I first considered using the Wandering Glade, a module by Melan (the last two dungeons have also been adapted from Melan modules published in Echoes from Fomalhaut, namely Temple of Polyphema and Gorge of the Unmortal Hermit), but right before the players got there I realized that I really, really didn't know what was in there and hadn't read past the opening page.
At that moment, I realized I was being stupid, because my setting already had a strange, druidic pocket dimension wandering around the surface of this exact region: the Indoornesse from Castle Xyntillan.
So after rolling up the stone giant encounter and working it into the running plot, I called back my knowledge of Castle Xyntillan to run the invocation of Runcius and exploration of the forest. The metaphysics wound up being important, but luckily I had already thought those through.
And then the players wound up in the hermitage, the same place where a recently turned-evil Corby was given a suspicious silver coin ten years ago in-game (and almost exactly three years ago in real life, just a day off!). That was the dwelling place of the sinister Father Chlodowig, who had been turned into a Styx Devil. Now, I also knew that this location was a portal to Castle Xyntillan in the original, and so put a sulphur-spewing portal at the back of the cave.
I did not consider that the players would try to go through it.
I had to take a few minutes to figure out what to do, and it soon became obvious. The players, entirely by accident, were going to go into Castle Xyntillan. And by even greater coincidence, they wound up making their way up to the western entrance. At that point, I couldn't help but replicate the first encounter with a Malevol my party had, with Adelaide, which occurred in the same location.
From there, half-remembered strands from three years ago and plans which never same to fruition appeared clear as day. Of course Adelaide would try to use the party to free Aurora. Of course they would rebel against Serpentina. If course this would weaken Corby temporarily.
By the time they reached him, everyone was eager for a fight and the energy at the table was high. But we also hit our usual stopping point at that exact moment, and I needed some time to prepare that confrontation.
The battle with (or possible flight from) Corby will come at the beginning of the coming session. Whatever comes of it, we will drop this campaign, and start playtesting House of Pestilence. In the event of PC deaths, I expect being able to play new, high level characters will cushion the blow, as we still haven't had any, despite billing this to my players as a deadly game!
I suppose we'll see what happens soon, so expect a Session 9.5 report. Until next time, have an excellent week!
This is gonna be fun, can't wait!
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