| Hammer 8, 1370 | Year of the Tankard | Hammer 10, 1370 |
Hammer 9, 1370:
High = 18, Low = 10
Heavy precipitation (4" snow) starting @ 2:50am
Wind gusting to 50 mph from the north.
Cloudy.
| Excerpt from The Chronicles of Anything For A Laugh by Steve, Bard from Neverwinter |
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Denyae, Stalker, Darius, Theo, Henkles, Dexter, Moogh, and I went to the Yawning Portal, bringing along Ursula's two lightning hounds, Edison and Tesla. We asked the four men that have a map of Undermountain carved into their table where the electrical statue was. We were told to go to where the Giant Spider statue was and work our way west from there. We paid our entrance fee and were lowered down to the Shield Room. We quickly encountered a troll that was discovered to have a metal cage stuck in its chest. After we killed it, the cage was discovered to have been spiked to the wall behind the beast. |
70xp to Darius, Denyae, Dexter, Henkles, Stalker, Steve and Theo
for a helpless troll
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When that group entered the anti-magic room, Henkles had a flash of memory about a magic storm while "he" was leading a patrol (of guards?) through this room, chasing someone named "Nine-fingered Dethun.". He remembered the floor tiles to the south spinning, and a giant snake attacking a member of the patrol before wrapping itself around a pillar and dying (a snake skeleton is wrapped around one of the pillars in the room.) This may have happened ten years ago, during the Times of Troubles. We headed south down the corridor, then west. As we approached the 20' x 30' room where we fought ghouls on our first time through this part of Undermountain, Henkles said "Dethun didn't go this way." We reversed our course and then fell victim to four Ogres, one of which operated a dead fall trap on us. Theo, Darius, and I were struck by the rocks. The ogres were then quickly killed. |
1080xp to Darius, Denyae, Dexter, Henkles, Stalker, Steve and Theo
for ogres
(Moogh joined the party at the end of this fight.)
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After gathering what treasure the ogres had on their bodies (8pp, 14gp, 6ep, 22sp.), we continued east and south to the room with a statue of a woman with a snake's head. We exited through the double doors and south to the corridor lit by many floating candles. As we got to the eastern end of this corridor, I noticed something gleaming on the wall ahead of us. We turned the corner and immediately encountered a Carrion Crawler eating a giant worm. The Carrion Crawler was dispatched quickly. We then followed the corner around to a dead end that had a number of pieces of graffiti. |
270xp to Darius, Denyae, Dexter, Henkles, Moogh, Stalker, Steve
and Theo for a carrion crawler
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The north wall at the very end of the corridor bears a deeply-etched inscription. Written ap- proximately three feet above the floor, the lowest inscription is in Thorass: "No golden thronesAbove this, on the wall in Elvish, are the words written with charcoal: "Seek not hereAnd above that, scrawled in Thorass in what looks like dried blood, are the words "FOOLS -- GO BACK!" Deciding to ignore the advice, we then headed to the long room where "Doom haunts us all" is heard, then south to the abandoned drow temple. A number of other pieces of graffiti were found to have been added to Stewart's here, including one addition glowing magically. We started exploring the western exits from this room, starting with the southern one. We passed through a darkness curtain and startled group of goblins who ran off. We then came to a 30' x 30' room, where we were attacked by a Lurker Above, which hit Henkles, Dexter, Stalker, and Edison and Tesla. Stalker and Henkles attacked it from under neath, Edison and Tesla used their lightning, Theo cast a Magic Missile, and Moogh and I attacked it with our weapons and quickly killed it. A little later, we were attacked by Piercers. They got good hits on Stalker and Henkles. Wounds were bound and Cures were performed on a number of party members, and Stalker drank a potion of Regeneration. |
2000xp to Darius, Denyae, Dexter, Henkles, Moogh, Stalker, Steve
and Theo for a big hug
720xp to Darius, Denyae, Dexter, Henkles, Moogh, Stalker, Steve
and Theo for piercers
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We finally came to a door at the end of a north-south corridor, behind which we heard electrical discharges. We opened the door to see that it was the room we were looking for. Unfortunately, we lingered too long mapping the room from the doorway and were struck by lightning from the statue, seriously injuring a number of us. We quickly made our way into the room to get out of the statue's arc of fire, only to be hit by a ricochet from the other direction. After a few minutes' difficulty, we were able to open the other door to prevent further ricochets. Edison and Tesla were delighted by the lightning the statue gave off. An examination of the statue's seven foot high pedestal revealed a secret door, leading to a spiral staircase going down. Twenty feet below the statue we found a 10' x 10' room with a ruined upholstered chair and two things on a shelf: a rolled up scroll and a stoppered metal vial, both magical. The scroll and the vial were taken and we continued down. Fifty feet down we found a secret door, which Stalker said was probably magically trapped. We went back up the stairs some ways and Theo used an Unseen Servant to open the door. A loud report and a flash of flame occurred. We went back down and found that the door was not open and still had an aura of magic. Stalker believed that it was no longer trapped, however. I then used a Knock spell to successfully open the secret door. Henkles discovered a small space containing a chest with a small man upon it. The man was painted blue and wore a plaid kilt. Moogh attempted to pat the man on his head but he was threatened by the man wielding an eight to ten-inch long claymore sword. Henkles then tried to use a blanket to capture the man and the man quickly cut through the blanket with his sword. The blanket was then jerked away, causing the man to lose his footing. He then charged at Henkles. |
300xp to Theo for roleplaying on the 8th & 9th
400xp to Steve for chronicling (150 for speed &
completeness, 250 for roleplay.)
400xp each to Henkles, Moogh, Maanamere, Steve, Dexter,
and Stuart (posthumously) for roleplaying.
50xp to Moogh for additional roleplaying
Meanwhile, further up the stairs Steve and Moogh took deep rear
guard, allowing Maanamere and Jan to come forward.
| Excerpt from the notes for The Amazing Autiobiography of Jan of Halruaa, Sometimes called Misery Jones, Part I - The Humble Years a work in progress. |
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Why is there a sofa here? Oh, it's been looted. Good chance I am in the right place. As I approached the rest of our intrepid party on some windy (ok, spiral, but it doesn't sound as good, dingy stairs (desperately in need of paint, or at least cleaning) I observed Henkles holding something with teeth. Moogh was very upset that Henkles would not "leave kid alone," which, given weaponry of the "child" gives me pause as to how Moogh will raise his children. I was thus assured this was indeed my companions and not a trick. Stalker was bending over a chest, which he shortly walks away from to fondle and stare at the walls like they were a woman. Or something of erotic interest at any rate. I rapidly pushed through everyone to get close enough to Henkles to assist if he needed it. He was clutching a small, angry blue man armed with a sword much too big for him. Definitely willing to use it. Blood is dripping from inside of Henkle's grip and he is looking....well he's looking just like himself now that I think about it. Henkles seems very worried about this little man, insisting he's just going to get bigger if we kill him. Fascinating idea...obviously magical I have to wonder if this is an integral part of the small blue gentleman or the result of experimentation. And will it have been on his species? An individual? Would many individuals be required for such a spell? Hmmmm..... obtaining multiple small blue men...well, I suppose green, and some bleach or...hmmm. Small purple men? Nah. Being concerned about our little maniacal guardian Henkles suggests trapping him in the secret room and scampering with the chest. Stalker hoists the chest onto his shoulder, Henkles throws the little blue guy and we slam the door. Henkles may be crazy but he isn't.....wrong. A larger blue man appears on the chest, stabbing Stalker. He promptly drops the chest that goes careening down the stairs with a clatter loud enough to wake the dead. The little blue guy went with it. Around here, that isn't a figure of speech. Fortunately the dead were not awoken or else Dexter would have had one of his little moments. Which he didn't, so we were safe. Henkles howls at the blasphemy of potential money crashing down the stairs. You think an adventurer would be more used to loss. Stalker glares at Henkles in return and starts down the stairs after the chest (didn't quite catch what he was trying to say). Battle ensues! Stalker, being impatient, tries to step on the little man and is stabbed for his trouble. I'm positive not all of the swears he was using were human. Something very gutteral there. I am horrified by the blue man's fashion sense and really wish he would wear a longer kilt or...well, anything. Dexter aids Stalker by highlighting the little guy and hitting him with arrows. Certain things revealed by horrible kilts are NOT made better by being outlined in purple from every possible angle. I will not soon forget this. Henkles is worried about the treasure still. It might be a weapon after all, and he's a little crazy about weapons. Hmmm.... daDum daDum daDum mighty was weapon drawn.... Nah, I'm no poet. Dexter's attack has a double effect as Stalker grabs the arrow impaling the small man and uses it to pin him to the chest, preventing him from moving. The Blue Man is not deterred by this action. I think he's going to gnaw his own chest off trying to get out. I think we just found a relative of Henkles's. No wonder Henkles made such accurate guesses about his characteristics. We loot the chest. I like looting. Very soothing and repetitive. We do it a lot. The chest was smashed during the fall, a fact that makes Henkles even grumpier. There is soggy cloth, a glowing blade, some bottles, a smashed false bottom. We leave the little blue guy gnawing on the arrow. It's cruel, but I'm not sure what else we can do. |
160xp to Darius, Denyae, Dexter, Henkles, Jan, Maanamere, Stalker
and Theo for picking on someone smaller than them.
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The journey back is very unremarkable, making our way past the statue that shoots lightining out of it's arms. We wander aimfully and make our way to the Yawning Portal without incident. A strange insistent voice keeps whispering "which way do you go! It matters." We obtain:
It appears to show a secret door off of the statue room. Shocking! |
| Hammer 8, 1370 | Year of the Tankard | Hammer 10, 1370 |