MERP: Tol Sulereb, at Last

After equipping themselves at Randar’s, the party travelled to the Nabal Mazry to recruit Drogo for their assault on Tol Sulereb. Drogo enjoyed a bit of pickpocketing, stealing the new sea travelling eyewear that Bertram had custom made by Randar. Drogo stole them and then teleported off to Winton Coldfoot, Mayor of Nabal Island. Bertram had to buy a second pair but Randar also augmented the spell on him so that he could generate items that were more deadly, and therefore useful.

Pallando explained that a ring of power would be needed to use a palantir, which would be needed to penetrate the Maelstrom. But the correct palantir had to be used, one that had the least blood in its history. Drogo first cast Otterlungs and then teleported to the sea bottom where he had stored the four palantiri. He used the dwarvish ring of power provided by Tanukkodol to gaze into the palantiri and discern their past, looking for the one that is most given in freedom. He did not gaze into the one from Shrel Kain, as it was damaged by Elentari’s blood. The palantir from Fayoul was stolen from the Balrog’s ghost by Delcaran, who used a variety of small children to feed the ghost as he dived. The palantir stolen from Lest was freely given to Elentari by Tulric, because he feared that Demetrios might recover it. And the palantir from Dilgul was won by Lord Winston from Jackelsprat in a card game. Drogo brings the Lest palantir, but after talking with the rest of the party, returned it and brought up the Dilgul palantir.

Drogo used the palantir they stole from Lest to guide them through the Maelstrom, with the aid of Grafarlig, Bertram, and Tanukkodol. Tulric served as a captain and the crew followed the great hero with joy initially, but in fear later.

They arrived offshore and anchored on the north end of the island, three miles from the pyramid in the center of the island. Drogo flew inland past the werewolves and landed near the tower. The werewolves would not come within a mile of the tower. He flew up to the first level and then up to the top, looking for an entrance. He spotted a gate on the east side, down on the ground.  After resting, he teleported Tanukkodol, Grafarlig, and Bertram to the first level above the gate. Then he joined them (after some pipeweed), and used Portal to carve out a stone ring in the top of the tower.

The party lowered themselves down by ropes, Drogo reasoning that if he was killed, they could still climb up to the first level. On the door was the directions in Black Speech to “speak hate and enter.” Tanukkodol was the only one who could read it, but he didn’t want that responsibility, so he whispered the word into Bertram’s ear. Bertram failed to say it correctly, and instead there was a rumbling deep below them. Tanukkodol said it correctly and the gates swung open.

On the first level was a giant statue of a beautiful man, surrounded by a hundred sleeping werewolves, which were not statues. The stairs that led up were sealed by great steel doors and padlocked. Drogo teleported the party past them to the stairs to the stairs, teleporting Bertram last because he could only teleport two others at a time.

On the next level, 2 huge matrons were taking care of 16 elven babies in cribs. They told the babies they would be very strong one day. Grafarlig’s armor wakes them as the party continues up, and Bertram tried to use his harp to quiet the babies, but a Matron struck him a heavy blow. Luckily, he was using the dagger of invisibility, or she would have crushed him like an eggshell.

On the next level, eight men in robes with heads bowed over circular containers, probably for the palantiri, now missing. They watched the party but did not interfere. On the wall, engraved in black speech, were the words, “This is a place of peace and no mercy.”

The next level had multiple passages going to a multitude of locations, obviously a central location for the Ways. Continuing up, the party came to a small room with the master palantir. They settled down, because Drogo would have to stay there for a week to be able to reliably teleport back. Bertram is seduced by the palantir during the night and begins to fear that Drogo will misuse the palantir and should be stopped.

After several days, Bertram started questioning Drogo, which makes Drogo suspect some sort of corruption. Drogo sent all three of the others to the ship, then moved down to the next level down where he slept.

Back on the ship, the others learned that there were elves who had escaped from Torlumen who lived in a beautiful sanctuary carved by Ways magic at the western end of the island. Those people had saved Tulric and Solia fifty years ago, and the couple had lived with them for thirty years. The people there never had any children. There were lots of families, and every ten years 16-20 women would get pregnant but every baby was lost through miscarriage, or so they said. Solia died in childbirth and Tulric left the island. Now Tulric realized that the elves had given up their children so they could live in peace. There are forty people in the village, and the party calculated that 80-100 babies had been taken in fifty years.

At the end of the week, Drogo covered the palantir with his blanket and tied the ends, then teleported it back to the ship. The Maelstrom disappeared and the werewolves went berserk, attacking each other, the tower, and the village. Pallando took the master palantir downstairs and Tanukkodol accompanied him to keep watch.

Drogo teleported Tulric, Bertram, and Grafarlig back to the tower to rescue the children. They helped the Matrons fighting the werewolves, who were attacking up the stairs. Drogo teleported in and out several times, taking 3-4 babies with him each time, back to the ship.

Tulric shot his bow three times per round, but the werewolves were healing every round. Grafarlig tore into them as well, after bonging Bertram on the head. Ughthug also fought the werewolves.

As he teleported in, Drogo voiced his worries regarding what the babies grow up into. Grafarlig asked the matrons and they replied that they would grow up big and strong, except for the weak ones, which would become werewolves.

Drogo teleported Ughthug and Grafarlig out and then came back for Tulric. They also made the jump and reached the ship, but Tulric immediately slipped over the side and used the ship’s boat to slip away, saying to Drogo that it would be best if Tulric died that day. And that’s what Drogo said ever after.

Meanwhile, Pallando fell prey to depression and came close to using the master palantir. Tanukkodol talked him out of it, though he was also ready to shoot his mentor if it came to that.

The matrons were killed, as were the villagers, and then the ravenous beasts ripped each other apart.

Grafarlig, Bertram, and Drogo took the elven children to the elves of Mirkwood. From there, Drogo returned to the Nabal Mazry, where he continued supporting the rangers, transporting them and their goods when necessary through teleportation, and communicating with Oldar through his birdspeech. And at the bottom of the Sea of Rhun lays a chest with 4 palantiri and 2 rings of power (one dwarvish, one an elvish ring of cold). Only Drogo knows where it lays.

Grafarlig returned to her people and became a famous, glorious Dwarven hero.

Bertram/Ughthug were reconciled and Bertram took up residence in Dilgul. Bertram and Ughthug left each other notes and eventually learned more about each other. Bertram found out more about the fight between Randar and his brother. Bertram still sometimes finds himself in strange new lands, as Ughthug retains his wanderlust.

The Syndicate took over much of the merchant traffic on the Rhunaer, with Feldenaith (or someone quite like him) at its head.

Pallando and Tanukkodol travelled to the Grey Havens, where Pallando set sail for the western lands with the master palantir, but not until he charged Tanukkodol with fighting the second blue mage. Tanukkodol accepted that charge and returned to the Far East.

And thus ended the Campaign of Rhun.

 

 

 

 

 

MERP: The Capture of Tulric Hammrammr

As the party fled, Feldenaith and five Dorwinian guards accompanied them. Tannukkodol put some carpet moss on Feldenaith’s wounds. Bertram and Tanuukkodol failed to do first aid on Feldenaith, but Grafarlig was successful. It became clear that some of the Dorwinians were planning to betray Feldenaith, now that he was injured. Crennel and Crispin were loyal to him, while Amauro, Jubbar, and Rialgo were not.

Watches were set in an effort to reduce the problem.

• First watch: Tannukodol, Bertram, Amauro, & Jubbar
• Second watch: Grafarlig, Crennel, Rialgo & Crispin

In the morning however, Rialgo killed Crispin and Crennel silently while Grafarlig failed her Notice rolls.  Feldenaith remained alive. Jubbar, Amauro, and Rialgo then launched a general assault on the party. Big mistake.

Tannukkodol stunned Amauro for two rounds. Bertram scared Jubbar with his Axe of Dread, and then hit him in the head. They then fought ineffectively for a while. Jubbar begged for survival. Bertram gave it to him, so Jubbar hit him in treachery and slashed his side, breaking Bertram’s rib.

Tannukkodol killed Amauro, then killed Rialgo because Grafarlig was taking too long. And finally, Jubbar.

There was little loot. There was a gem, 90 gp., 20 sp., 6.5 sp.  Bertram found a dagger of invisibility and used it for a short period (15 seconds) but then it ran out of a charge. The party later discovered it could charge 2-3 times more and could be invisible for up to 5 minutes.

Bertram told Feldenaith that they found 10 gp. on the dead bodies (a lie). Tannukkodol told Feldenaith that in his language (Old Wo-Man), Bertram would be known as Caluwon (“Truth Teller”). In fact, Caluwon means “Sack of Cow Poop.”

The party again gave Pallando the palantir recovered. Then they headed to the Elgear, to seek Tulric Hammrammr in a town called Frazzle, in an inn called The Bastard’s Knife. Everyone there was on drugs.

They next went to the Smoky Duck, where Elias was said to be staying. Two of his rangers, Boeri (a big Odreag) and Anna (his sister), were also there.  The party learned that Gren, a traitor to Elias, was at the Bastard’s Knife and that Elias was off searching for more information on Delcaran. Tannukkodol hit it off with Boeri and Anna, or so he thought. They told him that Elias was either at the town of Snobblebar or the Caverns of Light, which was in the opposite direction.

The party went to the Caverns of Light, a tourist attraction apparently, while Boeri and Anna went the other way to warn Elias, though the party didn’t realize that. At the caverns, the party rousted three goblins (Snork, Gork, Plork) out. They claimed that Elias had rousted them out of the Eastern caverns, which lay to the north. Actually they were lying. They were supposed to take the party to Harribel. And the goblins kept lying, saying he was at Snarkletark.

The party let the goblins live and sent them on their way. Probably shouldn’t have.

They then woke up Gren with a slimy Gerkin at the Bastard’s Knife. He told them that Elias was in the forest at the Hillsides. The party found him surrounded by Mahala Redmane and her family and attacked. Tannukkodol hit Bertram upside the head with his frying pan (despite the protestations of his player) and Bertram became Ughthug once more. He attacked first, killing one, and his player started enjoying playing him again. Tannukkodol went next, killing two and wounding one. Grafarlig killed another, impaling her axe in his head and having to take a round to pull her axe free. Then Gren, who accomplished nothing.

Three bandits attacked Ughthug, and he took 31 damage, mostly from the archers.  Mahala failed her spellcasting roll. Ughthug then killed another with a blow to the head. Tannukkodol killed one archer, wounded another, and then unfortunately hit Gren, puncturing his shoulder. Grafarlig killed another, once again sticking her axe in his head.

Tannukkodol tells Mahala and her men to stand down, leave their weapons and leave. They do, after Mahala argues that they should kill Elias to prevent Demetrios and others from getting his knowledge.

Cornered, Elias agrees to work with the party. It is clear that the secret that Tulric Hammrammr (aka. Elias) is still alive is no longer a secret. If Demetrios learns that Tulric is alive, he will come out to kill Tulric with his army. Tulric explains that Lomeilinde betrayed them and stole all the palantiri except the master one. They took one back from her. Lomeilinde had an item of power that could control the palantir, an Elven ring of power. Sahalia (Demetrios’s daughter) bankrolled the operation and led them in.  The children stolen by Morlumen were experimented upon and turned into monsters, werewolves, shapeshifters. Sahalia guided Tulric out, and Tulric sailed the ship. There is a fortress in the middle of Tol Sulereb and the master palantir is in the middle of Tol Sulereb. No one controls the master palantir. Travelling to the island will be next to impossible because of the perpetual storm that surrounds it. However, the storm ends a few hundred meters off the beach.

The party then plans several methods of getting to the master palantir. Ultimately, the plan is to use a palantir (under the control of the dwarvish ring of power that Tannukodol has secreted) to get through the storm, and then have Drogo scout the island by teleportation and flight. Once he has determined a safe teleportation route, he will return to the ship, and transport the party there, avoiding most of the monsters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COC: The End of the Lodge

Lillian, Jonathan, & Alpine approached the tunnels of the lodge on June 14 at 5 am. Jonathan’s bodyguards — Johnny and Joanny McGlerigel – stumbled onto a hidden sinkhole, falling 140 feet to their death. “Aw, that’s too bad,” consoled the Keeper. “Any other NPCs you want to bring?” The party responded in the negative.

Descending, they found a key to a room, within which was a magic box and the spell that created it. They found a mummified lawyer and descending many more mummified bodies of various sizes. Those that were fairly intact all looked dramatically aged, including a small girl. Jonathan made an Elder Sign at the entrance to the pits, just past the altar.

They found a host of pits with monstrosities in them. Alpine fell into a pit in the dark and had to be rescued, much the worse for wear. Lillian’s first aid helped this time. Then they found lead bottles of dust and emptied a few experimentally into some of the pits. Nothing. Next they moved on and found a room with a Sodium Resurrection spell carved into the wall. Apparently the dust was some sort of sodium and could be reconstituted as a person, or something else. They reconstituted one on top of the lawyer’s mummified body and it tried to strangle Jonathan. Lillian pistol whipped it into unconsciousness and then returned it to dust. Alpine went insane and had to be under private care for a good month before he regained his wits.

Returning on July 25, the party tried the spell with only a third of the dust from another bottle, and ended up with a writhing third of a person. Back to dust. By this point, Lillian was temporarily insane and had to be restrained. Back upstairs, wait until sane, and then descending once more.

On July 26, they noticed that the lead bottles were arranged by age. If Ben Anna had been turned to dust, he would have been in the first bottle, which Alpine had tossed on top of a monstrosity in the pits. Back upstairs to fetch horse tranquilizer, some meat, and a broom and dustpan. Luckily the creature ate the meat and fell asleep, and they tried to sweep up all of the dust. Ben was indeed reconstituted, though he was covered with dirt, refuse, and hair. It was noted that Ben’s skin, like that of John Scott and the various guards, was pockmarked. A function of the spell? Perhaps.

Returning to the magic box, they learned that the box was a gate. Jonathan was the only one who could fit through, so he pulled it over his head. In the darkness on the other side, his caving helmet and carbide lamp made it clear he was in a broom closet. It was locked. He shot the lock out and found himself face to face with two Arabs with some sort of advanced assault rifles. He dodged and then ran back through the box, complaining that he didn’t get to shoot them. He then rearranged the box in case they came through.

First he puts the box against the wall, so they are blocked. “No wait,” he says, and moves the box behind the curtain facing the hideous SAN-sucking bas relief carving. “No wait,” he repeats, and put the box at the top of the spiral staircase. “No, even better!” and he puts it facing into one of the pits.

Ultimately they left the tunnels with the box, which no longer worked, and put it in a vault in Jonathan’s house. They tried to convince various people to come with them and see the tunnels, but when they finally got a psychic to accompany them, they discovered that the tunnels had been either filled in or destroyed. Ben tried to explain that the tunnels had been there when he was turned to salt, but the psychic decided to retreat at that time.

The party each got 5% to add to two skills, and regained 2d6 SAN.

On Aug. 1, 1920, they were invited to a famous professor’s house to aid him. They went, but things went screwy from there. I won’t give spoilers but the adventure is a good interlude, and we enjoyed the start of it immensely. For other Keepers, go find “The Peaslee Formula.” You’ll enjoy it.

COC: Invading the Lodge, Again

On Mar. 7, the players first explored the home of disappeared Ben Anna, but were discovered there by a police officer staking out the place. Jack played Father O’Donnell, since Ben had disappeared. Jonathan Putnam was caught with his shotgun, and Joey Lewis with his .45, but thanks to Jonathan’s fast talking, the cop let them go.

The party then resolved to investigate the Lodge that night. James found information on the history of the Lodge, and they shared their various clues, discovering that the Lodge was probably built on the site of an ancient warlock’s tunnels. Joey and James bicycled through the dark, managing to avoid all of the drunk Lodge members in cars, but then running smack into each other.

They entered the Lodge after hours thanks to Lillian’s crowbar, and searched the basement, again fruitlessly, for the secret button that Jonathan swore was there. They then headed upstairs to the 2nd floor, looking for a way to get to the 3rd, supposedly off limits. Jonathan spotted a secret door and James opened it and the party went up.

They found multiple insane murals and James fled the house as a result. Father O’Donnell grabbed a pile of books of forbidden lore, and the party fled again. Jonathan and James began to read the only book they got that was in English, Cthulhu in the Necronomicon. Meanwhile, O’Donnell planned to blow up the Lodge, which he believed was a base of evil. Unfortunately, he had no explosive skill and no one would help him, so on March 8, he emptied about 200 shotgun shells of their powder, put it in a paper bag, and then tried to form a Plaster of Paris shell around the bomb. The plaster overheated the powder and Father O’Donnell blew himself and the rectory straight to his blessed reward. Meanwhile, an unknown person burned the Lodge to the ground.

Weeks passed, and on Mar. 22, after Etta’s arm healed, she and Lillian returned to the burned ruins of the Lodge to dig out the basement, with the help of Alpine Appleton (Jack’s third character). They found the lost tunnel and descended, where they encountered two tall and thickly muscled guards. They killed the guards, but Alpine was shot and knocked unconscious. Etta and Lillian continued to explore for a time, but ultimately decided that they should wait to explore further. They failed several First Aid rolls until Lillian’s final attempt, which was a success. They brought Alpine up from the tunnels and (eventually) to a hospital, where he healed over the next twelve weeks.

On June 13, Jonathan and James finished their book and promptly went insane. Jonathan found himself buck naked in the middle of Boston Common the next day, and James was again beaten within an inch of his life by attackers unknown. We suspect he is disliked by a local crew of rowdies. Both learned several spells, including the useful Elder Sign, but James is now worried by the existence of Deep Ones and Jonathan is convinced that Cthulhu is trying to drive him insane through his dreams.

It is now June 14, Monday. Alpine is fully healed, but James has lost half his hit points. Will the party now descend into the caverns? Are the ruins of the Lodge still undisturbed?

COC: Joining the Lodge

The Lodge

We started a new campaign, this time using Call of Cthulhu. The campaign begins on Feb. 6, 1920, in Boston. The players live in Newton, on the west side.

In this first session of the new campaign, the players met as part of a fraternal organization, which they joined as an upscale and somewhat bizarre speakeasy. On their first night, all of them — Etta Brandy (Attorney), Joey Fairbanks (Photojournalist & Sketch Artist), Benjamin Anna (Private Eye), Jonathan Putnam (Dilettante), Lillian White (Journalist), and Prof. James Apglwynn (Historian) — joined the organization as Neophytes. Most of the first session was spent meeting each other and gelling as a group.

Benjamin was haunted by his time in the trenches and drank too much, falling into a bitter introspection. An Irish priest, another member of the lodge, tried to comfort him, but failed. Benjamin passed out. The servants were going to let him sleep it off in the reception room, but Joey and Etta decided to drive him home. Etta broke her right arm cranking Benjamin’s Model T, and instead rode an ambulance to the hospital. That left Joey to take Benjamin home. Joey was not a great driver. After tossing his bike in the back, grinding the gears pretty badly, and bending the rear bumper on a tree, Joey got them back. Joey had also served time in the trenches, but it did not leave him as badly scarred as Benjamin. He struck up a friendship with the private dick the next day. Etta ultimately returned for her car and drove herself home.

Joey also connected with Lillian, as they were in the same field. Joey & Lillian in fact found a number of unsettling clues over the next few weeks. They found evidence of several missing people, including several young women and some sign of a missing baby in the distant past. Etta’s friend Richard Clark, also an attorney, was also missing and quite recently. Etta visited the distraught Agnes Clark, and learned that on the night that Richard disappeared, he had been at the lodge.

On Feb. 29, Etta and Joey met a parapsychologist and spiritualist named Nigel, an initiate of the Lodge. After learning of Etta’s mother’s obsession with her dead husband, and the influence it was having on her, Nigel suggested a séance at Etta’s house. She agreed, and Joey came along to take photos. Unfortunately, Beatrice (Etta’s mother) would not allow photos, even though Nigel would. Instead, Joey did some drawings. The séance was successful, with Beatrice’s husband inhabiting Nigel’s body, and he praised Etta for her success, something that Etta found comforting. Beatrice, however, was enraged and called Nigel a fake, attacking him physically. Joey drew a few pictures of this, and earned Beatrice’s rage as well. The next day, Etta and Joey attended one of Nigel’s public séances, along Prof. Apglwynn. Little came of it.

Jonathan shared his bad dreams with Mr. Scott, the head of the Lodge, who urged him to seek knowledge and use magic to control his dreams. Jonathan was reticent, but he did agree to fund the lodge for $20,000, an enormous amount. Mr. Scott ceased pressuring Jonathan and instead cultivated him as a patron of the magical arts. Jonathan also met the other two masters of the lodge, though he learned little.

Prof. Apglwynn made an early effort to conduct library research, but found nothing, and instead connected with the organization’s leadership, which promised to teach him magic. He rose rapidly in the ranks, something that unbeliever Joey found disconcerting.

Joey asked too many questions, and might have been at risk as the next to disappear, but then Benjamin decided to investigate the lodge late one night on March 6. He pretended to be drunk again, and although his performance was execrable, the servants bought it, and again left him in the reception room. After everyone had left, he searched the house. Meanwhile, Jonathan and his driver Edgar waited outside with his Rolls Royce Silver Ghost hidden in the bushes. Benjamin discovered a locked door in the basement and shot off the lock. Jonathan then entered the house, breaking one of the second story windows. Together they found a secret passage, but it was too late at night to do more and they decided to wait until they had a larger group there.  Jonathan and Edgar left, and Benjamin went back to pretending to be drunk. That was the last time Jonathan saw Benjamin.

The next day, his companions learned that Benjamin had left the lodge in the morning, but apparently had driven off a bridge into the Miskatonic River. His hat and coat washed up on a dam further downriver, but his body was not recovered.  The police judged that he was still inebriated, and assumed that was the reason for the crash. The Miskatonic has a well-known reputation for misery and not giving up the dead, but the police are dragging it nonetheless.

Next session, the colleagues will decide what their next step will be. Should they explore the secret passage, which Jonathan can tell them about? What about the third floor of the lodge, which the masters say is closed for renovation? Will Joey and Lillian share their findings with the rest of the group? Will Prof. Apglywnn, now a master of the lodge, continue to seek the secrets of magic?

MERP: The Last of Rhunaer Lesser Palantiri

We have bad dreams, all sent by Elentaria the Siren, who is under siege in Shrel Kain. Grafarlig is discomfited. She is dreaming of travelling to where Demetrios is. She sees the most beautiful woman who says she will protect Grafarlig and then asks if Grafarlig knows Taleric Hammrammer’s name.

Bertram is afraid. He is dreaming behind his house and a child, being beaten by bullies. The woman saves him and grabs the bullies and flings them away. The big green guy (Ughthug) is being pointed at Bertram and is going to be up Ughthug. The beautiful woman tells Ughthug he is strong, but he is very afraid.   

Tanuukkodol has a dream that Ughthug is drunk and has mistaken the plainsman for a woman. He doesn’t want to hurt the big lug, but he doesn’t want to satisfy his wants either.   A beautiful woman shows up and calms Ughthug down. She greets the Child of Orome and offers him a drink. Tanuukkodol realizes this doesn’t make sense — Ughthug never calms down that easily — so he doesn’t trust the woman. She doesn’t seem part of the dream.

Elentaria asks each who Taleric Hammrammr is. Grafarlig feels distrust and doesn’t tell her. Bertram recognizes that the woman is helping both Ughthug and Bertram. Bertram calls Shenanigans on this.  He tells Ughthug to look at the piece of the paper in his pocket, which reads, “thank you for not throwing away the money.” Ughthug is pleased that Bertram is being nice to him, and besides that, Ughthug doesn’t know that Taleric is Elias, so he can’t say anything. Tanuukkodol fakes a lack of knowledge, which makes the woman angry. He recognizes her as Elentaria, and she says she needs the master palantir to survive, and only Taleric knows how to get there.

After they awake, the party looks for a red herring to throw to Elentaria. They consider a ranger who has been confirmed dead. Those include Melania, Goektig, Jigger, Piroli, Rankostero, and Phagebastan.  I think it was Jigger, says Tanuukodol. They tell Pallando in the morning.

Bertram suggests building a mithirl submersible (player knowledge) to get to Tol Sulereb. Pallando suggests he talk to Brandar, an eccentric mage and a powerful smith. He might be able to smith a mithril submersible. Bertram also buys armor for Ughthug from him. Brandar reveals his curse; someone is stealing his stuff. Bertram recognizes that some of the stuff is the things that appear because of his curse. Brandar says the curse was probably cast by his brother Randor, but he still begins creating an invoice for all of his things that Bertram took.

After that, the party goes to Shrel Kain. They charter a boat to sail around the Rhunaer and arrive at Shrel Kain. They follow the Syndicate through the sewers to steal Elentaria’s last palantir.

Flash forward to the entrance of a sea cavern where they hear screams and cannon fire. Bodies litter the floor, many are city guards of Shrel Kain. There are less Dorwinians. The party enters and uses “Bertram’s sweet lantern.” Grafarlig went ahead, and they covered the lantern and followed her about 5 feet away. She saw the sketchy out of three men in robes, one of whom was facing the party. They turn out to be priests of Elentaria.

One sends a fire ball against Grafarlig, but does little damage. Tanuukkodol hits him with three arrows. The first creases his chest (he dodged most of it), the next hits his arrow and the third pierces his head, killing him. Grafarlig charges and slices the next in half. He points at her accusingly as his torso slides off his body. Bertram attacks the third with Nine Eyes. The priest hisses but does not flee. Bertram hits him in the left arm but does little damage. Tanuukkodol puts down the third with a shot to his arm and then to the chest.

ASIDE: At this point, we discuss the Referee’s desire to change the archery rules. He feels they are overpowered. Tanuukkodol disagrees.

By the light of the sweet lantern, they examine the three priests. They are eyeless, with slack mouths. They have tattoos on their arms and have long fingers, scarred hands, with long fingernails. Searching them, they find 12 s., a red gem embedded in his chest, and 10 s.   They leave the red gem.

Some of the other bodies in the room are withered as if their lifeforce was being sucked out, one of the things that the eyeless priest do. Searching the room, the dead Syndicate men are found to be wearing light armor, long swords, daggers, bows, and arrows. The Shrel Kain are in chain, with longswords, medium shields, etc. Tanuukkodol gathers some arrows to make up for his lost ones. One Syndicate has a jeweled rapier, which Tanuukkodol grabs as well.

After 15 hours in the caverns, the party rests. Tanuukkodol takes first watch. Bertram takes second. Grafarlig takes third.

On second watch, there is a whisper in Bertram’s ear. It asks if he is going to leave, to live, or if he is alive. He feels a caress on his cheek. He talks to a ghostly whisper voice. He fell asleep for a little dream. Not helpful. And he has scrapes on his neck from very sharp fingernails. From somewhere.

In the morning they continue. The cavern becomes more crafted, more like a sewer system. There are more bodies, and they are hidden somewhat.  They have been picked clean. Probably by the Syndicate. We suspect Feldenaith is near.

They follow stairs up to a large pantry. The sounds of battle are above them. They find stale croissants but the muffins are okay. Bertram eats his muffin like a rat gnawing on a large nut. The party remarks on this, and Bertram is defensive.

In the corridors outside, there are poncy busts and overly fancy paintings of fancy people. They hold chains in their hands. Tanuukkodol goes around a corner and is attacked by another eyeless priest. He spears the creature, partly, and then dodges the flame, dodging all but 2 hp.

There is the sound of many more coming. Tanuukkodol retreats to guard against the approaching villains with his bow, and Bertram steps forward and throws oil over the creature already there. Then he retreats in horror as the burning creature tries to hug him. Grafarlig steps up and kills it, though she also takes fire damage.

Tanuukkodol kills the first two around the corner, and they burn in flames. He impales the next one to the wall and it burns as well. Another one comes around the corner but Feldenaith’s dagger hits them in the head. He cuts out the gem from their chests. Naturally.

Behind him, Grafarlig chops another, slicing his leg horribly and then kills it.  They look pleased to die. Bertram strikes up a conversation with one, which tells him that they are already dead. Bertram heals him for 9 points, doubled for the carpet moss that Tanuukkodol puts on his wounds.

They confront Elentaria and her three final acolytes. Bertram is partially entranced and suffers a lightning bolt. Tanuukkodol then pierces her head with an arrow with his first shot, killing her. In the same round, he kills two of the acolytes. Grafarlig hits the last and kills him.

Tanuukkodol bags the palantir. Bertram chops off Elentaria’s head with her axe.  Grafarlig strips Elentaria of her mithral chain (equivalent of plate) and 35 s. Feldenaith goes for the other valuables. Tanuukkodol tries to wash the palantir with his waterskin. He tries cold water and soap but nothing gets that stain out.

The house is on fire, and the group escapes through the pantry, avoiding the invading armies, who desire the palantir. Tanuukkodol again plans to give it to Pallando.

Call of Cthulhu Game starting

We are shifting away from Navah for a while and instead playing a 2nd edition COC campaign set in Boston, 1920. We’ll be meeting in Newton, MA, on Wednesday nights, 6-10 pm. Reply if you are interested.