Day of the Harpies (10th of Bearguard, Rose: 47)

It was late morning of the 10th of Bearguard.

In the mines of York & Barrelborn, the party had defeated the Gricks and drove them back into their lair, and then stumbled upon a suspended iron cage. Within it, human male corpses, eviscerated, their blood "tacky" and the floor beneath the cage stained crimson with repeated use. The party investigated the scene and determined the iron cage and this area had certainly been erected after the Dwarves left the mines. They were not alone.

Aside this space was a burrowed corridor that didn't look like it was carved by Dwarves either. It wasn't as high, no attention to aesthetic, and wasn't as wide as most the party had already encountered. It was dark and peering into the darkness found it just a straight-shot, deep into the mountain.

Faced with a choice of either exploring this tunnel or going back the way they came - exploring the relatively dull, empty, vacated mines - they decided to go "all-in" and investigate the tunnel. They went in. Llewellyn cast Dancing Lights to provide light, and they saw gruesome blood smears along the floor, like bodies being dragged along the ground, repeatedly.

They cautiously marched forward to discover a wrought-iron gate made from the same metal used in previously-encountered portcullises, fashioned to swing out from the rock, and secured with a crude chain and lock. Tolman took a little time to pick the lock, and the party removed the chain. They opened the gate and stepped into a 5' wide section of the Dwarven mine.

The party found more evidence of intelligent life. Lit torches in sconces, lots of debris and refuge strewn everywhere, more suspended cages; curing meats were hanging from the ceiling by chains, as were the skinned corpses of animals like dogs, wolves, and deer. That explained all the recent bones in the Grick's lair - whoever this was, they were using the Gricks as a garbage disposal system.

More investigation found an adjunct section of the mine that had been deliberately vandalized as to widen an air vent to the surface. As it's warmer underground, snows from the mountain's surface created a melt, and water was trickling down into a pool here. There was fresh air. This tunnel may be used to both enter and exit the mine.

They soon found a much wider section of the mine supported by wooden beams that had old Dwarven tapestries spread across the floor fashioned as bedrolls. There was junk everywhere. The smells were awful. The party had began investigating the junk, finding some items of worth, an amazing silver statue with encrusted gems of the Dwarven Goddess of Healing (Barronar Truesilver), when Tamroohk - standing watch - heard ... singing.

It was casual, playful singing at first, and that drew the party into a narrow section of the mine, listening for more. Then, the sounds of dogs barking, alerting their master to the presence of strangers. The singing stopped. The party encountered another cage with a flayed human male, hung upside down, parts of the flesh on his face removed but still alive, and his head slowly turned and attempted to breath for help; in a mercy killing, Siegride took his life with a slit of his throat.

A loud bell began to ring.

Meanwhile, the narrow portion of the cave opened into a larger room supported by more wooden beams; there were more living spaces, more junk, more cages, more trails of blood. Stepping into that space, the party got their first glimpse of its inhabitants. A bare-breasted woman some six-feet tall, with legs like a bird of prey with sharp talons, long bony arms, matted hair, and a mouth of black bile; armed with a dwarven shield and a mace. It was speaking Old Common, apparently talking to others, and giving instructions.

But that wasn't important for the singing had started again, and this time, it was the most beautiful singing that most in the party had ever heard. Wisdom saving throws were rolled! Three or four members of the party succumbed to the harpy's song and were charmed and rendered incapacitated. The rules for incapacitated say that the character can take no action and no movement on their initiative, rendering them pretty much enthralled.

Another harpy appeared and this one had a net, and another one after her with another mace. Soon, it became apparent that these warrior-cast types weren't the ones that were singing. Another harpy behind them - her belly pregnant with child - was singing and keeping the party members raptured.

The bell was still ringing. Reinforcements arrived between the pinch in the cavern; the party had to contend with two fronts and three of their members were incapacitated. They also had nets a maces. Their tactics started off pretty well at first. A harpy cast her net and captured Tamroohk, rendering her restrained. In the rules, Tam would need to dedicate her action to freeing herself, and, opponents had advantage in attacking her while under the net. Some harpies carried maces, so it was apparent that the netted pray - those who didn't succumb to the harpy's song - would be bludgeoned to death by the others. And in the first two rounds, it looked pretty bad. And just when it looked like it couldn't get any worse, another harpy began to sing!

(I had in fact warned the players that this adventure could be lethal!)

Now, according to the rules, a saving throw is required for each harpy against their song. If the player saves, they're immune to that harpy's song for 24 hours. Through the course of the pitched battle, more harpies came in from the outside (hearing the bell), reinforcing their numbers, pinching the party; up to four singing harpies (who were apparently breeders), all demanded saving throws from the player characters. Some PC's were affected more than once.

As a house rule, I had the warrior-cast unable to sing the Luring Song; that allowed only the breeding-cast to sing their song. Also as a house rule, when a singing harpy got hit, I would have that harpy stop singing until the end of the round, and start singing again at the top of the round. According to the rules, the enthralled can take actions when the harpy stops singing ... so at various points in the initiative cycle, some PC's could move while others couldn't, and some PC's were doubly-effected by the songs of remaining harpies.

It was a pitched battle. Siegride, noticing that the harpy's tactics conveniently clumped them all together, cast all kinds of Thunderwaves and areas of effect spells that kept hitting them hard; sometimes the roof would cave as support beams would splinter, causing moderate amounts of damage on PC's and harpies alike. The dwarves were busy hacking and slashing; Elan kept trying to pump arrows into the singing breeders; Tolman was stabby, and, managed to ColorSpray (blind) one harpy; and when she could, Ma'yah released volleys of Magic Missiles.

Tamroohk eventually got to the breeder's den and began hacking at the singing harpies. The chained up guard dogs were barking and guarding what looked like to be two little baby harpies in white down feathers ... placed on a comfortable furry abdomen of a dead snow spider, it's long legs providing the fencing for a cradle. Enraged, Tam started cleaving through the harpies.

Meanwhile, in the pinch of the mine, Llewellyn was snared in a net. One of the harpy's threw a trap, and a vat of acid was overturned and poured into the pinch! The acid spilled right on top of Llewellyn and he took 3D10 points of damage. In the next round, the acid lowered him past zero, and he was out. Only with the roll of a 20 on his death counters did he regain 1 HP to recover; his body permanently scarred, I had him lower his Charisma by 2 points permanently.

After the breeders were gone, the party made short work of the others. It was a blury 9-round ordeal - less than a minute in real terms but it took almost three hours to play! It was a great session and there was much loot to be had: dwarven magic items and weapons and armor, spellbooks, scrolls, lots of Crowns and gems, strange magical artifacts, and items of worship for Barronar Truesliver. They even found a journal ...

Journal of Gladyelle Emberforge. Dated, -171 years ago in dwarven calendar. Written in dwarvish. Gladyelle is a cleric, dispatched from Pax Krull, special mission from High Clergy: sanctify the mines of York & Barrelborn. Financed by Barrelborn family. Give last rights to the dead. Heal the souls doomed and trapped within. Relieve the families of their spiritual loss and damnation.

Apparently, Gladyelle was never able to fulfill her mission ...

... and that's where the party remains. In the lair of the defeated harpies on the 2nd plane of the Mines of York & Barrelborn, somewhere, deep in the heart of a mountain, on the Island of Rhackdalia, in the Lands of Shae Tarhane!

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Exploring the Mines (10th of Bearguard, Rose: 47)

Play continued in the evening of the 9th of Bearguard, Rose: 47.

The party sealed themselves in the antechamber of the mine and healed up for the evening; Tolman made dinner. During the rest, the following was revealed:

• The mine contains intricate stonework and attention to craftsmanship and detail; far more aesthetic concern than a human mine.
• Claustrophobic, Tam didn't like the lack of airflow in the antechamber and was getting nervous, clammy, sweaty. 
• Llewellyn has this awesome '70's mustache!
• Vongur called this mine a "fledgling" - a relatively young mine that was sealed 259 years ago; that's what the date meant on the locks. The mine must have been operational some 250 years before that, coinciding with the books Ma'yah had read on the colonization history of Rhackdalia.
• Vongur revealed that he's in excess of 4,000 years old.
• Siegride's Cloak of Starlight: when holding it up to the sky, the stars remained in position; the cloak could be used to navigate by the stars even when the sky is completely obscured or underground. What a fantastic navigation tool!
• Siegride performed an experiment. She wrapped Gorbash up in her cloak and took him into the pocket dimension with her. It worked! Gorbash wanted to go home. Vongur was fascinated.
• Within the cloak, Siegride asked Vongur about the missing constellation in her cloak's version of the stars. Vongur confirmed: "Dhekan-song is missing - the Harp Player".
• Within the cloak, a fine dust had settled over the stuff she's put in there.
• Siegride, Gorbash, and Vongur were in the cloak for about 10 minutes. However, they exited the cloak in roughly 53 minutes. Time is obviously distorted for staying in the cloak for more than a couple of seconds.

When venturing into the mines on the morning of the 10th of Bearguard, the party encountered switches built into the stonework. Large slabs of rock with gripped handles that are either pulled down or lifted to activate doors and lifts. The party descended into the first level of the mine and explored an area where there was once smelting and acid baths, crafts work, ingot-forming, and basic stone mining used for carving, statues, and bas-reliefs. They explored a commons area with dust-ladened dinner tables, metal plates and tankards strewn about, kitchens; the walls adorned with ornate carvings of dwarves drinking, celebrating, mourning, enjoying life. They found a sleeping area with wreaths (symbolizing loss or death) and small statues to the dwarven gods of Greed and Healing (Abbathor and Berronar Truesilver). These statues, by the way, matched the illustrated description on Tam's Map.

They also found a ransacked cartography room. Most of the maps were gone. The party was able to surmise from piecing together information they were able to find that the mine was closed - hastily - following the death of one of the partners (York) 259 years ago, and that the "Drake" was sealed along with everyone in it, and for their sake, Barrelborn (the remaining partner) would dig no further. The party discovered that there's at least three levels signified by Ram, Jackal, and Drake; each level has at least five planes. The party believed that they were on the 1st plane of Ram, based on the buffer heads they saw when they entered the mine.

When descending further into the mine, the party began to notice that the dust was disturbed. That there were fresh claw/talon like prints everywhere, leading in various directions but mostly to supply stations throughout the mine. The party is not alone here.

Arriving on the 2nd plane of Ram, the party found portcullis' askew in one corridor but working in another. They went into the corridor with the working portcullis and found three statues carved into the side of the wall representing dwarven labor, their eyes common gemstones that hadn't been taken. Whatever may be down here doesn't value them, apparently.

The party entered a large archway that was labeled "Nickel" in Dwarvish. It was strip-mined: a large cavernous space with wooden beams supporting the 9' tall ceilings, with cave-like gouged walls and earthen columns around the parameter. It wasn't long before the party encountered a pile of bones securely tucked away in a corner. Those bones were suspicious and when investigated revealed it to be home to three Gricks!

There was a brief battle - the Gricks were no real threat to the experienced might of the party - but one Grick managed to slither into a hole in an earthen column. Vongur suggested that somebody follow the Grick into the hole, snuff-out its lair in the stone! Nobody thought that was a good idea; Tolman suggested that he use Mage Hand to send Vongur in there. Vongur cursed in dwarvish under his breath.

There were lots of bones. Bones of animals mostly, some of dwarves, some of humans, some of dogs, small birds, maybe even a pony. Not finding much in the way of loot, the party pressed on.

It wasn't long before they encountered something very troubling. A suspended iron cage some 3' off the floor with two human males (decaying) tied to the inside; blood (no more than a week old) splattered across the floor under the cage, and it's obvious that this cage has been used before; the floor is stained with blood. The mechanism to lift the cage was also not dwarvish and has been installed after the fact. Now the party really knows they're not alone!

Disappointed there was - again - no loot, the party turned towards a very long, dark corridor, ready to explore what's next!

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Journey to the Lost Mines of York & Barrelborn (9th of Bearguard, Rose: 47)

Play continued in the morning of the 9th of Bearguard, Rose: 47.

Gathering up their winter weather and mountaineering supplies, the party bid Unna and her troop on the Overreach best of luck and headed for the lost Dwarf mine.

Earlier in the campaign, Tamroohk acquired an old map at a gambling table in Rhackdalia. The map was drawn by human hands. It depicted a lost mine with hand-drawn artifacts that were supposedly found at the mine site. The artifacts looked Dwarven.

The Overreach was just seven miles south of the supposed location. With the expert guidance of Elan the Ranger, the party made good time across difficult terrain and bad weather to the foot of a large mountain. Ruined architecture, cobblestone paths, rails, and crumbled bridges lined the side of the mountain, and the party made its way cautiously up worn paths leading to its summit.

On the journey up the mountain, the party could see the devastated forest around the site, and far away, the thawing wastes of the Mherisan Melts. A fog set in, limiting their visibility. Large clumps of snow would drop from above them, from time to time, and they kept trudging up in the mountainside.

Eventually, the party encountered a 5' wide white pod covered in snow and ice, stuck some 10' above the path. Using clever magics like Mage Hand, they cut open the pod and discovered a corpse on the inside, its body fluids drained; the corpse a dry husk. They looted the corpse and pressed on.

They then found another pod along the side of the trail and stuck to the side of the mountain, this time at their elevation. The corpse on the inside was that of a dwarf and aside from his backpack, had not much in the way of value, except for a large brass mining pick. It was flat, heavy, just 18" in size, and more ornamental than useful. The party pocketed it and carried on, knowing full well now to be on the look for awfully large spiders.

Soon, as they closed in on the summit, the party encountered more and more pods. They looked up, and they went higher into the fog. They couldn't see through the fog but had an uncanny fear about what could be up there, as snow fell from time to time, on to their path. With more pods came more looting, but some of the pods had more sticky webbing on them, and the party was cautious to avoid those.

Having reached the end of the paved path, the party found themselves before a large door with a circular dias. There was a small stone guardrail and a sheer cliff on the opposite side. Four bodies were here in stages of decay, some already wrapped in a snowy cocoon. All of the bodies were human; all of them had been dead for at least one or two months.

One body, near the large stone door on the dias, was attempting to jam a thin 18" brass ax into a crevice aside the door. Tamroohk laughed along with Vongur and Gorbash. "That's not where a key goes," Tam said, and she yanked the ornamental brass ax out of the crevice. Combining the hilts of the ax and the pick at 45-degrees, Tam held up the resulting key.

Just then, giant snow spiders attacked! They fell from the fog and on to the heads of the party! There was a vicious fight - bites and poisonings and webbing! Meanwhile, Tamroohk was digging: parting the snow away from the dias, picking at the ice to get to the stone in front of the door!

On the third round of combat, Tamroohk encountered the keyhole. An 18" circumference circle with two layers of Dwarvish writing.

The first layer read: "YORK & BARRELBORN" with a Dwarven calendar year of -259 years from the present.

The second layer read: "PRESS DEEP; WIDDERSHINS ONCE; SUNWISE TWICE."

In the middle, an impression in the stone accommodating the brass key - a crossed ax and pick.

The fight continued! As soon as one spider was killed, another would fall from the nest and take its place. There were spells, daggers, arrows, axes ... spider blood everywhere! Bodies piling up! But the party needed to get inside quick lest they become outnumbered.

Finally, Tam was able to pass her STR check, press deep, turn counterclockwise once, and clockwise twice. With a huge crash and heave, the door slowly lifted, exposing a room within. The 80' room had two rams heads carved of stone, facing a rail system for mine carts at a lower elevation than a platform that ran in the middle of the room. Party members dashed inside while Gorbash guarded the entrance, swinging at every spider that would try to enter.

At the end of the room was another large door and - this time - the key and lock mechanisms were separate. One to the right on the floor, and, across the other side of the platform, one to the left. One key hole was for the ax; the other for the pick. Their instructions were counter to one another: "PRESS DEEP; WIDDERSHINS TWICE; SUNWISE ONCE," and, "PRESS DEEP; SUNWISE TWICE, WIDDERSHINS ONCE."

Elan was knocked unconscious and dragged to safety; spiders learned that they could crawl above Gorbash to get inside! The party fought off advancing spiders as Tamroohk and Llewellyn attempted to activate the lock on Tamroohk's initiative. Both player characters needed to pass a STR check to depress the lock, and - for three rounds! - both PC's alternatively failed their checks, as spiders continued to advance.

Finally! On the fourth round, Elan - revived - and Tam passed their STR check, depressed their locks, and rotated the keys opposite of each other at exactly the same time. The large inner door opened and the outer door closed!

Inside, the party stared into the dark vastness of the mine, feeling warm stuffy air, and meeting an enormous set of stairs leading into the darkness.

And with that, we'll rejoin the party in the evening of the 9th of Bearguard, Rose: 47, at the entrance of the York & Barrelborn mine; wounded, sore, and about to embark on a grand adventure!

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