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.
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.
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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