Gricks, Cloakers, and Puddings (11th of Bearguard, Rose: 47)

Having dispatched the Gricks, the party did a little more exploring of the mine.

Gorbash told the party of what he saw with the ghostly apparitions leading away from this segment of the mine.

(DM's note: Gorbash also made a successful save against being aged by the ghost having been touched by it before the game started, an oversight that I didn't run in the last session).

Exploring that section of the mine more, the party found about six dwarven miners, their bodies fairly well preserved in this airless environment, crammed into a little nook - an unfinished area of the mine. The corpses were not turned to stone; they were apparently hiding, perhaps suffocated. They pulled out the stiff corpses and laid them out, and Tamroohk performed a Dwarven last rite ritual, dashing holy water of Berronar Truesilver on their heads; it streaked into silver. During that hour, the party rested, and proceeded to the next archway in this plane of the mine which was labeled Alexandrite.

Gorbash immediately triggered a spear trap: a pressured plate on the floor caused an array of spears to jet out of the ceiling! Wounded, the party took some time to help Gorbash back on his feet. The trap was reset when Tolman recognized that a nearby chain anchored to the floor and ceiling seemed to retract the spears and re-arm the plate.

Pressing on to the right-most cavern, the party encountered statues of three dwarven miners - apparently turned to stone, their faces in shock, terror, and fear. The pseuodragon found a bag that was tucked away in a corner containing 4 large raw (uncut) diamonds. With Tolman's help, the pseudodragon was able to pull on the pack and bring it to Tolman's Mage Hand.

Exploring more, the party found more caverns that dead-ended, and, another spear trap (that Gorbash walked right into again). But ... as Tamroohk descended some dark stairs cut into the cavern floor, using only her dark vision, she encountered a dead end ... that wasn't dead at all! The ceiling itself seemed to have eyes and moved abruptly. It was large, had wings like a manta ray with a span of almost 10 feet, and hook-like claws that gripped the ceiling with a mouth of teeth in its underbelly. The Cloaker revealed itself and attacked the dwarf!

Meanwhile, the party began to respond only to find a second cloaker right above the head of Gorbash in the same wing of the cavern! Luckily, the Cloaker rolled poorly and Gorbash didn't get his head eaten in a surprise attack, but the battle was on! The party then noticed how poorly positioned they were to take on these threats in such dark, narrow corridors ...

But while all this was happening, Ma'yah noticed that a black ooze was descending from the ceiling near her. The ooze took form on the floor, spawning a pseudopod of an arm with claw-like appendages that grasped the floor and wall for movement; more appendages appeared and, at times, the hideous thing had five or six arms moving it along the floor and walls - the arms appearing almost like dwarven-sized arms. The ooze attacked Ma'yah and she took a significant amount of damage - down to 1 HP! - and she ran for her life back to the chamber with the dwarven statues to recouperate.

Meanwhile, a pitched battle was going on with the dwarves and halfling combating the two Cloakers. There was a lot of damage dealt to all. Elan, Llew, and Siegride provided missile weapon, healing, and magical support for battling the Cloakers and Ooze; it was Llew's shrewed taunting that was able to force the Ooze to run away and for Siegride to take an attack of opportunity against it!

Just then, as the Ooze departed - slithering into a hole - on the ceiling, another row of eyes appeared. A Cloaker, just near the archway, and it had its beady eyes on Ma'yah! Ma'yah, fearing for her life, cast Mirror Image, and three half-naked Ma'yah's appeared, looking over each other from multiple angles. She was going to try and confuse the Cloaker, for, at just 1 HP, it's the only card she had to play!

Suddenly, Tolman rushed forward with his thievy-speed and engaged the third Cloaker. Both took significant damage and at one point the Cloaker was able to attach to Tolman (as to eat him and perform damage transfer - it's all part of their special abilities), but Llew was able to psychically-scare the thing away and it retreated for its life, ditching Tolman.

Soon, Gorbash and Tamroohk had dispatched the last of the Cloakers.

Safe, the party attended to wounds and healing, then, explored the treasure trove amassed by the Cloaker at the end of the cave. Piles of Silver and Gold Dwarven Dubloons, little pieces of art, and some ointment. (Somebody kept a record of this - it was randomly generated).

Further exploration noted more empty sections of mine. We left off around mid-evening on the 11th of Bearguard, Rose: 47! A long rest awaits, and then - more exploring!

R

In the Hall of the Rat King (10th-11th of Bearguard, Rose: 47)

Well. This should go pretty quickly.

After fighting the harpies, the PC's retreated to the anti-chamber at the top of the mine and sealed themselves inside. In a defensible position, there they healed up and made plans to explore the rest of the mine. They set out in the late hours of the 10th of Bearguard and descended to the 3rd plane of the mine shaft.

On the 3rd plane, one portcullis on the left was up and the one on the right was done, and, locked into position. The mechanism to lift it appeared to be broken.

There, on the landing of the 3rd plane, they encountered a combination lock mechanism built into the floor. It had an inner and outer circle, and six holes with sliding, levered stones within them, and there was a raised convex center. They tried pulling on a few of the stones but each time they'd unlock and drop back into their recess. While they were working on the puzzle, a bunch of rats collected on the opposite side of the right portcullis and watched what they were doing, and, Vongur told a story. Having enough of that puzzle, they pressed on.

They went into left passageway and encountered a colony of myconids - living anthropomorphic mushrooms - who spewed pacifying spores and attempted to communicate with the party. Horrifically, some rodents and even a harpy were transformed into a sport servant, a re-animated corpse now part of the colony; there was some treasure about; the walls had eyes; apparently, the party was pretty freaked out. Adding insult to injury, four of the PC's were enthralled and were communicating telepathically with the myconids who were encouraging them to stay, become part of the collective, learn from each other, ponder things (great things!) together. Having enough of that, the lucid PC's dragged the others out of the room for some fresh air. The myconids? Well, they just continued doing what mushrooms do and didn't mount an attack.

Meanwhile, they ran through a couple of STR checks and broke the portcullis on the right, they explored the mine and tripped a trap that sealed three or four of their members in a cranny. A voice from the darkness offered to free them so long as there was no violence; that no harm would come to "my brothers and sisters".

There they met Naphid Kazeezee of Agamadar. Naphid explained that he had been exploring this mine but was captured by the harpies, tortured, and he escaped; when he broke the portcullis to prevent their entry, the rats made him king. He's the King of the Rats. But now that the harpies were dead, he didn't know what he was ... just a tired old man with nowhere to go.

Naphid had an oddity: a pseudo dragon (a small 1'-long dragon) in a cage. It was rather lethargic but seemed very interested in the party. Naphid would explain that he's caged so that the dragon stay around and not leave him, and, Naphid would eventually admit that the pseudo dragon was his familiar and that he was a magic user by trade.

Naphid lead the party down to the 5th plane where there was the termination point of the mine shaft and a locking mechanism. The buttresses for the mine carts were now sculpted dragon heads instead of rams. Naphid explained what else the PC's might find in the mine if they were to explore it, but he also explained that he'd never been to the levels below ... no one has; nobody has a key. The party, of course, had the key, but they didn't tell Naphid that, and they didn't unlock the dias. Instead, they went back to the harpy's lair to look for Naphid's old possessions.

Naphid became increasingly hostile while searching for his things (apparently his spell book, arcane focus, and a black marble - all of which the party had found but denied having found), and Naphid began to suspect that the party was lying to him. Ultimately, the agitated Naphid's Altered Self spell evaporated revealing an old man with a wounded, carved-out eye; and, he began to transform into what he really was: a wererat. King of the Rats!

There was a pathetic battle. The wererat had spells and had a natural immunity to non-magical, non-silver-laced weapons and I figured it'd take a while to bring him down. Well, one shatter spell and a natural 20 rolled using two magical weapons, well, pretty much brought the King to his knees and finished him off. Two rounds, end of story. There was a nice moment where Naphid threatened to bite Ma'yah and curse her with lyncthropy forever like him, should she not surrender his stuff, but Ma'yah tossed the goods to Siegride who threw them into her cloak. Enraged, the wererat was mightily stabbed and taunted by the bard who laid upon him psychic damage, and the wererat was finished. All of his little rats either blinded by Colorspray or fallen asleep with a Sleep spell. Sigh. Quite unmomentous.

Anyway, the pseudo dragon suffered a catastrophic hit of pain having his master die like that, and the party rushed back to heal it. They did so. The pseudo dragon wiggled and danced with happiness, and gladly ate meat chunks fed to it by Elan.

And that's where we left off!

R

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!

R