Arduin Arcade Session #6 - The Howling Tower
Players
- Grennigore, Centaur Red Magus (Oldskolgmr)
Snik, Goblin Armsman (Idraluna)- Zrik, Kobold Armsman (Nickjagged)
- Primulus Offcester, Halfling White Magus (ags)
- Kleopatra, Daughter of Nemeira, Amazonian Black Magus (Idraluna)
Summary
Sarmaht the 23rd. Month of the Serpent 5202
The group of Grennigore, Centaur Red Magus, Primulus Offcester, Halfling White Magus, Snik, Goblin Armsman, and Zrik, Kobold Armsman, plunge back into the Howling Tower of Sorven of the Seven Lights.
The group heads in and debates, hearing distant grinding noises from deeper within. Grennigore speaks of the skeleton patrols, and the group heads north, then westward to confirm whether the skeletons continue to stand guard. This is confirmed, and the group plans to head eastward and further north past the fountain room of pink ooze.
The group heads this way and is surprised by a 50’ wide, whimpering pink ooze made up of bubbling flesh, eyes, and teeth. Its pseudopods grab Snik and consume him. The group hears his ribs crack and break. Zrik ties himself to a rope to grab the body of Snik, with Grennigore holding the rope. Primulus scampers back to the corner hallway southward to hide.
The ooze burns Zrik as Grennigore fires his flintlock pistol and Magic Missile. A pale golden-skinned Amazonian, Kleopatra, Daughter of Nemeira, charges forth, unleashing an arc of black, necrotic energies of Cause Light Wounds. The pink flesh pile gibbers, laughs, and cries like a newborn babe, striking Grennigore and burning Zrik.
Finally, the halfling Primulus musters up the courage and flings his dagger; it bounces at various geometries around the room, but finds purchase, killing the ooze instantly as it melts. The smell of a baby’s diaper containing durian fruit permeates the room. The group finds it holds money.
The group then inspects the fountain and finds a drain at the bottom full of partially digested dungeon shrimp and crab. Zrik inspects the moldy pile of nailed planks of lumber, finding it trapped as a sword plunges through him. Zrik takes the sword as a trophy as they find more money underneath the wood pile.
The group continues northward, passing under a slimy, salmon sheet of fungus in the archway of the tunnel passage. The group is surprised to see 30-some kobolds attempting to pull down an 18’ statue of Writhing Worms marked with pentagrams. Zrik communicates and finds out the kobolds - red, orange, copper mottled scales. Serpentine, vestigial limbs, fangs, and four-horned helmets - hope to topple the statue to “free their brood brothers.” The group assists, and a door along the eastern wall crumbles to dust, releasing forty two emmacited, cold, and sluggish kobolds. The group offers rations as Primulus is looked over hungrily. The kobolds almost descend into violence over the rations, but this is settled by a Kobold carrying a 9mm pistol.
In return, Zrik is given another 9mm pistol for the assistance as the group decides to head further north to open a western door. They find a room with 12 pillars w/ cheering imps. The western and eastern walls are comprised of broken mirrors; melted red candles line the rainbow-checkerboard floor. Worried about the floor's relation to the skeleton patrols, Primulus casts Detect Magic, finding the floor isn’t magical, only the shadows of Black magick upon the Amazonian Kleopatra. The group finds the room reconnects southward along the original north passage and decides to head eastward.
They find four doors, two on the southern wall, another two on the northern wall. The first of the southern doors, comically small. The Halfling and Kobold would have no issue entering, while the Centaur and Amazonian wouldn’t be able to fit.
Grennigore pries open the first of the northern doors and finds a nest of grasshopper-like insects pollinating and laying eggs in the arms of a wooden candelabra in a larder. They are attracted to the torch’s flame, but soon crawl all over Grennigore, who finds their touch causes acute, painful itching. Grennigore can resist swatting them away, and the group decides to head back southward to once again pick through the study that was found by Grennigore last session.
As the group heads southward the find themselves coming face to face with a group of fifteen orcs, simian with skin the color of sour green apple, led by one with maroon skin who carries a MAC10. They cart a wheelbarrow full of yellow jade. Two orcs lob javelins while five orcs charge with maces. A javelin pierces Zrik, who nearly succumbs to his wounds, but remains standing.
The five orcs are unable to reach the other side of the room in time. The magi Grennigore and Kleopatra unleash a barrage of spells. Grennigore takes out a scroll: Dunklemeyer’s Spell of the Tarantella, causing the rest of the orcs carrying the cart to break out in wild, uncontrollable dance as Kleopatra casts Cause Light Wounds, felling another orc. Primulus throws his dagger at the maroon leader, hitting him. Zrik raises their 9mm pistol and sprays the charging orcs, killing them all in a hail of bullets. The group then slaughters the remaining dancing orcs, taking their cart of yellow jade and the maroon leader’s MAC10.
They peruse the study to find it overturned. Books spilled out on the floor, the remaining chests looted, but the black marble statuary remains. Kleopatra knows this to be valuable to Black Magus, while Primulus says to destroy it in the name of the White Magus Church of Joseph Smith. Greed gets the better of the group as they sell it to a burgeoning black magus/luthier, Jeremiah Joyce, for 3,360 gold sovereigns, who says it's a statue of the Despot, Xyl Hypogeal.
Machinations are afoot as the Amazonian Black Magus Kleopatra is pulled aside by Jeremiah Joyce as Primulus heads to the Church to speak of what he witnessed within the Howling Tower.
Aftermath
Treasure Found:
- 1,160 gold sovereigns
- 500 silver pieces
- MAC 10 with three clips (taken from the maroon-skinned orc)
- 9mm Pistol with four clips (given to Zrik by the Kobold Leader)1
- Yellow Jade carried by the Orcs (worth 400 gold sovereigns)
- Broke pile of black marble statuary of the Despot, Xyl Hypogeal (sold to the burgeoning black magus/luthier Jeremiah Joyce for 3,360 gold sovereigns)2
Foes Encountered:
- 1 Pink Flesh Ooze (killed)
- 72 Kobolds (befriended by toppling the Writhing Wurm)
- 13 Lightning Bugs (withstood their itchiness)
- 15 Orcs (slaughtered)
Rumors:
- Jeremiah Joyce, aspiring occultist and part-time luthier. Twitchy, beset by stutters and seemingly incompetent. All of this fades away, however, as soon as he’s back in his areas of expertise: violins or terrifying manifestations of the occult3.
- The black marble statuary is of a piscine humanoid, a Despot, Xyl Hypogeal, the Alien Intelligence of Stone
- Primulus Offcester went to White Magus Church of Joseph Smith and spoke about the statuary of Xyl Hypogeal, Despot, the Alien Intelligence of Stone. They tithed 10% of the earnings to the church
Deaths:
- Snik, Goblin Armsman (denuded by the Pink Flesh Ooze)
XP Awarded:
- 6,570 XP per/player
- 2,000 XP for Violence
- 1,160 gs
- 500 sp
- 3,360 gs for black marble statue of the Despot Xyl
- 4570 gs total
- 1142.5 gs per/player
- 4570 gs total
Notes
- Introduced regular handguns and using the gunnery runs from AG2 for those.
- Rolled 1d4 for clips. Players can either fire one shot or “spray and pray (roll X amount of rounds in the clip).
- Rolled 1d6 for 600lbs of statuary and used the 16gs/pound. Jeremiah Joyce paid 35% of that value
- Rolling bespoke monsters has been sauceful and will continue to do so
- At the White Magus Church of Joseph Smith, Elder Crumwaller of the Melchizedek Priesthood tells you this
- Brother Offcester, your faithfulness is noted. Many would have sold this tale to a collector or kept it hidden for profit, yet you have brought it first to the Lord's House. That speaks well of your soul. This Xyl Hypogeal—'the Intelligence of Stone'—is no angel of God. Whether it be demon, false god, or one of the ancient Watchers matters little. We are commanded to discern spirits, not admire them." Do not mistake carved stone for wisdom. Satan has worn many faces since Adam. Should you return to that tower, observe carefully. Bring us sketches, inscriptions, measurements, and any writings you find. Remove nothing unless necessity demands it. Idols have a way of following a man home. If the image can be destroyed without needless risk, do so. If not, mark its chamber well. The First Presidency must be informed before a proper expedition can be organized. Your tithe places the resources of the Church at your disposal. We can offer blessings, instruction, and, should the matter prove as grave as you describe, brethren to accompany you
- Primulus starts copying the dungeon map and informing the church each week
- Brother Offcester, your faithfulness is noted. Many would have sold this tale to a collector or kept it hidden for profit, yet you have brought it first to the Lord's House. That speaks well of your soul. This Xyl Hypogeal—'the Intelligence of Stone'—is no angel of God. Whether it be demon, false god, or one of the ancient Watchers matters little. We are commanded to discern spirits, not admire them." Do not mistake carved stone for wisdom. Satan has worn many faces since Adam. Should you return to that tower, observe carefully. Bring us sketches, inscriptions, measurements, and any writings you find. Remove nothing unless necessity demands it. Idols have a way of following a man home. If the image can be destroyed without needless risk, do so. If not, mark its chamber well. The First Presidency must be informed before a proper expedition can be organized. Your tithe places the resources of the Church at your disposal. We can offer blessings, instruction, and, should the matter prove as grave as you describe, brethren to accompany you
- The luthier occultist Jeremiah Joyce pulls Kleopatra aside and speaks thusly of the Despot Xyl Hypogeal
- The alien intelligences of stone, silently humming beneath the ground. The knowing drone of buried aeons. To become bound to Xyl, one must partially fossilize themselves. There is a formula for such a concoction hidden in many occult tomes. The petitioner must prepare and inject this solution and then crush themselves for six hours. This process must be repeated every day for a week — each day causes the body to become stonier and stonier. On the final day, the partially fossilized flesh whispers the words of Xyl. Xyl communicates with their devotees continuously. They demand the emancipation of fossils, the murder of geologists, and the pursuit of depth.
- *Plunge further in and find a **Solved, Notable Mathematical Equation***
- Kleopatra discreetly thanks the esteemed luthier occultist and commits herself to seeking out occult tomes with the alluded-to formula
- *Plunge further in and find a **Solved, Notable Mathematical Equation***
- The alien intelligences of stone, silently humming beneath the ground. The knowing drone of buried aeons. To become bound to Xyl, one must partially fossilize themselves. There is a formula for such a concoction hidden in many occult tomes. The petitioner must prepare and inject this solution and then crush themselves for six hours. This process must be repeated every day for a week — each day causes the body to become stonier and stonier. On the final day, the partially fossilized flesh whispers the words of Xyl. Xyl communicates with their devotees continuously. They demand the emancipation of fossils, the murder of geologists, and the pursuit of depth.