Nights Dark Terror - Review, links and thoughts

Review 

At long last my run through of Night’s Dark Terror is over.

36 sessions over 10 months. Each session around two to two and a half hours long. YMMV - I thought I’d be done by Christmas when we started. 3 PCs and many monsters dead.

I think it went quite well given my lack of experience behind the screen. I made a few mistakes along the way and I was lucky that my players knew the rules so could help me out.

But is the module actually any good?

I still think so. There’s some great set pieces, the first half is particularly good as there is the siege and then loads of places to explore.

The second half is more of a railroad and I think my players struggled with the plot - we were selling horses but now we’re looking for treasure somewhere.  Why is this NPC tagging along again? And why are you killing off our mules?

There is such a variety of stuff in this module that with a bit of work you can fit it all together. And there is a lot of adventure for your money as can be seen from the number of sessions.

In comparison to modern adventures, the short descriptions can be a bit of a pain but on the other hand they give you hints to improvise - I could play up the trader aspect of Fyodryll (and also decided she was the half-sister/black sheep of the family of Prestell in Riflian).

 From a 5th Edition D&D point of view, some of the fights are a bit unwieldy. In particular, there was a fight between the PCs and their allies in the Lost Valley that ended up as me pretty much playing against myself, which was no fun for anyone. 

I do have some ideas for some changes to make the whole thing more cohesive. I'll stick the at the end of the article as they'll likely include spoilers.

I do heartily recommend this adventure. I’m not sure all the encounters are needed when you run the adventure but there are a lot that would work as short standalone encounters or adventures - elves tormented by pixies, strange tombs, gnome mines and even with a little expansion the Threshold bits that I didn’t run.

 

 

Useful links  - Note that DTRPG/DMs Guild links are affiliate links (sorry)

 

The complete module can be purchased here as pdf and/or POD:

 https://www.dmsguild.com/product/17119/B10-Nights-Dark-Terror-Basic?affiliate_id=307673

 

 Some  5e conversions are also available to buy, which I found very useful:

 Classic modules today (DMs Guild)

 Iconic Encounters (DMs guild)

There's lots of useful free stuff on the Vault of Pandius, including:

https://pandius.com/B10_Nights_Dark_Terror_5E.pdf - a free conversion document

Maps for VTTs in Italian

Many other maps...

And it's also worth checking on The Piazza Forums

 Mystara forum at the piazza

Possible changes to the adventure... (probable spoilers ahead)

From the module as written, several months before the adventure starts, the Traldar defeat the Hutaakans and force them from this temple. It is implied that this prevents the Hutaakan from conducting the rituals required to stop the dead from rising in the valley.

The majority of the undead are not dangerous - instead just mindlessly repeat actions they carried out during their lives.

Now what happens if this doesn't just occur in the lost valley - there are sightings of strange undead activities in the wilderness regions of western Karameikos. Now the authorities in Kelven may not be too bothered but the homesteaders (possibly also gnomes and elves) are concerned and ask the adventurers for help.

Meanwhile, Golthar is also interested. I've got this vague idea of the Iron Ring's goal is to unlock the forbidden secrets of the Nithians or maybe they're all ghouls and thouls. Maybe they only have half a tapestry and think Xitaqa is where they need to be. 

Anyway, they need prisoners for some purpose and trick the goblins into attacking the homesteads to get them. And then the PCs arrive at Sukiskyn...

NDT session 36: This is the end

 Int. a cavern below the temple.

The battle against Kartoeba (totally not a Shoggoth)

The party descended down the pit into thaw cage to the cavern below. It smelled foul and was ankle deep in slime.

They decided that they just would leave but before they could find an escape route, Kartoeba emerged, all oozy and tentacly.

Ham was swiftly grappled but despite this was able to cause significant damage to the beast. However, others were also restrained by the tentacles and Han was badly bitten in return.

It became apparent that attacking the tentacles was futile as it seem to have an endless supply. In the end, Ham, aided by healing from Xianti caused most damage and the creature was slain.

A key was found in it’ remnants - it looked like it would fit the secret door in the temple. In another cave there was a trapdoor in the ceiling with a ladder leading up. And up. 

Eventually they emerged in a room they hadn’t been in before - full of treasure. The stuffed as much as they could  in their bag of holding, and another magical sack they found , then left. (Unfortunately, the second sack was a bag if devouring but they still had a sizeable fortune).

They emerged from the temple, blinking in the noon-day sun. Stephan was outside, he had fetched the Hutakaans to help free the PCs from the Traldar but the adventurers ignored him and left.

After travelling a few hours, it still seemed to be noon. And even when they felt tired it was still noon. They found some shelter to sleep and the next day they reached the edge of the valley. The statues allowed them to pass but outside the gates… things were different.

After following a pass for a short way they turned a corner to behold a stunning view. Below them was a lush jungle but more bizarrely the horizon wasn’t there. Instead the world seemed to curve up around them until all was lost in haze…

The End.

NDT Session 35: A family reunion

 After deciding there were nothing further to explore in the temple the group decided to leave to find if the Traldar or Hutaakans had the key to the treasure room.

However, outside a different band awaited - the Iron Ring, including a mage who looked very similar to Golthar and the mysterious dark haired priestess who had been following them.

It appeared Stephan had been somehow coerced into aiding them but on admitting that he failed to find the treasure he collapsed holding his head and screaming.

After a brief negotiation where neither side agreed to surrender a battle started. Things went well for the party as a fire ball and a hasted Ham ploughed through most of the evil slavers forces. However Rosie was unable to damage a bunch of wererats and Ham was stopped in his tracks by the dark haired priestess who suddenly shapeshifted into his missing ‘wife’ Keothi, the Goliath. 

The reunion was not a happy one Keothi heaped abuse on Ham saying he wasn’t really married to her and he responded by beating her unconscious with the flat of his sword.

The rest of the Iron Ring members were either dead, or had surrendered or fled. Angus and Rosie had been badly bitten and Stephan had been stabilised.

However, any questioning of Keothi was put on hold by the bulk of the Traldar warriors arriving to ‘request’ that the party enter the pit in the temple to deal with Karteoba. 

The PCs managed to convince them they need to rest overnight but they awoke to find themselves in the cage over the pit…

DM notes: this entire battle was sprung off of Ham and Rosie’s back-story (and also because they didn’t hang around in Threshold to meet the Iron Ring there) and seemed to work quite well (well not combat wise which was a cakewalk really but that wasn’t the point).

I’m not sure about my railroad to the finale afterwards… the PCs (2 of them on the way to becoming evil wererats ) now want to get revenge on the Traldar.

NDT Session 34: Wraith? Fine…

 Int. Temple of Pflaar

The trap on the secret door was removed and the party moved along the passageway beyond. At the end was a corpse collapsed in a doorway to a room. Before this could be examined a spirit rose from it and attacked Rosie who was at the front.

After pushing the wraith into the room the party were able to finish it off but not before Rosie had been badly drained of health.

The corpse was holding the golden bowl for the ceremony, which the party returned to the main temple to perform. 

The ritual had some effect but exactly what remained to be seen so the party ventured into other parts of the temple. 

In some side chambers they found some recently collapsed corpses and skeletons. The ceremony seemed to have stopped the undead. They also found information about the history of the Hutakaan and the Traldar. 

Eventually they found a deep crypt with a conceal tunnel that lead deeper underground to room both a barred off view above a large cavern. The party used dancing lights and namfoodle’s familiar to determine that this was where the large pit in the temple above ended up.

TBC

NDT33: Temple of Pflaar Room Hire. Friday: Fight Club

 Int. Temple of Pflaar

The party began to explore the main room of the temple. 

Firstly, they approached the altar. Unfortunately, the bowl for the ritual was missing. As Rosie examined the altar closely 4 statues sprang to life and moved to attack. The statues were tough to kill be were eventually defeated.

The PCs then inspected the pit and its surrounding flames. The actual pit was enshrouded in darkness so Namfoodle prepared to cast Detect Magic. However, Xianti decided to throw a stone into it. Almost immediately an ooze slithered out to attack her. Thus was swiftly killed but further oozes followed it. However, Ham was prepared and they were all slain rapidly. 

But before they could have much respite a group of skeletons and zombies emerged from some side chambers and moved to attack. They were fairly rapidly dealt with but the constant battles were wearing the party down.

Namfoodle’s spell revealed that the flames weren’t magical but the darkness was. It also revealed a magically sealed secret door that seemed to require a special key.

The group decided to investigate the rooms the undead had come from. Both seemed to be robing rooms but the second also had three hideous ghouls in.

They proved to be a fairly tough fight and only Xianti’s cure spell saved Ham from having to make death saves.

After these ghouls were defeated Namfoodle’s spell detected another secret door in this robing room but this one had a magical trap on. The party decided to barricade themselves in the other room to have a quick rest before dealing with the trap.

TBC

DM notes: we are approaching some sort of conclusion although I’m not sure how many sessions we have left now.

NDT Session 32: Temple of Boom

 Ext. Lost valley of Hutaaka

The party decided they couldn’t trust either the Traldar or the Hutaakans so spent the night travelling back to the temple to stop the undead.

Whilst they were resting outside a group of Traldar arrived and after some discussion informed the PCs they would need to collect some water from a ‘singing pool’ to pour into a bowl on the alter to stop the undead.

The group sped off to the pool, and after a brief fight with some arachnids, collected some water and headed back.

The next day they approached the temple. After breaking down the main doors they found a vestibule full of skeletons and zombies. These were swiftly dispatched by a Namfoodle and the group could enter the main part of the temple. The most striking sight was a large pit surrounded by flames. 

The group prepared to explore

TBC

NDT session 31: Are you the bad guys?

 Ext Lost Valley of Hutaaka

We had left things with the party being accused of murdering some men. The party quickly pointed out the evidence that suggested others were involved so the lizard riders determined that they had been killed by “The Mutts” and asked the party to help track them down.

The party, believing the attackers to be gnolls readily agreed and followed some tracks that led towards the attackers, who were revealed to be jackal headed men not gnolls after all. Despite this the party aided the humans (who called themselves the Traldar) to rapidly defeat their enemies.

The party then accompanied the Traldar back to their village (Ronkan). The Traldar leader told them a tale of how the had been enslaved by the ‘Mutts’ (or less offensively The Hutaakan) but had risen up so the Hutaakan’s had released a load of undead and worse to attack them.

Overnight the village was attacked by undead and a number of corpses were cremated in the morning.

Later some scouts returned reporting that the Hutaakan priests were preparing a ritual that night… possibly to summon more undead. As the Traldar were afraid of the dark they asked the PCs for help offering some gems for payment.

By the time the party arrived it was already dark and they were surprised to see the Hutaakan’s fighting off some undead. They decided to talk to them and were told a different story - the Traldar were ‘Wreckers’ who had rejected the Hutaakan’s benevolent rule and had more recently managed to drive the Hutaakan’s from their temple, which had caused the plague of undead. 

They said the ceremony they were performing was meant to stop the undead and they would discuss things further when it was completed. However, the party’s interest was piqued as they thought the temple may be where there was treasure to be found.

TBC

NDT Session 30: Road to nowhere

 Ext. Black Peak mountains

At the bottom of the gorge a lizard was attempting to attack the party but was quickly dispatched. Rosie entered its disgusting lair but discover nothing of worth.

After successfully negotiating the gorge they continued on until they came to another collapsed bridge that would have led to a grand gateway. This gorge was slightly easier to climb and they quickly regrouped by the gates.

Finding no easy access, Bear Rosie helped the rest climb up onto the wall above the gates disturbing some ravens in the process. They spotted some statues the other side but were able to bypass any danger as they descended. Stopping only to unbar the gate they continued onwards.

The path descended into a large valley in the mountains. This proved to be an eerie place with little wildlife. They came across a ruined and abandoned village and set-up camp in a deserted building. 

Their rest was not interrupted but during the night they spotted some undead - zombies and skeletons - acting in odd ways but not threatening.

The next morning Rosie felt sick, possibly picking up some illness in the lizard lair. They started exploring the valley but found only more ruins. It seemed that some places had been destroyed deliberately. They found some odd shaped footprints but no sign of undead during the day. Also no sign of this fabled treasure.

They camped in another ruin and again spotted the undead, some seem to be praying, others acting like they were at work. Even more oddly some of the undead had jackal skulls or heads instead of human features.

The next day Rosie felt better again and they continued onwards walking past a large lake.

 Soon after they came to another ruined village, which contained 3 recently killed humans. As they took in this scene a group of men riding on the back of giant lizards approached who were under the impression that the party had killed their kinsmen.

TBC

DM notes: this was the least satisfying session so far for me as nothing much happened really. However, things should pick up next week…

NDT session 29: Mule Ruinations

 Ext. Foamfire river valley

The party had stopped for a rest a mile to the north of the gnoll funeral ground when a large group of (alive) gnolls descended upon them.

A tense battle was fought Namfoodle wiped most of the gnolls out with a fireball and the remaining ones were swiftly defeated. Notably, Xianti was wounded and actually caused damage (vampiric touch) to an enemy for the first time in the campaign.

After completing their rest, the party continued up the valley. It became apparent that a sizeable gnoll warband was forming up behind them. The party used pass without trace to evade/slow down the gnolls and reached the top of the valley. A large waterfall marked the start of the Black Peak mountains.

A nearby cave contained a high spiral staircase that eventually led to a bridge leading across the river to a high mountain pass.

Xianti and Namfoodle managed to work out a non-violent way to pass some guardian statues and after a long rest the group made their way along the pass.

Unfortunately, the route was perilous. One mules fell hundreds of feet into the river below while reluctantly attempting to cross a narrow ledge.

Later, a high, rather unsafe looking bridge across a intersecting gorge was discovered. The group carefully spread out as they traversed it. Unfortunately, some griffons spotted them and the remaining mule, which panicked , ran off and was carried away by the griffons.

Slightly miffed at the loss of their supplies they continued. Several hours later another intersecting gorge was encountered. Unfortunately, its bridge had collapsed so Rosie and Rurik changed into bear and ape form to climb down and up the walls of the gorge whilst ferrying the others across. As they approached the base of the climb for the first time they spotted a large angry reptile.

TBC…

 DM Notes: the mountain pass in the module is a bit crap - in fact with this and the Loshad bit I ignored there is well over a page of stuff (in a 48-page module) designed to get rid of the PCs horses… and I don’t know why. I tried to be fair but some poor animal handling roles 

Still there was some clever play in the session (I did have to let them role for a hefty hint before the statues).

NDT Session 28: Gnoll Hypothesis

 Ext. Threshold

After returning from the haunted house the party’s thoughts turned to supplies for their journey ahead.

Despite warnings about the dangers in the mountains from gnolls, the party bought two mules. Rosie bet the ostler that they would return safely with them.

The next day they were ready to depart and started to follow the Foamfire river towards the mountains. The first day was uneventful but the morning brought signs of impending danger.

Firstly, they discovered the grisly remains of a campsite that had been attacked by gnolls. The bodies of some people had been burnt but there were no skulls.

Then as the mists descended down the valley they discovered a further horrors -  some human heads mounted on stakes and then a circle of gnolls corpses and skeletons ons stakes, which were identified by Rurik as the way that some gnoll tribes dealt with their dead. 

Before they could investigate further they were attacked. Firstly, by undead gnoll witherlings then a gnoll shaman and her entourage. These were swiftly defeated with the help of Stephan and the party decided to destroy the site with some remain call lightning strikes and bear attacks.

Some items were discovered (including potions in kobold skulls and some scrolls) but the party decided to move on before taking a rest.

A mile or so upriver they decided to take a short rest but they were interrupted about 30 minutes later…

TBC

DM notes: this part of the adventure is quite horrific - I’m surprised I wasn’t freaked out when I bought it when I was 11 years old.

The party have also done enough to make the gnolls extremely angry - even more than the module suggests.i think I may have given the impression that the staking gnoll corpses made the gnoll witherlings - the original module has ghouls but witherlings seemed more appropriate (plus I had a couple of minis)

Finally, my group seemed to have lost track of what was going on. Some of them seem to have forgotten they’d moved on from selling horses to finding a lost temple but when they were reminded they decided to press on instead of staying in town. 

NDT Session 27: The uncanny fortune teller

Ext: The town of Threshold

A busy town market

After disembarking from the boat the party sought out a tavern. Stephan had been in town many years before and had stayed at on called The Mid Inn, which proved to not be very popular but served surprisingly excellent food.

The next day the party headed off to get supplies. First, Ham and Xianti went into a money changers to sell the jewels and gems they had found, and buy some diamonds for spell components. The others went to explore the market.

Upon leaving the money changers Ham and Xianti were accosted by a group of guards and told to go with them to a local magistrate.

Meanwhile, Rosy was dancing by some musicians and Rurik had found himself talking to a fortune teller. Convinced she was the real deal, he agreed to pay for a reading. The 1st card he drew was of a mermaid leaping from the water which the teller interpreted as representing him leaving the mines to become a Druid. The second card revealed an undead creature emerging from a coffin, which represented his current life. 

An uncanny portent

The final card represented a strange creature, presumably representing something to be met in the future.

Meanwhile, Namfoodle had noticed the others going with the guards and attempted to find out what was going on and the went to fetch  Rosie in case there was trouble.

Meanwhile the magistrate was interrogating Ham and Xianti in his office wanting to understand where they had got hold of some ingots marked with a manacle symbol. He was somewhat dubious about their story of rescuing prisoners but warned them that the symbol was associated with a group of slavers called The Iron Ring. As the pair could give little information about them, the magistrate sent them on their way warning that these were very dangerous adversaries and that he didn’t want any trouble in his town.

Outside the party regrouped and were approached by a young mother named Mary asking for help because her house was haunted. The party agreed to help (after checking with a nearby guard that this would not cause trouble) and headed off to the west side of town to the house.

Xianti and Rurik entered the upstairs floor first while Namfoodle was looking for signs of rats outside. Rurik was then hit by a rapidly moving bed and it seemed rats were not the culprits. The other began searching upstairs while Xianti went downstairs and found a hidden trapdoor to a cellar. 

After letting the others know what she had found she went down the stairs into the cellar but tripped on a rotten stair and fell down. Ham leapt downstairs and Rurik carefully followed. 

Unbeknownst to the others at the point Ham got possessed by a spirit and began untying his peace bonded sword. Xianti spotted a dagger on the floor and went to pick it up. Finally noticing Ham was possessed she cast Hold Person on him forcing the ghost to leave Ham. A short combat followed and the ghost was defeated. Within a hidden hollow a coffin was found with a dedicated corpse and several books. The scene was unnervingly similar to the card seen by Rurik earlier. 

The grateful Mary went off to get a priest to sort out a proper burial for the corpse before letting the players keep the books and dagger as a reward.

DM notes: so this week I decided to put a load of minis on a board and see who they interacted with, with interesting results.

The fortune tellers cards were Everway Vision Cards. I genuinely didn’t know which ones (if any would get picked)…

And the haunted house, yes, it was the haunted house speed run.

NDT Session 26: All buy by elves.

 The wilderness north of Kelvin

The party quickly defeated the remaining hobgoblins and released the horses and prisoners. The prisoners were mostly people who had been captured at various homesteads plus a few goblins (who ran off as quick as possible). Included amongst them was a young woman who had been captured along with Babushka (who had been left at the wolf skull lair). The ex-prisoners decided to return to Sukiskyn to start rebuilding their lives, Loshad allowed them to ride the freed horses.

The next day the party encountered a merchant caravan, the lead merchant Akihitos fleeced them by selling the some information which was largely useless but included the titbit that a red-robed mage and a dark-haired woman were looking for them.

That night they stayed at a very expensive inn run by some gnomes who operated a ferry across another river. A small group of shady characters left with undue haste when the characters entered the inn. 

The next day they finally reached Rifflian, crossing yet another river, The Windrush. The elves were keen customers for the white horses and the party could finally complete the quest given to them many weeks earlier. But they now had other fish to fry - journeying to the north.

At the local inn, the proprietor, a half lung called Stubbs Platterman, seemed to be friendly with Stephan and mentioned a dark-haired woman had been asking after the party members.

The next day Tara’s left the party to take Pyotr’s share of the profits back to Sukiskyn. Stephan and the party then caught a ferry heading upriver to the frontier town of Threshold. The 2-day journey was largely uneventful but overnight Aengus heard some loud honking which disturbed some of the party and the next day a flying carpet was spotted bearing a red-robed figure northwards.

Late in the afternoon, the party arrived at Threshold - the end of the line for boat travel upriver. A guard seargent (Athos) met the boat and made them aware of certain local bylaws. 

So will the party spend much time in town? Get sidetracked by some side-quests? Or head to the mountains post-haste? 

DM notes: As the party have completed their original task I thought they could level up. They’ll also have the opportunity to do some shopping.

The original module mentioned that Babushka was captured along with a young woman but no indication is given of her fate so I thought I’d tie up that loose end for my sake.

I also ignored the attack on the boat because… well… it’s just too like in all the old fantasy novels where in the first book the hero is told he has to travel in a caravan for safety and it then gets wiped out by bandits and he then spends the next 2 and a half books travelling by himself and never meets any more bandits.

As for next time I have some ideas… we’ll see what catches their fancy.

NDT session 25: Old friends

 Xitaqa to Sukiskyn and beyond

I’ve got 20-odd flip mats so I’ve drawn blobs on a whiteboard

The group finished up in Xitaqa, with Xianti realising the the yellow robed mage was one of the slavers who had brought her to this region.

After a joyous reception at Sukiskyn, another feast was prepaared as Stephan touched one of the tapestries in the hall with the magic needle revealing a map that seemed to lead to… treasure? Somewhere in the mountains. Stephan was keen to join the group on their expedition.

It was decided that the group would finally take the white horses to Riflian to sell them to the elves. Droop decided to return to her tribe and bade the group farewell.

Surprisingly, the group were eager to leave early in the morning despite the late night. All apart from Aengus who was slightly worse for wear.

At the late Misha’s ferry they took several trips to ferry the 24 white horses and the ailing Aengus across. Misha’s bear appeared but shuffled off after peering at them for a bit.

Soon after the river was crossed, Loshad the horse Lord, appeared again asking for help to defeat a group of bandits who were holding horses and people captive a short distance away. They seemed to be captives from the homesteads that were being moved somewhere. The party quietly infiltrated the bandits camp using a distraction from Loshad to help them overwhelm the leaders - 2 humans and a bugbear. However, a group of bleary eyed hobgoblins had emerged from tents to join the fray.

To be continued…

NDT session 24: Golthar? More like Fallfar!

 The tower of Xitaqa

The fight continued. Rosie the bear smashed another painting, spotting a yellow-robed sorcerer hiding in the walls. As the statues were defeated the sorcerer tried to flee upstairs pursued by bear.

The group followed along so the sorcerer cast fly and attempted to flee the tower by blowing out a hole in the wall.

Unfortunately, for him, before he could make his escape Namfoodle’s magic missiles disrupted the man’s concentration and he landed on a ledge before feather falling to the ground.

Rosie recklessly dove off the tower, landing on the mage. The others attempted to engage from the ledge but were attacked by giant bats. Rurik attempted to climb down in ape form but damage from a bat caused him to return to dwarf form hanging precariously to the masonry. 

Namfoodle ran downstairs, the fasted gnome in the country. Aengus shot down a couple bats as Ham kept missing. Rosie swiftly killed the mage before the bats forced her back into human form. She eventually killed them as well. 

Regrouping at the top of the tower they could inspect the mage’s room. Stephan said he was called Golthar and was seeking a tapestry, possibly one of the ones at Sukiskyn. Golther’s room revealed him to be a man of poor taste but he did have several treasures including a needle and thread and an ancient scroll referring to a tapestry being a map to a hidden location.

DM notes: yeah… poor Golthar, I tried to save him without cheating but failed. Now to see what the party want to do next…

NDT session 23: The tower of Xitaqa - not to be confused with a mountain

 The party emerged from the library into the room at the base of the tower and were immediately engaged by 4 men. (These would later be identified by Namfoodle as the horsemen from a few sessions back).

Rosie’s spider form didn’t last long so she turned into a bear. As the men were being dispatched, an angry Minotaur emerged from upstairs and set about attacking the Rosie-bear and was soon grappled by her and everyone piled on. It finally destroyed her bear form so she slapped him a final indignity that cause it to die. Possibly of shame.

The group decided to proceed upstairs. A dormitory was discovered, presumably where the men slept. After a brief interlude as the party attempted to open a locker (solved by Xianti going downstairs to find a key on one of the men) they continued upstairs.

The next floor was apparently a large empty room but was soon discovered to have an invisibility effect. Ham walked into an invisible wall so the party conga-lined it around the room to get to the next stairs, which were luckily not invisible.

At this point they had been around what appeared to be a room in the centre of the tower so they decided to backtrack and discovered an unconscious body. Removing it from the room revealed it to be Stephan, at last. After being healed, he urged them to continue upstairs to defeat the wizard who was the ringleader.

After a brief debate, they decided to continue upstairs whilst send Stephan back downstairs to Droop.

Upstairs was revealed to be some king of gallery with a couple of pink jade statues of jackal headed men and a number of paintings. Unlike other statues in the tower these ones did animate as the party passed by and attacked. Meanwhile from behind one of the paintings a spell was fired at Rosie (who was a bear again).

The angry Roaie charged at the painting shredding it with her claws but the person behind it had moved. An electrical charge sizzled from the canvas but caused no damage. Ham noticed that the other painting were also sparking slightly.

The battle continues…

NDT session 22: Xitiqa you and I know How the heartaches come and they go

 Ext. The vicinity of Xitaqa.

Rurik and Namfoodle retreated back to camp to luck their wounds and decide what to do next. There they found Sbske in conversation with a young Human woman and a Halfling man.

The irritating woman said her name was Rosie and she was looking for her mother, who was the Halfling’s wife. The halfling was a veteran fighter named Ham.

The group decided to rest up before heading back to the ruins. The night was uneventful apart from some growling nearby and the group headed off towards the tower.

Approaching the tower, the group came under fire by a small band of hobgoblins. This annoyed Rosie who charged towards them and turned into an angry bear.

Rosie-Bear, Ham and Rurik made short work of the hobgoblins but were then attacked by another winter wolf that emerged from the tower. It’s icy-breath caused some damage to the pcs (mainly Snake) but was wilfully put down.

The group rested up in a nearby empty building before entering the tower from a side entrance. Inside they found a dusty library full of old scrolls and a giant spider. Rosie turned into a spider as well and proceeded to win the duel of the spiders.

Ham then blundered into the spiders nest which was the home of its mate who attacked, protecting her young. Ham killed it with one might blow of his great-sword - the magical one they had obtained from Vlack.

Within the nest were many little spiders and a scroll case containing a comprehend languages spell.

DM notes: the  creature passing in the night was a wandering mountain lion, which I decided wasn’t suicidal. Rosie is a Barbarian-Druid and Ham is a champion Fighter. 

NDT session 21: You’ve finally made a baboon out of me

 Ext: Xitaqa.

Featuring: Bait, Glimmer, Rurik and Namfoodle

The group has arrived at the ancient ruined town of Xitaqa with old buildings built into the walls of the gulleys and a large tower visible.

They decided to enter the first building they came across. This was the home of some angry baboons upset by the intruders. The party opted to fight, suffering a couple of wounds and slaying 3 monkeys before deciding it was a rather pointless fight and leaving.

As the moved a little further on the heard some footsteps approaching and attempted to hide. Unfortunately, they were spotted a by a group of hobgoblins accompanied by some trained baboons.

Confident that his new half-plate and a sanctuary spell would protect him, Bait moved forward to draw the baboon attacks. Unfortunately, some lucky strikes from the baboons quickly brought him down. 

The others suffered damage from the hobgoblin’s crossbows as they closed in. 

A rather chaotic fight followed as attempts were made to save Bait and fight the baboons and hobgoblins. Eventually sheer weight of numbers threatened to overwhelm the other. Namfoodle began retreating first, followed by a badly wounded Rurik. Glimmer decided to valiantly/suicidally cover their retreat and was brought down by a baboon. 

Namfoodle managed to finish off the hobgoblins with magic missiles and the baboons were quickly defeated. Unfortunately, this was too late for both Glimmer and Bait.

Namfoodle and Rurik were left wondering what to do next.

DM notes: this was a rather brutal session. Unfortunately, for Bait I rolled 3 crits and a couple of 18s in one turn against him (plus the baboons had made their saves against sanctuary). After that things rather went downhill…

I had offered to run a one-off Call of Cthulhu scenario that would probably been less deadly than this was.

NDT Session 20: Another ropey session

 Ext. Wulfwolde Hills.

Starring: Namfoodle, Bait, Glimmer and Droop

As the group approached Xitiqa they spotted a group of horsemen approaching (men on horses not centaurs) from some distance. As they got closer Bait realised they looked hostile so Namfoodle cast rope trick and the party hid up the rope. 

Unfortunately, the horsemen’s leader worked out something was up so left 4 of his men to guard the area before the rest headed off.

The party tried several means to distract the men before Namfoodle succeeded in distracting some with his owl familiar and a magic mouth spell. 

The group descended the rope and quickly killed the men. Namfoodle noted they had similar markings to the men who had attacked them back in the river (session 1). 

The party continued onto Xitaqa and soon saw a tower looming over some gulleys, just as Loshad had described. Soon after that a group of baboons attacked them but were defeated with the survivors fleeing into the rocks.

DM notes: a short session this week but the group have finally reached the outskirts of Xitiqa. Let’s hope those goblin gits haven’t been lying about this being where Stephan is. 

NDT Session 18: The Lion, The Witchbolt and the Orc Goths

 Int. Gnome Mine, Wulfwolde Hills

Cast: Rurik, Bait, Glimmer, Namfoodle

The party started to head down the tunnel the orcs were guarding and immediately another small group of orcs ran down it to attack them. A few seconds later more black-clad orcs arrived including their leader. 

The fight was fairly desperate with Bait and Rurik getting badly wounded but Namfoodle’s Witchbolt spell badly hurt the leader and Rurik’s Bear wildshape causing finishing off a few wounded orcs meant the party prevailed.

However, the party had hardly time to get their breaths back before another small group of orcs appeared. Rurik cast a moonbeam spell on them and they fled. The party decided they might be getting reinforcements so they sldo retreated to the relative safety of the gnomes mine to rest up for the night.

The next morning they returned to the orcs lair, which had been mostly stripped of valuables. The remaining orcs had left during the night via a different exit of the tunnels. The only thing of note left was a tatty stuffed lion. This appeared to contain valuables but to get to them required putting one’s hand in its mouth triggering a trap.

Instead the party decided to hack it open revealing some silver, some jewelry, a scroll that had unfortunately been cut into pieces and a single magic boot. Rurik seemed to think he had seen a similar boot somewhere in Sukiskyn so they packed it away.

The party then moved onto the large cavern that had been blocked halfway by stalagmites until  the gnomes had broken through a few days earlier. The only exit was a tunnel 30ft above the floor. Rurik turned into ape form to climb up carrying Namfoodle and they then helped the rest climb up with ropes.

TBC

NDT session 16: A horse called horse

A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Loshad

Go right to the source and ask the horse

He'll give you the answer that you'll endorse.

He's always on a steady course.Talk to Loshad 

Wulfwolde Hills

The party made their way to the 3rd tomb. This seemed to be a well kept tomb on a lush green hill.

However, once inside the party found a pile of recent skeletons and the door to the tomb slammed shut. After looting the bodies the party found a secret door leading to a rough cavern. A figure emerge from the wall morphing into a hostile living statue of a man with a Jackal head. Bait managed to keep it distracted and it was defeated without much bother to the party. Another secret exit led the party back outside so they went to camp for the night.

A Living Statue about to be killed by some PCs

Glimmer again performed the one leg, whistling under the moon ritual so the next morning the party heard thundering hooves and what appeared to be a centaur appeared accompanied by 3 stallions. This was Loshad, the Horse-Lord. He warmly greets the party’s horses before begrudgingly addressing the ‘pedestrians’. 

Loshad told the party the location of Xitaqa across the river but said they would have to perform a task for him on the way. A strange beast had apparently taken residence at the ford and was upsetting the wild horses. The party were to kill it or drive it away. Bait was disappointed because he had heard whore-sword instead of horse Lord but maybe the party were finally going to be able to find Stephan.

Unfortunately, Xitaqa was the opposite direction to the gnome mine but the party decided it was time to aid Namfoodle and Aengus’s clansmen in their struggle against some orcs

On arriving at the mine it was apparent the situation had worsened. The gnome and dwarf miners had found a  cavern sealed off by a wall of stalagmites and stalactites  but could see a fabulous looking necklace beyond. They had broken through and retrieved the necklace but after that dwarves and one of the gnomes had started going missing from the mine. Some kind of spiders seemed to be the culprits. However, on the plus side the orcs had seemed to have retreated.

The party agreed to help and headed into the caves. They could occasionally hear skittering noises. After dodging a few hazards they found a paralysed orc wrapped in webs. They unwrapped the orc and took it back to the dwarves to guard so they could question it when it woke up. 

The party resumed exploring until they found a chamber containing silver statuettes. Again these depicted people with jackal heads…

To be continued…

DM notes: some of you may have noticed I will be going off script soon… stay tuned for some stupidity.

Oh yes. I accidentally found out via google what Loshad means in Russian. And for the any amongst you who are thinking that Loshad is not a horse, well… he isn’t actually a centaur.