Fireseek 21, 621 CY
Castle Greyhawk
The full company -- Haruspex Niv, John Grond, John's hireling Harvard Oslo, Brother Langdon, Percy, Tuko "Lumpy" Burrstone, Vask, Reed Underbough, and Grandma Erin, as well as the company's two pack mules -- were on foot on the north side of Castle Greyhawk and found the drawbridge was down again. No one molested them as they made their way into the castle courtyard. This was Grandma Erin's first trip to the old castle and everyone paused, reminisced, and let her soak in the moment.
Then they made a beeline to the stables in the southeast corner of the castle grounds to look for Oslo, see if he survived the last two weeks at the castle. He did! He was in the stables, as was Tom, the captured guard who had been left as Oslo's prisoner, and an orc as well. Half the company moved into the stables to talk to them before they spotted two other occupants, as familiar as they were terrifying. It was the two vampires they had seen in the city sewers last year.
Everyone either backed out of the stables or at least to the doorway where there was lots of sunlight (John and Lumpy stayed in the doorway to talk). Oslo, Tom, and the orc didn't react at all and stayed where they stood.
The vampires wanted to know what the message they received was. As the company hemmed and hawed and obfuscated, they compelled John to come back into the dark stables and tell them the secret of Prospero's message. But when they heard it was "open the box" they reacted angrily. The angrier of the two said "the most important message in the world cannot be 'open the box', but was shushed and they stepped away to discuss. One was heard saying they may have been too early, while the other said this must be a trick.
While John was their prisoner in the far corner, the two vampires bickered. Grandma Erin snuck into the stable and left her holy symbol around his neck to see if it would protect him -- but didn't stay to make sure he was safe - she beat a hasty retreat outside with the others.
But after two minutes, the vampires revealed that they needed further instruction from their master and would let the company go until they knew more. Who was their master? "You will meet your Great Adversary in time."
Lumpy: "Next time, have your master come talk to us himself instead of using such incompetent middle men."
"When we return, kill him first."
Before the stand-off could turn violent, the vampires turned into bat form and fluttered upstairs to the higher floors of the stables. No one wanted to follow them to see where they went.
Since John was compelled to stand in the corner while they talked, he was free to act on his own now that they had stopped talking. Oslo and Tom were free to leave now too. The orc had been compelled to guard the main doors to the stables without any end duration, so it was stuck here, and the company just left it behind.
The company hastened to their favorite dungeon entrance and, en route, they asked Oslo what had happened. He had found the stairs down in the dungeon like they asked him to, and kept Tom his prisoner all that time. But, this last week, a party of orcs tried to take the stable from them and Oslo and Tom defended it while the orcs laid siege to it. The next night, though, the vampires showed up, killed all but one of the orcs, and became all their masters.
The company was still interested in seeing the stairs, but they had decided that finding the Master who ruled the first dungeon level was their new high priority and they told Tom he better take them there. Tom knew a route to take, but it turned out to be a long one....It took them east, past the old orc lair, where they saw there was light inside again. Rather than leave a threat at their backs, they burst in through the second door, ready to throw spears at any orcs inside.
There was one orc standing guard at this entrance and they took that orc down very quickly. A second orc was guarding the other door and Reed fired his crossbow at that one as it fell back into the large chamber and joined the only other remaining occupant. And, again, it was someone awfully familiar. It was "Arlo," the transmuter whose real name was Osloban, they had encountered before in the Moat Caves. Osloban cast a spell, but it was his familiar trick of going invisible.
It did not work; Harvard and Brother Langdon managed to land lucky blows despite his invisibility and took him down. The remaining orc lasted a little longer, but not much longer. The company gathered around the bloody outline on the floor. They found, when they pulled things off his dead body, they became visible again. So they looted everything and found a handful of treasure, including what looked like a potion, a brightly glowing stone, and an opal worth 500 gold.
Tom was ready to lead them on. The route ran past the huge weasel dens, the berserkers' chamber and where Gorvernal was met, the room where Lindol was met, and came to the first new area off their map -- two long parallel north-south hallways with an arcade separating them. Here was also a spiral staircase leading upwards into the castle itself.
Both hallways were paved in white tile, but the east hallway's tiles had markings on them. The company thought this screamed trap, and Tom said most guards down here avoided it as well for that reason, plus the elves that patrolled this area. Everyone was surprised to hear this, but they saw no sign of any elves as they made their way to the end, where Tom opened a secret door for them. A few more corridors and a few stuck doors later, Tom said they were there. The Master often kept hobgoblins, and sometimes orcs, as his personal guardians. Some people kept pressing Tom for more and more information, but ultimately it was necessary to burst through that next door and see what awaited them.
The next room was a sparsely furnished, unoccupied room, but as they were walking in and checking it out, the north door opened and a hobgoblin was there. Anticipating more, Haruspex cast a Sleep spell into the next room and they heard six hobgoblins hit the floor. The hobgoblins' room seemed to be full of old junk, though a chest in the room held some items of possible interest, with Vask having his eyes on a wavy-bladed dagger. The sleeping hobgoblins were slain, except for one that Erin spared and was left tied up instead. The company was just discussing if they had any way to communicate with it when the door to the next room north was listened to and more monsters were heard on the other side. John flung the door open so the company could hurl their missile weapons into the next room, and they found a small group of gnolls facing them.
The missile fire softened them up so bad that the company was meeting little resistance from them. Then the north door opened to another room and a robed, turbaned man who must surely be the long-sought Master stepped in -- and was promptly dropped by two missile weapons. Mopping up the gnolls was also a piece of cake after that.
That was the last of their opponents. By now, Tom had run off, but the mules were still just hanging out in the hallway unharmed. They were brought in to load down with treasure. They took the chest and all its contents from the junk room. They took a pouch of 10 gems off the Master and his ring of keys. They took his valuable-looking turban. From his room, they took the chairs, the blankets, the rugs, the lantern, his collection of books, and his collection of wooden figurines; they only left behind the bookcase and couch because they wouldn't fit through the door.
They also found a secret door behind the bookcase that opened onto a torture chamber. Killing sleeping enemies was okay with most of the company, but they all drew the line at torture. They wrecked the rack and wrecked the hinges of the iron maiden (that held a dead goblin inside). There were also five vials of ...something. It had a faint, unrecognizable order, and was sticky and viscous. They took it all anyway. They even took the Master's corpse with them, recalling how Niv had a 400 gold bounty to collect on him!
Rather than explore further, it was decided to leave with the treasure they had now. They took the same route back and this time, at the two north-south hallways with the arcade between them and the white-tiled floors, they did encounter the elves they were told about. Although bows were drawn on them, they trusted the elves to parlay with them and learned their leader was named Garadlius. They were no fans of the Master and offered safe passage for having defeated him. They were asked about Gorvenal the Furrier, who Niv had met many months ago down here, and he knew Gorvenal's family was still looking for him. The elves revealed their purpose here; there were lost souls like Gorvenal who had not turned to chaos and the elves' purpose was to protect them; but they would also let help one of them if still needed in the surface world and they promised to push Gorvenal to the surface when they next saw him.
They were no further than the north end of that hallway, near the spiral staircase, and debating about if they should use it, when a hidden ogre lunged out at them. John Grond took a glancing hit, but the ogre was overpowered quickly, being so outnumbered. They took its sack and added it to their treasure.
It was decided to take a brief detour up the stairs, just to see where they went. The stairs went up to a landing with north- and west-facing archways that went further into the castle proper, plus the spiral staircase continued to a higher level. All was dark and quiet inside, so far. But rather than explore further, the company tabled this exploration for another visit, and went back down to continue the way they came.
And so, they came back up into the courtyard, on the west side of the castle's keep, and made their way to the drawbridge. They left unmolested -- but once outside they encountered four orcs coming back from a hunting trip -- and dropped them all with Niv's second sleep spell. Again, Erin saved one, though tied up in the winter cold, his survival seemed uncertain once they were gone...
Nearing Castle Greyhawk
Spring was not coming. Fresh snow was coming down today and it was getting colder instead of warmer as the day went on. It turned out to be a terrible day to choose to return to Castle Greyhawk. The only person who was comfortable, warm in his magic cape, was Haruspex Niv, but he grumbled like the others so they would not feel so bad.
With Haruspex was most of the Company of the White Oak, John Grond and his remaining hireling Harvard, Brother Langdon, Percy, Vask, Reed Underbough, and Grandma Erin (and the company’s two pack mules). They were trudging through the snow, almost within sight of the castle, when eight rodents of unusual size leaped out of the snow at them in a surprise attack. Harvard was pulled to the ground, seriously hurt. One of the mules was hurt. Giant rats had been the company’s most vicious antagonists since the death of Baron von Hage and these were no different, fighting in a frenzy of desperation, and it took three minutes of violent struggle before the last of them were put down.
Harvard needed magical healing on the spot; Brother Langdon and Vask, both lightly injured, needed magical healing too. Not even to the castle yet and already almost out of clerical spells, Percy suggested they camp the day and night in the Chapel of Boccob in the castle as soon as they got there.
The drawbridge is once more down at the castle when they arrive, but the small round guard towers on either side of the drawbridge are occupied, as the company can tell by the roaring fires inside them. Luckily, as cold as it is, the occupants are not posting outside guards and the company sneaks over the drawbridge and into the courtyard before anyone from the towers come out to investigate. The company makes a bee line for the chapel and find that it is currently unoccupied, giving them their first opportunity to actually explore the place. The chapel is four stories high and the upper floors have some sumptuously decorated guest rooms. Reed, footpad that he is, cased the joint and thought there was a fortune in furnishings here he could take, if he could just sneak them past the ever-watchful eyes of Brother Langdon. Langdon and Percy, meanwhile, had found the chapel’s greatest prize -- a prayerbook, chained to the altar at the rear of the nave. With the prayerbook, both of them could invoke the gods to gain new spells in the morning.
But there was also the issue of the mules, which Langdon forbade to come into the sacred chapel. To make sure the mules were safe from becoming ogre snacks in the night, John, Vask, Erin, and Harvard all camped out in the stables with the mules, all five huddled together in the hay to stay warm. And they stayed safe all night long, but…just before dawn, when Grandma Erin was on watch duty, they were surprised by six large spiders the size of cats that had silently descended from the upper floors. John Grond was bit, as was one of the mules. John, Vask, and Harvard all woke and picked up weapons and shields to defend themselves. Three of the spiders were killed and the rest fled up the stairs. No one wished to pursue. John and Erin checked out John’s bite, but it proved to be just a scratch and he was not envenomed. The mule, however…John and Harvard pulled the mule, already weak from the poison, outside and put it out of its misery. Inside, Erin cried for the poor animal.
Readying 8, 621 CY
Inside Castle Greyhawk
And soon they were back at the chapel, rejoining the party and with an exciting story to share. a By now, everyone else was up and getting ready for their day. Spells were prepared, and the company continued -- on a historic first for the company. They had been in the dungeon many times, even come up into the keep through the dungeon, but now they were ready to try exploring the keep itself. They had seen the main double doors on the south side, and the side entrance in the southeast corner, several times already, but had never dared explore behind them. Thinking the main doors likely barred, they tried the side door and found it only stuck.
Once inside, they found a short, crooked entry hall led into a mostly empty room with a statue of a figure in full armor standing at attention in the corner. Reed checked the floor for tracks and found some really odd ones -- man-sized, bare, clawed feet spread so far apart that whatever left them was hopping or had really long legs. Reed determined the statue was not anchored to the spot, but his intuition told him there was some magical trap attached to it. Brother Langdon feared worse, recalling legends of medusae that could turn men to stone with their gaze. In short, they left the statue alone.
Leaving them with three options -- a door in the north wall, a doorway that led into a kitchen to the south, and the room opened into a larger chamber to the west. Reed checked the threshold of the opening to the larger chamber and it seemed safe. The chamber itself, though… The chamber was an octagonal room 40' wide and 20' high, with three gargoyle statues decorating shelves higher up on the walls. Well, the theory they were statues ended when one of them spoke, asking the others if it was time to attack yet.
Reed jumped back into the smaller room with the others. The gargoyles tried to coax the company into coming into the chamber, claiming they meant to say they had a riddle, not an attack, for them. The company wasn't buying that. Although the chamber had a grand staircase leading upstairs to the west, and double doors to the north and south, the gargoyles seemed too dangerous to mess with. And this left them with two options left, the door and doorway in this room. The strange footprints had come from, and led back to, the kitchen.
The kitchen looked deserted, but this turned out to be not so; three ghouls were concealed behind a table, in the fireplace, and inside an oven -- and jumped out to ambush the company (the third time they had been ambushed this expedition!). Brother Langdon was hurt, resisted paralysis, and more importantly recognized these things for what they were (as did Percy). The two priests, joined by the acolyte Grandma Erin, all attempted to turn the ghouls with their crosses - and it worked (actually, thanks to Percy). The ghouls fled from melee, one being chopped down as it turned to flee. The remaining two tried to flee up the chimney. Reed followed them into the fireplace and shot his crossbow into one of them, and it fell down and landed on top of him, dead. The remaining one clambered out of the fireplace on the upper level, out of sight.
Searching the kitchen for treasure, they found a painted stone tablet (depicting a woman holding an apple) that looked good enough to be valuable. Not wanting to climb the chimney, or squeeze through the two arrow slits overlooking the courtyard, they backtracked into the entry room, and this left them just the door to the north. Behind that door was a short hallway leading to a narrow spiral staircase going up.
But did the company want to go up? Langdon worried about if the challenges upstairs were any greater than the ones here. John worried about how this was taking them away from their goal of finding the stairs into the dungeon. There had been another door outside, leading into the six-story central tower that connected to the keep. It was decided to go check that out instead. And the company hit pay dirt; inside the tower was an abandoned shrine to Zagyg, two side doors, and stairs leading both up and down.
Descending, the company found themselves somewhere new. At a landing there was a lever in the wall, connected to some machinery behind the wall. There was no way anyone wanted anything to do with that lever. Below, the stairs continued down 10 more feet to a room. Reed, with rope tied to him, proceeded in alone to check it out. He found broken tables, smashed glass, and puddles of oil and other liquids. It was a large room with just one door heading out. There were tracks, booted feet, coming into the room from the door and going back out. The coast was clear, so Reed signaled for everyone to join him.
The company left the room, entered a hallway, and checked out the door on the other side. This room was also new to them, an almost empty room covered in sand. It was actually covered in a lot of sand, using their spears they found that the sand was at least 7' deep. It was fairly well-packed right inside the door, but became looser the further into the room they prodded. There was a door on the opposite wall, but with no safe-looking path to get there, the company wanted no part in reaching it.
Exploring more of the hallways, they found a wide intersection where bright, warm light seemed to be magically issuing from the ceiling. Near there, they found another kitchen, this one better stocked than the one in the keep. They were looting it for iron rations when Reed heard feet shuffling towards a door on the opposite wall. The door opened as the company was forming up into defensive lines when a woman in heavy shawls and other drab clothes shuffled in, holding a torch in one hand and pulling shoes and boots on ropes behind in the other. She did not seem worried at all about the weapons aimed at her, for she was Elspeth the Cobbler and she saw them as potential customers. She had safe passage through the dungeon because so many boots needed repair down here. Who made sure she had safe passage? The Master, but he was gone now, killed by somebody. Gregory now. Where is Gregory? Someone looted his chambers and he was probably holed up with Herg (Haruspex Niv recalled this name, Herg the Half-Goblin, from a year ago!). Where was Herg? If she promised to lead them to Herg and Gregory, they would pay her to fix all their shoes.
John was angry, thinking Elspeth did not know where Herg was or had led them astray. The rest of the company seemed to understand that these rooms were all part of Herg's lair and they just had to explore them one at a time. The first door led to a cobwebbed room where Reed had heard scratching, but no one (or nothing) was there by the time they got the door open. The second door led to a furnished room, but no one was in it. The third door led to a hallway that wrapped around the furnished room and came to another, bigger room -- and this is where they found five goblins -- one of them being the biggest goblin they'd ever seen -- and Gregory (who some of them had met before).
Actually, it was only Reed who saw all this, sneaking ahead to check out Herg's spacious bedroom. The five of them were standing there in conversation, but spotted the hobbit. Reed shouted for help and Haruspex cast his first spell of this expedition -- a well-timed Sleep spell that dropped all the adversaries in that room. The ordinary goblins were slain. Herg and Gregory were tied up, to be taken back to Greyhawk and claim any bounties on them (and see if Zig would honor his old bounty on Herg).
Finally, the company found a good assortment of treasure. Not on Gregory, who was carrying nothing of any apparent value, but Herg, with his silver shield, gold ring, the tapestries around the room, and the decorative box on his table -- that contained a map! And it pieced together nicely with the map the company already had, detailing much (but not all) of the first level.
Herg and Gregory were going to take up a lot of room on the back of the mule, so it was time to end the expedition. They backtracked out the way they came (after Percy snuck Elspeth a generous tip). They made it out of the dungeon, out of the tower, and out of the courtyard just fine. It was after they left the castle that the orcs from the foremost guardhouses finally mustered to stop them -- but they only had seven orcs! Haruspex dropped them with his second Sleep spell. And soon they were gone!
