Prymptown Courier v. 1 no. 2

[During the South Province campaign that I ran for eight years, I kept up a running newsletter with write-ups of campaign sessions, interviews with NPCs, and occasionally other features. It was the only time I've ever done this for a campaign, probably because it was a lot of work.

Issue no. 1 has been lost for ages, but it wasn't very long and was more of an introduction for what I planned to do.]

THE PRYMPTOWN COURIER

Vol. 1, No. 2 (October 1998)

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EDITORIAL

Hello all! Welcome to the second installment in yet another of my ambitious projects. For those of you who know me best, you may be surprised to see I've made it to a second issue. I am, admittedly, prone to setting goals for myself I have trouble keeping. However, if there is anything I do well, it is run a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. And, perhaps, because the beginning of this new campaign has been fairly straightforward and traditional, I must look elsewhere to bring new innovations to my field.

Of course, modesty is not one of my virtues. So before I pat myself on the back too hard, let me lay out what is in store for you this time. First up, a letter from a fan on the Greytalk listserv. Then, a short article (perhaps the first of an ongoing series?) on Web resources for THE WORLD OF GREYHAWK. Next, an errata section correcting snafus from the previous issue of the COURIER. Following that will be two installments of my campaign updates. The first will be from the latest (the fourth) playing session, and will cover the first half of the session. The second update is a "flashback" to an earlier (the second) playing session, to aid those who missed it. Truthfully, although the first playing session would be a better place to start my flashback column, I can't find my first two write-ups saved on the computer, and am NOT looking forward to writing them again.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Thank you...And your campaign updates rock... I can't wait to go over this morning's installment....

Anthony "Looney" Toohey

Theryn of Nowhere

NEXT PLAYING SESSION

Ideally, I want to DM at Mr. Janik's house in Peoria on November 21st, preferably sometime between noon and 3 pm. Of course, nothing turns out when I plan it, so I need feedback from everyone as early as possible as to when would be best for them.

WEB RESOURCES

The best site, bar none, for the WORLD OF GREYHAWK campaign setting has got to be the Codex of Greyhawk. This site has certainly been around longer than I've been on the Web. Just recently, the Codex went away for awhile to be overhauled. Now it's back at www.greyhawk-codex.com. The site is a compilation from various online sources, covering the following subjects: Geography, History, Religion and Metaphysics, Organizations, Magic, Creatures and Characters, Adventures, Errata, Players Guide, Artwork, Maps, and Fanzines. Coincidentally, something new to the site under Geography is a 10 page essay on Ahlissa -- which may or may not become canon for the Ahlissa Coast in my campaign...

ERRATA

At the last playing session, Ron Janik pointed out that I had made two errors when I was writing up what happened in the previous playing session. The mite that fled from the mite lair did not make it into the next room. Alexander had brought the mite down with a single dagger hurled at its back. I also forgot to mention that in the battle against the hobgoblin and his warriors, that Abraham tried to shoot a sling stone over the melee, and wound up hitting Alex in the back with it.

UPDATE FROM THE FOURTH PLAYING SESSION (Part 1)

Quote of the Month: "You know we're in trouble with Vladamir casts a spell." (Perpegilliam Brown)


Cast:

Alexander Petrok, Lawful Neutral male Oerdian human templar of Zilchus (1st level paladin variant).

Perpegilliam Brown, Neutral male Hairfoot hobniz rogue (1st level Thief).

Hristo, Neutral Good male Wesevud ("Central") noniz ex-town watchman and rogue (1st level fighter/1st  level thief)

Vladamir Kostitov, Lawful Good male Oerdian human prestidigitator for the governor's guardsmen (1st  level Illusionist).

Abraham the Radiant, Neutral Good male Oeridian human acolyte of Pelor (1st level Cleric).

Barada, Neutral male Flannish human mercenary (1st level Fighter) (NPC today).

Ragnrr, Neutral male hobgoblin mercenary (1st level Fighter) (NPC today).

Readying 12th.

In the dungeon beneath Skull Keep, the Band of the Grinning Gargoyle gave a cursory examination to the room they had just slaughtered five more goblins in. There was an archway to the left and to the right. Alexander offered to take Vlad and Ragnrr through the arch to the right while Abraham went back to look for Perpegilliam, who had slunk into the shadows earlier and had not been seen since.

A short hallway took Alex, Vlad, and Ragnrr to a small kitchen. The room had three lid-covered cauldrons of varying size in the room. Alex looked in each, but when he opened the lid to the smallest cauldron he found that it stuck, and then released a cloud of dust around him when the lid came free. He and Ragnrr, who was standing too close, fell to the ground.

Perry remained in the corner of the large cleared-out mite lair, and watched as Abe walked through the room. Perry stopped the cleric before he could wander off far on his own. The two did not have long to talk before they encountered Vlad, who came running. Vlad related to the others how Alex and Ragnrr seemed to be sleeping, but would not wake up. The three companions moved to the kitchen where the two fighters still slumbered. Slapping them around proved ineffective. Abe produced water to spash on their faces. This too failed. Abe slumped Alex over his shoulder, while Vlad and Perry carried Ragnrr between them. They planned to return to a room they had cleaned out before, a brigand lair with only one door for an exit, and set up camp there. En route, Ragnarr awoke and was quickly briefed on what happened. He and Abe carried Alex between them the rest of the way, and they now made good time back to the designated room. Alex woke up just before reaching the room, and he too was informed about what had happened. Weary from battle, and with their magic powers depleted, the party planned to sleep for eight hours before leaving. Perry hammered a spike into the floor inside the door to prevent unwanted visitors, and so that no one would have to stand guard.

Hristo and Barada had been walking for several hours since they agreed to transport five brigand prisoners back to Prymp and turn them over to the Town Watch. The brigands were forced to march with their hands bound and rope linking their legs. After dusk, they stopped to rest for just an hour, as they had started out so late in the day that they were still very far from Prymp, and they wished to keep going. About two hours later, however, Barada was weary from a forced march in chainmail armor, and both of them decided it was time for some sleep.

About an hour into Hristo's watch, while Barada slept, Hristo noticed the prisoners were restless. Hristo knew it had been a mistake to let the prisoners sit so close when the five of them began lunging and crawling towards Barada and himself. Hristo woke up Barada before trying to dodge the brigands and lead them away. But the brigands instead threw themselves on top of Barada and grappled with him for his sword. Barada and the brigand, Kerrik, rolled around on the ground, which pulled the other four brigands to the ground in a tangle or rope. Hristo slew two of the brigands before the remaining three prisoners would calm down and surrender again. Two things were quickly decided -- graves should be dug for the two dead prisoners, and it was too dangerous to travel with the remaining three prisoners. The gnome got down on all fours and dug like a badger in the sandy beach farthest away from the shore. Stone cairns were built reverently over the shallow graves. Then the three prisoners were lashed face-down to a large rock and left there with the promise that the Town Watch would retrieve them the next day.

When the band in the dungeon awoke, they decided to wander the halls and do some mapping. They discovered another corridor that hooked up with the kitchen, and passed four other doors and two side passages on the way. The only door on the right side of the hallway led to a privy with a stone seat in the middle of it. The wall to the left in the privy had a mural on it showing a man apparently looting some dead bodies outside a cave. Perry was convinced that there was too much empty room on his map, and that there must also be a secret door somewhere along the right side of the hallway. Though several members of the party agreed to help search, no secret doors were found.

Upon returning to Prymp, Hristo thought he remembered Alex tell him that the church of Zilchus would be interested in learning of these brigands operating out of Skull Keep. He asked the Watchmen at the gates to the New City Palisade for directions, and then they were able to quickly find their way there, even though it meant paying the silver piece toll for entering the stone walls around the Old City. They were greeted at the door to the chapel by a grey-haired man about 50 years old. The cleric agreed to grant them an audience in a nearby sitting room. Hristo told their story succinctly and honestly, and the cleric was much surprised that banditry was going on so close to Prymp. The cleric told them that the Governor's Guard should be informed about this, as Skull Keep fell outside the Town Watch's jurisdiction. The cleric also asked if Hristo and Barada would inform the Guard for him, as the chapel was short-handed at the moment.

Back at the dungeon, Perry crept down one of the side passages from off the main hallway, and found himself in the goblin guard room he had peered into the day before from one of the entrances in the cliff face outside. Perry had time to hide in the shadows before the goblins noticed the armor-clad fighters rattling down the hallway. Alex and Ragnarr moved quickly enough this time that they were able to melee the goblins inside the room. Abe, feeling particularly valiant, sidestepped the fighters and joined the melee. Between the three of them, they managed to take down the three of the goblins and forced the remaining three to surrender. Alex and Abe commanded them to lie down. However, when Abe looked down one of the hallways leading out of this room, he spotted six more goblins trying to sneak up on the party! And then Vlad, still in the first hallway, noticed a human in leather armor sneaking up on him!

Alex stepped forward so he and Abe could meet the oncoming goblins. Vlad stepped back into the room, and Perry tumbled towards the leather-clad man wielding a quarterstaff. The man and halfling swung at each other to no avail, but the human managed to push Perry away just as a man with a light crossbow stepped around the corner and winged Perry. Vlad, deciding that he was finally needed, cast his Color Spray spell into the hallway and knocked Perry and his two combatants unconscious. Two more humans peeked around the corner, guessed they were facing a spellcaster, and ran.

Meanwhile, Alex, Abe, and Ragnrr had succeeded in slaying the other goblins, except for the three they had already captured. Ragnrr had been increasingly distressed, as he was forced to kill goblins he had known personally from when he had worked amongst them. He asked that they be spared. Vlad wanted to slit their throats right then and there, arguing that they were a menace they couldn't afford to let run free. Alex was torn between feelings of mercy and justice. Perry was able to suggest several means of offing the prisoners. Finally, Abe and Alex led Ragnrr away, and Perry and Vlad forced their prisoners to march up one of the two flights of stairs leading from this room. The stairs led to tunnels that ended at "eyes" -- eyes one sees from the bay, belonging to a giant skull-like face in the cliffside here. Perry and Vlad pushed two of the goblins over the side of the cliff, but the third turned and grappled with Vlad. Despite a height advantage on the diminuitive goblin, Vlad still found himself pulled side-by-side with the goblin at the edge of the cliff. Perry tossed marbles on the floor underneath both of them. Vlad managed to keep his balance, but the goblin didn't and plummeted to his death as well.

And back in town, Hristo had parted from Barada so the gnome could return to his hostel room and get some sleep. However, he was later awoken by someone pounding on his door...

To be continued...

FLASHBACK: FROM THE SECOND PLAYING SESSION

Setting: Various locales in the free town of Prymp, the Alyssan Coastline, and Skull Keep

Readying 11th.

That morning, Alexander told his father, Phillip Petrok, about his mission to clear the brigands from Skull Keep. Phillip, the Captain of the Town Watch, was proud of his son and wished him well.

Everyone met at the west gate in the palisade surrounding the New City.

Except for Abraham the Radiant. Since this was Godsday, he was expected to be at the shrine and perform services. So attractive was the lure of adventuring though, that he asked Cassandra Milnov, wandering priestess of Pelor, to take his place for the day. At the last minute. Before leaving.

Cass was POed.

In a half hour, Abraham managed to catch up with the band, who had gotten fed up and left without him. They spent the day following the sandy beach. They talked throughout the day, comparing their abilities. They could hear birds frequently in the distance, but encountered nothing. Their sleep was uneventful as well, though they had been wise enough to post watches.

Readying 12th.

The shoreline gradually grew higher and rockier as they marched on to Skull Keep. At last, Alexander spotted a lone tower in the distance. This was all that remained of the upper levels of Skull Keep. They approached the tower warily, noting that the single door leading into the tower was already bashed in. They circled south around the tower, looking for the Pit.

The Pit was as impressive as Laird Tapinov had described it. It was 40' in diameter, and deeper than could be seen. Abraham through a pebble into the Pit, that fell for a few seconds before hitting something. A plan was made that the gnome, Hristo, would be lowered by rope into the Pit. Two 50' lengths of rope were tied together, but one length of rope was snapped as everyone took turns testing each others knots. Hristo became disheartened about the idea, and Ragnarr lost patience and stormed off to the tower.

The ground floor of the tower was gutted and empty, with a rubble-choked stairwell going up, but also with stairs going down. Abraham lit his lantern, and the party descended the spiral staircase. Soon they came to a landing with two doors, with the option of descending further. Ragnarr bashed each door in turn, and the humans in the party waited in darkness while Ragnarr peered down the hallway beyond each door. The party chose the western corridor, which lead them to a side door. Ragnarr also bashed this open. The room inside was a barracks, and standing there were five human brigands picking up their shields and longswords.

Between the party's shield bashing, longsword thrusting, and back stabbing, the brigands fell quickly -- especially since they had been caught without their armor on. Two brigands surrendered. One of them was knocked unconscious. Hristo and Abraham went out into the hallway to stand guard. Barada closed the door, while Alexander and Ragnarr interrogated the terrified brigand remaining. The brigand quickly revealed that there were several dozen men left, and an equal number of goblins. They worked for pirates, and were there solely to defend the entrance. He identified his leader as Demonkos, and gave them a description, after which they knocked him out and tied him up.

Meanwhile, Hristo and Abraham were beating on the door wanting to come in, because twice as many brigands were running down the hall towards them. Barada and Alexander held the brigands off at the doorway, after letting one into the room for Hristo to backstab. Fighting one-on-one, the brigands were no match for Barada and Alexander, and after five of them fell, a leader in the back shouted for them to retreat. Ragnarr raced out into the hall to pursue them, with the others following. The leader, a man in splintmail armor, matched the description of Demonkos.

Ragnarr barreled past the two brigands left to defend the archway at the end of the hall, and Alexander and Barada engaged the two brigands in melee. Demonkos was running through a doorway, and Ragnarr shield-bashed one of the two brigands guarding the doorway. Barada quickly felled his opponent, and rushed ahead while Alexander had trouble with his foe. Barada had taken some scratches, and now changed weapons to his short bow. Ragnarr found himself facing Demonkos and four more brigands in the new room, so Ragnarr backed off. Demonkos took advantage of this by shouting for his men to follow him to the goblin room, and they all fled down a corridor leading east. Barada used his bow to pick off the brigand on Alexander from behind.

Complicating matters, the thieves, Hristo and Perpegilliam, had decided to circle around to the other side of the stairwell room, thinking that way might connect to where the brigands had fled. They convinced Abraham to accompany them. The thieves, scouting ahead of Abraham, turned a corner and saw a room with five more brigands getting crossbows ready. Perry began throwing caltrops on the ground behind them as they snuck back to Abraham. Perry shouted, and sent Abraham running back to the stairwell room with the lantern, while Perry and Hristo hid to either side of the intersection waiting to backstab. The brigands were badly injured by the caltrops, but they spotted the hiding thieves by light reflecting off their short swords. The ambush was foiled, and Hristo took a nasty hit from a crossbow. Perry tripped up one with marbles, and the others fell slowly in a prolonged melee against the three adventurers. They left one conscious, and were questioning him for more information when the rest of the party found them. Abraham healed their captive, and then Hristo. It was decided that they would round up their prisoners and return to the surface to rest.