Prymptown Courier v. 1 no. 3

PRYMPTOWN COURIER
Vol.1, No. 3 (Dec. 1998)

EDITORIAL

Guess what? Since its so close to Christmas, I'm making this my Christmas gift to all of you! For most of you, this is all you'll be getting from me (hehehe). Actually, I'm hoping that people appreciate it, because this issue is going out to more people than usual. Think of it as a sample issue to try, and you can subscribe if you like it -- don't you wish DRAGON Magazine did that?

Something else very important is coming up this month, campaign-wise. This next playing session will be the sixth playing session of the campaign. Since our playing sessions are always monthly, that marks the first half-year of a successful -- and I'm hoping long-lived -- campaign. I have rough plans already made for the next five years (real time) of gaming. I hope most people are still on their first characters by then. By then, the PCs should be well-known and influential adventurers. They should have some of their personal goals accomplished already, and have new ones to pursue as well. They will have dozens of NPC friends and allies, and probably even more enemies. Then, on the other hand, character deaths and retirements will bring new blood into the campaign to keep it fresh and new. I certainly look forward to seeing how things have progressed in five year's time.

GAMING STORES

Although inconveniently far for most of us, the Comic Quest store in Dundee is useful for its wide selection and 10% discount. The Graham Cracker Comics store in Naperville has good selection too, and the smartest staff of the Graham Cracker chain. Still, I miss Dreamland Comics' 15% discount, and Iron Tower's HUGE selection...

Earlier this month, when I was returning from St. Charles with my Christmas tree, I was passing through downtown Geneva for the first time in awhile, and I chanced to notice on the north side of the street a new store called "Beyond Reality: A Gamer's Haven" -- or something very close to that. Unfortunately, it was 11 am, and the store didn't open until noon! But I could see through the window that they sold both wargaming and role-playing games, and a sign inside told me that they had gaming rooms up on the second floor (think of it -- not a basement, but a room with a view!).

I still haven't found the time to go back, but I mean to find out more about that store someday. In fact, it might be worth some XP for someone's character if they went to the store on their own and reported back to me about it...

ONLINE RESOURCES

Last time, I encouraged everyone who hadn't already to take a look at Kent Mathewson's Codex of Greyhawk Website. This time I'd like to mention a site a little nearer and dearer to my heart -- the Greytalk Archives.

For 16 months now, I've been a member and contributor to the Greytalk listserv. With people from as far away as New Zealand, we discuss everyday some aspect of THE WORLD OF GREYHAWK -- our favorite fantasy game setting. Needless to say, my contributions have been staggering...

The Archives are at 24.112.96.246/greytalk.nsf/. They are searchable by topic, date (back to Oct. 1995), and author. Feel free to try it, seeing what comes up for topics relevant to your character. Or look up Casper or Scvolstagg. I have over 200 of my e-mails archived there.

THE FIFTH PLAYING SESSION

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).

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).

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

Quote of the Month: "Sure, I charge into the room!"

~Alexander's player, who had missed the description of the room and the carrion crawler in it.

Setting: Prymp, free town on the Ahlissan Coast of the South Province; Skull Keep, west of Prymp along the coast; and the beach between these points.

Readying 13th, 581 CY.

The Band of the Grinning Gargoyle, upon returning to the upper level of the dungeons beneath Skull Keep, decided that rest was in order before they explored any further. The returned to the main hall, and barred themselves into one of the three small goblin barracks they had cleared out previously. Despite the bar on the door, they were this time careful to take watches, and it occurred to Alexander that it would be a good idea to have Ragnrr stand watch during the goblins' shift changes so he could tell them to go away inconspicuously.

After eight hours of sleep, Abraham was awoken for his watch, during which he prayed to Pelor to grant him the healing magics that he and his companions seemed to so often need. During his watch, Ragnrr needed to be woken up to deal with goblins at the door, which was the second time he had done so since they camped in. Vladamir awoke and quickly rememorized Color Spray and Phantasmal Force. Abe used his healing knowledge to tend to everyone's wounds, which in all cases were only light. Now came time to decide what direction the party should next take.

Perpegilliam argued hard for returning to town. He was tired of constantly throwing himself into danger and longed for the comforts that Prymp offered. The others, however, were all enthusiastic about seeing what more the dungeon held on the level below. Vlad suggested a compromise, that they would just take a look on the lower level and see what it was like. To this Perry agreed. Next, it was decided that the stairwell they would take to descend would be the spiral staircase that led down from the entry tower.

Ragnrr opened the door and scanned the hallway, signaling to the others that the cost was clear.

And so, they descended the steps until they reached a much lower landing. Here there were two doors, and the stairs continued to climb downward. Alex wanted to see what was behind the door immediately to the right. Perry listened at the door and heard nothing. Ragnrr opened the door, looked down the corridor beyond to the left, and screamed in horror. He bolted past the others and ran up the stairs. Alex stepped out into the hallway, curious to see what had frightened Ragnrr. He froze as he saw four skeletons -- walking as if they were alive! Their bones clattered together as they walked and the sound sent shivers down his spine. Abe entered the hall in front of Alex to see what was going on, and upon seeing the walking dead he held out his Holy symbol and tried to call on Pelor to turn back the undead. His attempt failed and the skeletons shambled towards him. Alex, overcome with fear, took off back into the room and headed up the stairs after Ragnrr. Perry stuck his head out into the hall, and seeing walking skeletons, closed the door. Abe was quickly surrounded by the four skeletons, and he turned his back on them to open the door. The skeletons pounded on the back of his armor with their bony fists until he managed to swing the door open and close himself safely in the room on the other side. By then, Perry and Vlad had already fled to join the others, and Abe ran to catch up to them.

Catching their breath in the hallway above, Perry chastised the fighters for their cowardice. Abe was somewhat annoyed with the hobniz for leaving him down there alone, but Perry's good humor quickly soothed Abe's anger and lightened the mood of the fighters Alex and Ragnrr until they felt much their old selves. It was theorized by the fledgling adventurers that some area of the lower dungeon might be blocked off from the goblins and brigands and filled with monsters like those walking skeletons. They would take another stairwell leading down that would hopefully circumvent any undead. It was decided that the last stairs they found, in the northeast corner of the dungeon, would be the stairs they would try next.

The second stairwell led down to a room filled with junk and pillars. Crawling between the pillars was a huge, slimy, slithering, yellowish creature with huge eyes, dozens of short legs, and a mass of tendrils waving from its face. Alexander, rushed up to attack immediately, catching it by surprise. Ragnrr rushed to aid him, and Abraham slung stones at it. Vlad, confidant that he would be safe attacking from behind the monster, circled round and stabbed it in the behind. The creature shrieked and gurgled, and turned around -- its whipping tendrils dripping some kind of gooey secretion. Vlad cast a Phantasmal Force spell, conjuring phantasmal daggers that hurled themselves at the great beast. The beast was injured by this further, and when Alex sunk the entire length of his long sword into it, it rolled across the room and stopped moving forever. Alex walked over, drew his sword out of the beast, and stabbed it repeatedly to make sure the gruesome monster was dead.

Vlad and the others set about searching the room. Coinage was soon found in the wreckage, and Vlad even found a dark blue stone that looked valuable. Perry volunteered to appraise it, and informed the others that it was a precious stone and might fetch as much as 50 gold Ivids in town. Vlad continued to search the room, while Abe searched the walls for secret doors, and Perry examined a trap door in the floor. The door was clearly visible from this side, and even had a ladder attached to it that would swing down when it was swung open. Perry opened the trap door slowly and quietly, and saw a short shaft that opened into another hallway below. Alex and Ragnrr grabbed Perry by the heels and lowered him headfirst into the corridor so he could see what there was to see. He reported a door at one end of the hall nearby, and the other end of the hallway stretched further than his meager dungeon sight would allow him to see. By now, Vlad was convinced the room held no more treasure, and Abe had given up on finding any secret doors. This new prospect of exploring the corridor below appealed to all, and so the ladder was lowered. It ended five feet above the dungeon floor, and one by one the adventurers lowered themselves from the ladder to the dungeon floor below.

Perry listened to the door and heard nothing. Trying the door and finding it stuck, Perry stepped back and let Ragnrr shoulder it open. Ragnrr stepped into a large room with cobwebs hanging from the ceiling, and promptly had an enormous black spider the size of his back drop on top of him. The spider had a red hourglass shape on its back, and the party cringed as they saw it sink its fangs into Ragnrr's shoulder through his chainmail armor. Ragnrr yelled in surprise and spun in circles as he flailed at the spider sitting on his back. Alex lunged forward with his long sword and managed only to nick Ragnrr. Abe moved to help, beating on the spider with his mace. Finally, Alex managed to angle a good thrust into the beast that dropped it to the floor and left it dying. Abe immediately looked at Ragnrr's wounds, and tried to suck poison from the bite marks.

Alex and Vlad stood watch, but Perry decided to wander off and see if it was safe down the corridor heading the other way. Perry quickly came to a four-way intersection. Off to the left the corridor dead-ended, but going straight, he came to a dead-end that had a four foot-diameter tunnel leading out of it to the right. This was too tempting for the diminuitive thief to pass up, and he walked into the tunnel.

Even after some magical curing, Ragnrr did still not feel his best, but he said he would be fine. Abe and Alex began to search the room, and debated the wisdom of burning the webs on the ceiling. Vlad was leery of going into the room, and remained in the corridor. The room Alex and Abe were in had a pair of double doors at the back of an alcove to the left, and single doors in the far and right walls respectively.


It was just then that the double doors flew open and goblins began pouring into the room. Alex and Abe stood back-to-back in the middle of the room while spear-wielding goblins circled round them. Ragnrr pointed to Alex and Abe and ordered the goblins to attack before slinking back into the corner. Then Ragnrr lunged out to stab the incoming goblins from behind. The melee was on, and more goblins kept pouring into the room from the double doors!

Vlad, wishing to balance the odds, cast Color Spray into the room. Five goblins were stunned unconscious, but with them fell Alex who had been standing facing Vlad. Abe found himself surrounded, but for the most part held their spears at bay while whirling his mace into their midst. Ragnrr found himself backed into the corner of the room by three goblins with spears, but he was quickly fighting his way out. In fact, most of the spear-wielding goblins had been felled within a few rounds, but morning star-swinging reinforcements kept coming into the room, and it looked like they numbered to be more than a score. As the battle raged on, and Abe and Ragnrr stood alone against tremendous odds, Alex slowly awoke from the Color Spray spell. He rose to his feet, but called for retreat. He and Abe fled the room with Ragnrr trying to cover their backs. Before he could run himself for the exit, Ragnrr took a vicious blow from a morning star and doubled over. The goblins, quick to punish the traitorous hobgoblin, swarmed over him and beat him until he was dead -- which occurred just minutes before the spider venom in his blood would have killed him.

And so, Ragnrr was lost. The Band of the Grinning Gargoyle mourned. And their numbers were now four.

Perry had been wandering slowly through the twisting tunnels, and soon came upon an opening to a large room filled with stone coffers. Before he could explore further, he heard the sounds of his comrades in battle and had come running. He feared they would be lost in battle and there would be no one to boost him up to the ladder hanging from the upper level. He arrived after the battle was lost, and was helped up the ladder as the band quickly fled back up before the goblins could regroup and pursue them.

Alex, Abe, and Vlad were all wounded -- Abraham seriously -- and they were out of spells. There seemed to be no alternative but to flee the dungeon and head back to town before the whole second dungeon level came up after them. They feverishly racked their brains for a way to escape the dungeon without having to fight their way past the twenty humanoids camped outside. Of course, Perry knew that there were fewer out there now, but did not want to get caught in a lie. He listened to the others come up with a daring scheme, and while he called it stupid and unnecessary, Perry chose to go along with it rather than reveal his lie.

The four adventurers stood in one of the tunnel entrance/eye holes to the skull of Skull Keep. They tied the last of their rope together, and fastened it to a spike that was pounded in the tunnel floor. They stripped off their armor and bundled it up on their backpacks. Vlad wrapped as much around his spellbook as he could, hoping to keep it as dry as possible. They took one of the tables from the nearby room and tossed it over the side of the 40 foot cliff and watched their improvised raft hit the calm waters of Relmor Bay below. And then they began to lower themselves one by one down the side of the cliff.

Alexander volunteered to be the first down the rope that would carry him from the cave mouth, down the 40 foot cliff, to the gentle saltwater waves of Relmor Bay. Rappelling down the cliff, he discovered that the last ten feet or so had no cliff face. Here it opened up into what served as the mouth to the giant skull face of Skull Keep. The floating table which would serve as their life raft to freedom was slowly floating into the dark cave. Alex shinnied down the rope and grabbed hold of the overturned table. He swam with it in place as Abraham next came down the rope. Alex warned Abe about the cave opening, and soon Abe too was in the water. They climbed on either end of the table and carefully balanced themselves so as not to tip over their table/raft.

While Vlad and Perry were wondering who would go down next, Vlad spotted another large spider -- this time no bigger than a cat -- but after seeing what the last spider did to Ragnrr they were in no hurry to battle it. In fact, they were nearly tripping over each other trying to be the first one down the rope. Perry was a little faster and shinnied down very fast. Vlad followed, letting go of the cave mouth ledge just before the spider reached his hand.

Down on the raft, Alex had been watching the cave mouth carefully, and as his eyes adjusted to staring into the darkness, he could see figures moving about in the cave. Unsure of how to handle the problem, Alex called out to warn the others and tried to see if there were boats in cave. Sure enough, as he squinted hard to see into the cave, he could make out two rowboats, and could see that some of the people in the cave were boarding them. Just then, crossbows were fired from the stationary people in the cave. Alex and Abe dived into the water for cover, Abe getting grazed by a bolt. They flipped up the table and held it between them for cover.

Vlad and Perry, still coming down the rope, were aware now that Abe and Alex were under attack. They began to swing to either side like a pendulum, building distance, so that they could jump off the rope and land in the water on the east side of the cave mouth. They landed with a splash, and managed to come up to the surface still clutching their backpacks. Both Abe and Perry were having difficulties staying afloat though. Alex was strong enough to swim while helping to hold Abe abovewater, but when Vlad tried to do that for Perry, Perry started to pull Vlad under. In order not to drown both of them, Perry had to cut free a sack full of treasure that was weighing him down. Suddenly more buoyant, Perry was able to swim again and all four of them swam safely towards the shore.

However, one of the rowboats was keeping up with them, and it held three lightly-armored pirates in it. While Abe, Perry, and Vlad began to climb up onto the rocky shore, one pirate stood up in the boat and threw spears at them. Alex had lingered behind underwater, and came up underneath the boat. He grabbed the side of it and began to pull down with all his might, shaking the rowboat enough to throw off the spear thrower's aim. The pirate began stabbing down into the water, and Alex was forced to swim for shore and rejoin the others. The boat reached the shore just as Alex did, and he seemed prepared to stay and fight to guard the others' retreat. Retreat was just what Perry kept doing, but Abe and Vlad -- sensing Alex's intended sacrifice -- turned around and started to come back. Just then, a pirate from the boat hurled a hand axe at Vlad and hit. Vlad, for the first time in his life, was seriously injured. Vlad and Abe both decided again to flee, and Alex's bravery failed him too. With hurled weapons falling behind them, they fled eastward down the beach until they knew they weren't being followed anymore.

They rested just long enough to catch their breaths, and then continued on, hoping to return to Prymp as soon as possible. Along the way, they found two cairns high up on the beach that were not there before. They guessed that something had gone wrong with Barada and Hristo's attempt to take the prisoners back to Prymp, and this made them all the more determined to reach home.

Readying 14th

Early that morning, the Band of the Grinning Gargoyle made it back into Prymp. They entered the already-busy New Market. In fact, it was so busy that they failed to spot Barada and Hristo as those two friends set out to rejoin the others at Skull Keep.

Perry was the first to sneak off. Having escaped from the Keep relatively unscathed, he was ready to look into finding the mysterious Flying Turtle Guild that may have been responsible for his father's disappearance. Having been out of town for awhile, it was time to make new contacts, and that meant slinking off into the dangerous Dock District.

For Abraham, his top priority was finding an armorer. He had nearly drowned during the escape carrying a second suit of chainmail armor on his back, and he was determined to get a good price for it! He looked around the New Market to see if an armorer has set up shop there. Instead, he found some drunken sailors who mistook Abe for one of them. When he tried to ignore them, they just followed him around yelling at him to get his attention. Abe decided that it was worth it to pay the toll to enter the Old City just to get away from them. Besides, there was always Corvek's Armory not too far from his shrine...

Alex and Vlad had already been stopped at the gate to the Old City. Alex used the fact he was a templar to get him and Vlad through without paying the toll, though the watchmen were hesitant to let a member of the Guard through for free. Alex and Vlad then parted company to go report to each one's superior.

Alexander found his way to Prymp Keep, and inquired as to where he could find his father, Philip Petrok. Alex found Philip, Captain of the Guard and High Templar of Zilchus, up on one of the towers, gazing down over the town. Alex reported everything he had seen, fought, and killed to his father, bragging that he had helped kill forty bandits with just a small group of men. Philip was shocked at the numbers of the brigands, but was also beaming with pride that his son had been so successful. Philip asked his son to take a moment and admire the view of the town below, and reminded Alex that it was his duty to protect Prymp from any dangers. To this task Alex readily reaffirmed himself. Alex told his father what he knew of the pirates connected with the brigands, and Philip promised to have the watch scour the Dock District for any trace of them.

Vlad reported to the Guard's Garrison, and was ushered in to see Adam Belkos, Castellan of the Garrison. Senator Gart Barlos had left a few days earlier with Sir Taulis of Balay on business to see the Governor at Vecheld Gesto. Thus, Vlad was left to give his report to the Castellan. Belkos admitted to having only some knowledge of Vlad's original mission -- which was to keep an eye on Abraham the Radiant and see if the Pelorite was a rabble-rouser or a troublemaker. However, as Vlad began his report, Belkos took much more of an interest in learning of this brigand activity so close to town. He ordered Vlad to make a detailed report of everything that went on at Skull Keep for Barlos to read upon returning.

Vlad asked to see the prisoners that were brought back from Skull Keep by Barada and Hristo. Only three prisoners had been brought into the Garrison, and only just that morning (confirming the party's theory that the cairns on the shore had belonged to two dead brigands and not Barada and Hristo). Vlad requested the opportunity to question them, which was granted. The three men glared at Vlad with hateful eyes, but the ungentle persuasion of the guardsmen had left them prone to cooperation. They worked for Demonkos, they said, not the pirates. It had been Demonkos who arranged their employment guarding the upper level of Skull Keep's dungeons. They had no dealings with the pirates, and had seldom been on the second dungeon level, where they presumed the pirates were. They were occasionally given leave to visit town, but normally chose Porton to the west because it was closer than Prymp to the east. With Vlad's questioning completed, Belkos passed sentence on the three men. Due to their cooperation, the punishment of death was changed to a lifetime of hard labor for each of them.

Perry chose a particularly seedy street in the Dock District to head down. There was a hostel at the end of it which Perry had not been to in several years. However, the hostel was no longer as hostile as Perry remembered it, and he was nearly tripped over by a friend just as he was entering. Taver Royskov was a mercenary soldier -- often unemployed but never out of money -- of Perry's acquaintance. Taver was on his way out of the hostel trying to escape the attention of Ferenc -- a half-orc dead-beat who had annoyed Perry on many an occasion. Ferenc was in the middle of his usual scheme, hitting up ex-friends for money, and was all too glad to see Perry. Taver was also delighted to see Perry, and made use of the opportunity to slip away while Ferenc was distracted.

Ferenc shared with Hristo that he had a new scheme. Many people around town had heard about, and were taking an interest in the mysterious Flying Turtle Guild. Ferenc would pretend to have information about them, exchange fabricated information for money upfront, and then leave quickly. Perry doubted the wisdom of this scheme, but encouraged Ferenc to go with it, and inquired as to who had been asking about the guild, and how Ferenc had first heard about them. Ferenc became convinced that Perry knew something about the guild, and tried to pump the hobniz for information. Perry promised to keep in touch, and sent Ferenc on his way. Perry had plans for the rest of the afternoon that involved finding a human lady of ill repute who liked her men short...

Abe spent some time chatting with the armorer. Corvek was a coldly polite man who took his time examining the armor. Corvek was interested in trading for the armor, or else Abe would have to wait until the next day for Corvek to have the coinage the armor was worth. Abe settled for upgrading to a brand new suit of chainmail and 12 gold Ivids in exchange for the two used and battered suits. The new suit was a little tight in the chest, which Corvek promised to alter by adding some links to the hauberk by the next day.

Having finished his shopping, Abe returned to his shrine to find it still in order. He deposited his adventuring gear in his private room, and knelt to pray. He had missed Godsday services, and had that for which to pray for forgiveness, as well as a prayer of thanks for his successful first foray as an adventurer. Abe's meditations were later interrupted by Ned Flandev -- carpenter and devout Pelorite. Ned was pleased to see his spiritual leader back, assured him that Cassandra Milnov had done an excellent job of leading the Godsday sermon in his absence, and invited Abe out for a drink at the tavern of his choice. Abe, naturally enough, chose the Grinning Gargoyle Tavern, and bore out Flandev's company until suppertime, when he anticipated his fellow adventurers would join him.

Alex next went to report to the chapel of Zilchus and Priest Leris Borgev, to whom the templars answered. However, Borgev was on an errand for the curate, and Alex had an audience with Recar Adderal, the head of the church. Adderal listened closely to everything Alex had to tell him about Skull Keep, though little of it was news to him, having heard it from the noniz Hristo just the other day. Adderal had no knowledge of where Hristo and Barada went after their audience with him. Although concerned with the brigand menace, Adderal was content to wait and see how the watch and the guard handled the problem. Alex, though, was becoming increasingly worried about Barada and Hristo's whereabouts, and was relieved to hear that Alex would be given no new duties for a few days' time as reward for his deeds. Alex resolved to look for his missing friends. He bade the curate farewell, and returned to Prymp Keep. However, the watchmen there who had spoken to Barada and Hristo also had no knowledge as to where the adventurers had gone to after leaving the castle gates.

The Kostitov House was the finest dwelling in Prymp west of Prymp Keep. There, Vlad was greeted by his sister-in-law, Gabrielle, who was watching the three youngest Kostitov's while everyone else in the family was out. Vlad sympathized with her, as he knew what a handful Kolos, Katrina, and Leib -- all between the ages of 4 and 11 -- could be. However, having been away for a few days, he was glad to hear their racket again. Gabrielle promised to keep the children away, but failed quickly as they periodically dropped in to disturb him as he wrote his report up in his room. Nevertheless, he still managed to finish his report and returned to the Garrison with it before dinner.

At the Grinning Gargoyle Tavern, Abe had been joined by an unpleasant-looking man with a twisted lip who identified himself as Ellisov. Ellisov understood from the tavernkeeper that Abe was an adventurer, and Ellisov was looking to be hired by one. He had been by trade a professional shield bearer, and had worked until recently in the Provincial army of the Herzog protecting a spellcaster. Now freelance, he wished to hire himself out to another one. Abe explained that the party would all be there for dinner, and Ellisov could talk to them as a group then. To this Ellisov agreed, and walked off.

And eventually Abe was joined by Alex and Vlad. They settled into a good meal of ale and fish, and were joined by Perry about halfway through. Perry was in good spirits after an invigorating afternoon, and in fact everyone felt they had made good use of their time alone. Now, however, was the time for planning. Everyone agreed that Barada and Hristo needed to be found, but no plan for finding them was forthcoming. Then Ellisov approached the table and introduced himself. Vlad coldly asked him to leave. He had lost a father and a brother in the Herzog's service, and he would work with no one who served in the Provincial army.

Now Vlad was in a foul mood, and Perry was grumpy as he had to wait too long for service, he felt. The next topic of discussion was whether to return to Prymp Keep. Perry was flatly against this, as he had been injured while there several times and did not enjoy it. Again, no definite plan of action could be reached. While discussing this, Jerwon Charik -- the Baliff of the Watch -- came in to dine alone in his favorite tavern. Alex went over to join him, but Perry felt uncomfortable in the presence of authority and soon slunk off. The meeting of the Band of the Grinning Gargoyle was adjourned.

On his way back to the hostel, Perry saw a dwarf and a human approach him on the street. Not wanting to deal with anyone else that day, Perry ducked down a side street and nimbly evaded them.