Vol. 2, No. 9 (Sept. '99)
EDITORIAL
This session was important for four reasons.
Firstly, this was the first really big trip that the PCs had ever been on. Skull Keep was just a day's journey from Prymp; the typical "dungeon in your backyard" that all starting PCs get to cut their adventuring teeth on. Peri and Abe did travel south and west (about a day and a half away) once, but didn't really do anything except get terrified at the thought of meeting death dogs and run back home. This time, the PCs were moving way out west. Uninterrupted, they would have crossed the entire Ahlissan Coast in about a week. Of course, uninterrupted travel is never any fun, and so...
Secondly, this was the first time I planned to follow a published module, albeit heavily modified and adapted to Dungeons & Dragons. The module was "Pirates of Pelargir," MERP module #8104, from 1987. MERP is the Middle Earth Role-Playing game, and while I've never played the game
before, I can tell from this module that it has a high death rate for PCs. The first encounter at sea is with a kraken. Naturally, I toned down the encounter tremendously so that there would still be a campaign after this session.
I chose this module because it dealt with pirates -- the main villains of this whole campaign so far -- and I knew it would be tough. If the PCs were going to take down the pirate lords of Galdol -- and I honestly didn't think they should be up to that at their level -- I was not about to make it easy for them.
Incidentally, I used the layout for The Lady Gilwen -- the ship the PCs are meant to take in the module -- for The Cormorant, the ship the PCs' sought out. It's a minor slip, because the PCs specifically sought out a small ship, and The Lady Gilwen is fairly large. Still, none of the players seemed too concerned with the discrepancy.
Thirdly, this session introduced Hristo's Dream Garden, which had previously been introduced in a flashback story in a previous issue of the COURIER. The Garden was inspired by Mark Oakley's THIEVES & KINGS, a small press comicbook from Canada which I had just recently picked up and had very impressed me. The Garden may become even more important in the future, depending on which adventure hooks catch my PCs. No one has guessed yet where I got Pilf from. Shows how
illiterate my players are...
Fourthly, this was the first time we had ever been to the new house Barada's player had bought waaayy up north in Themiddleofnowhere, Illinois. It was a long drive, but worth it to see Barada once again played by his actual player! In fact, one could say the fifth important aspect of this session was that I didn't have to play any PCs this time. We had perfect attendance!
LETTERS
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 99 09:36AM PST
From: Marc Tizoc Gonzalez
To: GREYTALK@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: [GREYTALK] South Province Campaign
Update 25-26
Scott,
This campaign update is hilarious--a wand of turtle-making!
Alone in a corner, I noticed:
> Dargog, Neutral male Blu-Jebline rogue (1st level Thief,
played as NPC).
And wondered whether your term Blu-Jebline translates as
xvart?
Marc Tizoc
[The answer, of course, was that Dargog is a Hobgoblin. The
question was asked because Gygax calls them Ho-Jebline, but
I dislike that name and made my own prefix.]
From: Thomas J. Ratz II TJRatz2@mindspring.com
To: scvolstagg@visto.com
Subject: Peris' alignment
Sent: 12/21/1999 17:17
I've been playing Peri as Chaotic neutral (evil) from the start.
For the most part because you wouldn't let me start him off
as Chaotic neutral, the evil part was to piss the party off.
(Sorry about that whole pi$$ word thing). So, my thought is
why don't we just say Peri is Chaotic Neutral, or is there a
penalty for changing in that manner?
~Tom
Your most devote follower and High Priest (Brownie
points???????)
[Tom received no brownie points, but his PC now has
Chaotic tendencies.]
Date: Sun, 26 Dec 99 13:57PM PST
From: "Thomas J. Ratz II"
To: GREYTALK@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: [GREYTALK] Prymptown Courier
If anyone is interested out there, Scott Casper maintains a
small mailing list for his South Province campaign updates
called the 'Prymptown Courier'. The Courier contains the
information that Scott posts here as well as other articles
like the diary of Vladamir Kostitov, The Misadventures of
Perpegilliam Brown, Character histories, Interviews with the
citizenry of Prymp, and an assortment of other recuring
themes of the Band of the Grinning Gargoyle. If you'd like
to be in on the hype send an email for subscription to Scot
Casper at SCVolstagg@Visto.com, Don't Delay!!!!!!
Plus we've seen all the spellings of the same name. So now
you decide, should it be Perry, Perri, or Peri?
[I don't think anyone has yet responded, but I'm sticking
with Peri...]
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1999 09:30:02 -0800
From: Scott Casper
Subject: South Province Campaign Bibliography
Hi again!
No, this isn't the next installment of the Inspirational
Reading Annotated Bibliography, which is on hold right
now (manager's watching me a bit too close lately at work).
Instead, it's an indirect response to Thomas "Peri" Ratz
who wrote:
>I started playing D&D in 1980, when Gygax was God and
>TSR was heaven.
Yes, that's a nice line....Skipping ahead...
>I haven't played through a TSR [module] since the late
>eighties.
As his DM for the most of that time, I guess I would be
responsible for that. What I thought I would do, though, is
list what gaming products have gone into making my
campaign last one and a half years so far.
1. Dungeons & Dragons (1979 rulebook, for Skull Keep)
2. Dungeon Masters Guide (1979 rulebook, for dungeon
dressing tables)
3. World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983 boxed
set)
4. Pirates of Pelargir (MERP module from 1987)
5. DRAGON #136 (Aug. 1988 -- invaluable for town
designing)
6. Ivid the Undying (published in DRAGON in 1994, but I
usually go online when I need it)
[To this list I should have added module T1, The Village of
Hommlett, which always inspires my village design; and
module U1, The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, which gave
me the layout for Beregun Renspa's pirate ship.]
15th PLAYING SESSION
Cast:
Barada, Neutral male Flannish human mercenary (1st
level fighter).
Alexander Petrok, Lawful Neutral male Oerdian human
templar of Zilchus (1st level paladin variant) .
Perpegilliam Brown, Neutral male Hairfoot hobniz rogue
(SECOND 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).
Gabriel Lanovastorm, Mentherim-Dwur veteran (1st
level fighter).
Enlock, Neutral Good male Oerdian apprentice (1st level
magic-user).
Quote of the Month: "I roleplay better when I'm
unconscious."
~Enlock's player.
Setting: Prymp, Relmor Bay
Readying 28th. Freeday.
The adventure was on hold. Peri needed at least one more
day of training. Everyone felt let down, but no one wanted to
leave without the only member of their band who was already
training for the second time. Peri returned to the training
house. Tilwich, his gnome trainer, was there. He started Peri
on precision dagger throwing. Then they spend the whole
rest of the day going over everything from the last four days.
By night, both demi-humans were exhausted, but Tilwich
declared that Peri's training was over.
Peri, exhausted from his training, still made his way to the
Barrows and the home of his sister, Penniella Mordo. Penni
was less surprised to see her estranged brother this visit
than last time, but she was still taken somewhat aback when
Peri told her he had come to see her husband, Rondol.
Rondol Mordo was out, but Peri did not have a long wait
until the Hobniz 19 years his senior returned home. Peri
took Rondol aside and quietly, matter-of-factly, explained to
him that it was only a matter of time until the Provincial army
threatened Prymp, and then no one still there would be safe.
Then he handed Rondol a small bag with 30 gold Ivids and
a small semi-precious stone in it. He told her to use it to take
his sister and move her to safety.
Hristo was sleeping peacefully in his straw bed at Hogan's
Hostel. Or at least, he was until he was awoken by the
shaking of his bed underneath him. To Hristo's surprise, the
mattress beneath him rose up on its corners, as if they were
legs. As Hristo clung to it, contemplating jumping off, the
shutters flew open on his bedroom window. The mattress
jumped off the bed, and then bounded through the open
window, carrying the witless Noniz along with it.
And then the mattress laid still. Hristo looked around, and
saw that he was in The Garden.
The Garden looked much as he had remembered it. Starlit
beneath a cloudless sky, neatly-arranged beds of springtime
flowers were spread out as far as he could see. There were
short stone walls separating areas of the Garden from each
other, and a gargoyle face in one wall was spitting water into
a small pool.
Hristo approached the gargoyle face to examine it, but it
seemed to be ordinary stone. He looked back where his
mattress was laying, but did not see the window to his room.
He was beginning to think that something was amiss. He
decided to look over the wall and see what was behind it.
But when he grabbed the top and pulled himself up to peek,
someone was peeking back at him. It was a black-haired
gnome with green-hued skin.
It was Pilf. Hristo had not seen or even thought about him
since he was last in the Garden years ago, but he recognized
the unusual fellow at once. Still, Hristo felt somewhat
suspicious about his old friend, and the strange manner in
which they were being reunited.
Pilf lept over the wall. He welcomed Hristo, and explained
that the Countess Shadella had invited Hristo back to the
Garden. Sure enough, the Countess soon appeared. She
was an elven maiden in a long grey dress, just as Hristo
remembered her in fact, and she asked Hristo's forgiveness
for being out of touch for so long. She wished to catch up
on everything Hristo had been doing since his last visit --
where he had gone, what he had been doing, and who his
friends were. Hristo told her that he was an adventurer
now, and had been to Skull Keep, but was very tight-lipped
after that. He wanted to go back to his room. The Countess
commented on how sleepy Hristo looked, and he started to
feel very sleepy indeed. He curled up on a stone bench, and
was soon fast asleep again.
Coldeven 1st. Starday.
Hristo woke up in his room, in his bed, with his mattress
right where it should be and behaving normally for a mattress.
Vlad was the first to arrive at The Cormorant, the small trading
cog which would carry them east to the village of Dargveto.
Captain Hallatan Feldenov was on board, and Vlad informed
him that his band was ready to go, and that the captain needed
to have his ship ready to sail as soon as possible. Hallatan
said this was not a problem, and within the hour the Band of
the Grinning Gargoyle was on board -- save the hobgoblin
thief, Dargog. Instead of informing him that he was no longer
welcome in the party, he was just left behind. The Cormorant
weighed anchor, caught the wind with its sails, and pulled
away from the docks of Prymp. The town they all called home
dwindled in size as the ship rolled on over the waves.
Barada immediately took a dislike to that "rolling over the
waves" business. He retired to the cabin Hallatan had
reserved for one-half of the party and tried to remain as
motionless as possible in his hammock. Peri climbed up into
the rigging, and was soon in the crow's nest with one of the
mariners, Ormon, trading stories. Hristo hung around the
galley, in case the cook needed help checking the biscuits for
grubs. Alex and Vlad were introduced to Halmir, the captain's
son and second mate, and his new bride, Dorien. Dorien, a
freckled, blue-eyed, red-haired woman of 18, was immediately
liked by the party, though her marital status caused them
some consternation. They met Ragnis One-Eye, a scowling,
eye patch-wearing, old sailor. Vandos, adept of Velnius and
the ship's healer, also introduced himself.
The ship moved on across the coast throughout the day.
They passed the town of Porton without stopping. Vlad
approached the Captain to discuss the nature of ships -- and
how best to destroy them. If he set a fire in the hull of a ship,
how long would it take for the ship to burn down, and where
would be the best place to start the fire which would be
hardest to put out? Since the Captain was starting to panic,
Vlad had to confess their goal of reaching Galdol in order to
sabotage the pirate fleet there. Hallatan agreed that this was
a noble goal, and made what suggestions he could.
That night, Alex, Peri, Hristo, and Vlad joined together in
their crowded cabin for a game of poker. They allowed
First Mate, Ragnis One-Eye to join them, but he left in a huff
when the others started snickering about his missing eye.
Gabriel and Enlock were snubbed by the others; not allowed
in the game because they were new recruits. They stayed in
their cabin and did not even join the game later when Hristo
retired early.
Hristo awoke in the garden. Pilf was standing there,
apparently waiting for Hristo to wake up. Pilf suggested a
game of hide and seek. Hristo agreed, and wandered off
to hide. He snuck into a nearby hedge maze and waited.
Finally, he did hear someone approaching, but it turned
out to be the Countess again. Hristo still didn't trust her,
and resisted her seemingly endless barage of questions
about himself and his traveling companions.
Later, Peri woke up with a start. Some noise had roused him.
He snuck out into the tiny hallway. Peri began listening to
the four other doors in the corridor. Through one, he heard
Halmir and Dorien enjoying themselves though one door,
and was momentarily convinced that he had found the source
of the noise, until he heard a louder sound. It was someone
on deck crying out in horrible pain.
Hristo awoke with a start, jarred out of the Garden, by Peri
shaking him. Peri also woke up Vlad and told him to wake the
others. Peri whispered for Hristo to follow him. The two
thieves snuck out on deck. All was dark, but Peri thought he
could see someone standing halfway across the deck. He
started to sneak up on the lone figure. But Hristo was still
half-asleep, and thought he was on deck to relieve himself.
He leaned over the rail and made some noise. The noise
alerted the figure Peri was stalking, who suddenly sprang
around.
In the dim starlight, Peri could see that it was human-shaped,
but a monster covered with fur. In one hand it held the neck
of one of the crew members. Just beyond it was a second
such monster. The first one dropped the dead mariner and
sprang for Peri, who tumbled away. Hristo, who had his
sword with him, lunged in front of Peri to defend him.
Down in the hold where most of the crew slept, Gabriel and
Enlock were curled up in hammocks until they were roused
from their slumber by sound. To their horror, they beheld a
slick-furred wolf-man slitting the throats of the sleeping crew.
In an instant Gabriel had his battle axe in hand and was
racing into combat. As he shouted a battle cry, the remaining
mariners were roused. Enlock gestured and spoke the
incantations to summon a pool of grease beneath the feet of
the creature they faced. However, the rocking of the ship
made the pool of grease a greater menace than Enlock had
intended, as the grease tripped up not only the monster but
most of the sailors too!
Vlad had awoken Barada and Alex by now, who were geared
up for combat, and the ship's officers were just now waking.
Peri came running in, grabbed his weapons, informed them
that monsters were onboard, and dashed out to help Hristo.
Hristo was not doing well against his lone opponent, and had
taken several gashes from its teeth and claws. Fortunately,
the battle had moved so that their positions had reversed, and
now it was the monster who was closest to the aftcastle, with
his back turned to the returning Hobniz thief. Peri flung his
throwing dagger, which buried itself deep in the monster's
back.
As the others came running out to join the melee, the third
monster, which had contented itself with munching on the
watch crew, now joined in the melee. The battle was
ferocious. Alex took some scratches, while Peri had a
nasty bite wound. Hristo was seriously injured. But the tide
of battle was their's, and soon one of the monsters was dead.
As it lay on the deck convulsing, it transformed before their
eyes. It lost its man-like and wolf-like features and became a
dead seal. The remaining monster, already injured, fled down
into the hold.
Gabriel was hacking away at the monster, but when Enlock
tried to assist him with his quarterstaff, the monster ripped
into him and left Enlock critically injured and dying on the
floor. Vandos tried to help out by throwing a hammer at it,
but stayed in hiding after that. The situation looked even
worse when another monster came down the ladder into the
hold, but it was soon followed by the rest of the party.
Hallatan, Halmir, and Ragnis followed, but contributed little
to what remained of the battle. The two monsters,
surrounded and outnumbered, no longer had a chance.
The bodies of the foul things were chopped up and cast
overboard. Hallatan thought he knew what those things
might have been. He had heard legends of the sea which
spoke of such things as seawolves. Little more was said
of them as the dead members of the crew were gathered
together for a more respectful burial at sea. The Grinning
Gargoyle Band did not remain up for it, but returned to their
rooms for much needed rest. Aside from Alex's ability to
lay on hands, they no longer had any magical healing
available to them.
Coldeven 2nd. Sunday.
The Cormorant lurched into the port of Shargallen as best
they could, considering most of the non-officer crew was
dead. Hallatan Feldenov would spend the rest of the day
trying to hire a replacement crew. That left the band free to
rest in this new town.
Shargallen, a town roughly half the size of Prymp, was
surrounded by wall, with a keep separating the docks from
the rest of the town. Those wishing to enter had to
proceed through the keep and pay the entry fee. Compared
to the tax in Prymp for entering the Old City, the entry fee to
Shargallen seemed modest, and Hallatan covered it for the
whole group.
The sailors went one way and the Band went the other.
Where the Band wound up was the Happy Nymph Tavern.
Rooms were rented for the night, and those in need of rest
sought it out at once. Peri and Vlad split up to get supplies
for the rest of the trip. Peri purchased a three-gallon keg of
beer to bring back onboard with him. Vlad went to find a
cask of pitch, still enthusiastic about the idea of burning
the pirate ships in Galdol.
All were confident their goal would yet be reached...
TO BE CONTINUED
THE MISADVENTURES OF ...ALEXANDER PETROK?
(an alternate future, by "Perpegilliam Brown")
Rarely had it ever been this cold in Prymp, but for three days
now the icy winds of the north had bitten into the people of
Prymp. The people of the city had retreated indoors. It was
not just because of the cold which kept everyone indoors,
for the Herzogs' army had come, and had taken the city.
Standing in the darkness before the dawn was a figure clad
in plate armor. The knight leered down with concerned
eyes on the poor houses of his once great city. Ice clung to
the joints of his dented armor from the sleet that hit Prymp
the previous night. Alexander Petrok knew what the
Herzog's army was doing to the people. The way that
they kill the most innocent bystander for no offense done...
He knew of the dozens that had disappeared into Prymp
Keep, a former bastion of law, but now a jail for the doomed.
Alex had thought before that Prymp would never fall; that
the Band of the Grinning Gargoyle, the Ahlissan Fist, and
a handful of other adventuring bands would be enough to
stop the coming of that unholy army. The little damage they
could do never seemed to do much but stall the army for a
few weeks at a time. Though this may have bought time,
the doom that came to Prymp seemed unavoidable.
Alex turned to scale down the stairs of the ruined battlement.
His thoughts turned from what was done to what must be
done. Thirty or so men under his command were scattered
throughout the city, awaiting the next time their skills were
needed. Alex would use anywhere from three to ten of them
at a time to continue the warfare against the Herzogs'
occupying army. They had smashed siege gear, killed
troops, burned barracks, spoiled food, just about anything
to destroy the army. So far only five men of his own had
been killed in this, and none have been captured. Today he
would need as many men as possible. Alex had discovered
that the four generals of the army and their subordinates
would be gathered together in one hall -- The Grinning
Gargoyle.
Alex chuckled as he walked through the streets of the
dying city. He could only do so because of his father. In
the final days of Prymp, Phillip Petrok learned the true
nature of the Flying Turtle Guild, and was outraged. As
the Herzogs' army approached, he gave council to the
Herzog, and swore loyalty in exchange for protection
for the chapel of Zilchus and its priests and templars. The
Herzog agreed. Ironic, Alex thought, protection was
granted to him because he was a templar of Zilchus,
though he used that protection against those that granted
it. His father kept this promise until he saw the suffering
of his people. He turned against his word and in doing so
fell from grace. Now he wandered alone in the ruins of the
Petrok manner, the bodies of his slain family and servants
about him.
The chapel of Zilchus was enormous. Several steps led up
to the double doors. The chapel rose three stories to the
bell tower. On either side flying buttresses supported the
huge frame of the chapel, with gargoyles leering from the
roof of the chapel to the streets below. Over the doors to
the chapel was mounted a large disc of gold engraved
with the Holy symbol of Zilchus.
Walking inside, Alex was met by a kindly face. Vladamir
Kostitov and Alex met nearly a year ago at the Grinning
Gargoyle tavern, and adventured from that day forth.
Though now they were the only two members of the Band
of the Grinning Gargoyle still alive. Peri, Enloch, and
Barada died during thier attack on Galdol. Gabriel and
Hristo died during or soon after the war against the South
Province.
"Is everything ready? I don't want anything to go wrong
this time, we can't afford it." Vladamir asked.
Alex didn't even bother to turn torwards him to respond,
but just kept on walking. "All my men are prepared. The
meeting is to take place at sun up, so I would imagine
that they're meeting right now. We will smash them into
the ground before they know what hit 'em!"
"Don't fool yourself, Alex! Surprise is the only positive
note we have working for us here. What aid I and the
guild can offer will be insignificant in comparison to the
amount of protection these men will have."
"This will be our final action, our checkmate." Alex said,
his eyes gleaming with the lust of hate for the Herzogs'
men. "The plan is set so that no one gets out alive...no
one. Once the generals are gone their armies will be thrown
into disarray. Your precious guild should have a good
chance to drive them from the city then."
The two walked to the back of the chapel in silence. There, in
a small, concealed room was a half-orc in old, beaten leather
armor. Ferenc was a bumbling fool, but Peri had trained him
well. He was adept at guiding large amounts of men through
the city unnoticed.
Alex glared at the half-orc with distaste. "Are you prepared,
Ferenc?"
"Of course, my lord." Ferenc replied mockingly. It was no
surprise, as Ferenc had picked up Peris dislike for the Templar
and magnified it tenfold.
Vladamir stepped between the two. "The guild is paying you
a lot of money for this, Ferenc! Those words better be true or
you will die for your insolence."
"Yes, of course. Have I ever led you astray before?"
Vlad and Alex stared at the half-orc for a long moment.
"Enough with our bickering. Let us be on our way." The
familiar voice came from behind Alex and Vlad. Phillip
Petrok entered the room. The fallen templar was dressed
in splint mail armor and held a battle axe in hand.
"Father!" cried Alex, "What are you doing here? We don't
need your help."
"You need all the help you can get, now let's go!"
Alex had plenty more to say, but was stopped by Vlad who
now pulled the protesting Alex from the chapel. "It was I
who summoned him. Quiet your ramblings for now. You
have more pressing matters ahead."
As light was making its way over the city, Ferenc took the
small band through the many winding streets and alleyways
of the city, collecting their men as they went. Twice they
only barely escaped a patrol. As more men were gathered,
the harder it became to remain concealed. Here and there
they would go in groups of two or three to conceal their
numbers. Ferenc had planned ahead and had paid off the
guards at the southern-most gate to allow those few of
Alexander's men into the old city, the bribe costing him one
gold ivid a head. Eight men came through the gate. All
thirty men were gathered together behind the Grinning
Gargoyle when the bell tolled from the chapel of Zilchus.
As was the plan, the men stormed in. As was the plan, no
one got out alive . . . no one!
END
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