Tuesday, August 16, 2016

(Hackmaster) Burning Trogs Rule! #51: Welcome to Morosvia

24th of DecDec, 1135 Vadevincsky
The Trogs travel to Vadevincsky and say hello to Governor-General Cecelia Darkspruce.  She unable to be helpful, stuck in the tedious rut of administrating a formerly rebellious territory.  She does confirm that a Marakeikos military headquarters is residing inside the Vlachian Barony of Teleorman and it is investigating the disappearance of Marakeikan military units that crossed the border and simply vanished.  

Cecelia warns that finding shelter each night in these lands is of paramount concern.  It's not the matter of what will attack you or when, but rather, how many will encircle you.
 
25th of  DecDec, 1135, Barony of Teleorman Vlachia.
They reached a military post, but is was a bare-bones military hospital.  The Headquarters Unit was moved into Morosvia.
 
26th of DecDec, 1135, Morosvia, Vlachia.
The Trogs left in the morning for Morosvia.   The further they travelled, the hills became steeper, and a low-lying fog covered the ground. 

By dusk they find some civilization, a few out buildings and an unguarded wrought iron fence. 
Despite no sign of the military, they pressed on, only to find the mutilated corpse in the middle of the road just on the outskirt of town.    All of the windows on all the homes are closed, many of the building completely boarded up.  

Towards the center of town they encounter a shady, yet foppish fellow, who presents Zorin with a  bag of gold and a letter.

The letter was addressed to The Burning Trogs and it was oddly dated yesterday, but with fresh ink.   Someone named Burgermesiter Meisterburger wanted them to cure someone of lycanthropy.

They eventually stumbled into the only open tavern in town, The Blood and Vine.

Upon some inquiries with the bartender, it's revealed that the Burgermesiter MeisterBurger, died three days ago.

One of the tavern patrons offers to stable their horses from the creatures of the night if we help bury his father.  The man was Izmark, son of the Burgermeister. 

Izmark led them to the cemetary, where they met Oksana, the aforementioned lycanthrope.  Without a full moon, she seemed quite congenial

Lars the Gnome, the only priest in the town, performed a ritual and drop the Burgermeister's body in its plot.

27th of DecDec, 1135, Morosvia, Vlachia.
The fog had not lifted, but in the daylight they could make out an outline of a castle on the other side of  town.  Townsfolk only know the inhabitant was Vladmir, and was a bit of a hermit.

They could see something moving out of the castle ground, through its gate and into town.  It was an empty carriage without horses, that stopped right in front of the Trogs.  They decided to attached their horses to and ride in it up to the castle.

As they opened up the main doors to check the place out, weird organ music fills the hall.  In eventually stopped, but when they finally found a music room, it was empty and dust covered.

We came across a dining room fully set for a banquet. A lone pale figure with a wicked scar across his neck was frittering to and fro. He claimed his name is Luka.  He wasn't particularly helpful, but admits that his master , the Count, is upstairs. Luka also declared that he is already dead.

Travelling upstairs, they find an room with an ... accountant?  This man said his name was Leif and dispite staring at a rope alarm across the room, welcomed the new guests of the Count.

From the Journal of Gwen:
We get to the top, there isa door.  We find theres a spiffy runed door and alcoves of darkness on each side w/ 2 armored figures. When I try to examine the door, they attack.

One activates a flame trap, and there is a noxious cloud now. We still managed to slay them and get out.  Once the clouds disspate I check out the door. it's ornate, but I can't read the runes.

The room behind the runed door is dusty and there is a dust covered room.  There's a really old wedding cake on the table.

Aftera couple  of rooms we fina abig fancy bedroom with a woman in it. She's sleeping. We go down a secret passage near the bed  (Terval found it)

AIt leads to a secret passage in a hall.  There are many terrified statues.

The ghostsof them appear. They say they are ghosts from living here. They say the Count  is either downstairs or in the  highest tower. and point to the tallest structure on the castle.

We find a bridge to cross to another tower.

Party splits up,  Terval was alone in water filled basement.  Count is a vampire.  Count attacks! Somehow Terval kills vampire!

this changes town, much happier.  hq is found.  Able to rout the sympathizers of the master.

Back to Celsior,  letter arrives.  yarbay has surrendered.   Ceasing hostilites for two weeks, yule, and treaty goes into effect 2nd of UnDec.

Ravenloft is a beloved module, a innovative adventure in the era of dungeon treks.  The Hackmaster variant, Robinloft, faithfully adheres to the originally, with an overdose of required parody and humor that Wizards required of Kenzer, only turned up to 11. 

To be honest, the group was more interested in finding the missing headquarters and other units, and dealing with this Count got in the way of their mission.  After the green dragon, Terval single-handedly killing a vampire was just another feather in the Trog's cap. 


Next: Episode #52 The End of Arms

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