15 Mai 534, Village of Mere, Barony of Gulluvia
Another day in the bar, another crazy scheme by local magic-user and general know-it-all, Hugo Swam'Pas. They had obtained a fairly recent, but partially ruined map in the Mines of Mentzer, and it appeared to lead to the old Gygar's Castle, or at least that's what this map called it.
As kids in the village, everyone just called it, "the old castle." It was a couple of hours outside of town and the most dangerous thing anyone ever faced was a twisted ankle or broken arm, losing your footing in the ruins. But this was much more recent than those forays. Hugo argued it was worth the trip up there to check it out.
His three companions, Slothina Hoppler, and the halflings Beula Cragmuffin and Bodo Billabong agreed.
16 Mai 534, Gygar's Castle
The hike up to the castle was uneventful, but Hugo noticed something amiss. The regular overgrown forest appeared to have been cleared out at some point. The older trees they played on to climb the walls had be cut down years ago, and at least 25 yards around the castle walls had been kept barren. The giant double-doors for the gate, which were free swinging... with enough force, were shut and appeared to be locked.
Spying through a crumbling portion of the wall, they were shocked to see the courtyard cleared, save some of the larger boulders, and a lazy contingent of small dog-men relaxing by the main doors to the castle.
"Kobolds..." Hugo muttered, "I hate 'em. We need a plan."
One of the outer doors for the gate lay off to the side of the path towards the castle. Everyone agreed that using that door as cover, and using Bodo's bow, they could work their way across the courtyard.
Of course, when Slothina lifted the gate single-handedly, a giant, segmented, multi-legged beast of an insect with what looked like a thousand tentacles coming out of its mouth, launched itself from it's hole and attacked Bodo.
It took a while to put the beast down, but Bodo lay on the ground unmoving, his eyes filled with fear. Paralyzation is a terrifying thing, but Hugo surmised only time could cure his predicament. Rightly so, the group hid amongst the tree line a bit and within time, Bodo regained with mobility.
The party reorganized and attempted their plan. It would have worked well, too, if Hugo had not gotten cold feet halfway through the courtyard and ran back to the opening in the collapsed wall. Without any help from the halflings, Slothina tossed the door atop the charging kobolds, pinning them to the ground, if not outright killing them. The few remaining were quickly mopped up and Hugo rejoined the group with a reddened face and a surprisingly quiet mouth.
Unlike the normal "plundering dods," the group did a good job avoiding traps, only running into the remnants of the kobold garrison, plus an aerie of harpies that feasted upon Beulah... almost causing her demise.
They found some gold, a few jewels, and the stairs to the lower dungeons of the castle completely collapsed.
Hugo sent the others out the courtyard to check for any kobold reinforcements or patrols. With a moment alone, he went back to a spot where he thought he had noticed a secret door, and as luck would have it, he was right. On the other side of door was a small room full of wooden crates. His measly strength was unable to to open any of them, but he was startled when a voice came from one of the boxes.
"Are you the Mountain Lord?" It asked.
Hugo paused for a moment, then stuttered... "Y-y-yes!"
"Great! Your request "FOR THE MOUNTAIN LORD," is in the corner. "
Hugo pushed a few boxes aside and found a out-of-place straw broom propped up in the corner. He took it, explaining to his fellow travelers that he need something...anything with a reach.
"I need something to keep monsters away. Daggers don't always work, and I'm probably delicious."
The halflings shook their heads and everyone departed.
17 Mai 534, Village of Mere, Barony of Gulluvia
Upon returning to Mere, the loot was split up, and while the others checked in with their families, Hugo returned to his hovel and used his arcane knowledge to uncover the secrets of this simple broom.
A simple broom it was not, rather a Broom of Flying, with the activation words "For the Mountain Lord."
"We need to look into this Mountain Lord," Hugo thought out loud, "but I need to try to sucker out first!"
DM Notes: Are small group of adventurers successfully navigated the populated portion of Gygar's Castle out of the old Mentzer Red Box. I may have toned the monster numbers down a bit, because four adventurers is not enough for Basic D&D. If the Broom of Flying didn't create so much drama, I would say I regret giving it to the group, particularly Hugo, but no one knows of a Mountain Lord in these parts. And if he's a dwarf, that kind has been missing since the cleared out the gem mines and left overnight.
Next: #5 - Two week off, then Hugo Flies.... and a Fire Sale Occurs!
Another day in the bar, another crazy scheme by local magic-user and general know-it-all, Hugo Swam'Pas. They had obtained a fairly recent, but partially ruined map in the Mines of Mentzer, and it appeared to lead to the old Gygar's Castle, or at least that's what this map called it.
As kids in the village, everyone just called it, "the old castle." It was a couple of hours outside of town and the most dangerous thing anyone ever faced was a twisted ankle or broken arm, losing your footing in the ruins. But this was much more recent than those forays. Hugo argued it was worth the trip up there to check it out.
His three companions, Slothina Hoppler, and the halflings Beula Cragmuffin and Bodo Billabong agreed.
16 Mai 534, Gygar's Castle
The hike up to the castle was uneventful, but Hugo noticed something amiss. The regular overgrown forest appeared to have been cleared out at some point. The older trees they played on to climb the walls had be cut down years ago, and at least 25 yards around the castle walls had been kept barren. The giant double-doors for the gate, which were free swinging... with enough force, were shut and appeared to be locked.
Spying through a crumbling portion of the wall, they were shocked to see the courtyard cleared, save some of the larger boulders, and a lazy contingent of small dog-men relaxing by the main doors to the castle.
"Kobolds..." Hugo muttered, "I hate 'em. We need a plan."
One of the outer doors for the gate lay off to the side of the path towards the castle. Everyone agreed that using that door as cover, and using Bodo's bow, they could work their way across the courtyard.
Of course, when Slothina lifted the gate single-handedly, a giant, segmented, multi-legged beast of an insect with what looked like a thousand tentacles coming out of its mouth, launched itself from it's hole and attacked Bodo.
It took a while to put the beast down, but Bodo lay on the ground unmoving, his eyes filled with fear. Paralyzation is a terrifying thing, but Hugo surmised only time could cure his predicament. Rightly so, the group hid amongst the tree line a bit and within time, Bodo regained with mobility.
The party reorganized and attempted their plan. It would have worked well, too, if Hugo had not gotten cold feet halfway through the courtyard and ran back to the opening in the collapsed wall. Without any help from the halflings, Slothina tossed the door atop the charging kobolds, pinning them to the ground, if not outright killing them. The few remaining were quickly mopped up and Hugo rejoined the group with a reddened face and a surprisingly quiet mouth.
Unlike the normal "plundering dods," the group did a good job avoiding traps, only running into the remnants of the kobold garrison, plus an aerie of harpies that feasted upon Beulah... almost causing her demise.
They found some gold, a few jewels, and the stairs to the lower dungeons of the castle completely collapsed.
Hugo sent the others out the courtyard to check for any kobold reinforcements or patrols. With a moment alone, he went back to a spot where he thought he had noticed a secret door, and as luck would have it, he was right. On the other side of door was a small room full of wooden crates. His measly strength was unable to to open any of them, but he was startled when a voice came from one of the boxes.
"Are you the Mountain Lord?" It asked.
Hugo paused for a moment, then stuttered... "Y-y-yes!"
"Great! Your request "FOR THE MOUNTAIN LORD," is in the corner. "
Hugo pushed a few boxes aside and found a out-of-place straw broom propped up in the corner. He took it, explaining to his fellow travelers that he need something...anything with a reach.
"I need something to keep monsters away. Daggers don't always work, and I'm probably delicious."
The halflings shook their heads and everyone departed.
17 Mai 534, Village of Mere, Barony of Gulluvia
Upon returning to Mere, the loot was split up, and while the others checked in with their families, Hugo returned to his hovel and used his arcane knowledge to uncover the secrets of this simple broom.
A simple broom it was not, rather a Broom of Flying, with the activation words "For the Mountain Lord."
"We need to look into this Mountain Lord," Hugo thought out loud, "but I need to try to sucker out first!"
Next: #5 - Two week off, then Hugo Flies.... and a Fire Sale Occurs!
No comments:
Post a Comment