Rise of the Runelords Recap # 53 [RPG]

[24 Kuthona 4707 continued]

Although there’s a welcome respite from the rain, a chill fills the air as Innes Falkenrath and Katzumi venture deeper into the Shimmerglens, guided by the pixie Yap.  Yap keeps up a constant barrage of chatter, not even noticing that his charges are falling behind in the treacherous landscape that he so easily flies over.  Barely a mile into the swamp, tragedy strikes in the form of a pool of quicksand.  Both Innes and Katzumi walk into it unaware, and then realize they’re stuck and slowly sinking!  Katzumi somehow manages to swim to the edge and pull herself out, but Innes’s full-plate mail pulls him under in seconds.  Katzumi desperately runs for a nearby tree, cuts down a branch, and extends it over the quicksand, but to no avail.  Innes is lost in the darkness deep below the surface, and, despite his valiant efforts, eventually succumbs without ever again reaching the surface.  Yap, who had flown far ahead and had no idea what was happening behind him, breaks down in tears to discover his saviour is dead.  He says that maybe “mistress” could help.  Katzumi builds a pile of sticks to mark the spot, and lets Yap lead her further into the swamp.

Meanwhile, at the massive dam known as Skull’s Crossing, Artemis, Goragar, and Kang enter a dome-shaped superstructure.  The first chamber they see is clearly a recent battlefield, as it’s covered in bits of flesh, broken weapons, splashes of blood, and dead ogres torn limb from limb.  Thick sheets of ropy fungus grow along the walls, but Kang’s eye for detail allows him to realize that large creatures are hiding behind the fungus: trolls!  The master alchemist hurls a bomb into the room as the green-skinned, bestial creatures charge forth with claws extended.  Goragar, who stands in front of Kang, receives the brunt of their attacks but his stout armor and magically-enhanced defences turn aside every single blow!  The battle spills over into the spillway, but the experienced adventurers work well together and suffer nary a scratch before emerging victorious.

Wet Papa Grazuul is Chief of the Skulltakers for a reason!

Artemis concludes that the trolls must have been fighting the ogres, and that the two forces weakened each other.  A thorough search of the superstructure reveals little of interest apart from a hidden cache of valuables and a set of massive stone doors that have a message on them written in dried blood in the language of giants:  “BELOW DWELLS WET PAPA GRAZUUL!  ALL HAIL WET PAPA GRAZUUL!”  The hinges on the doors are old and gritty, but with great effort the adventurers push them open to reveal a flight of stone steps leading down into darkness.  The trio descend to a large, damp chamber dominated by a rectangular pool of water set into the floor.  Goragar starts to head to one of the sets of doors on the western side of the room when a massive shape rockets out of the pool and stabs him in the face with a strange-looking trident!  The adventurers have stumbled unwittingly into the lair of the chief of the Skulltakers, Wet Papa Grazuul!  Having expended most of his defensive magicks in the battles above, Goragar is sorely pressed by the sudden frenzy of attacks, and in instants only the legacy of the Orc blood that runs in his veins allows him to stay standing.  The war priest of Gorum tries to withdraw, but with one final thrust of the trident, Grazuul stabs him in the chest and pulls out the half-orc’s still beating heart!  Artemis is the next target of the troll lord’s ire, and the master archer finds his rib-cage almost pulled apart from Grazuul’s rending claws.  Artemis collapses in a pool of blood, barely alive.  Kang stands alone, but his steady and consistent flow of bombs have weakened Grazuul considerably, and one last explosive blows the villain apart!  Kang rushes to Artemis and force-feeds him a magical elixir to stabilize him.  Unfortunately, it’s too late to do anything for Goragar.

Myriana's spirit cannot rest until
she is reunited with Lamatar.

Back in the Shimmerglens, two grieving travellers push on into the area known as Whitewillow.  A cold, dark mist looms within the canopy of bone-bare branches on twisted black trees.  Strange murmurs can be heard on an unnatural wind while dying birds twitching in the shallows and slithering things with too many eyes seem to lurk out of the corners of their eyes.  Yap whispers that Whitewillow wasn’t always like this—that the area is reflecting Myriana’s (his mistress) anger and heartache.  The journey into the heart of Whitewillow is a foreboding one of bleeding trees, ghostly parades, and even a mysterious derelict ship from which a beautiful, haunting melody can be heard.  Eventually, the pair reach a clearing ringed by decayed willow trees.  In the center of the clearing is a calm pool of unnaturally still water.  Yap whispers that his mistress is just ahead, but he’s too scared to approach further.  Reluctantly, Katzumi walks towards the pool and is startled as a ghostly nymph, almost blinding in her hate-filled beauty, rises with a howl from the waters.  “You have failed me!” Myriana shrieks.  “They took him to their mountain lair, despoiled him, and now his soul will not return to this plane!”  Katzumi doesn’t comprehend at first, but manages to placate the raging nymph long enough to understand that she and her lover, Lamatar Bayden (commander of Fort Rannick), were ambushed by the ogres and murdered.  Myriana demands that Katzumi find Lamatar’s remains—even if only a single finger or lock of hair—and return them to Whitewillow so that the lovers can be reunited in death forever.  Katzumi promises her help, and, as they leave the clearing, Yap says he knows where the Kreeg clanhold is and can lead her there.  And, if they’re successful, he says maybe his mistress will bring Innes back to life!  He shares some of his enchanted pixie dust with Katzumi, saying the voyage to the Kreeg clanhold will be a dangerous one for just the two of them to make.

Skull Rippers are fearsome foes, but they
follow their master's instructions to the letter.

At Skull’s Crossing, Kang and a magically-healed Artemis discuss what to do with Goragar’s body.  They decide that burial at sea is a fitting end for a warrior who died in battle, but the two argue over what to do with Goragar’s possessions.  Artemis prevails, and the body is stripped before being floated into the Storval Deep.  Kang says a nice eulogy, while Artemis reads an entry from Goragar’s book of Gorumite war prayers.  After the solemn ceremony, Artemis suggests resting but Kang urges further scouting, and this time the latter prevails.  Using alchemical means to turn them each invisible, they return to the scene of Goragar’s death.  Doors to the west lead to an unremarkable chamber, but the doors to the east give way to a strange sight.  In an alcove against the wall sits a fantastically detailed scale model of Skull’s Crossing guarded by a lumbering, scorpionlike construct composed of skulls!  Kang remembers reading about so-called Skull Rippers, guardians of tombs and other important places in ancient Thassilon.  This construct must have stood on guard for several thousand years!  The two adventurers, still invisible, retreat stealthily and breathe a sigh of relief.  

Kang and Artemis had better hope that Avaxial never
gets out...

Only one path lays before them: to the south, an impressive mound of skulls lies heaped against the wall, partially blocking a large stone door.  Kang clears the skulls while Artemis watches to ensure the Skull Ripper doesn’t emerge from its chamber.  Once Kang finishes, the two push open the door to see a narrow chamber that ends at two curved alcoves to the east and west.  Each alcove is blocked by a dull iron portcullis, and beyond each portcullis a circle of runes glow with a faint orange light on the floor.  Although one circle holds only a pile of crimson ash, the other holds a winged creature that looks weak and dying, but that in its prime would have been something to behold: a massive denizen of Hell itself!  The creature rouses and feebly reaches for one of them, whispering “freedom.”  Standing a safe distance away from the portcullis and the magical circle that binds the fiend, Kang and Artemis are told that the floodgates of Skull’s Crossing require life energy to operate, and that over several millennia the denizen of the other chamber perished.  Because the fiend, who says his name is Avaxial, is so weak, he’s no use to the dam’s mystical generators either.  He begs Kang and Artemis to set him free, promising them great riches if they do so.  When they balk, he adds that unless other living creatures take his place, the floodgates will never open and the entire dam will burst!  When asked how he got to be in this position, Avaxial says he remembers only a name: Karzoug.  Artemis and Kang confer, and decide that Avaxial is probably trying to trick them.  When they tell the fiend that they’re leaving, Avaxial rages and says that if they don’t set him free, the circle that binds him will break when the dam collapses, and then he’ll make it his immortal mission to hunt them down and take them back to Hell to be his eternal playthings!  Despite the threat, Kang and Artemis leave and make plans to load up the horses with as much treasure as they can and return to Turtleback Ferry.
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Director's Commentary (August 6, 2018)

Innes drowning in ordinary quicksand was not something I anticipated.  I've never actually seen a character die from the drowning rules, because PCs can hold their breath for so long (twice Constitution) and inevitably they get pulled out or rescued somehow as the rounds go on.  But Innes couldn't make a Swim check to (literally) save his life, as that armor had a huge penalty.  The player was really upset, and it was a bummer at the table.  On the other hand, I thought it was a good lesson to everyone that, especially at the level the characters were, they have to be prepared for common dangers (like water).

Goragar's death was a shock, because he and the others had been curb-stomping everything they came across.  It was a lesson to all of us how much weaker a Warpriest is when they get caught by surprise and don't get a chance to buff themselves.  Artemis was nearly another victim as well.

The negotiation with the demon was extremely important.  I think the exact mechanisms of how the dam's floodgates could be closed wasn't apparent (in part because neither of the two PCs had the requisite Knowledge skills), but their decision to just walk away will of course have major implications later in the campaign.