Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 75 [RPG]

 [Wealday, 5 Arodus 4708 A.R.]

In a relatively secure chamber somewhere on the second floor of Castle Scarwall, Anorak spends several hours crafting a magical wand that will allow the group to stay up all night, thus hopefully providing some solace against the constant nightmares that plague their sleep.  As he finishes the work, Goldcape and Rocky show just how dangerous sleeping in the haunted castle can be—neither can be awakened!  The best Anorak can tell is that they’re under some sort of necromantic curse.  While the dwarf is examining the pair, Yraelzin and The Reckoner hurry over to a nearby staircase from whence the sounds of slow, heavy footsteps can be heard rising toward them.  The mystery of Lorien’s whereabouts is solved, as the warrior returns, but with blood on his hands and a glazed look in his eyes.  He comes out of the trance gradually, but reports no memory of what happened to him!  Anorak pronounces the trance has had no lingering effects, but while everyone’s backs are turned, Goldcape and Rocky disappear!  Deciding it’s too risky to go looking for them without resting overnight, the group use Anorak’s new wand to keep a constant vigil until morning.

[Oathday, 6 Arodus 4708 A.R.]

 

In the morning, Lorien surprises the others by fortifying himself with a shot of whisky.  When their exploration of Scarwall resumes, they soon find themselves on a parapet looking out east over the crater lake below—the direction from which the group made their first, aborted attempt to approach Scarwall.  On the northeast corner of the parapet, a tall tower looms overhead.  The Reckoner pulls out a small case of rarely-used tools and (noisily) manages to unlock a well-preserved iron door leading to the tower.  The room on the other side contains multiple staircases and doors, but it’s clear the intruders’ approach has been detected.  From one doorway massive skeletal minotaurs like those encountered near the courtyard issue forth, greataxes at the ready.  But their attack is blocked by a more fearsome threat: a pair of massive hellhounds charging up from a staircase below!

Anorak is burned badly by the gouts of flame breathed by the hellhounds, and even Yraelzin, standing far to the rear, is scorched.  But flame is only one of their creatures’ weapons, as The Reckoner can attest when one of the creatures tears a chunk of flesh from his shoulder with a bite like a beartrap.  But The Reckoner recovers quickly from the blow and manages to dispatch the two creatures, opening the way for the assault from the skeletal minotaurs.  Lorien steps up to help fend off the attack and soon only piles of cracked bones are all that are left of the undead foes.

Deciding not to chance either the staircase up or the staircase down, the group instead explore the chambers on this level of the tower.  One chamber contains nearly a dozen paintings on the wall, all depicting historical battles, but all diverging, in a particular way: an arrogant, cruel human with black-hair is leading the victorious side.  Whether leading the vanguard of the dwarves in the Quest for the Sky, rallying troops in the Shining Crusade, or leading an army of warriors against a demonic host in a blighted land, the same figure appears in each of the paintings.  Lorien notices that all the paintings are signed “Zev Ravenka, Bishop of Scarwall.”  Outraged by the blasphemy of a human purportedly leading the dwarves in the sacred Quest for the Sky, Anorak destroys that painting and then all of the others.  Another chamber must have once been a finely-decorated meeting chamber before falling into disrepair—even a high-backed chair built from a tangle of bones has not stood the test of time.  Little appears to be of interest in the room apart from a pair of mithral candelabras, but as Anorak and Lorien are talking, they realise that The Reckoner is looking very odd indeed!  He spins around and points toward the chair, proclaiming that a misty shape is sitting on it, urging him to do wicked things!  Quickly, The Reckoner pulls out a magic wand to protect himself and his allies from evil, but no one else in the room sees or hears anything unusual—and even The Reckoner admits the chair is now empty.  The group hurry out of the tower and back onto the parapets.

 

Lorien calls upon his divine magic to examine the constant dread and spiritual darkness that pervades Castle Scarwall.  He reports that the curse on the castle is the most powerful he has ever seen, so powerful that no simple spell could remove it—there must be a special procedure or ritual involved, if lifting the curse is even possible to begin with.

 

Finding that the only other interesting thing on the parapet is a long-unused forge with a gleaming, surely magical warhammer, the group look for a way from this eastern section of the castle into the main portion—but can’t find one.  The Reckoner decides to make his own doorway with an adamantine maul, and soon the group find themselves in a winding hallway.  A miasma of smoke fills the air here, along with the stink of burning flesh.  The cause appears instantly: a nightmare!  Lorien bravely charges in to do battle but The Reckoner destroys the creature with a single swing of one of his many enchanted battle-mauls.

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GM Commentary

This session was more general exploration of Castle Scarwall without anything particularly memorable about it.  Lorien's player was back but Goldcape's player was absent, so that's why there were some shenanigans at the beginning.

I liked the image of The Reckoner just smashing holes in walls with this adamantine maul to create his own doorways!