Thursday, January 3, 2013

The Ever Expanding Dungeon + 9Qs: The Conclusion

On their way back to down, fueled by rage at their loss, Perceval proposed an all out assault into the dungeon entrance they discovered. All in agreement, they intended to hire some of the locals to come along to act as lookouts and runners in case of another ambush, using Malazar's gold to overcome objections.

Only one local was willing however, the mysterious Trulhammar Gax. In exchange for chain mail, shield, long sword and 50 gp upon his return, he would join the party.

As luck (or Mythic, either way) would have it, a new face was in the tavern that evening, the beautiful Bombgoster Boof aka "B" (she hates the name "Bombgoster", and can you really blame her?), a thief with a mind like a steel sieve (and a new PC at that). She had made her way to the town hoping to hook up with an adventuring party. A good friend struck down, and a new friend arrived to fill the void, the universe does indeed work in mysterious ways.

At the Tenacious Dagger,as the party reviewed their plans over a late night meal, an elderly woman, renowned in the village as a seer, approached the party. Wagging a wrinkly finger tipped in long, thick yellow nails, she warned that she had a vision and they must not return to the dungeon. "If you go, you will unleash a black death upon the whole of the town and none shall be spared its effect." And, she had already arranged a small but growing number of townsfolk to stop the party if they saw them heading there.

Feldspar, dashing, charming, and a smooth talker (CHR = 18), took the wise woman’s hand, thanked her for her warning and then turned on the charm. By the time he got around to asking her to call off the mob, she was smitten. Entranced by his good looks and his eloquent words she toddled out to call off the mob.

Early morning, the party woke to shouts in the street and the town’s gong ringing. Something was attacking one of the logging crews, not far from town. Men and women scrambled through the streets bolting doors and windows, while others gathered weapons, farm tools and the like. A few enterprising men raced to try and convince the armor purveyors to donate their wares to the cause.

Gathering their gear as quickly as possible, the party set out to find someone to point them to the camp. Lucky for them, the individual they found failed to realize, in the chaos of the moment, that these were the same people who they believed caused this very situation.

One problem: a party of people in plate mail was not going to get there any time soon.

Again the universe was kind and there were 3 sturdy horses tied up to a post in front of the inn. In times like this, one must consider laws and good etiquette to be secondary to the necessity of the moment. And so, the party untied the horses, and rode them full speed, two to a horse, to the camp, intent on destroying the creatures.

The stench of death and gore hung heavy in the air as they approached and they could see,through the trees, standing among scattered bloodied tents, three ghouls devouring the victims of their hunt.

Quickly, they dismounted and moved up on the camp.  In a flash, the battle was joined.

The ghouls, which had caused them so much grief in their last encounter, were no match for the rage that fueled each blow from the party's weapons. They never had a chance.

As the last ghoul fell, the party realized that they had an audience. Several of the townsfolk, bearing pitchforks, picks, hatchets and crude spears, had arrived, and at their front was the sheriff.

He surveyed the sight, thanked the party. This threat abated, they were welcome to stay in town. 
Still, he cautioned all, this was a wake-up call and they’ll need to build up the towns defenses; as more adventurers turn up to explore the dungeon, more evil may well come out of it.

*********
Body count: Fendrick (F:1), Malazar (M:1)
Killed: 1 gnoll, 1 ogre, 4 ghouls
Rooms explored: none
Treasure: 3240 gp and the right to stay in the town

Despite losing my favorite character, this was a great time. 

I'll post more thoughts on the 9Qs in another post, but suffice it to say I am a fan. They set you up for a roller coaster ride with an exciting conclusion. 

Mythic very often,at least for me, tends to move at a slow pace, like a novel, giving me plenty of exposition before things really get going. 

The 9Qs condense that. It starts slow, but the pacing quickens, and before you know it, you're hurling towards something potentially world changing - in this case, more innocents lost their lives, but the party ended the ghouls' reign of terror and the town would be safe, for awhile.

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