This post continues the series of brief play reports I have been posting on Discord. This does not cover every single session (sometimes, recon and setup is what happens), but it covers our ongoing games.
The Tamburello Crypts
28/04/2025 THISIUM
News from the
doomed city of Thisium! The company returned to the Underworld to
continue their exploration. They visited the quarters of Yldegonda Gremullo to
inquire about the mage Prospero. The wizardess had studied with him under the
tutelage of Daphné di Leonti, and knew him as a man commanding powerful
elemental forces, not to be trifled with. With this, they descended deeper into
the underground the garden, but could not open the wizard-locked secret door
(thieves in Zylarthen can theoretically do it, but there was no keyhole to
pick). On the way back, they encountered a rust monster, which ate the party’s mace
+1 and a bunch of other equipment before it was pummelled to death with
bare hands. The next stop was another foray into the Tamburello Crypts. The
suits of armour were again inanimate, and a detect magic was used to
probe around, finding half of the side-crypts to hide something magical.
Investigating the non-magical ones first, they found the crypt of Arcadio
Tamburello looted, and the other containing the body of Brancaleone
Tamburello, the besieger of Castrum Rapax, a wight. Brancaleone drained Maglor
the elf one level, but was burned with fire, leaving behind an enormous
key. The battle also made the suits of armour animate, so they retreated while
they could. As their next move, they tried to sneak up on Pierluigi Piscitello’s
brigands, but they were on guard, and let loose a shower of slingstones,
sending the party fleeing. Weakened and having lost equipment to rust, they
returned back to the surface to consider their next action. At this time, the
city had 33 days left...
Agains the Mad Satrap!
30/04/2025 OSR CAMP 2025
News from the
coasts of Fomalhaut! A company of six adventurers and 11 followers
embarked on an adventure to plunder the Tower of the Mad Satrap, known to be a
source of winged ape raids on nearby trade routes. After getting their bearings
in the primitive dirt-farming village of Pallog, they climbed the nearby hill
where the crumbling tower stood inside an overgrown garden. Here they met Kallimedon
the shepherd boy, who was weary of his station, and joined their group as a
free man and adventurer. Kallimedon died ten minutes later as the winged apes
dropped large boulders from the top of the tower from out of missile range,
along with Senna the Cavegirl, Hard the porter, and Perikles the
hoplite. Two followers, Bertho the Caveman and Eric the Northman
fled in panic. However, they could break through a walled-up exterior entrance
into safety. On the lower floor, Harald Astrid the Northman read some explosive
runes, sustaining heavy wounds and swearing never to read again. Snatching
a gemstone from the top of a bronze ziggurat, bronze statues animated, and they
decided to retreat deeper into the tower – finding stairs up, but having to
wade through a missile trap to shake off their pursuers. Investigations on this
level proceeded cautiously, and its dangers were avoided, but no treasure was
found. One more level up, they entered a chamber with several large bronze
ziggurats, which proved to be locked containers. One contained treasure, but
from another, a flying brass eye-orb rose into the air, pelting them with a
barrage of magic missiles. Salam the porter and Helena the
slave-girl were killed, and two more followers fled – running into the
bronze warriors downstairs, who killed both of them: thus died Arto the
Caveman and Kord the hoplite. With the eye defeated, the survivors
decided to call it a day, and leave with the treasures they have gained in the
strange tower.
Peril in the Olden Woods
Against the Ascended Ones!
News from the seas of Fomalhaut! Four adventurers sailed to the Isle of the Ascended Ones to rescue Prince Zulthan, heir to the small city-state of Thyras, whose pleasure barge was attacked by Northman raiders while it was transporting half of the city treasury. They sailed around the island to observe its undisturbed wilderness, and the great domed city rising 1000’ above its surface on a massive metal pillar. Dropping anchor in a small and orderly port town, Thidonia, they placed discrete inquiries, learning that a cargo of slave girls and expensive items was headed for the sky city by monorail the next day. They sailed out at midnight (drawing immediate suspicion), and from the island’s SE corner, proceeded across the wilderness, fending off a monster attack, and contriving a plan to hitch a monorail ride through the security systems protecting the ridge beneath the great pillar. The plan went well, but they were identified by a detect magic spell at a storage depot at the end of the line. In a firefight with the island’s defenders, Vortex the Magic-User and Kozel the Fighter-Thief went down in a hail of laser fire. They were not alone when done: another group of miscreants, hoping for the city’s treasures, were also hidden in the monorail carriage, allowing for character replacements. Donning the uniforms of their opponents, they travelled up by elevator to the domed city high in the clouds. Exploring this idyllic environment of verdant lawns, lush woodlands and expensive country estates, they picked up some information at one of the manor houses, found an exit platform with antigrav sleds useful in a future escape, then headed for a large tower in the middle of the city, suspected to be the place where Prince Zulthan could be held.
The building was a weird and ominous place, and after a detect
evil spell, was identified as a place of some incredible evil – however, it
gave them a perfect panorama of the city and its defenders hunting for
intruders. On its top, they found a planetarium where they freed Arthrokos,
a young poet who was imprisoned there by her lover, Dyvalen the Type V Demon.
Regrettably, Dyvalen was waiting for them, and gated in three serpent demons.
Here, Brak the Northman was killed by friendly laser fire from Ilthar
the Illusionist, who died the next round from the poison of one of the
demons. Since Zulthan was not to be found, they continued to one of the other
estates, from which came sounds of wild partying. Still wearing uniforms, they
entered, and found the Northmen who had attacked the prince’s ship. Citing
security concerns, they were led to Zulthan, enjoying a pleasant afternoon nap
in the back garden in a circle of 10/10 beauties. The rescued royalty saw
through their ruse after being asked to relocate “for his safety”, turning Tindor
the Nomad into a pile of bluish mush with his magic ring, while calling on
the Northmen to cut down the intruders! Too depleted to fend them off, the
rescuers decided to flee from the treacherous prince, pursued by the vengeance
of the Northman leader, Gar Tuarlak, who slew Anthrak the Cleric.
Now the city was on high alert, and the two survivors fled through branch and
bush to the antigrav bay pods. Hitching a ride in a splendid and very expensive
sports model, Muhab the Cleric and Toros the Fighter evaded their
airborne pursuers, leaving behind the Isle of the Ascended Ones to be picked up
by their waiting ship...
Fairy Garden
News from the doomed city of Thisium! A company rode out from the Yellow Dragon Resthouse to visit the domain of the Faerie King. Riding through the Forest of Verrilli, they spotted gossamer webs in the treetops, and burned them with fiery arrows, destroying 10,000 gp worth of priceless silk, and drawing out two very angry giant tarantulas, which were then slain. Riding on, they found the location of the garden’s entrance; two nondescript, thorny hills in a swamp. Spinning thrice around the heels and shouting “HOP!”, they opened a rosy tunnel in the thorns, leading off. Since the horses were too afraid to enter, they were left with two henchmen, while the rest proceeded. They emerged in a beautiful, flowering field under a veil of rosy mist, right at noon. Through an archway topped with a grinning ceramic frog, they went deeper, to a ceramic pavilion with a glittering pool of water – actually, only a water lens, below which was a well and a burial chamber overgrown with flowers. Instead of descending, they headed for a nearby cedar grove with four standing stones. Four adventurers were squabbling over treasure they have just dug out of the ground, and asked for help dividing it. However, this was just a ruse to get defences down, and they attacked as dopplegangers, killing Kyon the Fighting-Man and Nencio “the Swine” Barbo, who was at least revived with the rose of resurrection. Taking the doppelgangers’ treasures, they now went for a grove of old pear trees to the NE. 21 stirges lairing in the hollow of the central tree were sealed in with a web and burned out with oil (along with the trees); the giant pears were recovered, and proved to be healing fruits. Returning to the pavilion, they met a group of diminutive little fairy chaps. Giacomo greeted them, noting they were bringing gifts to the Faerie King, upon which the fairies, not fond of their ruler, cursed poor Giacomo with an enormously long nose that dangled down to his chest.
Pursuing the miscreants fruitlessly, they turned back to the
pavilion. Nencio descended through the layer of water (and resisted the drowsy
it brought). He was checking out the flower-covered sarcophagi down at the
bottom, when Ser Narvi, descending after him, noted 8 purple shadows coming
through the walls. They decided to retreat, while turning the shadows proved
fruitless. The next target was a crimson, muddy lake. A sign noted bathing was
dangerous and strictly prohibited, while several mud-figures, disturbingly
human-like, stood waist-high in the lake. Noticing one of them had something
glittering around the neck, Nencio retrieved it with a good rope-throw,
noticing an engraving reading “ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD” – a cheap fake!
Leaving the lake, they entered a nearby forest, surprising a group of 8 large
weasels. Deciding not to risk it, they retreated, and waited for them to leave.
The weasels did not depart their playing spot, but Ser Narvi made an odd
discovery – time did not seem to pass at all, with the sun staying at 14:00
like when they entered the woods. Deciding to retreat from the strange garden,
they met an owlbear on the way back. The beast gave pursuit, and could not be
shaken off or placated with rations. In furious melee, it was finally defeated.
The explorers returned to the stone arch at the entrance by noon, then their
own world through the tunnel of thorns and roses. Their two henchmen were still
squabbling where they have left them – from their perspective, no time passed
at all. With these findings, they rode back to the Yellow Dragon Resthouse to
ponder their next move. At this time, the city had 31 days left...
Deep in Fairy Realms
12/05/2025 THISIUM
News from the doomed city of Thisium! The company returned to the Fairy Garden, and continued to explore the strange, rosy-hued landscape. Their first stop was the ceramic pavilion with its under-crypt beneath a well with a 10’ layer of paralysis-inducing water. Adventurers were lowered, but only two could withstand the slumber brought by the enchantment: Ser Narvi and Sir Drago bravely fought off the purple shadows of the crypt, but finally had to retreat as their strength was sapped. They went westwards, to the edge of a swamp with the statue of a cat, which gave a point of DEX to Gata the M-U. Entering the swamp, they found a Laocoön-like group of statues struggling with thick snakes, but try as they might, could not pry them off or destroy them to free the victims. Further west was a tree hanging with long, red, tube-like fruits; but lying in the nearby muck, four enormous leeches were also spotted. The party beat a hasty retreat, plucking a few fruits on their way, which proved to be long blood-tubes. From a forest clearing, they heard singing, and plugged their ears except for Young Janus the porter, but even he withstood the song of a syren statue that called to him. A meadow of giant bees harvesting the pollen of giant flowers, and a giant ceramic beehive was carefully avoided, as was another place with suntanning, very naked nymphs. Not much was found in a small grotto from which came the ribbiting of frogs, but the next one hid stairs up to the garden’s plateau, as well as a curious side-grotto. The large statue of a silver praying mantis stood on a pedestal, holding a mirrored silver shield, which immediately attracted the company’s attention. Alas, the statue animated once they tried to seize the prize, and fought ferociously with its razor-sharp mandibles before it could be defeated. The magic mirror shield +2 was theirs! Taking the stairs, they emerged on the plateau at night, under starlight, a dark forest calling.
This was an odd and enchanted place, very dark and filled with
fireflies, but somehow also warm, as if in Summer. They passed through it,
finding an enigmatic stone gate and the end of a path that hid a ravenous
mouth, solving neither mystery. They descended to the east, returning from
night to sunset. The statue of a weasel stood on a stone block, with an
inscription read by Gata the Magic-User: “COME BEFORE ME LIKE WEASEL TO
WEASEL, FOR HE WHO READS THIS SIGN SHALL BE MY EASEL”. As she read the words,
she was indeed turned at once into a Level 2 giant weasel! They continued,
deciding to leave the garden for now. From the grass came merry laughter and
fiddle music, and they spotted a group of well-dressed little chaps dancing among
the grass. They told them their king lived up on the plateau, but when Racha
Cuca ordered them to lead them to his seat, they cursed him for his
impudence, saying that he should go on his own feet – turning his feet into a
duck’s webbed limbs! The little miscreants fled, but Gata was quick on her
padded feet, capturing one of the tiny fairies, which begged to be released in
exchange for a treasure. For now, they went back towards the entrance. Passing
by a ruined manor house inhabited by a myriad ants, they entered a nice glade
of giant butterflies, and drifting bubbles of electricity blown by the brass
statue of a little girl sheathed in a blue aura and holding an amber orb.
Observing the happenings, they saw that the bubbles floated close to the
butterflies, burning them to cinders in a flash. Nencio “the Swine” Barbo
hatched a plan: he caught a sackful of butterflies, and threw them at the
bubbles to distract them while he made for the amber orb. Nencio was thus
blasted by a surge of electricity, and burned to a husk which collapsed into
ashes. The rest chose to return to the Yellow Dragon, poorer by one thief but
richer by a giant talking weasel. At this time, the city had 30 days left...
Advanced Rooftile Merchant ACKSimulation
19/05/2025 THISIUM
News from the doomed city of Thisium! The company returned to the Fairy Garden to seek the treasure noted by the captured fairy. Soon after entering the enchanted realm, they were beset by 23 stirges, most of whom were webbed, and the rest slain, although two almost killed Racha Cuca with lucky critical hits. The path led to the northern woods, where they found a grouping of eight stone arches with various strange inscriptions. Serafina Malpractis walked close to the only one that was a patient killer mimic. The horrible thing almost ate the inexperienced Magic-User, but was eventually killed with great difficulty. The rest of the arches proved to be portals, which they decided not to check out. Further on, they were ambushed by killer shrews, which were particularly eager to kill Gata the Giant Weasel, but were killed and skinned for their pelt. Finally, the treasure the fairy mentioned was found: a grave of a wizard lady, whose flying spellbooks were recovered from the sky – including powerful 3rd level spells! Wounded by previous encounters, they chose to leave the garden and return to the Yellow Dragon. Passing through the woods, they were ambushed by a snarling, great wolf, who tore apart Zorzi the bowman. Normal weapons had no effect, and the werewolf was eventually wrestled to the ground where it could be executed with the party’s sole magic sword. However, things grew even more hairy, as they soon met 4 more werewolves, who, when they saw their companion’s severed head, gave chase. They rode like madmen, arriving in the safety of the Yellow Dragon. The next day, they explored some of the areas on the eastern side of the Forest of Verrilli, and the crimson hills beyond: a red stone gate guarded by bird-headed human statues, and a pavilion, whose tarnished silver roof tiles were removed as treasure. Finding nothing in the hills, they returned to the Yellow Dragon to ponder their next action. At this time, the city had 28 days left...
Moreno the Hermit
23/05/2025 KASSADIA
News from the fallen empire of Kassadia! Trupo Gizmegas,
gnome Illusionist, sought apprenticeship with Polito Avonal of the Golden
Sight, a noted artist of Viaskar. Practicing under his instructions, he
learned useful new spells; and was tasked with assisting the master in
procuring a perfect body from the Viaskar Underworld, belonging to one Prince
Iollar and kept in stasis in a room of mirrors on the deeper levels. Meanwhile,
Martus the Opiate, apprenticed to the Magic-User Lisa Bondimier,
was also sent to the deep to harvest the blood of a phase spider, reputedly to
be found down in a complex of patrician graves. The Lion Pack thus began
seeking an entrance to the subterranean passages, and eventually found an old
architect who, while he never descended to the place, at least knew of two
entrances – and shared rumours of the Sybils’ Grotto, where Viaskar’s
famous soothsayers were buried with their secrets. With a company of hired men,
they sought the first entrance on the Plaze of Hound-Birds, next to the antique
barracks of the Legion of Iron, the Empire’s last-resort undead defenders. The
entrance was sealed, but on the rooftop lived Moreno, a mad hermit who
talked to birds and prophesied of a coming Dragon-lizard and man-eating
statues: he also showed them a secret entrance next to the barracks where men
entered and left occasionally.
Beneath Viaskar
They descended to the dungeons, finding a crypt of broken burial
niches. Vampire bats swarmed them, and Prince Izarthond, heir to the
throne of Fisk, died as the bats feasted on his blood. Continuing, they found
one of Viaskar’s many underground cisterns. In trying to cross it, Aristeo
Guarini lost his footing and his quiver of arrows, although he found an
underwater passage he decided not to investigate further. Down a staircase,
they discovered a lush underground garden, with a lead plate filled with water
on a graven stone, whose patterns temporarily hypnotised Martus the Opiate.
They heard approaching footsteps, and were accosted by three well-armed men
demanding their reason for being there. They pretended to be of the same
unknown cult, but not very convincingly, and the men left with suspicious
glances. Leaving the place as fast as they could, they found another sideways
passage, leading to a pit inhabited by giant lizards, and stairs leading to an
ogre lair, which they left for now. Even further down, another crypt was
inhabited by three pit vipers, which were killed before they could poison
anyone. Some of the burial niches here were intact, and one of the broken ones featured
a fresco of a dancing girl with a golden diadem. The grave hid the bones of a
dog, but they checked for false walls, and the true grave was found, with the
priceless diadem still on the dancing girl’s antique bones! With this treasure,
they returned to the surface, to enjoy the evening and think of their next
adventure.
Ambush in the Atrium
24/05/2024 FOMALHAUT
(Covering three interconnected sessions of a massive running battle through a three-dimensional palace.)
News from ULTRAREALITY! After slaying two of the three demons ruling over the Doorless Arct, and making the sorcerer Opangi Ord flee (for now), the explorers continued through the massive plane-shifted palace. Meanwhile, Ogg the Caveman, who had fallen behind, finally reached the enormous building, and saw running pirates abandoning it in panic. He found a rope ladder leading up to a middle-level balcony, and busted down the balcony door to gain access to an artist’s studio of half-completed marble statues. Letting his down, he was in for a surprise as some of the masterworks animated as doppelgangers, but he fought his way out, and with his rallied companions, put down the monsters. They now explored the NW section, fighting a nightmarish moth-creature in a robing chamber, and descending to a lower, undisturbed section where they found and defeated an albino cyclops, a pet of Philetor Grentor, the Arct’s former owner.
Leaving this place be, they returned to the other parts of the ground floor, only to be ambushed by a mass of pirates, crossbowmen, and Opangi Ord’s disciples. Much effort was wasted on an illusionary ape demon, but the foes were routed into the grand atrium where stood their altar of blood. In the battle, Mandé the Fighting-Woman was shot and killed, and Alcaeus the Fighting-Man griveously wounded. Opangi Ord was almost slain by a bolt that pierced his shield spell, sending him levitating away through a palace skylight. The remaining pirates were captured and interrogated to show the known parts of the level; most of their companions were now gone from the palace, and fleeing towards their ship to depart this cursed locale.
The Exalted Sun
Now proceeding to explore the area, they found another display room
– several marble statues and a looted weapon collection. Reaching for a
remaining prize, a beautiful gold-rimmed discus, these statues animated as
living statues, and had to be fought at great cost, but the priceless, sharp
discus was theirs! They regrouped on the middle level, exploring Philetor
Grentor’s private quarters. They found a door warded with a magic sigil, and
also, a master bedroom with heavy purple drapes. Examining the drapes for
secret compartments, one began to move, and its moaning almost paralysed Kleombrotos,
while it tried to envelop him and strike him with its stinger. The cloaker was
defeated, and the trapped door left for the time being. On the eastern side of
the same floor, they discovered an aviary with several cages (two of them
golden), and Belcanor, an enormous, one-eyed talking parrot repeating
nonsense phrases that seemed oddly meaningful. An eastern gallery had a
staircase up, and a large brass sun-disk with a moustached human face, who
introduced himself as Burzinkurush the Exalted Sun, and as the palace’s
guardian. The noble watchman was concerned with his master’s fate, and passage
was negotiated to the rooftops.
The Anomaly Device
Climbing up to a hothouse, a group of lizard-apes feasting on a
slain cannibal were ambushed and slain or driven off. It was time to head out
to the rooftops, towards a weird structure of prisms and mirrors, mounted on an
octagonal base. They started considering what it could be, but the answer came
soon enough: “It is an Anomaly Device, and I shall soon endeavour to
demonstrate its use upon you!” Opangi Ord, badly wounded and out for
vicious revenge, emerged from behind the platform, reaching for the platform
controls from behind his magic shield, and the protection of three IOUN
stones. He deflected missile after missile, and the stones absorbed a
lightning strike hurled at him. He was just about to do whatever wickedness he
planned, but in the last possible moment, Iotasca the Amazon hurled a
javelin with all her might, striking him through the heart and finally ending
his evil life. The body of the master sorcerer held many treasures: his ring
of protection, a fire-whip, scrolls, a perfect rose, and a portable
hole with incredibly powerful spellbooks. Approaching the Anomaly Device
came with an odd feeling of vertigo and glimpses into unseen realities, as if
space and time itself were splintering. Diagrams on its base read out cosmic
forces: the YAG and the OLLX at their peak, and others, the PARM, VEX-2, VEX-3,
and VOOR nominal. This was then the explanation they sought: Philetor Grentor
had been experimenting with dimensional forces, which is why he found the brass
tablets they were now seeking, and why his palace was shunted away into
ULTRAREALITY.
The Indomitable Pillar
Further exploration of the rooftops found signs of the palace’s
inhabitants having been killed by local wildlife. In a small pyramid standing
in a pleasant pond of water lilies, a meditation room hid an electrum pitcher
and a potion next to a meditation mat – but Ion, clever in his
adventuring ways, reached into a gurgling pool, and from the drain, retrieved a
priceless bracelet with sapphires valued at 20,000! Attention was now turned to
the SE section of the Doorless Arct, which has resisted their attempts to find
a way in. A bronze door from the hothouse was trapped with a magic glyph, and
held the bas-relief of a warrior with a dial puzzle on his shield they could
not solve. Down on the middle floor, across the gap above the palace atrium, a
set of double doors was also protected, but these glyphs could be triggered
safely at the cost of a spear. The doors were blasted off their hinges, and the
way in was open to a marble room. A purple obelisk with several eyes stood
there, speaking in a slow, sonorous monotone. An inhabitant of some deep
Underworld realm, it calmly explained it was a guardian who would need to
destroy them if they ventured beyond. This didn’t seem agreeable, so they
agreed to part amicably. The remaining way they could think of was through the
SE skylight, which they had seen before, perched 80’ above a multi-level
gallery above a mountain of treasure on the bottom floor. They climbed to the
roof in the jungle night, but doom came on bat-wings: the third god of the
Arct, a massive ape demon known as The Indomitable Pillar, swooped down,
enveloping them in deep darkness. In furious melee, it was eventually slain,
the last of the Arct’s powerful defenders. Exhausted after a multi-hour battle,
with dawn approaching, the explorers stood at last as the new masters of
Philetor Grentor’s palace... or did they?
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