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.
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| Shadowing Pellostratos |
News from Fomalhaut! After finding a connection between the monorail station and the cellars of Pellostratos the Thaumaturge below the city, the company placed discreet inquiries about the patrician, and his possible connections to the Uttermost Masters. It turned out Pellostratos was a known trader of fine artwork from an unknown source. They finally arrived at a plan to flush him out if he was in the UMs’ service. After midnight, Bocephus used an autoalteration and dreamsending spell, appearing in the thaumaturge’s dreams as one of the masked masters, and speaking: “The chance for you to shine is at hand. We are moving up the timetable, meet us at the usual place in the morning.” The company immediately set out for the monorail station to nab him if he was there, while Murat the Etunian, bearing a tiny communicator device, headed for his house to cover his above-ground tracks if he chose that route. Indeed, he saw the patrician approach in one of the dark streets with an escort of guards, also carrying a small chest. He shadowed Pellostratos through the streets and plazas, joined by an invisible Bocephus. They emerged on the Plaza of Kagmek Khotoummi, where their mark headed towards the Shrine of Deformed Frogs. Following him into the sanctum, they saw Pellostratos sacrifice incense sticks and valuables to the great Tsathoggus, asking him to interpret his strange dream. To the thaumaturge’s bad luck, he rolled quite badly on the divine sacrifice table, and was almost struck down with a punishment, parting with the frog-priests after some tense discussion. It seemed he was not, in fact, the Masters’ agent. Leaving him to return home, they headed for the Temple of the Fallen Idol to see if they could learn something underground. In the city streets, they encountered a procession of guards, courtiers, and a sedan chair: Tyraxus Tharg, Glourm’s wizard-tyrant was heading for some unknown location, and they left him well alone.
Starting from
the monorail terminal, they investigated some bare passages made from
featureless grey stone. Dark, formless blobs drifted in the air. After throwing
some objects forward, it turned out the passage was a gravity anomaly where
things were falling sideways. Unfortunately, the tests also agitated the zero-G
amoebae, which proved tough opponents, only divided by edged weapons, and able
to engulf their opponents. Once they were slain with some difficulty, the
gravity wells could be examined – there were no ways further, but one of them
had some old bones on its bottom with a decent amount of coinage. The next
thing they checked were hallways to the south, which contained a
starfish-shaped idol radiating cold, and a triangle-shaped room with a strange,
shifting landscape on one of its walls. Bocephus, relying on information from a
book plundered from the Doorless Arct, identified it as a dreamscape, and they
chose not to investigate it. They headed east, into a cavern filled with
hallucinogenic mushrooms and spore-spewing mushroom-men. This time, they came
prepared; some monsters were webbed, and the rest killed off. Using her ring
of water breathing, Lilith waded into a deep pool of water,
eventually finding a connecting cavern and a fungus-encrusted treasure chest,
filled with treasures and a different magic ring. Ascending to an upper floor,
they continued exploring for a while, discovering a vault with a strange
cross-legged statue, as well as an ancient ossuary filled with the innumerable
bones of the long-dead. But as dawn was approaching, they chose to withdraw and
return to their exclusive quarters at the Spheroid Fish to ponder their
next move. According to the divination they had received earlier, there would
be two more days before something interesting would be happening at the
monorail terminal – and it was time to make preparations!
Deep into the Underworld
News from the doomed city of Thisium! A large company of adventurers descended into the Thisian Underworld to seek the secrets of Mornalt Tamburello. Through the graveyard entrance, they descended into the Vercato crypt, then rappelled down to the Grand Mausoleum... before realising this was not the way to Mornalt’s underground domain. They returned to the surface to go through another entrance. Things did not get better from here. They descended from the gardens of Villa Tamburello, going for the nobleman’s underground aviary. Racha Ducka distracted the talking peacock there while the others snuck down a flight of stairs into an underground suite. Mornalt was out, and the company’s thieves ransacked his quarters. They found gold and silver, and the portrait of a raven-haired noblewoman, behind which was garlic, holy water, a holy symbol, a silver cross, and a small leather-bound notebook with several female names in it (many noted multiple times). Mornalt’s marble throne hid a switch which opened a large trapdoor before the seat, revealing a chute. Brighella the thief was lowered down with ropes, and found the slide leading to a cistern they have already visited. They left the suite, and went to check out a stairway on this level they had not yet investigated. It led down to a room identified by an inscription as „THE PATRIARCH’S REST”. The once-decorative chamber had a gaping hole in the middle (below which they saw the magically lit garden of the wizard Prospero), and a large, broken glass display case, the size of a wardrobe, stood on one side. They returned back the stairs, and headed for the Tamburello crypts, which still had two unexplored chambers. In the tomb of Gioconda Tamburello, marked „IT IS ONLY WITH THE HEART THAT ONE CAN SEE RIGHTLY; WHAT IS ESSENTIAL IS INVISIBLE TO THE EYE”, they opened the sarcophagus bearing the likeness of a mysteriously smiling lady to reveal... nothing. There was jingling laughter and the scent of perfumes.
Something large and invisible sprung from inside. Brighella received a mortal wound, and died along with Haldir, the ever-alert scout. This was a difficult fight, but they prevailed over the invisible monster, and poking around for false bottoms, Amedeo the halfling found a set of invisible gemstones. Following an unexplored corridor from the crypt, they found that it connected to a known section. Descending to the Temple of the Bat, they encountered three Northman berserkers, disappointed the place had no treasure. They sent them back to the Tamburello crypts where there might be some left. They proceeded to explore more corridors, where they met Brunello the Dwarf, an explorer who joined the company. Their exploration eventually led them to the Grand Staircase. Choosing to venture beyond a mysterious room with a fire-pit and the statues of three magic-users, they descended a set of stairs to an antique bronze door with the even beat of drums behind it. The chamber beyond was a shrine, its walls badly angled and its dimensions vertigo-inducing. Two worn iron statues stood by the entrance; slender-limbed humanoid things holding tridents, with conch-shell shaped heads. „This is just like the Temple of the Unknown God”, someone spoke. „It was some pretty horrible shit there.” „Let’s go for it anyway.” Brunello approached a trapdoor (which was in a vertical side-wall), and it almost sucked him in with some terrible force. The two statues animated, blocking the exit. Amedeo shot a slingstone at an ugly little obsidian idol on the altar, smashing off an arm and sending a tiny metal tuning fork clattering. One of the statues was lassoed and temporarily entangled, but in the combat, Racha Ducka’s magic mace was sucked inside the other’s body, and these things proved almost impossible to hit.
Paty and Dona Neves, both light foot, targeted their missiles at a spiral on the ceiling, and as they gazed into its patterns, felt themselves pulled in a hundred directions. Paty survived, but Dona Neves was torn into bits. The company’s porters panicked, running towards the altar. Alfredo fell sideways into the bottomless trapdoor, and was gone with a shriek. Piero the porter just screamed and screamed. Amedeo aimed the small tuning fork, producing a grey beam on the iron statue, but with no effect. They chose to run beside it, fleeing up to the Grand Staircase, then the Temple of the Bat. Climbing up to the higher level, they saw a shimmering “force-wall” approach in the corridor, with a floating blade behind it. Brunello advanced, and was almost engulfed by the gelatinous cube like a complete newbie. They fled through the side-passage to the Tamburello crypts, hoping to meet up with the Northmen. These hopes were dashed: the berserkers had disturbed the rest of several shadows, and were absorbed into their ranks. The company just dashed through the moaning shades, deciding to make their exits through the Lower Crypts, one level above. Passing through the burial vaults without issues, they followed a northwards corridor, forgetting about the pit trap in its middle. Amedeo and Racha Ducka fell down a greased slide into a spiked pit, but survived the deathtrap, and were pulled out (after the horrifying „do we even have rope left?” question). Staggering up to the Grand Mausoleum, they exited the Underworld through the Vercato crypt, where they had first entered it. They had spent over 8 hours down there, and were dead exhausted by the time they were out. Piero the porter retired, promising never to adventure again... but in all his life, he would never forget the subterranean shrine’s strange geometries, and the winged beings that stood there and fought with tridents. At this time, the city had 21 days left.
Attack in Ucria
29/01/2026 KASSADIA
News from the fallen empire of Kassadia! (A report on two sessions.) The Lion Pack sailed north from Sormadium to return the body of Lady Gwaelben to the elves. For the night, they camped on the northern end of the island, but as they lit their fire, they soon noticed another nearby. Their new neighbours came over, 30 Northmen itching for a fight with Bull-Slayer Halfdan, King of the Seas as their leader. Jovial Faustulus wagered a great sum of gold against Halfdan’s golden bracers, turning the situation from a potential melee into a duel. The two warriors were well matched, but eventually, Faustulus was the one to land the third strike, and this impressed Halfdan and his men. They parted on good terms, the barbarians even inviting them on a raid against the village of Ucria, which they politely declined. They also revealed that the master of Castel di Lucio was buying slaves from them, and had a particularly beautiful slave girl in his possession. The next day, they sailed north in stormy weather, and returned the body of Lady Gwaelben to her companions. In turn, their leader, Nasril, granted them the healing herbs they were seeking. After resting in the elven tower, they sailed to the town of Sambuci, reached in difficult Autumn weather. What was once a town was now a mere village after a great plague, its houses walled-up or ruined, and its folk sullen and suspicious. They passed through quickly, as their destination was the neat and prosperous villa of the Bonnacorsi family, who had inherited one of the magic seals that would open the accursed tower of Quintus Equitius Elvorix. The current lord, Quirino Bonnacorsi, was a generous host to his visitors, as were his dreamy daughter, Mercede, and his son, the valiant Alvaro, both of marriageable age, but neither betrothed yet. Mercede had one suitor in the form of an impoverished, statue-obsessed noble named Edoardo Memmoli , while Alvaro seemed to be hiding something.
The next day, they raised the matter of the seal, and after some thought, Quirino suggested a compromise. He would grant them the item, but only after they proved themselves capable by winning another. To this, they agreed. The next seal they aimed for was in the village of Ucria, owned by Paolo Viglione. After more sailing in bad weather, they landed in the decrepit farming and fishing village, inhabited by a poor and unfriendly lot. The walls were crumbling and the houses were in bad repair, except for Villa Viglione, which now served as Ucria’s Monopoly, owned by the pink-robed magic-user Pirnox. Pirnox and his guards were just restoring things after the recent Northman raid, who had made off with considerable riches. It turned out Paolo had disappeared a while back, and the new owner had purchased sole trading rights in Ucria, and settled here. He didn’t know of any seal, but allowed his guests to search the upper floor to see if it was somewhere. As they spoke, though, Publius Varro noticed he was glancing at a spot on the wall, and while Pirnox was distracted upstairs, quickly found a secret niche, which held... not the seal, but a package of refined purple poppy, the drug that had been spreading in the cities of the Empire! He nabbed the pack, and they took farewells from Pirnox, finding shelter for the night in an abandoned cottage. Cornering a lurking urchin, they interrogated him about the village. He praised master Pirnox’s generosity to children, and also revealed many in the village were now spitting red from the drug, brought by shepherds from the mountains. Master Paolo had also gone up to the high valley when he was last seen. Considering what this all meant, they settled down to sleep, but awoke in the night to the smell of smoke. The roof was on fire, and they were surrounded by a strangely fanatical torch-and-pitchfork-mob of villagers with murder in their eyes, even with children among them!
They fought
their way out from the burning building through screaming farmers and
fishermen, coming into the fire of crossbowmen behind more distant houses. Petros
the light footman went down to a bolt, while Lucia the light footwoman
and Manius the bowman were cut down by the lightning bolt of
Master Pirnox. But the tide of battle turned, and the owner of the Monopoly galloped
away on a horse with a retinue of men, and his thugs fled into the wilderness
also. Many villagers had been massacred (although children were only slept),
and the rest didn’t dare come out of their hovels. They had full command of
Ucria. The Monopoly was as before, but two large chests had been quickly
emptied and all horses taken. They barricaded themselves for the night, resting
off the attack. The following day, most of the villagers had vanished, fleeing
with their meagre belongings, leaving only a few idiots and infirm people. The
Lion Pack followed the horse tracks into the mountain valley. Passing by
strange old ruins that were the bare walls of an above-ground labyrinth, they
left the cultivated lands for wild pastures. Finally, the trail led them to a
well-concealed canyon leading further up among the peaks. They spotted lookouts
on a high precipice, and two of the group climbed the rocks to ambush and kill
them (Publius used his spark-throwing dagger to good effect here). From this
vantage point, they could see beyond the canyon. A small valley lay there with
trees, and a field of red poppies covering all its upper reaches. Sheep grazed
lower down, tended to by shepherds much like the men they had just killed.
Around a stone house and the nearby stables were Pirnox’s thugs, going about
their business. They waited for evening. Near sundown, Master Pirnox
made an appearance outside the house, giving commands to five thugs, who
descended the valley – and they would soon find the bodies who had fallen off
of the cliffs! They needed to act.
The Hidden Valley
(Note the
strategic use of Judges Guild’s Island / Village Book as templates to build
from.)
Underground Passages
01/02/2026
FOMALHAUT
News from Fomalhaut! On the night before the day determined by augury, the company descended deep into the Temple of the Fallen Idol. They brought abundant supplies, as well as robes and bearded masks to take on the guise of the Uttermost Masters. With the city’s elite agents, they set up watch near the monorail terminal, and waited. Almost a day passed, but at last, the door on the hall’s northern side opened, and down came Pellostratos the Thaumaturge with an escort of guards bearing heavy crates. The masked adventurers stepped forward and greeted him in the name of the Uttermost Masters, asking him what he was doing in their domain. Pellostratos was scared out of his wits of the forms he had seen in his dream, and glimpsed in Glourm on previous occasions. It was determined that he had brought trade goods – food, fancy clothing, alcohol and narcotics – which he would periodically trade with the people who came by the monorail system. With another word, he was dismissed, to flee where he came. Now they waited, and slightly later, the monorail arrived through the great metal gates, bearing no men but goods – fancy ceramic pots, rich furniture, glassware, and other objets d’art. They quickly boarded, bid farewell to the agents, and waited for the journey to come. The metal tube travelled hours through unknown underground layers, and finally, through another gateway, arrived in a massive, empty, and ark hall. An inscription on the wall read: „TERMINEXUS, S. T. PHI”. They were not alone. A group of men in nondescript working clothes were in waiting, and as they saw the masked figures emerge, they made a run for one of the side passages. They were alone again. They followed the northern passages, reaching a gravel-filled room whose walls were lined by great stone faces, and an inscription reading: „THE OVERSEERS DECREE CONTINUED VIGILANCE.” The gravel was unstable in the middle, and Murat the Etunian was almost swallowed as in quicksand.
They continued, reaching a vast, unlit hall of unknown height. Massive towers of dark metal stood by the walls with balconies and apertures. Examining the silent structures, they were ambushed by a barrage of precisely aimed crossbow bolts. The four cloaked figures who attempted the assassination moved forward in a herky-jerky way, responding to no words – men, but men acting in an oddly mechanical way. Three were killed and one was tackled, but he did not speak. He was slain, and at the moment of death, showed a moment of panic and confusion before expiring. They continued exploring the hall, its towers and machinery all dusty and abandoned. They were soon beset by 12 shaggy, hunched humanoids clad in dirty rags and equipped with primitive weaponry, whom they slew. Further on, they discovered a hall filled with shallow pits containing rotting remains intermixed with human bones. Portcullises fell to seal all exits, a weird alarm sounded, and several howling noises came from the NW. With great effort, Ion raised the portcullis they came from, and they fled back through the passages to their starting point. Now they chose to follow the men who had escaped from them. An angled shaft led up to a sunlit outdoors courtyard. On one side were the roofs of a large building complex, and on the other, sheer cliffs rising to the infinity of a dull white sky, with the occasional dark hexagonal spot. A group of shabbily dressed men were relaxing by the walls. The encounter was tense, and they ended up getting chased out through a large gate into a massive city of antique, once-elegant buildings, now crumbling with their balconies, cupolas, and statuary.
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| The City of Diomira |
The plazas and larger streets were populated by crowds clad in colourful clothing, and they noticed several faceless, togaed statues standing on plinths, as well as dark, polished metal disks mounted on building facades. They followed a street, encountering a procession escorting naked, laughing and weeping people. Avoiding them, they happened on a deserted little square by the cliffs, where a dirty alleyway hid a great stone face. Finding no way to make sense of it, they continued exploring, passing by a large, dusty plaza, where two ragged hoboes were hurling metal balls at each other among curses and invectives among the ruins of a larger building, watched by crowds making bets. Even further, they met a hysterical woman experiencing a nervous breakdown among the crowds. Ion stepped forward to calm her down. She introduced herself as Berenice, seeming distraught for reasons she could not explain. “It is mirror overexposure”, Ion suggested, pointing at one of the black disks on a nearby facade, mystifying her. He took her home, an apartment in one of the nearby building complexes. She treated Ion to some jerg (a pink, springy, sweet-and-sour lump serving as the common food here), and there could have been more if he had no other things to do. They headed towards the city’s western public park, where they had encountered the renegade philosopher Theognis on their previous visit, but his tower-villa was burned out. As they headed up a stairway to the grassy hills, they were accosted by 20 colourfully dressed, weak-chinned men, who started following and harassing them. The encounter soon devolved into mutual hostility, the louts accusing the visitors of offending their personal truth. When Polybios retorted in a dismissive manner, they became livid with rage. A large crowd surged forward to observe the events. They withdrew into the hills under a barrage of stones, which did little damage against armour. Among the trees, they made their stand, and the crazed flower children died under their weapons. The screaming survivors fled with the crowds back to the city, the rest remaining on the ground drenched in their own blood. Dusk was approaching, the light above unmoving but dimmed. Night was coming to the vast, crowd-filled city far beneath the surface of the earth.
The Demonic Theatre
03/02/2026 THISIUM
News from the doomed city of Thisium! A large group of adventurers, supplemented by the entourage of the Fomalhaut-born warrior Duran Duran, descended into the Thisian Underworld in pursuit of the Doom Below the City, thought to be found in fiery depths. Much rope and an empty barrel were taken along. Descending through the passages, the company fought off giant bats in the great cavern, where the new fighting-man proved his mettle. Onwards, beyond the Temple of the Bat, they filled the barrel with water from a pump, and carried it down the Grand Staircase. At the bottom was the Arena of the Overmen, a small fighting ring surrounded by marble statues of heroic proportions. Giacomo stepped forth to rise to the challenge, and went for the grand prize, the elixir of the very gods! He had to fight two overmen in arena combat, and prevailed, winning a draught that raised his STR and CHA to 18, sharing in the gods’ immortal glory! Continuing, they were ambushed by 6 berserkers, who slew Diaba the archer. Five were slept and the last was captured. They forced him into the arena, which he took in stride, defeating an overman and earning a hammer +1! Silver-tongued Giacomo, now perfectly charismatic, convinced him to join in their adventures, which the warrior accepted. They proceeded to the fiery well close by, peering down into great depths of volcanic fire. „You guys didn’t mention the lava”, said Giacomo. A barrel of water suddenly didn’t seem all that useful. Nevertheless, Aufidia Corvina bravely had herself lowered with ropes as far as she could descend (earning the berserker’s respect), and using two charges of her wand to detect secret doors, to no avail. They now chose another route: the stairs the berserkers were hiding in. The worn steps descended into a natural cavern. In its eastern end stood a wooden stage, with 31 motionless humans dipped in hardened wax standing before a painted theatrical backdrop.
Aufidia raised her holy symbol to turn undead (just in case), and indeed, four figures broke their wax shells, escaping in moans. A deep, bellowing voice came from behind the scenery: „COME CLOSER, AND ENJOY THE PLAY! ... IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO SEE JUST THE ART, HERE AM I, THE ARTIST!” Aufidia threw her fireball, destroying the 31 damned souls, and blasting the stage into smithereens. From behind came a terrible towering figure with bat wings, a great horned head and a massive body, brandishing a massive lightning-shaped sword and a fiery whip! The fighting-men charged. In terrible combat, the Berserker fought heroically with his magic hammer, and was killed with a swordstrike. Elkheart the dog ran between the demon’s legs with a rope to entangle it, and was executed with a swipe of the weapon. But the company fought just as well, wearing down the demon into a single Hit Point. It roared, „HERE COMES THE DEUS EX MACHINA!”, dragging Dorvo (Fighting-Man 5) into its flames, killing him. But Giacomo struck with his magic dagger, stabbing the horror, which disappeared with a final roar! There were great iron chests behind the stage, containing 11,000 gp, a shield +2 , potions, scrolls, gems, and a treasure map. With great difficulty, the treasure was distributed, though the survivors could barely move. They carried some of the load only to the Grand Staircase, where they hid it in the secret grotto below a (much larger) hoard of copper pieces. From here, they went up, and through known routes, returned to the room beneath the Pickled Carp – using their remaining rose of resurrection to return Dorvo to life. At this time, the city had 20 days left...
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| Meeting Old Friends |
News from Fomalhaut! Having killed or driven off the mob of crazed citizens who had attacked them, the adventurers sought shelter in the vast city as night was falling. They used to have a friend in this parkland area from their previous visit almost a year previously, but Theognis the individualist hermit was gone, and his ruined tower-villa was a burned-out ruin. They headed north through the streets, now quiet and desolate. An ambush came from dark doorways; eight shaggy brutes equipped with clubs and nets, the devolved men of the underground tunnel system. They fought and killed the assailants, and finally found shelter in a long-deserted apartment. The next dawn rose, and they went out among the crowds to seek out other people they had known. Words had spread of the massacre in the woods, and of poetry readings and new art projects. It was being whispered that the killings must have been the work of the Anti-Prophet, the city’s implacable enemy, still doing his nefarious work somewhere in hiding. They passed through the bustling Grand Plaza, filled with throngs of all ages, and passed by the hill where the mysterious, sealed Spiralling Temple. They headed NE, to one of the smaller plazas where lived Forbas the Philosopher. Finding his house among so many again was a challenge, but Gelastikos Antagoras, his rival who had lived in filth in a hollow stone sphere as a personal statement, could show the way to his hated enemy’s house. Heading that way, a local man approached them, and offered a trade for the „exotic” helmet worn by Meurios Andromakhos – a jewel worth a staggering 15,000! Meurios had inherited his armaments through several generations of aristocratic succession, but he was a shrewd trader as well, and after talking up his headgear, accepted the offer. They now went for Forbas’s house, but he no longer lived there, and the new tenants, a young family, did not know where he went. The trail was cold.
Heading back south and weighing their options, they were rushed by a demented, screaming old man, but Bocephus was alert, and quickly charmed him. The man, Eteokles, did not understand his momentary confusion – he saw someone in the characters he immediately forgot – but now they had a friendly guide. He took them for a lunch at the Through of Sustenance, where the city’s two types of food, gump (sloppy, sweet and savoury, faint hint of vomit) and jerg (springy, pink, elastic) were available for free, and where the wayfarers, those citizens who had given up all effort, spent their days in stupor. Of the city’s recent attractions, Eteokles was particularly impressed by the „talking frogs” of the nearby Theatre of Rapt Gazes, an art project of sorts. Having no better idea, they visited the place, home to artistic experimentation, poetry recitals, and various side-shows off the main area. Behind a curtain embroidered with an enormous frog-head, they met the young Theoron and his four companions, who showed them the frogs, stone statuettes standing on plinths, and instructed Bocephus in rubbing them with euphoric unguent. The carved images spoke indeed, and to Theoron’s massive surprise, ordered him to admit the company to the chambers’ inner sanctum. They stepped beyond another curtain, and stood before... a great, enthroned frog-thing between braziers of incense-smoke, peering down at them with three bulging, malevolent eyes. The fat frog-demon bellowed in surprise, recognising the killers of his fellows in the palace of Philetor Grentor, in the world of ULTRAREALITY! Bocephus quickly saved the day by proposing that they had no reason to fight in this city, as they had a common enemy in the city’s secretive masters – and besides, that affair back in the past was self-defence. This calmed things. The great Tsathoggus was only getting established here, in the initial phases of taking over the city, and was in need of all allies he could get.
The demon and
his newfound cultists had already caught one of the strange assassins who had
also ambushed the company in the subterranean halls. Through magic and drugged
interrogation, they had learned that the „Overseers” had an underground tower,
which could only be accessed through a special glyph, which was in turn hidden
in a mirror – not the common dark metal disks found all around the city with
their cryptic messages, but a special one in an unknown location. Bocephus
thanked the great frog profusely, but modestly declined an offer of cooperation
promising spells and magical devices in exchange for a small agreement,
reasoning that his revenge on the Uttermost Masters came first, and only once
this was sated could he entertain such an offer. With this, they parted, being
let out by the awestruck Theoron and his men. Before the theatre, they ran into
someone else: Milto, a young man loitering around with some of his
peers. They queried him about the city’s black market of outside goods, which
Milto seemed to know decently well. He also recalled that a craftsman in a
nearby workshop had something similar to Kelombrotos’s magic mace in his
store. Their curiosity piqued, they investigated the deserted alleyway and the
dusty little store. Milto came up behind them with 20 strong lads, demanding
their fancy clothes. Bocephus slept nine, Kleombrotos and the others
slew most of the rest, while one ran. They dragged the bodies into the
workshop, and interrogated the wannabe bandit leader for what he knew, taking
his accumulated plunder for their own. They let the survivors run, and headed
towards the Plaza of the Gloomy Wells, where illicit goods were traded –
and where the ubiquitous dark mirrors were missing from their metal frame...
The Bridge of Fire
News from the doomed city of Thisium! A large company descended to the deeper levels of the Thisian Underworld to seek the source of its doom. In the Arena of the Overmen, Dorvo fought for and won a pair of boots of speed. They went one level deeper, and ventured beyond the Theatre of the Demon. One passage they found led to upwards stairs opening into a great cavern filled with the ancient bones of men and atavistic beasts. Choosing to retreat and pick the other route, they discovered an ancient downwards staircase, its steps worn and unnaturally steep. The spiral stairs went not just down but somehow sideways. Minor chambers were adjoined to the stairwell, with niches holding broken pottery. From the corners of these chambers emerged 8 figures in dusty shrouds, attacking by surprise. Ezzard the porter and Filippo the bowman had their necks wrung by the attackers, while Big Borso Caladri the heavy foot and Duran Duran the Paviser were strangled and dragged back beyond the corners. In this terrible fight, the company nevertheless prevailed, slaying two creatures and driving off the rest. These were not undead, and their lean night-dark bodies had no faces. They continued down, finding a deep and incredibly ancient passage. Following it to the east, they discovered an intersection, but the side-passages were not horizontal; rather, vertical in relation to their position. As Dorvo jumped to the other side with rope, three more shrouded beings came, but one was killed and two were driven off. They threw the body upwards, and watched it fall in that direction. With Dorvo’s aid, they crossed the pit. The way led to a small grotto with unnaturally sharp shadows, whose dimensions shifted as they moved. Its inhabitant, a giant ammonite with a splendid rainbow shell, proved peaceful, and they left it well alone. Luin the Lugubrious searched the room, finding a secret door. Opening it, red light and great heat streamed in through the doorway.
They entered into a massive natural cavern, standing on a ledge above tremendous depths. The fires of the Underworld burned far below; steam and smoke rose in blistering heat. Above them, a great basalt bridge spanned the cavern. They climbed a set of rough stairs on the cliffside above the fiery abyss, and preparing for what they knew would come, crossed the bridge. A terrible apparition of red and black appeared to block their way: a raven-haired woman in the garments of nobility – Lucia Tamburello, stoned by the people of the city as a witch! Giacomo quickly stepped forward, presenting a token he had received from his love, Hestia Tamburello. The spirit halted when seeing the item from her niece, but spoke terrible words: just as the mobs of the city had killed her who had done them no harm, thus would she bring doom upon Thisium, as it has been promised to her by the gods. Giacomo tried to appeal to her better nature, but this was not enough to move Lucia. However, with some questioning, they learned that only the Sword of Roses could defeat her (this weapon was just recently recovered), and also that while it was the city’s people who had killed her, it was the poisoned words of her brother, Mornalt Tamburello who had guided their hand. Giacomo offered to bring him to her if this was enough to save Hestia, and received a tentative „Perhaps” as the apparition disappeared. They left the volcanic cavern, finding a set of fiery shafts through which they could escape from the lower levels with rope and a levitate spell. They emerged through the mouth of a covered pit at the bottom of a wide and very old stairway, with the head of a malevolent jester leering down on them from the arch – the Stairway of Fools! Exploring the nearby tunnels, they fought and killed a rust monster. Giacomo tried to peel its carapace with his magic dagger, which he promptly lost to rusting (as the SVoZ version does that).
They returned to
the stairway. They knew from previous adventures something was hidden in this
area, so Aufidia Corvina used her wand of secret door detection,
discovering a smaller and larger one. The smaller hid a lever, which lowered
the second into the stairway like a ramp. They climbed, finding themselves at
the entrance of a dusty archive. Opposite the entrance, the brass bas-relief of
an owl looked at them with glowing ruby eyes. Suspecting a trap, Dorvo tested
the area before the head with a thrown sack, which was sliced apart neatly by
industrial-strength laser beams. With some trickery involving a mirror mounted
on a spear, they bounced the rays right back at the owl, cutting the metal in
half, allowing the eyes to be retrieved. The archives held a wealth of
administrative documents going back several centuries, from tax rolls to sewer
maintenance orders. They also found a few incredibly valuable books, a cache of
magic scrolls, and a small wooden door. It was opened from a distance by a knockspell,
triggering a sharp guillotine trap without harm. Beyond the door, there was
only a cabinet with a bundle of old documents sealed with several seals of
Thisium from different eras. Someone made a connection going back one year of
campaign time – these were the lost documents the mad bureaucrat Jacindo
had stolen from the city’s archives! Deciding not to tamper with the seals for
now, they took their treasures and headed back to the surface. As they returned
to the deserted downstairs room of the Pickled Carp, they heard of grave news: Gordisio
Pamfile, one of Thisium’s three most powerful nobles, had just been
assassinated in his palace. At this time, the city had 19 days left...
Winter Adventuring
14/02/2026 KASSADIA – WINTER ADVENTURING 2026
News from the fallen empire of Kassadia! (And the Winter Adventuring 2026 mini-con) A group of five adventurers and ten followers descended into the Blue Mausoleum in pursuit of treasure, following two treasure maps. They approached the entrance, where they found wide stairs flanked by six statues of hooded skeletons, one holding out a bony hand. They placed 19 coins in the palm, which deactivated some statues but not all, unleashing a barrage of magic missiles. The steps lead to a grandiose entrance hall with several exits, and a deep shaft in the middle. Gideon the halfling Fighter-Thief descended by rope to a lower level, landing on a pile of broken statuary. Looking around down here, he spotted a massive stone statue of a proud-looking man wearing a crown of gold and gemstones, which he quickly decided was going to be trouble, so he returned where he came. They proceeded westwards, fighting floating eyes in a catacomb section, discovering stairs up to a higher level, and a chasm spanned by a bridging stair leading up to an ominous throne. In the side of the chasm was a brass door marked „ARRHODES”. They used the enchanted roots of Thog to grow vines and roots on the wall, providing footholds to open up the door. An entrance corridor led to a hexagonal room of blazing fires, and a great red-hot metal face staring at them. A dispel magic was thrown in, destroying the face and the flames – an illusion! Investigating a small chamber, a ledge led to a side-chamber containing the tomb of Arrhodes, depicted on frescoes as a sage in a garden, being dismembered by a steel praying mantis. The sarcophagus contained treasures, including a ring of fire resistance. Satisfied, they headed up the stairs. The passages led to a shorter flight of stairs flanked by six statues of zombies bearing brass khopesh, and a narrow double door on the top.
Although they quickly noticed there was dried blood on the steps, Gideon nevertheless messed with the door, and narrowly escaped getting killed by sword blades striking from the wall. More carefully, he picked the lock, revealing a small tomb, where a toga-clad, pale patrician stood among shelves of treasure. Appius Avidius Albertonibus, a censor of the old Empire, almost charmed Gideon with his gaze, and managed to drain him before he fled down the stairs, struck by the statues’ swords as the vampire commanded them to be gone. Rather foolishly, they went for him again with the reasoning that „There is too much loot there to be worth missing out.” Incredibly luckily, Tobias the Cleric managed to control Appius Avidius, and the fight was turned into a parlay. He gave them a third of his treasures when requested, including a gladius +1 and a very expensive aquilifer (A.K.A. eagle-on-a-stick), and they parted amicably. The western passages led to a looted crypt with frescoes depicting augurs. A woman’s pleading came from a sarcophagus weighted down with heavy stones, but her tale that she was trapped therein by bandits for ransom was suspect, and the noble family name she gave was not known to them, so they steered clear. A nearby crypt was dedicated to „the Elevated Ones”, where three juju zombies ordered them to leave. An insult drew them out, and in a fight, they were killed, but so was Arboren of the Cliffs, light footman. From this crypt, stairs went up to a room with a magic triangle and a portal swirling with glowing mist. Hog the Hobbit meditated in the diagram, gaining +1 WIS. The portal contained a malevolent mist creature with many gnawing mouths, which spilled out when disturbed. They fled, but Settimia the Seeress, a porter, was killed. Tobias reanimated the dead zombies to retrieve the corpse, but they never returned from the mist either.
Onwards they went, through decrepit old crypts housing the servants of one „Alvus Tessero”. The way ended in a crypt inhabited by giant Venus flytraps, where multiple characters were almost killed. A stone disk in the floor was marked with the name of Alvus Tessero himself. Lifting it out revealed a burial pit with 14 zombies, who killed Vernatorix the spearman when he stepped into the first rank; and a wight, who was destroyed more easily, yielding magical weapons and much in treasure. With these, they returned to the exit, but again failed to pay the hooded skeletons enough, and right before the exit, Vellio the charcoal burner was killed by a magic missile. They returned to Pellagris richer to rest, resupply, and hire new followers. Here, incredible luck struck (literal 00 roll), resulting in Sir Vialor the Wild, a 12th-level Fighter generously kitted out with magical bling joining their adventure. Buffed up by his presence, they headed back. Investigating a passage from the entrance hall, they found a lapidary, and a stone statue calling himself the Stone Prophet. In exchange for a magic longbow, it told them where they might find the fabled Horn of Quintus on a different section of the upper level. Following the instructions, they got lost nevertheless, but found themselves in a multi-level burial vault spanned by bridges at multiple heights. Using his boots of levitation, Sir Vialor ascended to the upper level, got attacked by a swarm of mini-gargoyles, killed off the little buggers, and lowered a rope. After plundering a sarcophagus, they started exploring up here. They found the tomb of „Ansaldo Contrino, the Hunter”, whose sarcophagus rested among a collection of odd taxidermied monsters. Two of these were animated: a scitalis (a crystal-skinned snake) could hypnotise its victims, while a bonnacon (a shaggy bull) turned and covered its victims with burning excrement. The monsters were beaten and a pricy bow retrieved.
Following the passages, they finally found a secret door leading to the Alarus family crypt (the road to the Quintus Extension was regrettably buried under a lot of rubble). A metal sarcophagus was suspended high up from multiple chains. Sir Vialor levitated up, and got attacked by invisible swords, which were killed, but at the cost of Tullius the porter. Finding secret switches, the sarcophagus was lowered to the tomb floor. Opening it released a deadly gas trap, to which Luciano the kid succumbed, but a magical spark-throwing dagger studded with several sapphires, and other valuables were theirs. More exploration commenced on the adventure’s close, and Tobias gained permanent command of a gang of ghouls. They used them to loot a dangerous-looking room veiled in magical gloom, with dead adventurers lying on the floor. Alas, they also decided to burn a sinister-looking tapestry over the sarcophagi, releasing 4 wraiths. They shut the door at once, but the spirits came by surprise through the door, surrounded Sir Vialor, and for all his 12 levels, drained him of his life and turned him into a wraith before being dispatched. Tobias commanded their erstwhile companion to depart, which the sad shade did, and with their treasures, they headed for the exit, and the town of Pellagris...
I must also
report that we went for a humble Chinese restaurant nearby, which had way
better duck than anticipated, and I got a fortune cookie befitting a Gamemaster:
“Your appearance infers leadership ability.” Indeed so, fortune cookie,
indeed so.
