The following adventurers set out from Osrendell on the morning of 9/13: Ollie, Jerker, Elaria, Urgesh, Tienarth, Hocuspo, Ferris, Nate. They intended to revisit the tower on the eastern side of the Naked Isle. They’d remembered a book recovered from the tower by a villager that bore strange symbols and six eyes. The decision was made to hike up into the mountains to the north (hex 0604) rather than routing through the swamps. On their way, an archway of worked stone was spied behind some obscuring brush.
Stairs lead down into a musky room fifty feet across where dwelled savage apes that rushed at Urgesh as he entered. The beasts were cut down with ease, after which the lair was searched. Little was found in the ape nest. Three sets of double doors were arranged on the western wall. They chose to open the northernmost doors. They followed the wide corridor around a corner to a blank wall. After a short search a secret door was revealed by way of Ollie’s stonework knowledge. The rugged dwarf rushed through the door to face two spiders. They died beneath his axe, squealing in arachnid terror.
In the center of the room was a brass brazier engraved with clouds and wind, the symbols being considered an ominous sign. Elaria found a secret panel behind which was as small sack of coins (300 cp) and a potion later identified as providing cold resistance. They left this room by another door to the south, wandering through a narrow passage that ended in a dead end. They found no secret door here and backtracked, soon coming to another door. After Ferris failed to quickly solve the lock, Urgesh bashed down the door.
The room beyond was some eighty feet across, round, and with a low ceiling. In the center of the room was a padded chair over which a chandelier hung. Ollie sat in the dwarf-sized chair. Ghostly candles appeared in the light fixture. Ollie felt his vision clarify after a momentary burst of light. He looked around and immediate spied the outline of a secret door across the room. He approached the door and pushed on a panel meant to open it. Instantly, he felt a wave of cold run up his arm. Ferris, suspecting poison, dashed across the room, pulling a vial of anti-toxin from his belt pouch. A moment later, he was pouring the slimy liquid down the dwarf’s throat. A potentially disastrous encounter with contact poison was averted.
Urgesh, fascinated by the prospect of poison, and perhaps driven on by the orcish half of his heritage, attempted to scrape some of the poison onto his spear head.
They turned from this room to go west, eventually coming to another door. This lead to the nest of four more apes. The party was stacked up single-file behind Ollie. The mighty dwarf dropped his axe and shield to grapple the gorilla that charged him, pushing the beast back into the room. This allowed the other fighters to pitch in. Soon, the black, hairy beasts were dead. Among the worthless nest items were three urns containing coins and amulet. The following day, Tienarth identified the amulet as being proof against detection and location. The wearer would be immune from any divination or scrying magic.
They soon found themselves back in the entrance room, coming in through the southernmost doors. They opened the central doors and ended up in a chambered guarded by a bone golem. Tienarth cast a haste spell. Hocuspo and Elaria fired magic missiles. The golem was quickly destroyed.
Before leaving, they returned to the brazier room and lit the incense inside. A thick, sweet smoke drifted about, infusing a strong but pleasing odor upon them. They did their best to spread the smoke to the entrance to counteract the stink of the apes. Then, they walked back to Osrendell. Retiring to the one tavern, they were surprised to be offered free drinks.
The next day (9/14), Tienarth studied the amulet and potion.
End Notes
- Days
- 9/8 – 9/12 Downtime on Naked Isle
- 9/13 Explore the ape lair
- 9/14 Analyze items
- Treasure:
- 300 cp (taken by Jerker)
- Potion of Cold Resistance (taken by Jerker)
- Metal urns containing 1900 cp, 500 ep, 4900 gp, and an amulet of proof against detection and location.
- Combat: 3305 xp
- 5 Carnivorous Apes 240 xp each
- 2 Giant Crab Spiders 100 xp each
- Bone Golem 945 xp each
- 4 Gorillas 240 xp each
- Characters (7 shares of xp each)
- Elaria (hireling) 236 xp
- Ferris (human) 519 xp
- Hocuspo (hireling) 236 xp
- Jerker (human, fight) 524 xp
- Nate (human, fight) 524 xp
- Ollie (rugged, stonework, underground, fight) 491 xp
- Tienarth (avoid combat) 477 xp
- Urgesh (half-human, outdoors, fight, strength) 510 xp
- Ships
- The Garlic Frog (Caravel)
- Crew/Passengers: 10/ 25
- Hit Points: 60/75
- Cargo: 30 of 75 tons
- Food: 64 man/weeks (half ton)
- Water: 4760 gallons (20 tons)
- 2 tons of sugar, 2 tons of cocoa, 5 tons of lamp oil (34 barrels, 7 barrels/ton)
- The Garlic Frog (Caravel)