Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 20

Orcs have returned to the caverns of the Glimmervaults ...
the Goblin King and the Lord of Werewolves have renewed their ancient alliance beneath the Howling Tower ...
and the secret treasury of the Bronding Kings is said to lie hidden behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...
...
and Jaer the Windlord looks down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles on Greyhame Mountain itself ...
while the Stars themselves are singing an eerie, eldritch song, night after night ...


12 February's roster:
Kord (half-orc fighter /cleric )
with Gram and Thaddeus (normal men)
and Saint One and Saint Two (St. Bernards)
Ham (cleric )
Aethelwulf (paladin 3)
with Hauka (snake-killing weasel)
Little Bob (traveling-man )
with Rolf Rolfson (normal man)
and Marlo and Panzer (dogs)

and later,
Blackleaf (Elf 2)
with Johann Haybaler (normal man)
Koko (woman-ape 2)


Before getting to the adventure proper, the townsfolk of Brakeridge threw a big celebration for the heroes that saved their children from the horrors of the goblin-dungeons beneath the Howling Tower. Everyone was allowed to "carouse" for experience without ill effects, the villagers slaughtered swine and oxen and roasted them in a great barbecue and shared out mead and beer in abundance; and even Morholt, usurper though he is, had to admit the heroism of the adventurers and sent gifts for them. Kord, Ham, and Aethelwulf each received a shield painted with heroic deeds to hang at their shrines; Little Bob, Koko, and Blackleaf each received a silver torc; and even Baby-Face received a letter of pardon forgiving him for the insult to Morrow Morholtson way back on the first adventure.

In town, Kord paid 1500 gold to build a granary on the second plot of land he purchased beside his new church to his god Kord (Chaotic Good god of strength). The church, meanwhile, is finished though rather spare in furniture.

Kord bought the two St. Bernards available in town and then took Aethelwulf under his wing and led him off to the Howling Tower, promising wealth but otherwise being rather cryptic about everything.

Attrition on the way out included a broken shield, axe, and javelin, lost during a brief skirmish with orcs. Then they arrived at the Tower and observed three baboons hanging out on the steps that lead up to the door into the tower, chattering and picking lice off of each other. Rather than go through them, Kord led Aethelwulf around to the north slope of the ridge and showed him a hole in the ground and said, "I hope you're not claustrophobic, 'cause we're going in there!"

They sent the weasel Hauka in first and then everyone else followed, Aethelwulf carrying his lit lantern ahead of him as he squirmed after his weasel through the narrow earthen tunnel.

After bending back and forth for a ways, the tunnels opened into a wider chamber--but it was little relief, because an insectoid horror surged up out of the darkness and attacked Hauka the weasel with writhing tentacles. The tentacles struck and Hauka's muscles seized and locked up, and then the insect-thing began to drag the paralyzed weasel away into the darkness.

Aethelwulf and Kord's dogs attempted to kill the horror before it could escape with Hauka, but they weren't quick enough in the confined space, and the horror disappeared down a side-tunnel, weasel in tow. Kord directed the party to the main tunnel and with a little more caution, they continued downwards.

Eventually, the tunnel opened into an area of worked stone with burial niches along the wall--Little-Bob (who was totally along with the party the whole time and definitely didn't just show up out of the blue) recognized the area on his map, and Kord showed the other two a secret door that they had missed on earlier expeditions. But he cautioned them not to bring any light into the corridor beyond, because the shadows created would animate and attack.

Everyone entered the short corridor beyond in total darkness; then Kord went ahead, and the others could hear him picking things up, moving them around, and he started to hand back sacks filled with treasure. Ultimately, they gathered three sacks filled with coin and a variety of other treasures including an incense box and incense, silver armbands, a painted canopic jar, etc. These they hauled back up through the earthen tunnel they had entered to begin with, all without dealing with any other monsters, and made their way back to town with only another brief skirmish against orcs.

Back in town, they divided their loot (not a small haul) and Aethelwulf paid a thousand gold for a fine liturgy of the Good cult in order to restore himself to Paladinhood.

The party, now joined by Blackleaf and Koko, then decided to venture to the Glimmervaults to collect the last nine orc heads required in their quest for a wish from Jaer the Windlord.

The journey to the Glimmervaults was uneventful. Faced with the choice between the western entrance through the natural grotto or the eastern entrance of worked stone fronted with heads and limbs on pikes, the party opted for the latter--reasoning that they were more likely to find orcs that way.

And lo! they immediately ran into a group of six orcs guarding the entrance just inside. These put up a brief fight, just long enough that one of their number could escape down the eastern corridor to warn his fellows. Meanwhile, the party took their time cutting off heads before they gave chase, and by the time they pursued the last guard, he had delivered his message about invaders and called on a number of other orcs and large lumbering creatures the party quickly identified as ogres.

Retreating down the corridor a bit, the party filled a 10'x10' square with oil and then lit the pool on fire when the orcs and company charged them. Both ogres and about half the orcs made it through, the other half were driven back, but most took damage from the flames. A general melee ensued; Blackleaf slept one ogre, making it easy prey, and then the other ogre and orcs quickly fell to the party's massed attacks.

They gathered the heads of the dead orcs into a bloody sack and then made their way back to town, triumphant and ready to seek out Jaer to deliver the orc heads to him for some magic.

Kord and Ham both caroused on their return, and held their liquor well. Everyone else, meanwhile, is a little gunshy about carousing after some of the mishaps they've seen.

------

Remembrance for the Fallen:
Hauka and Wilmerand (weasels), Blade and Boar (dogs), Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal men), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc mastiff), Fang (boarhound), Droopy and Snoopy (mastiffs), Dream Destroyer (ghost hound), Arrow (pack dog), Freyja (normal woman), a nameless cur, Hot Dog and Cross (mastiffs), Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boarhound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)

and for those Enchanted Away:
Dol (fyrdman hireling)