Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 19

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 ...


5 February's roster:
Kord (half-orc fighter 3/cleric 3)
with Blade and Boar (wolfhound and boarhound), and Gram and Thaddeus (normal men)
Ham (cleric 3)
Baby-Face (thief 5)
with Whesker, Wilmerand, and Wallaby (weasels) and St. Bb (st. bernard), and Frida (normal woman)
Aethelwulf (disgraced paladin 3)
with Hauka (weasel)
Little-Bob (traveling man 4)
with Marlo and Panzer (cur and orc mastiff), and Rolf Rolfson (normal man)
Blackleaf (Elf 2)
with Johann Haybaler
Koko (woman-ape 2)


The last time Kord adventured into the Greyhame dungeon, he emerged with a huge haul of treasure after a desperate fight with goblins, but when he caroused, he and his companion Ham got involved in some kind of an Evil ritual--they were both badly drunk and don't remember who or what instigated it, or what the nature was exactly--and both were consequently denied their spells by their Good god, Kord.

Going to Lailith, local high level Good cleric, Kord and Ham each received a quest spell from her to go and save the children that remain the captives of the goblins beneath the Howling Tower. Further, when that deed is done they will have to pay 500 gold for a small Good liturgy, and then they will be restored to their cult and their spells regained.

So that was the purpose of this expedition, but first preparations had to be made. Kord threw his weight around with his new won gold, buying a dog for himself and hiring two mercenaries, Gram and Thaddeus, and then buying a weasel for Baby-Face (who is broke from the last time he caroused and threw the biggest party ever seen in Brakeridge--he owes several thousand gold now to the thieves' guild ...). Kord fully equipped his new hirelings, and then continued throwing money about as he bought two plots of land, one on which he ordered the construction of a new temple to Kord, his good god of strength, and the other for eventual farming plans. Lastly, he acquired 3 healing potions from Lailith, at a whopping 300 gold each. And I believe he still has money left over.

Aethelwulf, meanwhile, is disgraced in his paladinhood while he was carousing, he acquired a slave--Hastia, a young woman--whom he promptly freed, of course, but being Good, the acquisition of a slave in the first place was very bad. So he may no longer act as a paladin until he atones, for which Lailith has commanded him to pay for a 2000 gold liturgy for the Good cult.

And Baby-Face, as mentioned, is badly in debt to the thieves' guild. In an attempt to start paying it off, he took on a job attempting to smuggle goods for them (using the monthly hijinks from Adventurer Conqueror King System)--but alas, he failed at his task, and was unable to meet the contact who would transfer the goods to him.

So ... with Kord, Ham, and Aethelwulf all clamoring to free the captive children, the party set off through the wilderness seeking the Howling Tower. On the way out, attrition destroyed another axe chapping firewood (they must be poor quality), and lost a dozen arrows in a poor attempt at hunting.

Arriving on the ridge where the tower stands, the party observed a much larger pyre beside Begor's pyre, the new one filled with small crooked bodies about the size of goblins--Baby-Face laughed, recalling the expedition on which he and the company slaughtered dozens of goblins.

Entering the tower, the party almost immediately ran into Okok the Ape King and seven of his baboon minions tearing apart the corpses of another couple goblins and eating. As Koko was with the party, they were able to communicate with Okok, who declared that his fire had gone out and that he was very disappointed. By promising to give him a tinderbox, flint and tinder, and more torches, the party enticed him into joining their attack on the goblins below, and he sent his baboons away to follow with the party.

Moving quickly through familiar territory, the party spooked the goblin guards at the head of the stair down to the dungeon, but they chose not to pursue the half a dozen creatures that scrambled quickly down the stairs. Maintaining their order, they descended more slowly and found themselves again in familiar territory in the catacombs. Little Bob pointed out that the western part of the dungeon was unexplored, and so the party looked into a couple of empty tombs before the group complained that they might have a better shot at finding the children if they explored nearer where they knew the goblins dwelt.

So they backtracked that way and entering into a large pillared hall, they surprised about a dozen goblins on guard outside a door. Battle ensued, and the goblins were killed, but they put up a decent fight, hurling missiles from the back rank that managed to kill Wilmerand the weasel and St. Bb the Saint Bernard. The goblins were led by one of their kind who seemed more capable and perhaps a little magical, but she was killed by an arrow to the eye.

The last goblin the party captured. This Nogg as it called itself pointed out that the children were behind the door--those that hadn't yet been taken down to the next level by the Goblin King. As this was all the party wanted to know, they killed Nogg and then went through the door to find two doors, one to the right, one to the left. The right door was locked; Baby-Face unlocked it and opened it and behold, seven miserable children were revealed in the torchlight, scrawny and malnourished and crying from the sudden torchlight. The other door turned out to be storage and a larder.

The party debated what to do next--take these children out now, or leave them under guard and explore deeper, seeking the other children? The question was made moot, however, when they opened the outer door and found a small army of goblins and wolves had filled the pillared hall behind them.

Goblin arrows thudded into the door as the party closed it to consider their options. As they continued to dither, more goblins showed up ... eventually they decided just to charge in.

This battle was going poorly for the party--the goblins and wolves killed the dogs Blade and Boar, and got in a few good hits on characters--and there seemed to be more goblin leaders in the back ranks, getting ready to throw spells--but at this point we were out of time (as summarily decided by our venue), and we had to wrap up. Fortunately, as the first of the wolves had just gone down, I rolled a morale check, and it failed--so reasonably fairly, the wolves' rout became the goblins' rout, and the werewolves that were with the group elected for discretion rather than valor.

So the party made it out of the dungeon with the children saved and in tow, and proceeded back to town without any incident.

------

Remembrance for the Fallen:
Wilmerand (weasel), Blade and Boar (dogs), Hubert the Peacock and Lysimmachus (normal men), a nameless mastiff, Livy (normal man), Orkie (orc hound), 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 mercenary)

Greyhame Mountain Dungeon Expedition 10

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 ancient Bronding Kings is said to lie somewhere behind the Brokenbrand Falls, haunted by enchanting naiads ...

...

and Jaer the Windlord is said to look down on the world below from the Eyries of the Eagles on Greyhame Mountain itself ...


21 November's roster:
Baby Face (thief 3)
with Wheskers the Weasel, Wilmander the Weasel, Frita (normal woman), Hughbert the Peacock (normal man)
Blackleaf (Elf 1)
with Johann Haybaler (normal man) and Dol (normal man, former fyrdman)
Finbar (half-Elf druid 1)
with Dorcas Kurlsdotr (normal woman) and Rubadub-dub (mastiff)
Little Bob (traveling man 3)
with Rolf Rolfson (normal man) and two dogs (I forget their names)


So, a full party ...

Baby Face's player showed up first, so he, as a thief, went and did a job for the local guild. He went "carousing" (per the ACKS rules ... basically rumormongering for his boss), succeeded at his "hear noise" roll, and learned that the rumors that Morholt, local lord, was seeking a love potion to coerce the widow of the former lord Albrecht to marry himself (to legitimate Morholt's claim to power), were true. Baby Face's guild handler thanked him for the news, paid him 50 gold; and then Baby Face paid off the 1000 gold he owed the guild with money earned last session.

(Concerning the guild, Baby Face also learned both that the guild is headquartered in Bardastead, a town a couple days north of Brakeridge; and also that the guild is considering a heist of Oakridge Castle, Morholt's seat of power, at some time soon in the future ...)

A snake-killing weasel, a mastiff, and all six hirelings were snapped up by characters prior to the expedition ... also, Baby Face and Blackleaf each bought a "dose" of Elfin willow bark (said to be healing, entry 10 here), while Finbar bought a piece of a dragon heart (said to allow one to comprehend languages, entry 2 here).

The town-game finished, everyone finally agreed to head to the Howling Tower, where a former expedition had revealed treasure and an evil spirit on the third floor (the top floor). They then all bought some last-minute holy water, and then set out ...

During the first night (using my new "concrete" wilderness attrition rules), a freak storm wrecked/destroyed a week of rations, a dagger, and 12 arrows. Beyond that, the journey to the Howling Tower was unremarkable, other than continuing rain.

Outside the tower, the party observed a couple eagles circling above, and the remnants of a large pyre. Investigating the pyre, the party found larger-than-man-sized bones, plus a pair of canine-seeming skeletons, all burned together. They presumed this to be the pyre of Begor and his two wolves; Finbar collected a large blackened femur from within.

At the door into the tower, the party managed to hear human voices and panting canines; throwing open the door successfully, they surprised a pair of ragged-looking humans (one man, one woman), and five wolves. Blackleaf cast sleep over the wolves, Finbar cast animal friendship over one of the wolves (turns out it takes 6 turns to cast! so he was out of the combat); and the rest of the party attacked, assuming these two to be werewolves. They did a bunch of damage with missiles and melee, and killed the woman; the man, winning the next initiative, transformed with a howl into a wolf-man, but missed his attack with a sword he carried; and the next round, Baby Face slew him with a silver arrow to the heart.

The wolf-man's form, right before
he was slain by a silver arrow ...

Searching the bodies, the party found a goodly amount in jewelry in a cloak and brooch, and a dangling gold necklace on the two humans; and after 5 more turns (50 minutes!), no wandering monsters appeared, and Finbar's spell went off successfully, basically charming a wolf (there was one other survivor; it agreed after a speak with animals spell also from Finbar to accompany the party with its surviving companion ... Finbar named these wolves Walter and Heisenberg, because their names were otherwise unrememberable howls).

With these two wolves added to their number, the party headed south and west to where they knew the stairs led up to the second level of the tower. They passed the baboons crouching there easily, as Finbar with the last moments of his speak with animals spell asked permission, plus giving the blackened femur to a baboon who then proclaimed himself "king". (another runtish baboon came after Finbar, begging, and received only a ratty dress stripped from the dead werewolf woman above)

Upstairs, the party decided to explore the entire second floor before seeking the treasure of the spirit on the top floor; searching around, they ultimately entered into a room with a great throne against an eastern wall, on which crouched a huge ape with a hoplite helm, ill-fitting gloves, and a sword slung awkwardly over his broad shoulders (and there were two white apes nearby, picking nits). When this ape saw Blackleaf carrying a burning lantern, he went wild and mimed his desire for fire in his hearth. (I got to roleplay an ape here, and it was fantastic ... having more apes in my game is just the best)

Okok was shamelessly based on King Louis, I won't lie

The party lit a fire in the ape-king's hearth, and he got all enthusiastic, burning a torch in it, all enamored of his fire. He then gave the party his helmet and his gauntlets in gratitude. Slapping his breast, he declared himself, Okok!

The party then continued to explore, and found an empty room that when they searched actually held a silver wine service and a gilt sword; and then they filled the map of the second level and found an area that seemed secret, and ultimately found a secret door back in Okok's throne room. Within was a great horde of thousands of silver and copper pieces, plus a few valuable items. The characters managed to give Okok 2 chests of copper in exchange for his sword, which turned out to be a waterfall sword ...

The second level explored, the party then advanced to the top floor (third level) and sought out the chamber with the bricked-over hearth and the body behind it whence issued the terrible spirit. They found the chamber as they remembered, and again from the body issued a smoky spirit-figure, which filled the room with a supernatural chill. It advanced, and the party threw a volley of holy water at it, enough of which struck that the thing hissed and flinched. Ultimately, the spirit got one attack, which it missed, and then was destroyed by the constant volley of holy water which destroyed it; and then the party found a horde of several thousand gold, plus a number of gems and magical items on the knightly corpse that had been trapped behind the hearth.

And the eerie howling of the Howling Tower ceased, and all was suddenly, eerily silent.

Exploring the rest of the third level, the party also found a cistern, a library with several valuable and magical writings, and a shrine to Chaos and the Elf-goddess Astora, Queen of Stars; and came out with even more treasure.

Thus, the entire Howling Tower (above ground) explored, the party elected to return to town. They skirmished with some goblins during the first night (and lost a dagger, 12 arrows, a week of rations, a shield, and Baby Face took 2 damage); and then on the last night back, a baboon (animal encounter) walked off with a dagger (just one attrition die was rolled for ... this was clearly the same runtish baboon mentioned above, which vaguely wishes to overthrow the new "king").

Back in town, the party found that they had acquired three magic swords, a magic staff, two potions, and three magic scrolls, and a spell-book, all in addition to the monetary treasure they had emerged with. This was the best haul yet dragged out of the Greyhame Mountain Dungeon! (But I can assure that there is much more treasure throughout, still waiting to be claimed ...)

During carousing at the Black Dragon's Meed and around, Little Bob managed to cause a minor misunderstanding with the law for himself, and paid the guard off without going to the Oakridge dungeons ... but meanwhile, Blackleaf got seriously black-out drunk and did something so bad that she owed 6000 gold to the law, or she would be imprisoned in the castle-dungeon; and yet, at the last moment, a shady thief-type character appeared and offered to pay the majority of the fines, if Blackleaf would only be in debt to the guild ...

------

Remembrance for the Fallen
Orion II (lion dog), Bacon (boar hound), Tore (half-orc fighter 1/cleric 1), Jimmy the Snitch (dog), Orion (lion dog), Harambe (man-ape 1)

New Class: the Man-Ape

One thing I love about pulp fiction like Robert E. Howard's Conan series and Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars books is the use of apes as enemies for the eponymous heroes to wrestle--the grey apes that Conan faces in close quarters and the four-armed white apes that dwell around the southern pole of Mars ... apes make great uncanny valley enemies, being not-quite-human, not-quite-beast, but definitely physically more powerful than human (and my wife thinks monkeys and apes are "creepy and demonic"), and all of this led me to think, "I need more apes in my D&D games."

I don't actually use apes as often as I feel like I should as monsters--when I remember, I'll add white apes, rock baboons, and hsing-hsing to my wandering monster rolls. But then again, apes don't always make sense in my dungeons; a catacombs filled with undead horrors, warped fey hounds, troglodytes, mad myconids, and a white-dragon cult doesn't necessarily have room for apes. So I figured the most reasonable way to get more ape-action in my games was to make a playable ape-class.

Hence, the MAN-APE! (and not Ape-Man, because that implies an apish man, like Tarzan, rather than a mannish ape like King Louis--from the Jungle Book, not French history!)

Level 1 -- Brute -- Hit Dice 2d8 -- 0 XP
Level 2 -- Ape -- HD 3d8 -- 2200 XP
Level 3 -- Great Ape -- HD 4d8 -- 4400 XP
Level 4 -- Grey Ape -- HD 5d8 -- 8800 XP
Level 5 -- Silverback -- HD 6d8 -- 18000 XP
Level 6 -- Beastlord -- HD 7d8 -- 36000 XP
Level 7 -- King of Monkeys // Kong -- HD 8d8 -- 72000
Level 8 -- King of the Jungle // King Kong -- HD 9d8 --150000
(no further advancement)

Yes, they start with two hit-dice, rather like AD&D rangers.

Strength is the Man-Ape's prime requisite, and 13+ will earn 5% more xps, while strength 16+ will earn 10% additional xps (not cumulatively).

Man-Apes fight and save as fighting-men of the same level. They start without any gold or possessions. Also, Man-Apes may not lead retainers until Name Level (7th, for my game ... unless the referee fiats otherwise).

Man-Apes begin with the languages of Ape and Signed Common; high intelligence might grant additional languages, assuming a forgiving referee. They also have a better ability to scent things than humans and demi-humans; this ability is intentionally left at that, to encourage unique attempts to use it.

As for armor, Man-Apes begin with a natural AC of 7, but they may only wear armor that is custom-made for them at double the normal cost. Further, if unarmored or wearing no heavier than leather armor, Man-Apes may climb anything reasonable without a check (a tree, a cliff with lots of easy handholds, etc.), or climb sheer surfaces as a thief of the same level, +5%.

When fighting, Man-Apes may use any weapon; but they may also strike with their fists in a two-attack routine (without penalty), each fist doing 1-3 damage (plus strength bonus, if applicable). If both fists hit, the Man-Ape does an additional 1-6 damage from rending (no strength bonus for this). This is only possible when fighting with fists, i.e. a sword-using Man-Ape cannot rend (though I have allowed the singular character of this class in my game to attack with his off-hand fist when wielding a weapon).

Further, Man-Apes being apes, they are capable of feats of strength that no man or demi-human could possibly emulate. That is, a Man-Ape need never "check" for normal strength-based tasks, except where the effort need be so herculean that even an ape would struggle. As a corollary to this, Man-Apes receive a +1 to their open door checks.

At Name Level (i.e. 7th for this class), a Man-Ape may acquire a troop of apes and jungle beasts--or build an urban manor and attempt to make his way in Civilization (and attempt to gather human followers). The troop of apes would be 2-12 apes; plus, if the Man-Ape (King) Kong ousts the current king of the jungle through violent combat, he receives vows of allegiance from the normal animals of the jungle (rather like the Elf Wizard-Lord's affinity for the animals within her own domain).

I don't have any rules for the urbane Man-Ape--I feel that such a course is one that must be charted on an individual basis.

Lastly, in my game and with my alignment rules (see Alignment in My Game), Man-Apes may only be of Chaotic, Good, Evil, or Natural alignment. They may not be of Lawful, Clannish, or Arcane alignment. But those are just my rules, for my alignments.

-
-
-
-
-

To date, I have only had one Man-Ape rolled up for any of my games--and not the Greyhame Mountain Dungeon, but my game with my wife and her brothers.

This poor creature, Zantar (see, because he's like Tarzan ...) lived a short but glorious life covering a mere two sessions. He was introduced to the party as they tried to figure out what to do about some orcs keeping watch from the tower-top above the dungeon-entrance. Along with some party members who could fly on their broomstick, and a mid-level thief, Zantar climbed the tower and participated in the assassination of the orc watchers.

But the real glory waited under the earth, on the third level of the dungeon. There, the party encountered a giant spider and several of her brood. Zantar really shone during this fight--not only did he tear one of the lesser spiders apart, but he personally slew the Shelob-type monstrosity as she lurked over another couple of party members--and because he rolled the killing blow with a rend after two hits with his fists, obviously he tore the spider's legs off and used them to beat her to death.

Alas, Zantar's glory was cut short when, despite being a first level character, the rest of the party agreed to put him up front and have him open doors (he did have that strength thing that gave him a bonus to opening doors). Well, upon opening the wrong door--one with an enemy lurking behind, an enemy who had heard the party's approach, an enemy who subsequently rolled surprise on the party--Zantar was struck by a level-draining attack and, being of mere first level, he was life-drained to death.

I keep hoping for others to roll up Man-Apes to follow in the glorious footsteps of deceased Zantar--and if I can get a coworker to show up at a Greyhame Mountain Dungeon session in a week, I might have him convinced to do just that. (and man, but I wish people would run with this and have characters like King Louis, Koko, Doctor Zaius, Caesar, Donkey (Kong) ... so many pop-culture apes and monkeys to reference!)