Dungeon Crawl Classics #66.5 - Doom of the Savage Kings - Session Recap #3

Clearing the Mound

The party resumed their exploration of the serpent mound by discussing a possible alternative to crossing the deadly pit trap room: throwing a torch to see what was even on the other side. One incredible roll later, the group determined that the corridor ended in the true entrance to the mound that they had bypassed earlier, rendering the entire fiasco that nearly killed Arwil a waste of time.

They moved on to the 'great hall' they had discovered earlier but not fully explored. They attempted and failed to force the grand doors on the north face. They then pushed around the snake skins covering the floor and inspected the bronze braziers. Lacking a fuel source, they sent two party members back out of the dungeon to fetch dry wood - more on that later.

Those left inside continued to inspect the room and discovered first the accumulated twigs on the southern part of the floor, then the holes in the south wall that indicated a ladder had been mounted there. This led them to the discovery of the narrow 2' by 2' chimney above the entrance.

Impatient for the wood scroungers to return, after some debate the thief Arwil decided he would climb into the hole for further inspection. His friends gave him a boost and he clambered inside, making his way in. 

Outside, the wood-gathers on their return trip discovered a band of armed men camped out around the entrance, but luckily avoided detection. They reported this to their mates inside, then went about lighting the braziers. They almost immediately regretted this decision as smoke began to rapidly build in the small chamber and then exited via the chimney Arwil was currently traversing. They put out the braziers, but Arwil was forced to accelerate his crawling for fear of suffocating in the confined sapce.

Following this, the warrior Walden Jr. decided to climb in after Arwil, doffing his armour so he could wriggle through. 

Arwil, unfortunately for him, proceeded alone down the entire length of the chimney into the false throne room beyond. He did not, despite his caution, detect the tomb ghoul descending into the chimney behind him. He exited into the false throne room and crouched down to inspect the floor for traps or mechanisms as he made his way to the room's central pillar. In doing so, he made himself easy to ambush, and after a surprise round and losing initiative he was rapidly silenced by the creature.

Walden Jr. shortly caught up and upon detecting the Tomb Ghoul hunched over his fallen compatriot dashed heroically into action! A handful of bad die rolls later and Walden Jr. joined his ally on the floor of the false tomb. He did manage to beat the Ghoul Snake Thing out of its human husk though, so... small victories.

The False Tomb

Walden Jr. had managed to shout a warning to the others before rushing into battle, and so Myyrh and Asher (cleric and wizard respectively) rushed in after leaving just two members behind now. They were quick enough that the Tomb Serpent was unable to retreat to its secret hiding place in the passage before they arrived.

In the false tomb Myyrh hurried inside and attempted to roll over Walden Jr. No luck - in fact, he failed on a result that would have succeeded had he not burned luck in the fight with the Tomb Serpent. Fate can be a cruel mistress indeed! Walden Jr., you were too good for this world.

The Tomb Snake descended from the ceiling but failed to get the drop on the pair. Myyrh tied it up in combat while Asher decided this would be a good time to cast his first combat spell. Not bad either! He summoned a 4HD black bear with animal summoning which promptly tore the Tomb Serpent to shreds.

Myyrh when went to roll over Arwil who was significantly more dead than Walden Jr. (and was at least partially eaten). Natural twenty on the roll, trying to get under his luck. Big ouch. 

Now down two party members from one particularly nasty creature trap, the group managed to extrapolate there was probably a secret compartment from which the Ghoul had originally emerged. Sigismund, the other wizard, managed to find it by probing the earth and roots overhead while climbing along the passage himself. Aha! The ceiling is a woven mat disguised to look like a natural roof of earth. Knowing this the opening to the secret room was easy to find. Within, the true tomb of the Last of the Savage Kings! He took all the loot, including the legendary Wolf-spear, and the remaining group regrouped in the great hall. Well at least, it seemed like they had found the Wolf-spear. Sigismund continued his trend of being totally incapable of casting a spell when he flubbed detect magic and it was scoured from his memory.

Incidentally, since nobody wanted to risk the strange wood and stone pillar in the false tomb, Asher had his bear attempted to retrieve a high-up mounted spear and shield by climbing the rotting pillar while he exited the space which unsurprisingly triggered the collapse of the whole room, burying their fallen companions, the bear, and the leftover loot. C'est la vie.

Returning to Hirot

The band gathered themselves and made their way out with their hard-earned prize. They decided not to risk an encounter with the armed men at the main entrance and proceed on a wider route back to the village.

Unfortunately for them, the huntsmen (led by Iraco the Huntmaster, who the Jarl had sent to deal with the troublesome outsiders) also had to return before dark and managed to pick up their trail on the return trip. Mounted as they were, they were able to catch up to the party at the river crossing.

The ensuing combat seemed initially quite dire, but ended up turning into a brutal one-sided slaughter when Sigismund cast his first successful spell - a spellburned enlarge person on the warrior, Ingrid. Now ogre-sized, Ingrid proceeded to turn all but one of the hunters into flaming mash with her magical flail. She did try to spare the horses, but the deed die wasn't cooperating.

Back at Hirot the group was welcomed by the night watch and proceeded to the tavern, where they were met by some sympathetic 0-level peasants who the two players who lost their chars took control of. Sigismund went to meet with the Mad Widow Ymae to turn in Arwil's hair (they had scalped him for fear that hair from the ghouls would be too dead - some friends, huh?). Ymae spun it into golden shackles for binding the Hound, and reminded Sigismund of his promise to marry her before he returned to the inn.

The Jarl's Rage

The group was working out a plan of attack for dealing with the Hound when the Jarl's thegns arrived to escort them from the inn. A crowd was gathering in the square, and the Jarl and his advisor were prepared to address them. The party was accused of murdering Iraco and his hunters, who according to the Jarl had attempted to stop them from robbing the burial mount, as well as violating his authority, flaunting Hirot's traditions and endangering the community by antagonizing the Hound.

A tense moment ensued and hands moved to weapons. The party made their case and were backed up by some sympathetic members of the village. The Jarl was unrelenting. Eventually, when it seemed as though there would be a battle, the innkeeper Broegan"Bull" Haverson stepped forward and challenged the Jarl to single combat, according to the most ancient traditions of their savage ancestors. While Bull was not a frail man by any measure, the Jarl was clearly a hardened warrior and there was no question who would win such a bout. Ingrid volunteered to fight on his behalf as champion. Bull, a respected member of the community, would not lose face for accepting a surrogate when so clearly outmatched. The Jarl on the other hand, could hardly ignore such a challenge to his authority and maintain the loyalty of his thegns.

Shieldbearers to make up the ring were selected by both participants and armour was shed: both combatants would be allowed a shield and to bring a weapon of their choice. A quirk of their traditions, a dagger was spun atop a flat shield by the impartial Father Beacom, determining who would get to select their weapon from the ones each combatant brought. The Jarl won and and selected Ingrid's mighty flail, while Ingrid was left with the Jarl's ornate but unremarkable sword.

The battle was tense, balanced on a knife's edge. Ingrid managed to squeak out a victory on some burned luck, and lay the Jarl low. Bull had become the new Jarl of Hirot, and none could contest the outcome.

Afterwards, Jarl Haverson coordinated with the party to figure out a plan for dealing with the Hound. With access to the great hall, they would consolidate the town's remaining population together in the one place they could all fit to wait out the night while the party engaged the Hound out doors.

The Hound of Hirot

The party set up a formation on the steps of the great hall, hoping the Hound would choose to attack them in the open rather than attempt to fight into the hall which whose entrances were all guarded by thegns. Their estimation of its behaviour proved accurate.

The Hound still managed to get the drop on them by ascending to the roof of the great hall and diving down onto one of the peasants who had joined them, a herder named Peggy. The Hound was able to kill a second peasant, a hunter named Zurra who had stood for them in the square before the party managed to get control of the situation (and boy did they ever!).

After seeing how powerful enlarge was, they had Sigismund burn again and this time he scored an even more impressive result! Myyrah, Asher and Ingrid were all blown up to the size of giants which gave them the reach and strength to easily surround and (although it took a surprisingly number of attempts thanks to terrible rolling) eventually pin the thing with the wolf-spear and the golden shackles both. Myyrah delivered the killing blow, ramming Walden's sword into the creature which, anchored in the plane material in its corporeal state. The Hound, unable to return to its lair or revert to mist, bled into the spear and vanished. The Hound had been slain!

Celebrations

Finally rid of the Hound, the whole village was happy to enjoy a night of merrymaking on the Jarl's stores of spirits, generously supplied by their new Lord. Privately, Jarl Haverson confessed to Ingrid that he was not certain the Hound was truly gone for good. After all, was it not a nightmare-thing from the ancient days of the savage kings, and hadn't the legendary Ulfeonar overcome similar beasts only to have it return to wreak havoc in the present?

The Jarl, after some discussion, contracted the party to investigate the origin of the wolf-thing and scour its lair to be certain it would never return to terrorize Hirot. The party was also resolved to secretly return to the burial mound to obtain any final treasures they had missed.

For Sigismund's part, he did return to Ymae to become her husband without hesitation, but perhaps that's a story for another day...