SCOTT CASPER'S ULTIMATE GREYHAWK

SOUTH PROVINCE CAMPAIGN

Continuing Chapter One:  The Phantom Menace

 

WARNING:  This update includes SPOILERS for Skull Keep, the sample

dungeon from the 1979 Dungeons & Dragons game book. 

 

Cast:

Barada, Neutral male Flannish human mercenary (1st level fighter)(played as NPC).  

Alexander Petrok, Lawful Neutral male Oerdian human templar of Zilchus (1st

level paladin variant) (played as NPC).

Perpegilliam Brown, Neutral male Hairfoot hobniz rogue (1st level Thief). 

Hristo Neutral Good male Wesevud ("Central") noniz ex-town watchman and

rogue (1st level fighter/1st level thief)(played as NPC).

Vladamir Kostitov, Lawful Good male Oerdian human prestidigitator for the

Governor's Guardsmen (1st level Illusionist). 

Abraham the Radiant, Neutral Good male Oeridian human acolyte of Pelor (1st

level Cleric).

Dargog, Neutral male Blu-Jebline rogue (1st level Thief). 

 

Setting:  Skull Keep

 

Readying 23, 581 CY

 

The room was undisturbed during the long rest.  Watches were posted, who kept close eye on the locked doors.  Everyone did their duty, save one. 

 

Perpegilliam Brown made sure no one watched him sneak out of the room.  It was not far back to the room the gnoll and his companion had surrendered in.  The room had not been searched, and Peri had decided that he would spare the rest of the party from the bother of it.  In the room was a crate that had salted pork and dill pickles in it.  Beneath those things was a large sack.  Peri saw copper, silver, electrum, and over a hundred gold coins inside.  This would more than make up for the treasure Peri had lost in the bay the last time they escaped Skull Keep.  He quickly concocted a plan. 

 

Two hours later, Peri pounded on the door to the party's lair, desperate to be let in.  Peri had nothing on but torn clothes, and was covered in dirt.  Dargog, and Istvan the templar, were on the next watch shift. Peri told them that, upon taking a short trip to scout out the surrounding area of the dungeon, Peri was waylaid by goblins and captured.  They took everything he had, and planned to do worse, but Peri escaped.  Then he was chased by skeletons almost all the way up to the door to the room!  Peri fell asleep, and the remaining watches remained extra alert.

 

Once everyone had rested, Abe prayed to Pelor for more spells, and Vlad re-studied his spellbook.  Barada was feeling his old self, having recovered from being charmed, and rejoined the party.  Peri was armed with a goblin's short sword, since he no longer had any equipment.  The templar Aaron was still not well enough to fight, and so he remained behind with the clerical trainee Miltar Bertov and Dargog to watch the prisoners.  The map of the dungeon the party had been making was consulted.  There was one big area in the northwest corner of that level which had not been explored yet.  The decision to go there was easily made. 

 

With the thieves Peri and Hristo leading, they made their way out from the abandoned study, passing the ex-gnoll lair, and the spiral staircase room.  At the end of the hall was an unexplored door.  It yielded quickly to their forcing, and on the other side was a wide room, with nothing in it but a sundial on a pedestal, and a large bronze mask on the opposite wall.  The theives waited for the others to catch up, as they were hesitant to approach the mask.

 

However, once the party en masse had approached the mask, they could see that writing beneath it read:  "I'll answer questions, one, no more.  I never speak except for four."

 

Everyone pondered the meaning of this.  Peri suggested that four people had to be present.  Hristo suggested shining a light on the "four" on the sundial.  The others liked that suggestion.  Abe's lantern was held so that the light cast a shadow on the Oerdian numeral "four."  The eyes and mouth on the mask opened.  It spoke, "Who is your god?"

 

Everyone pondered that one for a bit longer, wondering if they should answer.  One of them did.

 

"Speak, and I will seek your answer from your god," the mask spoke.

 

More pondering took place.  Several suggestions were made.  Then Peri stepped forward.

 

"Am I the coolest thief in the world?" he asked.

 

Everyone held their breath.  There was a silent pause, as if the mask, or the gods, were thinking about it.  Then it spoke.

 

"No."

 

Peri was crestfallen.  Not the best, most interesting thief in the whole world??  It wasn't possible.  The mask was lying, wasn't it?

 

The sundial was examined, but seemed to have no unusual properties.  No one dared touch the mask.  There were two exits from the room.  The closer door on the east wall was chosen.

 

Bashing open the east door led to a large room devoid of furnishings.  A 10-foot wide trough ran the width of the room, and the trough was filled with salt water rushing from north to south under each wall.  A great roaring noise could be heard from outside the room, and sitting next to the trough was a crab that had grown to be three feet in diameter. 

 

The fighters rushed the monster, which scurried into the trough to escape them.  That left them free to examine the far end of the room, which they could illuminate with Abe's lantern.  There was a single door on the far wall, and all they had to do to get there was cross the trough.  Jumping was suggested, but rejected.  Peri suggested that Barada could swing and throw him, like they did to get Peri up on a roof before.  Barada agreed, picked up the hobniz, and began to spin him around.  But when he let go, his aim was too low, and Peri plunged into the water.  The current was powerful, and swept Peri to the edge of the room before he could get his bearings.  It was all he could do to grab the edge of the wall and hold on. 

 

While the party tried to figure out what they could do to help him, the situation worsened.  The large crab had not been swept away by the current, and felt braver against a single opponent in the water.  It swam up to Peri and bit him.  Luckily, rope had been thrown to Peri by then, and while holding the rope Peri was able to draw his sword and stab the crab.  The injured crab lost its balance, and was swept under the wall.  Peri was dragged out of the trough.

 

Since the far door was still inaccessible, the party chose to backtrack, and take the other exit from the mask room.  Peri's wound had been mended, but he was still dripping wet and lacking armor and equipment when he boldly resumed scouting ahead with Hristo.  Barada confessed that he wasn't quite up to full strength yet, and stepped down from the front ranks of the party.

 

It took the thieves two tries to bash the next door in.  Beyond it was a hallway leading to the right into a dark room.  But as the thieves started down the hallway, a light shone from the room.  A lantern had been opened, and three humans with crossbows had lined up alongside it.  Three other humans with clubs, and one with a battleaxe moved to the sides of the entrance.  Hristo turned tail and ran as soon as he saw the crossbows.  Peri, unaware at first he was being abandoned, tried some tumbling techniques to dodge their shots.  The tumbling didn't work, and Peri was impaled with a quarrel.  Alex ran out into the hallway to grab the now-unconscious hobniz, and then dragged him back to Abe for magical healing. 

 

Meanwhile, Vlad noticed that Barada was slipping out of the mask room by the door they had used to enter.  Vlad gave chase, and as soon as Abe was done healing Peri, Abe followed.  Barada was running back to the room where Dargog and the others were waiting.  Vlad was gaining fast, but Barada reached the side passage leading to the empty gnoll lair, and turned the corner.

 

Back outside the pirate lair, the templars Alex and Kolos braced themselves behind their shields, and marched out into the hallway.  They managed to reach the room entrance without injury, and then waded into the flanking guards so the second rank of fighters could charge the crossbowmen.  Even with the party reduced in numbers, the pirates were now on the defensive, meleeing for their lives against fighters in better armor. 

 

As Vlad rounded the corner, Barada was in front of him, swinging his long sword.  Vlad was agile enough to jump back and avoid getting sliced open.  Barada shouted that it was his own fault for following him, and kept swinging to force Vlad back.  By then, Abe was nearly there, and Barada had to shift his position to guard against the new threat.  That gave Vlad the time he needed to produce a handful of magic sand and fling it at Barada.  The Color Spray spell rendered Barada unconscious. 

 

It wasn't long before the leader with the battle axe was unconscious and bleeding to death.  Keeping him company on the floor were three of his fellows.  The remaining four broke and tried to reach an exit tunnel, but were cut down before they could escape.  Hristo gathered coinage from the dead pirates, scooped up the oil lamp, and found two skins full of beer in a chest.  He had been wanting to have a broad sword for a long time, and had three to choose from in the room.  He liked the feel of one, found its sheath, and claimed it.  He also claimed a crossbow for himself, as he was curious to give it a try.

   

Peri volunteered to follow them and see where the tunnel went.  It led abruptly to a Y-intersection.  To the right, Peri found the tunnel emptied into another cave, and could see that there were people lurking around the sides of the cave mouth.  Peri returned, informed the others, and then went down the other way.  The roar of the surf echoed through the cave ahead.  One whole side of the cave was open to the rolling waves of the saltwater bay outside.  Near the entrance, another 10-foot wide trough allowed the water to flow across the room and under the south wall.  On the other side of the trough were two rowboats, nine more pirates milling about, and a wooden cage with three people in it.  Peri found a crevice in the wall he could wedge himself into, and stayed there to watch the pirates.

 

Vlad and Abe used the last of their rope binding Barada again before he regained consciousness.  It was fairly obvious that the wizard's charm spell had not worn off yet after all.  They left him with the other prisoners, and left to rejoin the party.

 

Once everyone, except for Peri, were back together, they proceeded to the Y-intersection and turned right so they could confront the first group of pirates.  Hristo fired a wild shot with the crossbow before the others rushed into the room.  The seven pirates inside were still lying in wait by the entrance, so a melee was quickly joined.  The battle did not take long, and was one-sided in the party's favor.  After a few minutes, four pirates threw down their weapons and surrendered.

 

Their leader was a ship's mate named Monev.  He was surly, promising the party they would pay at the hands of his captain, Renspa.  The adventurers chuckled and teased him about how Captain Renspa was in chains back in Prymp, but Monev didn't believe them.  He told them how many pirates were still stationed in Skull Keep, and after subtracting their number of kills so far, they were able to determine that about nine awaited them in the last cave.

 

After gathering up the coins of the fallen pirates and tying up the rest with the very last of the party's rope, they set back to the Y-intersection and passed Peri, who was still concealed in the crevice.  After they passed Peri, he slipped out of hiding, and snuck off the other way.  He made his way up to the surface, and then to his buried loot.  During his fictitious "capture by goblins," Peri had buried his armor, weapons, equipment, and stolen treasure out here.  Now he dug it up, and headed on his own back to Prymp.  He knew he was ready for more thief training, and that he would need it before he would adventure with those saps again...

 

And back in the dungeon, the others prepared for another battle.

 

TO BE CONTINUED