July 11th

Continued from Arriving in Stavanger

The DM: You wake. The rain was heavy all day yesterday and it continues this morning when you wake up. The main storm has passed over, with black clouds and lightning in the afternoon on the 10th. This morning, it is just grey and steady rain. Despite the rain, the temperature is in fact pleasant, so that standing out in the rain is strangely comfortable (for natives) rather than chilling. It is 9 a.m. in the morning. There is a gentle breeze blowing from the southwest.

Vafrandir: You mentioned the fighters should add Military Engineering to our sage studies. Should we assign points or wait until you've addressed it?

The DM: Assign points. I have only the one ability thus far; I don't have time to work on it at present. There's always something else. Let me know when you have amateur knowledge and you want to build a fort.

Marcule:in

Pandred: Out.

Vafrandir: How long will it take us to procure 5 sappers and 1 cook?

The DM: A roll says 3 days.

Vafrandir: Very good. That's acceptable to me to stay here for a few days. I've marked off food for the 2 hires back in Treborg. I'll put Nadia up in the public house as well if she'd like for the time we're here.

Lexent: Fine by me as well. If my skills aren't of particular use in the search, I can go assist the gnomes in the hospital here.

The DM: We can cut to the chase. Four men, two women, and the cook is a man. Looking for names.

The DM: Randomly rolled from Norwegian names: Norwegian sappers named Arvid (male) & Helga (female). A Norwegian female sapper named Marit. A Norwegian cook named Ole. A Dane male sapper named Asger. And an Icelandic male sapper named Bjarni.

Lexent: I assume we deduct that first month cost now and keep track that it will be due again on the 11th of each month?

The DM: Yes that's right.

Lexent: Deducted.

Marcule: Sorry guys out for the rest see you tuesday

Lexent: Anything keeping us from accounting for these three days and moving to the morning of the 14th?

The DM: Regarding Arvid’s charisma: he proves impossible not to hire; it takes Vafrandir less than two minutes before he feels compelled to put out his hand. Arvid is fair, in that he would be recognized as attractive in a room full of people; he is a pleasure to be around, warm, receptive, interesting to listen to and says the sort of things that an employer wants to hear about a willingness to work and get things done. Adding his weight, you'll see that Arvid is irrepressibly jolly as well.

The DM: We can skip ahead; Pandred and Marcule are out, so if Lexent wishes to do nothing else, count your food and your room cost, then figure out if your boat will take your weight, your new purchases, your equipment and the six new people. I’ll add weight to the table.

Vafrandir: I'll figure the boat's load once we have the weights.

Lexent: How is the weather on the morning of the 14th, and how does Nadia feel about making the crossing?

Vafrandir: We should be at no more than 40-45% of the boat's capacity regardless of individual weights.

The DM: The morning of the 14th, the weather is clear, cool and with a fresh breeze blowing straight from the direction of Treborg.

Lexent: We set out for Treborg.

Nadia: "Are you sure, sir? It'll take us 24 hours to get there with this wind in our faces; you don't want to wait for a more prepitious day? Or hour? Might be longer, 36 or 48; I've not much sail to head directly into the wind."

Vafrandir: Is there any particular equipment our sappers think may be useful given what we've conveyed about the layout of the dungeon? I'll try to be as specific as possible.

Vafrandir: I'm fine with waiting today, or until the weather is better. May we retcon purchases from Lexent and Pandred?

The DM: Shovels, picks, wood if you've got it, hooks to drag the wood, as much chain as you'll buy with a breakweight of a thousand or more, axes, as many spikes as you will, a hundred or more, wood axes ... those for sure. I'm good with a retcon if something else is wanted for those three days.

The DM: Things for underground, lanterns, torches, pottle jugs for water, a barrel of small beer if you’re willing

Lexent: Sorry, read that direction backwards. I am fine with waiting, although, if the winds change early enough today, we might still head out.

Vafrandir: That's a good list. I believe I'll take the days off to put it all together. I'm glad I asked.

Vafrandir: Out.

Lexent: Out.

The DM: By nine o’clock in the evening, the wind hasn’t changed an iota, though it has lessened to a moderate breeze. Simply isn’t working out for you.

July 15th

The DM: Out.

Vafrandir: I'm not sure which hooks they're referring to, I can't place them on the market sheet. A block and tackle?

Vafrandir: Marcule, I believe we'd best dip into your credit. How much do you have left?

The DM: I thought it was there. It is a log hook and in terms of metal used, is essentially the same price as a "boat hook" but with a shorter handle. Out.

Lexent: In.

Lexent: One of the items I purchased was 100 ft. of twine, which has a listed weight of 12 lbs., the same weight as 50 ft. of rope. Do you have an updated weight for twine?

Marcule: In. I have the full amount for us to use.

The DM: In.

The DM: 0.68 lb. for twine. Like I said, found lots of errors. Your rope is 7.5 lbs.

Lexent: Thank you. How is the weather on the morning of the 15th?

The DM: you’ll be happy to know the direction of the wind has changed. It is now WNW, so that you can tack effectively against it to get out of Stavanger; it is a good moderate breeze of 12 knots, so you can make 1.5 knots an hour against it; the distance to Treborg is 24 knots, so it will take 16 hours. The sky is crystal clear and the temperature is cool.

Though Nadia your pilot will comment on there being a red sky this morning.

Lexent: And thus we should take warning. I worry that starting out now will only put us in a storm partway across, but we can't stay here forever just for the weather. What does everyone else think?

The DM: Nadia guesses it won't hit for at least 12 hours; by then you'll be most of the way across the bay and on the coasts of islands where you can shelter and wait it out, if need be.

Lexent: That's good information, but I would still like to let more of the party weigh in before committing to a course of action. We all know how much Pandred enjoys swimming, and if it comes to malady checks that's about a 20% chance that someone in the group will have a problem.

The DM: Maybe you should all learn how to swim.

Vafrandir: If Nadia thinks we can do it, we can't fear the sea forever.

Vafrandir: I do have an equipment list: I'll post it here soon. Marcule, what is the full amount?

Lexent: Well, I suppose we shall brave the sea once more. We board the ship and embark. Is Nadia able to impart sailing knowledge to any/all of us as we make these crossings, or is she to busy as the master of the ship to do so?

Marcule: 1500gp

The DM: Nadia has no instruction skill, so she doesn’t know how to teach you to sail. Someone else would also have to teach you how to swim. But many people in Norway know how to do these two things.

The DM: Marcule, you can take out any part of your total credit; it does not have to be the full amount. The lender, Raphael Goletti, can offer you 0.08% interest per week for 32 weeks, which you can pay back in full at any time; however, you cannot pay it “partially” back, so it isn’t a question of weekly payments. You must pay it back in a bulk sum, just as he lends it to you in a bulk sum. Goletti has “branches” in Stavanger, Aalborg, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Groningen, Brugge, Trondheim and Bergen, so you may make your return payment in any of those market towns.

Vafrandir: I have 7 points of sailing - enough to understand what she's doing but probably not enough to help.

The DM: Actually, that enables you to put up the sail and move it under orders; as long as she has the tiller it helps; the rules state that you add your sailing skill to hers in a bad storm.

The DM: I can’t move ahead unless I hear from someone on the willingness to take the loan. It doesn’t have to be Marcule, because he has given his permission. I need to know how much is taken so we can establish it being done on the 14th (the day before leaving Stavanger). I also need a defacto yes to the loan.

Marcule: How much would we like to take?

Vafrandir: Let's take 700 gp. That will cover supplies that we need + extra food.

The DM: 700 compounded over 32 weeks would be 903 g.p., 4 s.p. and 11 c.p. due in 32 weeks from today, February 23rd, 1651.

Vafrandir: I expect probing the dungeon should yield the repayable amount. We'll see if that's justified

The DM: I’ll take that as a confirmation.

Vafrandir: Yes. Let's take it. We'll load the boat and head out; I'll assist Nadia.

The Journey from Stavanger to Treborg

The DM: Setting off at 9 am on the 15th, light, small clouds drift in from the west, as the wind slackens a little. However, it also spins more towards due west, and Nadia is able to maintain your speed. After noon, the wind swings entirely around to the southwest and a wall of clouds fill the sky. Nadia brings your speed up to 2½ knots an hour, so that you’re halfway to Treborg by three in the afternoon. The wind is a light breeze, and the rain that begins to fall is light. Nadia holds to the east side of Bokn island, that big blob of land southeast of Treborg, skipping your speed up to 3 knots an hour.

At 6 pm, just 3 knots out of Treborg, the wind picks up to a moderate breeze and swings perfectly around to the southeast, driving you just where you want to go. It takes Nadia just 45 minutes to finish bringing the boat across those last three knots, though by then a moderate rain requires vigorous bailing of the boat. Drawing into Treborg, you’re wet but you’re there. It is just seven o’clock when you start to unload the boat on the shore.

Lexent: Is there anyone at the dock to enquire as to whether the ship from Glesvaer arrived yesterday?

Vafrandir: Our supplies: 3 spades, 3 lanterns, 100 spikes, 6 logger hooks, 80 feet of chain with appropriate breakweight, 3 wood axes, 20 torches, 3 pottle jugs, a keg of small beer, and 2 chests with 150 lbs of jerky and cheese just to round out our supplies. With the addition of our 129 existing gp, that leaves us with 3 gp, 1 sp, 12 cp change for Marcule to pocket for now.

Lexent: So how much should I deduct from our current totals?

Vafrandir: 129 gp

Lexent: That leaves us at 26 gold, 8 silver, and 8 copper.

The DM: The 700 gold was added?

Lexent: My understanding is that the 700 was spent on supplies, along with 129 gp of what we had.

Vafrandir: That is correct, Lexent.

July 16th

The DM: It rains all night, though it is a light rain by 6 am before a moderate breeze that has swung back to the west; steadily you rise, get yourselves together and decide what to do for the day.

Lexent: "I would be interested to know if there is any word from Fraser. The ship from Glesvaer was due in the day before yesterday. Should we go ask if he sent any word?"

The DM: (literally managing this when you asked). A letter is delivered to you by a young boy who has brought it over from Father Arvid. The letter is from Fraser. It arrived just now by boat.

“Father Arvid, my old friend. I regret that I am unable to place myself in your service, or the service of your friends, for at least a month; I am taken with matters that draw me north before the summer ends. I will recommend myself to you when I have returned to Bergen again. Yours, Giles.”

The DM: It is marked as arrived from Bergen.

Marcule: I have noted the 700gp.

The DM: no withdrawing 800 g.p. to pay the 700!

Lexent: Kiting wasn't a thing back then? ;)

The DM: I can go for that Lexent, but additional loans would be over shorter times with higher interest rates – like, say, 9 months at 1.8% per week.

Lexent: Well, that being settled for the time being, I propose we load up the cart and set off with our hirelings for the cairn.

Vafrandir: Ha! Rob Peter to pay Paul.

Vafrandir: Or Grond to pay Raphael, I suppose.

Vafrandir: So we crack Grond the old fashioned way. We have enough tents for all members of the party, including the pavilion tent. I'll get the cart loaded. May need to carry some by hand.

The DM: It stands to reason that Marcule should have to leave a personal token, something that has been on your person long enough to be considered “yours.” In a world of divination, augury, crystal balls, clairaudience and such, having such an item and your name would make finding you pretty much a guaranteed thing. Any ideas, Marcule?

Lexent: I assist Vafrandir in loading up the cart and we set out for the cairn.

The DM: The rain continues to slack; the temperature remains cool and the sky overcast. The moderate breeze is steady from the west as you begin to travel from 9 am forward.

Vafrandir: The cart is large enough - we have food and supplies aplenty.

Pandred: I'll bring Odds this time, and will be swapping my Chain for Plate. Is there anyone among us who can take advantage of Chain or Studded Leather? I have a spare set of both.

The DM: Damn it, trying to follow my own directions and I can't. Hm.

The DM: I’ll have to retcon the details; sorry about my error. I was keeping it in my noggin, which admittedly doesn’t run as well today as it once did. There’s an error of omission before the ‘fork’ where you built the cairn. It should take 8 hours to get to the fork; that’s agreed. And five hours from there to get to the camp.

It rains all day; you get to the cairn at 5 in the evening; you could continue for two hours if you wish; or perhaps spend that time with your labour increasing the size of the cairn.

Vafrandir: I could certainly use the chain but I have no hauberk.

Vafrandir: We'll expand the cairn again. How many hands to set up the camp?

Lexent: Agreed. Set up camp, build the cairn up, and head off to bed.

The DM: The cook and Oddsdrakken set up the camp; this leaves 9 of you to expand the cairn by 18 cubic feet.

July 17th

The DM: Oddsdrakken and Ole wake up at 6 am, getting the camp ready, so that the party wakes up to the smell of food and drizzling rain. This waking up and not having to struggle with getting a fire built or cooking on it is a new experience for the party members.

The sappers say that if a load of rock can be brought, along with a little mortar, they can manage a much more impressive cairn.

Vafrandir: That's a good idea. We'll table it for the time being and prepare for the trek to the dungeon.

Lexent: Yes, we pack up and head to the dungeon.

The DM: The rain falls off more and more, until it is the thinnest drizzle when you reach the base camp below the dungeon. From here it is a climb to the dungeon, as you leave Ole behind to make camp, starting about 2 pm. Do you wish to leave Oddsdrakken or some of the sappers here?

Vafrandir: I'll ask Arvid to stay behind with Ole today. Everyone should grab a torch along with their other equipment. Then we'll make our way up.

The DM: The first thing you notice about making your way up the now-familiar climb is the flies. There have always been a few, since this is high country in the summer time, but there seem an unusual number ... and by the time you’re nearly to the top, there are flies landing on you every minute or so, driving you to distraction as you swat them away.

Vafrandir: "Does this Beelzebub think he can drive us away with a few pests?"

The DM: At the top, looking over the plateau, you see there are flies in unbelievable numbers. There are literally pillars of flies scattered all around the tarn, reaching up a hundred feet or so. You’re grateful they’re not horseflies or deerflies, but merely flies that do not bite.

The rothe are gone. And as you move nearer, the buzzing drone surrounding you, you realize it is not mating season for the flies. They have gathered to eat the scores of dead things that are scattered everywhere. No, not rothe.

Ghoul carcasses.

Vafrandir: A disgusting sight - but also one problem dealt with. We need to take a closer look.

Pandred: I'll start down for the nearest ghoul carcass. I don't want to get surrounded by bugs, but I do want a closer look at their condition.

Vafrandir: I'll follow.

Vafrandir: [OOC] there are several flies buzzing around my head at the moment that I cannot catch - so I really have to applaud your commitment to creating the gaming environment.

The DM: {OOC} I do what I can.

The DM: there are NO rothe carcasses. There isn’t a single rothe. But Pandred has seen gore wounds before, which is clearly what killed a large number of the ghouls; those not killed by hoofs. However, further investigation will show that the rothe did not simply run away. There are places where bloody rothe carcasses were clearly dragged away, towards the goblin encampment and dungeon entrance.

Vafrandir: Interesting. Let's approach the dungeon.

Pandred: Okay. I'll call for the men to come forward, and press on for the entrance. We'll move at a good clip, but I remind everyone to watch the ghouls, they might not all be dead. Re-dead. Un-undead.

The DM: Out.

Lexent: In. About how many dead ghouls do we see?

The DM: In. About 20. And they smell AWFUL.

Vafrandir: In.

The DM: approaching the encampment, the odour gets worse. The tents are partly bashed down and the tent that protected the top of the shaft is completely collapsed over the hole. It will have to be dragged off in order to enter there.

Lexent: Once we all get down into the gulley I'll ask Helga and Marit to move the collapsed tent from the opening.

The DM: As ever, the path down is treacherous, as Lexent well remembers. The cleric feels especially anxious as he makes his way down, conscious of an ache that still remains in his hip. Something occurs to me, before you remove the tent. By my count, apart from Oddsdrakken, there are four sappers with you. Could you each assign one sapper to yourself, who you will specifically “run” and roll checks and other dice for.

Marcule: In. (ooc: sorry a fire alarm decided I was out yesterday) I am low on personal items I have a pair of dice I have had since the beginning.

Lexent: I will take responsibility for Marit.

The DM: Oddsdrakken, unlike the sappers, is not “battle hardened”. The sight of the twisted and smashed up ghouls, and the smells, and the prospect of going to the source of this horror, will require a morale check from him. That’s 2d6 rolled by Pandred, equal to or above in order to succeed. If we don’t have a morale for Oddsdrakken listed, treat him as a morale of 9 as well.

Unless someone has a morale adjustment in their character backgrounds, the sappers all have a 9 morale.

Lexent: His character sheet shows a 9. If only Embla was still with us.

The DM: I don’t know what you’re saying about “a pair of dice,” Marcule.

The DM: Morale is brought down one point every time an NPC is placed into a state of jeopardy and succeeds at a morale check; usually, during battle. A morale check is made whenever an NPC is stunned (success +1 morale); non-battle hardened NPCs must make a morale check before entering battle (success no adj.)

Marcule: As a scrying item (sorry this was a much earlier comment to me)

The Hole

The DM: Lexent, as you and Marit begin to pull away the tent, Helga will keep watch. Both you and Marit will need to make constitution checks.

Lexent: I roll a 5 for me and a 8 for her.

The DM: You both pull back, vomit from the smell, and get yourselves under control after a few rounds. It is the same smell that Lexent remembers from before, but ten times worse. You’ll need help pulling the tarp off from another player character – who will have to make a constitution check.

Pandred Odds gets an 8 on his morale check.

The DM: Okey-doke.

Vafrandir: I'll handle Bjarni.

Lexent: "Can you give us a hand with this tent, Vafrandir?"

Vafrandir: Absolutely. 4 on my constitution check.

Marcule: Back at 11:30.

The DM: And on Bjarni’s? He’ll join in with Vafrandir.

Vafrandir: Bjarni gets a 5.

The DM: You get the tent pulled off. There’s a feeling that the tent was intentionally laid on top, because it “fights you” before it comes free. Ultimately, it appears from the scattering of hair, the short wall being broken in places (it was in good condition formerly), that all the rothe went down the hole.

Lexent: Can we ascertain whether it was laid on top from the outside or pulled into place by whatever last went down the hole?

The DM: Seems it must have been placed there on the outside, but you have no certain idea.

Lexent: Looking into the hole, are there any other obvious changes? Is the ladder still in place and undamaged by the herd of rothe plummeting past it to their doom?

The DM: From this vantage point, the ladder seems the same.

Pandred: We should take the time to burn the carcasses. I really don't want them becoming un-un-undead behind us with some fly-elemental voodoo. We have torches, right? I'll start dragging the nearest corpse for piling purposes.

Lexent: I assist Pandred in doing so, as does Marit.

Vafrandir: I and Bjarni also. How well do ghouls burn?

The DM: With your bare hands?

Lexent: I am wearing studded leather gauntlets.

Pandred: Well, they don't burn with my bare hands at all. I do move the bodies that way though. Gross.

Lexent: Depending on the state of decay, we could possibly use the log hooks as well.

The DM: After twenty minutes of pulling and dragging bodies from around the field, Pandred will notice that her palms are itching. The bodies won’t burn on their own. They’ll need some fuel; all there is on the ground is green lichen. There’s no wood about, except underground in the dungeon.

Pandred: With a callousness that I may come to regret I'll wipe my hands "clean" with the lichen, and then use it as firelighter.

Lexent: "Are your hands OK there, Pandred? let me take a look."

The DM: The lichen is too damp to burn. It rains here all the time. In fact, it’s drizzling right now.

The DM: Lexent doesn’t see anything like a rash; but it could emerge after a time, or the itching could go away. Lexent will recall a lecture about how ghouls paralyze victims that they touch; Pandred might be feeling the low-level effects of her surface-skin being paralyzed.

Pandred: Yeah, that tracks. I really do want to make this happen, but I can't think of a combustible. Could we flip the tent we removed over to a dry side and light that? Would that even work if it -wasn't- damp?

Vafrandir: If it's drizzling we'd need more than that to keep a fire going. We may just have to cut our losses here.

Lexent: "We'd best keep an eye on that. Let me know if the itching gets worse. I seem to recall a store of furniture down the hole that we could use as fuel." I head to the hole and start making my way carefully down the ladder.

The DM: There was a ton of furniture stuffed into a hall underground, as well as a room full of desiccated dry stores.

The DM: I had mentioned that it was drizzling all day in yesterday’s running.

Pandred: "Hmph." Alright. We'll cut our losses for now. I'll take Helga for my sapper if she hasn't been assigned already. We only have the one entrance to go by, so let's go by. I'll take the lead, with battleaxe. Vaf, you next. Then our two sappers, then Lex, Marcule, and the rest. Odds will bring up the rear. Good?

Lexent: Leaving Asger for Marcule to handle.

Lexent: Works for me.

Climbing Down

The DM: Pandred, the time waiting helps reduce the smell of the hole so that a constitution check isn’t needed. However, you find that Lexent’s concern was prescient, for the metal rungs ARE loose as you begin to climb down. You automatically check each one before putting your full weight on it.

The DM: Asger is the heaviest among you, though he isn’t nearly as heavy as Arvid. It’s probable the rungs are safe for him.

Pandred: Ah, hell. Okay. We'll take this thing one at a time then. With the goggles borrowed from Marcule/any sunlight from above, what can I see in the passage?

The DM: Sorry, what weapons are the sappers carrying?

Marcule:in. Taking Asger