Wizard Mountain Summary #1: A New Hope or Maybe Not
Since there was no regular game this weekend, a few of us got together and created an exciting and carefree Wizard Mountain party!
Party Roster:
Kelric, 3rd level fighter, 37 hp, played by Alex
Halacar, 3rd level fighter, 33 hp, played by Joel
Standish, 3rd level fighter, 32 hp, played by Katherine
Hhune, 3rd level fighter, 27 hp, played by Joel
Brigling, 4th level thief, 24 hp, played by Katherine
Browork, 3rd level cleric, 22 hp, played by Joel
Lissar, 3rd level mage, 15 hp, played by Alex
For those of you who don’t know anything about Wizard Mountain, here’s a brief synopsis:
Wizard Mountain is a campaign alternative to Telvar noted for its incredibly high fatality rates and general lawlessness. A mountaintop city once ruled by an iron-fisted wizard has been cut off from the main civilization at the base of the mountain by invading gnolls. The wizard himself has disappeared since encountering a large adventuring party and killing or “disappearing” all of them as well.
We are adventures from civilization, out to comb the ruins or kill gnolls or generally cause havoc until we get killed.
And now for the summary:
Wizard Mountain. The final frontier. These are very short treks of the new pickup party, as yet unnamed. To boldly go where probably only a few others have gone before, make the same mistakes they did, get wasted, and run away.
The party formed in the towns below. Choosing not ally ourselves with a guild, we simply opted for the charge a random cave opening.
First, a brief introduction to the party:
Kelric, half-orc fighter. Wields the footman’s flail. Carries a ring+1 and a potion of climbing given to him prior to the start of his adventuring career. He is quite strong and durable.
Standish, half-orc fighter. Wields a bastard sword +1/+4 vs. reptiles and fights with a shield. The strongest party member, but is obnoxiously arrogant, with over-greasy hair and an attitude that tends to drive fellow party members insane. He has a pair of dogs, a war dog named Cromwell and a guard dog named Winston.
Hhune, halfling fighter. Not very strong, he nonetheless uses a falchion of quality. He deftly uses it on defense as well. Despite his stature, Hhune is bold and decisive, with a wit to match. Picture a 2 foot 6 inch Brad Pitt.
Brigling, halfling thief. A nondescript halfling who uses a bow and short sword. He is quite sneaky and incredibly dexterous.
Browork, dwarven cleric. A crusty but charismatic dwarf who fights with a quality hammer and shield. Durable for a cleric. Carries a Continual Light stone.
Lissar, half-elf mage. Wields a staff. Dexterous and a competent spellcaster.
Halacar, halfling fighter. Nearly the twin of Hhune, he is slightly less dashing but much stronger and agile. He did not join the party initially.
The party set out and almost immediately found a cave near the base of the mountain. There was odd sort of droning sound in the area, but we weren’t sure what it was. We went into cave. Taking a left, we found ourselves entering a large room with a large number of boulders at the back of it, with an even larger number of eyes there. When we put out our single Continual Light, the goblinlike creatures fired slings at us, injuring the front of the party. We retreated and returned to town ignominiously.
Foray #2: This time, we took a different passage. This time we encountered a group of a dozen giant bats. Lusting for battle, we went for it, and nearly got our brains kicked in but emerged victorious, with the mage Lissar scoring more kills than Hhune and Kelric combined. Kelric took the most damage of anyone when he was smashed full force by Standish. We sifted through some bat guano, then returned helplessly to town.
Hhune came down with a horrid disease, but avoided Constitution loss and recovered two weeks later.
Foray #3: The next passage on our list was taken. We reached a stream and discovered a trail of gold pieces leading into a cave of some sort. The guard dog was frightened of something. We sent an invisible thief, Brigling, up ahead to scout it out. She returned with a non-report, finding a dead end.
We wandered in, hoping to cut down whatever lurked there. We were totally surprised by the mold monster that detached itself from the wall, totally crushed Hhune who was barely able to yell before being completely enveloped.
Browork swung his hammer, which had no effect. Acid was thrown Brigling, but to no effect. The flail had no effect. At last, Standish was able to injure it. Realizing that we had only one weapon that could effect it, we turned to run. It swiped at Browork, but was unable to kill him. Figuring some profit might as well come from this, and with a quick farewell to Hhune, the party scooped up a few of the gold pieces from the trail and bolted for the entrance.
Foray #4: Hhune’s brother Halacar joined the party. The new party set out on another attempt. First we encountered a pair of gnolls. When Browork hailed them, they turned and ran. Brigling and Halacar shot one, but it still got away. This time we passed through a corridor which set off a weird yelping alarm, but ignored it and pressed on. A gelatinous cube tried to envelop Brigling, but it missed and was handily cut down by Halacar and Kelric.
There were some nice gems and gold pieces in the creature’s body. The weird noises continued, but we paid them little heed. Then the war dog tripped some kind of wire, dropping rocks in a pile in front of us. The screams intensified, and we backed into a corner. Then a group of seven weird flightless birdlike creatures came streaking toward the party. The fighters met them in close combat. It was a solid rout for our side, and we slew the creatures, thanks to a Sleep spell from Lissar and flaming oil from Brigling.
The party healed up and hopes to continue on, next time!
Joel/Hhune/Halacar/Browork