Reynardines are foxes cursed to go about the world in the manner of men, or perhaps men that are cursed to go about the world in the manner of foxes. They are knaves and rascals, arch in their cunning, and some have used this to achieve even the semblance of nobility among the peoples of the World, despite their disadvantages. Most, however, make a living the way most who smile easily and stab even easier do - as con-men and bandits. They are of a kin with the Old Gods, who protect them from such woes as the children of Law may heap upon them.
In human form they look identical to a human, though they are universally handsome. It is said among some old women that they can be identified by the color of their hair - red, brown, black, silver, or shock white depending on the area and season. This is likely not so, but even if it were it would be difficult to identify them as such as all these colors are found among those mortals who grow hair in the natural way. In the form of a fox they appear... well, as a fox, of course! Sometimes they walk on their hind legs and wear clothes, sometimes tailored for their small size but usually not, and can somehow carry such objects as they would carry as a man, again adjusting for size.
While they are found all over the World, they are most common in the isles of Cuccagna, Karse, and Noppin. Why they seem to cluster at archipelagos is a mystery to all.
Reynardine AC 6 [13], HD 3+1* (14hp), Attack 1 x bite (1d4) or by weapon, THAC0 16 [+3], MV 150' (50'), ST D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (4), ML 8, AL Neutral, XP 50, BA 1 (1d4), TT C
Shapechange: May take the form either of a man or a fox during the day. Must be a fox at night.
Mundane Damage Immunity: Will only be killed by silver weapons or, but will be incapacitated by non-magical weapons.
Languages: May speak common, fairy, and the language of trolls regardless of form.
Armor: Eschew for it inhibits shapechanging.
Scent: Animals such as horses, dogs, cats, and chickens recognize a reynardine.
Charm Person: May charm person at will (-2 save) but only once per intended victim within 24 hours.
No, not from the previous party, but (hopefully) from a brand new one! At the suggestion of one of the Weeknights in Nightwick crew I have decided to run Cuccagna on Start Playing! Here's the pitch:
From out of the past comes a legend - a legend of a mysterious island of wizards called... Cuccagna! The greatest wizard in mortal memory, Prospero the White, created this land of eternal summer, where strange beasts and stranger people roam endless, enchanted gardens. Then, in a fit of madness, he divided himself into many parts and spread them amongst the island - a Prospero for every color!
Now you have been invited to explore this strange isle. Delve into the depths of the Lapis Vaults, last refuge of wizard gone mad! Battle the cult of Apollyon, beautiful demon father of snakes! Rob the House of the Gnoles, where no other thief is brave enough to tread! Raid the Palace of the Sea King, where mermaids swim through the very air!
Cuccagna is a sandbox campaign inspired by the fiction of Jack Vance, Clark Ashton Smith, Lord Dunsany, and William Shakespeare. Players will take the role of adventurers in a hex crawl and dungeon campaign on a strange island full of wonderous wizards and beasts from medieval legend.
The games rules are based on Old School essentials with custom classes for non-humans and rogues.
HIGH ADVENTURE IN THE LAND OF PLEASANT LIVING!
A little after I posted my stocking procedure, Idle Cartulary at Playful Void posted hers. I find hers very interesting because it helps with initial ideas about what the rooms are going to be, which I sometimes struggle with. I was also pretty sure that they could be used in tandem and so I've decided to do some very simple (and probably fairly dumb) math to see how that would work out.
My procedure is based on the idea that a dungeon will be 30 rooms. Hers is based on the idea that the smallest area* she'd be stocking is ~6 rooms and the largest is ~12. Makes sense to me. Going down her list I find that my usual 30 room dungeon would have 11 monsters - one more than I usually would have - and probably 10 treasures - the number I would normally have - so the math is about the same.
Therefor one could easily combine our methods by populating her rooms with stuff from the lists you'd make for my method. Neat!
Notably her method also works extremely well for geomorphs or the complexes from the Pettigrew Selections, both of which I've recommended using before as the basis of a megadungeon.
Shorter than usual from me, but I wanted to see if the two could be combined because I think her method could vastly improve the speed of my stocking.
I recently posted a variant of this in a discord I frequent and was asked to do a blogpost on it in order to have it in one place. I also mentioned my strict stocking procedure in my recent interview... or at least I think I did. Dysphoria prevents me from listening to that episode. So here that is:
Step 1: I take the map I am going to use (whether drawn by me or someone else) and count the number of rooms - excluding sub-rooms that are marked with letters. 2 gets counted; 4a-4d is all just one room. I take this number and divide it by 3, possibly rounding up or just adding one if I'm feeling frisky that day. This is the number of monster encounters I will spread throughout the dungeon. It's also the number of treasures I will place. To get the number of traps, I divide the new number by 2. Easy peasy.
Step 2: I divide the monster encounters into groups of ten with the following spread:
Boss
Miniboss
Miniboss
Grunt
Grunt
Grunt
Mook
Mook
Mook
Mook
Mooks are monsters that are quite weak and usually occur in numbers about double the number of PCs (or more). Grunts are tougher monsters that occur in numbers roughly half of the number of PCs. Minibosses are the toughest monster that might show up on that level, with only one appearing, and Bosses are monsters that would be tough for even two to three levels deeper in the dungeon.
I decide what each of these encounters is going to be so that a level one dungeon might have...
Boss: Ogre
Miniboss: Grey Ooze
Miniboss: Tarantella
Grunt: Ghoul
Grunt: Orc
Grunt: Orc
Mook: Goblin
Mook: Goblin
Mook: Stirge
Mook: Skeletons
Note: this list is a little lackluster because I'm trying to do this for a very generic easy to understand example. I normally try to pick (or even make) more interesting monsters than these.
Finally for step 2,* I roll the NA appearing dice for the monsters I picked (with minibosses and bosses always just being 1 or maybe 1d3). So lets say we have...
1 Ogre
1 Grey Ooze
1 Tarentella
2 Ghouls
4 Orcs
3 Orcs
6 Goblins
8 Goblins
10 Stirges
10 Skeletons
Step 3: If I had any rooms that had those subrooms - 1a - 1c and so on - I instead assign them to a lair of monsters. We have a lot of Goblins in this example so let's say we roll up a goblin lair: 35 goblins, 2 guards, and a goblin king. Dope! They get distributed among those rooms.
Step 4: I then generate a number of treasures equal to the number of monsters on the level. I use Courtney's treasure doc which apparently he sells now because the world is fallen. I got it when it was free though.
I generate the treasures assuming 250 x Dungeon Level or Assumed Level of Adventure for the treasure parcel. If I have a lair from step 3 I instead use the treasure type conversion guide in the doc. I count 19s as well as 20s as magic because that seems more fun to me but your mileage may very, as they say. For half the hoards I roll the size of the hoard without modifiers, but knowing half the hoards will be ungraded I only generate those as 1d3 parcels.
Step 5: I spread the monsters and treasure among various rooms, having half the monsters not have treasure (other than perhaps pocket change I'd roll in session) and having half the treasure be unguarded by monsters.
Step 6: I use the Dismal Depths traps document from Sham's Grog n' Blog - from the prelapsarian OSR - to generate a number of traps equal to half the number of monsters, placing some on their own and placing some in rooms with traps.
Thus ends the stocking procedure. I of course add specials and tricks and dungeon decor, but that stuff is harder to make procedures for.
If you want to know why I have such a rigid schema, it's because it 1) Quiets the Voices in my head. This is it's primary function but 2) it works. I am at least going to get a solid session (or more likely several) if I follow this procedure.
My typical readership will probably be surprised to learn I'm still running Cuccagna. Given my failure to blog about the escapades of the various characters and my propensity for both gamer and actual ADHD behavior, one would be forgiven for thinking this game had been shelved. But it's not true!
I will try to briefly recount the major points I missed.
The House of the Gnoles
Two expeditions were made against this ignoble house of tar-covered beasts! Both involved significant combats occurring on the front lawn.
During the first, they also encountered a spooky sheet ghost and a bunch of animated knick knacks.
A fairy sword of great puissance was won and is currently carried by Lord Saurr. It's powers are such that it was perhaps unwise for me to hand it out as treasure, but alas the deed is done.
On the way to their second expedition, Saurr almost got eaten by an alerion, the lord of all eagles.
The second expedition was mostly mopping up after the first, though a second - and more formidable - ghost was encountered in the attic and teleported using The Sword of Elfland to the manse of Prospero the Orange.
The Temple of Apollyon
All the men in the village of Serpentona had gone missing (and many of the women too). Oh no!
Turns out there was a cult of maenads worshipping Apollyon there!
They fought a lot of serpents - with at least one causing them to debate the taxonomy of "serpents" vs "snakes" in the World of Nightwick.
The also fought, and sometimes captured, a bunch of maenads with snake-like appearance. Weird!
The most dramatic fight was possibly with a group of harpies in the second delve (of 5), who attempted to pick up and drop several of the party from a great height. It was clear they had done this with the men of the village.
During their stay in Serpentona they met Prospero the Red and found out he is both sexist and totally whipped. What a loser!
In keeping with the strategy developed in the House of the Gnoles, both an amphisabaena and a creature I will only call "the Shining One" were both teleported to the manse of Prospero the Orange. I bet he's mad!
In the largest treasure hoard of the dungeon they found a treasure map leading to seemingly somewhere in the middle of the Starry Sea. Jules' research showed this place was likely to be the Palace of the Sea King, an Old God formerly venerated on the island chain.
Noble men (and a few women) have been building strange seaside doors on their townhouses. Soon after they go missing. Mysterious!
Prospero the Orange seems to have moved men into both the Lapis Vaults and the House of the Gnoles. Who knows what he's up to?!
Speaking of which, a lot of the lowest level of the Lapis Vaults remain unexplored. I wonder if they'll ever go back.
They have a treasure map! Exciting!
Prospero the Green's chief henchman Mercutio told Skleras the Stray to sneak into Castle St Swail to spy on the Knights in White Satin. He hasn't done it yet. I hope Mercutio isn't mad!
Provisions - Off into the "Wilderness" - Thoughts on Rangers - A Bed of Soft Grass - A Village Divided - A Second Campsite - Torches in the Night - A Debate - The Peril of Facing Wizards - Into the Hills - ON Gnoles - A Tree of Strange Aspect - Plans Made but Not Executed
Maglor, Changeling Seer/Warrior (Determined this session to be Averois) Prestidigitorio, Karslish Medium (Though he claims to be a local)
Lord Saurr, the Crowned Cat of Karse, Grimalkin
Hirelings 7 men-at-arms (non-classed fighting men) 6 porters/linkmen Tomantha Peggifer Shones, Karslish Medium in the service of Lord Saurr Baldassare, Cuccagnan Seer and apparentice to Jules Mozarin
Events
This week the party eschewed returning to the manse of Prospero the Blue and instead sought to make their way into the interior of the island. Their goal was the mysterious House of the Gnoles, which Lord Saurr had earlier heard was the site of several unsuccessful break ins.
Jules and Prestidgitorio debated the best methods for buying provisions, discussions of herding goats and using goat milk to feed the large number of hirelings the party possesses, but ultimately they decided on purchasing a large number of normal rations.
Emmelot saw to the purchase of two wagons and two teams of 4 draft horses to pull them, hoping to make the trip easier and to provide transportation for the copious amounts of precious lucre they hope to gain in raiding the gnoles.
Lord Saurr purchased a large amount of rope.
After these were all purchased the party set out and found that the manicured gardens of the wizards of Cuccagna stretch for as far as the eye can see. Only occasional shifts in style of garden served to break up the monotony for those characters more used to the wilds of the continent.
Prestidigitorio wondered if a ranger would be useful at all in such an environment, though it should be noted that despite the gardens and occasional appearances of out buildings and sheds, they saw not a soul on the twisting paths.
Emmelot, being the most accustomed to greenery, was able to find them an area of especially downy grass for them to sleep their first night. This they did without incident.
The next morning they awoke and noticed two gleaming white towers about a hex away and decided to make their way to them.
Betwixt the towers was a village where the manicured gardens gave way to fields of barley, olive orchards and vineyards.
The party noticed that the inhabitants of this village were dressed either in all red or all blue. At first they took comfort in the fact that these people seemed to be mixed among the fields, meaning that at least they weren't "racist;" however, they soon discovered something very odd about the inhabitants.
Calling out to one they quickly found him abrasive but at least somewhat willing to help; however, after they had spoken a few words with him a seemingly identical man in the opposite color came up and asked who they were speaking to. This led to some confusion as the party attempted to communicate with both identical men who seemed unable to perceive each other in any way. Prestidigitorio lamented that this is a thing that belonged more to the future/past than to the island's breed of strangeness.
This strange encoutner turned stranger still when the two men were asked to draw a map to the house of the gnoles and, coming forward to do so, they clipped into each other in a hideously uncanny way - each as though the other was made out of nothing at all. Despite this they still were both able to draw in the dirt (though annoyingly close to each other such as to make the map somewhat difficult to read), meaning that they likely were made of solid matter. Curious.
When asked where their master lived, they each indicated a separate tower - the conical rooves of which matched their attire.
The party then tried to follow the map, heading southeast and again having to find a place to camp. They set up watches with the Crowned Cat of Karse taking the middle watch due to his uncanny night vision.
In the night he saw, several miles distant and across the strangely rolling gardens, a troop of horsed men - he wagered about 20 in number - carrying torches and heading towards the strange village which they had visited that day.
He immediately awoke his companions to discuss what to do, fearing these men were up to no good and that innocent villagers would suffer. The general counsel of the other characters was that the intent of the men-a-horse was unknown, and while they had a party in similar size it would likely deplete precious resources needed to steal from the gnoles. As such Lord Saurr reluctantly relinquished his watch and went to bed.
During his watch, Maglor saw great explosions and heard great peels of strange thunder from the direction of the village. Soon after he saw a much smaller band of horsemen slinking way. Lord Saurr, when told of this later, commented that he should've known the wizards over the village would be puissant enough to take care of such raiders.
They then rode their wagons up from the gardens and into the scrubby hills of Cuccagna, and saw that the land was quite arid with mostly bushes and the occasional lone and forsaken tree.
Lord Saurr, who seemed knowledgeable in the ways of gnoles, said that they may seek to watch them through a tunnel system which connected the trees.
This prompted a debate on the nature of gnoles, with Prestidigiatorio, who claimed to be a local, stating that they are men with the heads of hyenas, while Lord Saurr said they are more like "an artichoke made from India rubber." None could say who was right, except the referee.*
In the meantime Emmelot inspected a nearby tree and found it, indeed, came with two little eye holes for peeking and a door granting egress to a sheer tunnel that descended into the earth.
While debate initially covered how one descend into the hole, it quickly turned to what kind of tactics the party should adopt more generally. Lord Saurr suggested at first that he should go and attempt to sell them rope** while the party navigated the tunnels beneath and took them by surprise. Maglor suggested this was maybe not the wises course of action but the inverse - where the party approached in the open and Lord Saurr attempted to sneak in with his greater stealth and dark vision - might be more amicable.
However, seeing the whitewashed walls of the house several miles distant, it was realized by all that leaving for the house now would make them arrive sometime after dark - when the gnoles would likely have an increased advantage. Pondering this, we agreed to pause the game and make new plans for next week.
* She did, in fact, confirm that they didn't have hyena heads.
** Lord Saurr's player insisted that it was a coincidence that he had bought so much rope, and that it was more about the cheapness and usefulness of rope in wilderness settings.
Yep, I'm still running Cuccagna, and I have been quite neglectful in posting session reports. I want to resume my posts of the sessions, but I don't have good notes on a lot of the ones I've missed. As such I will try to do some highlights from the ones I've missed. So instead I must offer a list of highlights from previous sessions and hope that's enough for anyone who for whatever reason wants to keep up with the adventures on that strange isle.
11*: The party investigated more rooms on the ground floor of the Lapis Vaults. There they found a trio of rooms that appeared to be inhabited by a strange and beautiful sorceress. These were illusions crafted by Prospero the Blue and seemingly depicting a romance with the woman in question, including a nice picknick on the beach, a night in the boudoir, and her cuckolding him with a man capable of casting fireball.** The party in general recognized the man from one of the portraits they had taken in an earlier session and Jules de Mozarin recognized the woman as the subject of the crystal ball they had found.
12*: A strange "knight" from a far off land joined the party. He insisted that all things should be done chivalrously, and that Prospero the Blue should be met openly. The rest of the party gingerly tried to play around this, not admitting they were there to loot the place. Notably he confronted a group of giant bees who were doing something to the bodies of hirelings that had been left in the dungeon long before, and remarkably survived. Alas soon after he fell to a group of backwards Blemmyes. Then it was revealed this remarkable man was a living harness! No more will his like be seen again on the World of Nightwick.
13*: The party took to the upper floor of the vaults. There they found a foraging party of pseudopods which they learned were looking for food as the Kingdom of the Monopods [sic] is lacking such. They deceived these creatures into believing they worked for Prospero the Blue and were sent to reclaim objects to be moved to a new manse. Shortly after they found the lair of the toy dogheads and decided to face them in open combat. I think Oro the dwarf died in this one, but overall the party was victorious. They also found the strange room they believe to have once been the home of the intelligent rats that people the dungeon, and found primitive tools made for tiny hands used to escape it.
14*: Lord Saurr decided it would be a good idea to start bringing food to the pseudopods to win their favor. Jules wished to explore the second floor and see what a room he had seen off of the Doghead lair was, but they were interrupted first by giant rats and then a rotten room full of shriekers. The shriekers summoned a number of glass statues similar to the ones the party had previously encountered. Lord Saurr was knocked unconscious but the party prevailed. A group of pseudo also appeared to watch the combat and then hop off without participating. Shortly after the party found a large number of glowing vats containing misshapen beings - prototypes of the creatures seen elsewhere in the manse. Beyond this they found a secret door in which were a group of magicians they quickly slew in a battle of magic. From this they obtained a fair amount of treasure and a spellbook containing spells from the continent.*** A karslish fighting man pc named Thomus was also killed this session in one of the struggles.
15*: The pseudopods are once again given food. Jules finally gets his wish and the party, with some fights against intelligent rats, finds its way to the room that seems to have been a doghead prison. The blemmye he saw in the room had been killed by someone else searching the room. Feeling they had finished exploring the upper level the party at last descended into the tunnels beneath the manse. They found a wine cellar, the door to which was trapped and killed an Averois fighting man PC whose name I do not remember at this time. They carried a great deal of the wine out using the obscene number of hirelings they now possess - the party now contains some 20 odd members including mercenaries and porters.
16*: The pseudopods are once again given food, but seem kinda squirrelly for a reason unknown to the party. The party then fought more intelligent rats on the way to the tunnels. They then tried to get a wagon in the tunnels to the surface level so that they could bring the last of the wine out and make bank. During this they were again attacked by intelligent rats who skirmished with them, shooting and then retreating into the darkness. They eventually got the barrels out with their huge number of hirelings and the wagon. They then returned and found a number of barrels containing "the black blood of the earth" which they also took to the surface to sell.
17*: Pseudopods fed again. More of the tunnels explored. A large cave filled with strange, iridescent stalactites. This room proved to cause strange vision if any noise echoed of the stalactites, as the cleric Skleras found out to the party's peril. Maglor believed he heard a large number bees coming from one cave, and Lord Saurr found the site of an old battle between several of the creatures from the dungeon. The cat was then chased by some mushrooms he believed to be shriekers, though why they were chasing him he wasn't sure. Finally they found a cave containing a number of spider webs that, surprise surprise, was home to a tarentella. This they slew but then Skleras fell down its trap door lair into a nest of its sprawling children. Numerous bites sent him into a dancing frenzy but the hireling Tomantha was able to cast sleep on him such that they could pull him out of the hole without interference. In the lair they found the corpse of a magician and his spellbook.
19*: Jules de Mozarin was summoned to the Viridian Palace by Prospero the Green. He brought with him the entire party as a display of his own importance. Prospero the Green offered him the chance to have have the great wizard serve as a mentor**** if Jules and company would perform two related tasks. First, find the petrified body of Sir Wint of Dril, spy for Prospero the Green who had been captured by Prospero the Blue, and prevent a party sent by Prospero the Orange from doing the same. In the dungeon they again gave food to the psuedopods and this time asked them where the body of Sir Wint could be found. This they provided and soon the party headed to the sitting room and strange room of statues where they had previously fought a Scitalis. This time they fought a group of magicians and their hired men-at-arms. These they defeated, gaining spell books and a scroll with a great deal of Cuccagnan spells. Jules used a scroll provided by Prospero the Green to debrief Sir Wint, learning that Prospero the Blue used a strange blemmye with the head of a cockatrice to petrify suspected thieves and spies. They then spent some time carving his statue out of the wall in which it had been placed and returned to their wormship and back to the Great Wen where Sir Wint was returned to flesh.
20*: Psuedopods again fed. This time they discussed the blemmyes and the tunnels. Lord Saurr hoped they could be made to attack the Blemmyes but the pseudopods are too afraid of the backwards anthropophagi. In the tunnels below they had a brief fight with some Blemmyes after a hireling fell in a pit. They seemed to be guarding an area with the mounted heads of their enemies. Beyond that they found a strange trapped room in the cave covered with depictions of satyrs. The phalli of the creatures produced arrows when someone stepped on the tiles. They found a room with a statue and a large number of shriekers, that Maglor was able to see without disturbing thanks to his dark vision. After some discussion they decided against fighting the shriekers and instead made their way to the area where Maglor heard the bees. There they found a strange device, pictured below.
The strange machine
Little could be ascertained from it other than that it would require thieves' tools or the claws of Lord Saurr (who was not present) to open. After contemplating the device the party returned home more or less without treasure.
* Numbers are somewhat speculative as I'm worried I missed one or two.
** This spell was an illusion and merely caused a number of members of the party to pass out.
*** Continental spells - those found in the OSE core rulebook, are only available to starting characters.
**** Mentors are very important for the magician class, assuming you want to control which spells you gain as you level.
I've missed a couple of sessions in addition to having a report for this week, so before our main event we have two truncated reports in the style of the chronicles of old.
8: A party of 9 entered the Lapis Vaults. They were betrayed by one of the hirelings, Villanus by name, who turned out to be a bunch of super intelligent rats in an uncanny suit. Gax-exiled-from-his-own-council and three hirelings perished in a battle with backwards blemmyes. No notable treasure.
9: A party of 7 entered the Lapis Vaults intent on destroying the shriekers and connecting their two separate maps. This process took longer than expected and first attracted a group of "pseudo"pods, who wandered off after it appeared the goings on were not going to affect the Kingdom of the Monopods, and then a group of glass statues which forced the party to flee, leaving their two new hirelings to die. No notable treasure.
The Great Wen
A Loan Applicant - A Last Scream - An Old Trap - A new Trap - A Treasure Ported - A Mask - The Application of Tools - The Startling Statue - A Trail of Blood - The Gallery - A Deception - A Debate - Disappointment - The Studio - Sneezing Powder - A Return Full Handed
Characters Present
Jules Mozarin, Averois Seer
Maglor, Changeling Medium/Veteran
Boudin, Frogling Veteran
Oro Desiderio, Dwarfish Veteran
Lord Saurr - Crown Cat of Karse, Grimalkin Veteran
Hirelings
Baldassare, Medium and apprentice to the Seer Jules
The Mute Woman, a porter of strangely philosophical mien for someone who cannot speak
Events
After two rather disastrous expeditions, the pickings for hirelings were rather light in the Great Wen. The only person seemingly willing to work with the party was the mysterious Mute Woman, one time hireling of Cristobert and Folavril. Maglor decided it was best to have as many bodies as possible and agreed to pay her fee.
They boarded the worm ship and made their way tot he isle of Prospero the Blue and once again entered his Lapis Vaults by way of a secret door.
They made their way back to the room containing the awful shrieking mushrooms, and indeed they heard their tell-tale "almost human screaming but the words are all slightly wrong" from down the hallway.
Luckily they made quick work of the remaining mushroom before any statuary or other horrors could pounce on them again.
They back tracked slightly to a room they had previously explored, as evidenced by the triggered and not reset trap just inside the entryway. Beyond was a workroom that seemed to have already been picked over and a slightly ajar door.
Jules, being wise in the ways of trapped dungeons, pocked at the door with his 10' pole. His instinct proved correct when a steel bucket of acid fell upon the organic matter of his pole and he lost the first 2 and 1/2 feet of it.
Wood was heaped upon this acid to quicken its chemical reaction and render it inert long enough to walk across. On the other side was a store of glass blowing supplies (rods and a small portable furnace).
It was decided that these were valuable but fragile enough that they needed to be taken to the ship forthwith. This was done slowly but without major incident.
Upon returning they explored beyond a door in the rotten hall which had formerly served as the feeding ground for a number of shriekers. They found themselves with three potential ways to progress - down a short hall to a chamber seemingly dominated by a mask upon a pedestal, into a room covered with blood stains where bodies had apparently been dragged away, or through a door.
After some debate, they decided to see what was up with the mask. Detect magic proved it was magical and that three other doors in the same chamber each led to rooms that so radiated with magic they appeared only as solid squares to the weaver of the spell.
Lord Saurr, Crown Cat of Karse, decided to inspect it in cat form (so to be able to flee should "lasers fire from its eyes").
Upon seeing it was safe, Jules followed him in the room but soon found that a magic moth the cat had noticed on the ceiling issued forth a strange warning: "Leave here, old man. There is nothing here for you!" The voice matched that of the magic mouth near the entrance ("I can't come to the door right now...") but was much more forceful in aspect.
Lord Saurr explained that he was going to use his sledge to break the mask off so they may take it home, but asked that the rest of the party back up if they were worried this might cause some eldritch destruction. The entire party did so.
The sledge did work to bend the pole the mask was attached to (and that was somehow worked into the marble pedestal such that it could not be easily removed), but did little to actually sever the bronze. Jules and Lord Saurr debated some possible tools and ultimately it was decided that sawing with a cutting implement (Lord Saurr's sword) was the best plan.
Mask in tow they made their way back to the aforementioned door. Maglor heaved it open to reveal a copper statue of a mermaid, made green by age.
Strangely the party's entire back section melted away as Jules, the Mute Woman, and Baldassare were filled with an indefinable terror upon seeing the statue and ran at full speed away from the statue. The statue, for its part, was of rather mediocre construction and did not appear particularly sinister or even notable to those left behind.
The non-fleeing parts of the party felt if they were going to explore beyond this chamber - Maglor suspected a secret door - it would be best to do so now, despite the party's separation, because whatever had caused the back ranks to flee may take effect upon any who steps into the room.
There was, indeed, a secret door, though it merely led to passages that, when the party later regrouped, had previously been explored. While this was somewhat anticlimactic it did mean they had linked their maps.
Jules and company refused to re-enter the room and so instead it was decided that they should meet in the blood-stained room.
Jules instantly recognized this chamber for what it was: the site of their battle with the backwards blemmyes. Now that there was no adversary in sight or hirelings to drag back out, the details of the room could be ascertained.
It was a gallery - holding pictures of four figures - an old man holding a sheep in a red toga, an imperious man dressed in green noble finery sat upon a silver throne, a magician in yellow and black robes commanding a thing Jules labeled a "foggoth"* to rise from the sea, and finally a man in autre orange robes in a wooded arcade next to a diabolic statue seemingly playing strange pipes.
Detect magic revealed that the painting of the yellow magician concealed within it some magical item, and removing the back of the painting they found a spell scroll.
Now a debate occurred - should they return to the "magic rooms" they had seen near the mask's pedestal or instead head down a dog-legged passage that had been spotted in a previous expedition. Fearing some major entanglement, the party soon decided on the dog-legged passage.
The passage did not continue much further than what had been mapped, ending in a door. Jules expressed some disappointment that there had not been more this way, but soon the party was opening the door.
Beyond was a kind of art studio - paints and art supplies were set on tables or held in crates and a glass arm - like those of the animate statues - lay in a prominent position for staining.
Oro's dwarfish eyes detected the use of gold, silver, and lapis in some of the paints while Lord Saurr's sensitive nose detected some strange smell that caused him to make the Flehmen response.
While attempting to take some of the paints out of the crates, a dust was disturbed which caused both Lord Saurr and Maglor to sneeze for a great length of time. Maglor's ailment became so bad that he became unable to see.
With this new treasure, and the paintings behind them so they could retrieve them on the way out, the party decided now was time to leave and hoped that Maglor's sight would return.
Luckily for Maglor he began to see blurry shapes again when they were almost at the exit and by the time the worm ship had made it the Great Wen his vision was almost fully restored.
Monsters Defeated
1 Shrieker
Treasure Gained
Glass rods (500gp), Portable glass furnace (500gp), 4 paintings of wizards (500gp each), expensive paints (100gp), a scroll containing The Exquisite Repose, The Marvelous Magic Mouth, and, Chun's Halo of Unsleeping Eyes
Hirelings Baldassare - A cuccagnan magician now apprenticed to Jules Giustiano and Scalvo - two greenhorn bravos
Events
It's been a bit since I've actually run Cuccagna due to home life events but I also forgot to detail the last session I did run. This week we were ever to meet again and at least do some downtime actions and reaffirm where we were after the last session so hopefully play will begin again soon.
But the last time the delvers entered the vaults, they entered by the secret passage and made their way through long winding tunnels without sign of enemies until they came at last to a large, well appointed chamber.
Inside this carpeted sitting room was a scitalis, whose strange powers had many time vexed the party and killed several hirelings.
This time, however, Jules had a plan. Using a large piece of cloth, he draped it before his section of the formation like a wall, blocking sight of the beast. This lowered considerably their chance to hit but did turn them into a pretty effective little phalanx.
Boudin fought beyond this sight-block but luckily was unaffected by the creature's powers.
However it was Baldassare's use of "the Spell of Exquisite Repose" which undid the serpent, and Jules instructed the party to force the snake into a large sack purchased for this purpose. Luckily the thing did not seem to use its strange ability to heat its body while slumbering.
Venturing just a little beyond into the finely appointed room, one of the characters gathered some amethyst cabochons and then set about leaving the dungeon.
Back in town Jules instructed some new hirelings in the construction of a pit, the maintenance of a tarp, and the use of buckets of water and mud to keep the creature unseen and cool. What plans he has for this being are as yet unknown even to the author.
Tomantha spent her downtime after this brief delve learning the "the Spell of Exquisite Repose" from those who had it. She was successful.
Boudin spent his time in rest along with the previously appearing cleric named Gax-exiled-from-his-own-council.
A Proof of Puissance - Of Pirates and Shares - A Debate of Doors - A Body Found - Magic Mouth Again - On Mapping - An Old Room - On the Languages of Twins - A Grand Hall Without a Puzzle - The Fickle Fate of Dogheads and Pirates - Cracks in Reality and Cracks in Walls - A King of Piss - Finding Loot - Labor - Another Hook for the Same Fish
Maria - a one armed man in search of his complimentary one armed friend.
Baldassare - A cuccagnan magician now apprenticed to Jules
Agostino and Pietro-paolo - Two (deceased) pirates
Giacomo - A pirate still possessing his life
Events
The session began in the Prince Dauphin/King Fish with Jules Mozarin asking his potential apprentice the nature of his foreign spell - The Importunate Insult. Baldassare merely answered with a gesture of a wand and soon Jules found himself overcome by the desire to kill his opponent. However the effect was over in an instant and Jules, laughing, agreed to hire the young magician, offering to give him one half of his own share.
The party then began to debate a trio of pirates who wished to split a share between them but offered to serve as toughs and bodyguards. It was eventually decided that the dungeon is dangerous enough to warrant the use of such ruffians even at the increased cost, and Cristobert professed a hope that they would all die in the upcoming outing.
They then took the worm-ship again to Prospero the Blue's manse. Outside they debated whether to again go by the secret entrance or the main entrance into the squat blue tower. Without their mapper they were unsure how near the secret entrance the land of the pseudomonopods lay.
Soon one of the company noted some figure placed near the secret entrance that did not appear to be one of the strangely realistic statues. Soon it was discovered this was Testus, who earlier lost his life to the pseudomonopods. He had been strung up on a set of small boards, perhaps to serve as a warning against further trespass.
Gax-exiled-from-his-own-council moved to get the body so it could be removed a bit and await a proper burial. He asked the priates to fan out and protect him but also carefully watched their reactions at seeing their reactions to a hireling being found in such a fashion. They seemed somewhat at ease with such violent ends. They were pirates, after all.
There was a brief discussion of just what a "monopod" was, as Gax-exiled-from-his-own-council had not encountered the creatures. It was agreed that the party generally also had yet to encounter true monopods, due to the smallness of foot of those within the dungeon.
This sign was taken to mean that the secret door was indeed near the pseudomonopods and therefore they headed south through the stout tower. Progress was slowed somewhat by Jules taking up mapping - the absence of their earlier mapper having shown the group the necessity of multiple copies.
It was decided that they would hug the southern wall of the great room which contained the Magic Mouth in the hopes it would not trigger. Unfortunately it was found that their proposed destination - a large hall they had passed by a few times in the outing before last - could not be gained without crossing the magical threshold.
The mouth made its pronouncement ("I can't come to the door right now...") but no creatures came ot molest the party.
Passing up a nearby hall they found a door that they only vaguely remembered from previous exploration. A debate began about whether or not it should be opened with Jules ultimately arguing it should be since it would help complete the map and could not contain too large an area due to the fact that it lay between their current location and the exterior.
Beyond they found a t-intersection and took the path south. There they found a small room used for firing arrows at trespassers. They had been here before, as was indicated by the empty arrow barrel and empty weapon racks; however, it confirmed Jules suspicion and also meant they had yet to pass through the north door of the intersection.
Folavril listened at this door and heard many creatures clicking and warbling in some private language unknown to the outside world though clearly perhaps derivative of some earthly tongue.
Some debate was had over whether or not this door should be opened. Ultimately this course of action was decided against and they left to go investigate the hall that had been their first target.
And soon they found it - colonnaded and lined with braziers. Folavril lit all the braziers but seemingly this provided no effect outside of lighting. The room was dominated by two thrones, both broken. One seemed to have been smitten with some sort of great heat, with charred marks along its cracked face. The other had been destroyed by the traditional action of blunt force.
One of the members of the party began to look through the rubble which attracted the attention of a number of toy dogheads from a nearby room. At first the dogheads seemed happy to see the party, as a few were recognizable to those that had previously fought alongside them against slimes. They were given a great number of rations and asked about nearby rooms.
Unable to speak except in a yipping bark, they led the party into the room from which they had come. This was a guard room but also held treasure - a pile of platinum pieces and zircon cabachons. The eyes of the party became as the orbs of Valax, such was their avarice, and they concocted a plan seemingly wordlessly to separate the miniature dogheads from their treasure.
Gax-exiled-from-his-own-council lifted a staff he carried and asked "do you like fetch?" The dogheads responded only with confusion. Hoping his plan would still work, he attempted to throw the staff back into the hall so that they would race off, giving Cristobert and Folavril time to work their roguish arts.
Unfortunately all he succeeded in doing was smacking one of the little dogheads in the face, which greatly angered them and moved them to violence. Jules shut the door hoping to contain the anger to only those dogheads in the room with them, but the struggle soon involved both groups.
The dogheads were overcome but not without the deaths of two of the pirates. Some of the party expressed dismay that such cute creatures had to die, but even those that did found their relentless onslaught annoying.
Giacomo, now bereft of his two companions, agreed to continue to serve as the front line but only if their bodies would later be brought outside and given burial rights. Gax-exiled-from-his-own-council agreed.
They then bound up a number of the weapons - short swords and spears - that were set for the doghead guards in this guard chamber and made their way back into the hall.
At the edge of the great hall was either a set of alcoves or passages, and the party decided the exploration of these should be their next priority. They found that they were passages, both extending off greater than their torchlight could illuminate.
Cristobert, ever watchful for traps and other mechanical devices, noticed a strange fracture in the door that at first made him feel as though he could see through the very wall. This later turned out to be a secret door and the party made ready to open it.
Beyond the door was a once ornately appointed bedchamber, now largely burnt. A strange creature made of various animal parts placed roughly in human shape - much like the lost souls of the infamous Nightwick Abbey - stood before the bed micturating. He wore not but a cape and did not seek to hide the nakedness of his form.
The party interrogated him some and learned that 1) he believed Prospero the Blue to be dead and Prospero the Purple to have "taken his color" 2) the manse was a place of arrogance and folly where a pretender sought to make himself king and that 3) he was the true king of the island.
For this strange meeting the party dubbed him "the Piss King." They decided they wanted to loot the room and were not going to let some weirdo who "pees where he sleeps" further ruin their treasure. Cristobert attempted to strike him with a shot of his bow but found it bounced off his hide as if it struck granite.
This did not deter the party, for they had magic weapons they believed would be sovereign against such a creature. Craveel and Folavril quickly rushed in with Sharp and Witchslayer. Gax-exiled-from-his-own-council followed after and attempted to aid them by pushing over the creature. Cristobert entered in an attempt to see if any treasure was obvious. He saw something glittering under the bed.
Soon the piss king's life was ended, his last act was to call out for his mother.
The treasure under the bed included a great deal of coinage (only some of which had been marred by the waste of the piss king) and a jeweled torque. The party fished the coins out with various implements to avoid polluting their hands and then had the hirelings carry the coins which were wet.
This they decided was a good enough haul to leave the dungeon with and so they did, stopping only to retrieve the bodies of Agostino and Pietro-paolo.
Back at the Great Wen the bulk of the party practiced their day jobs - Craveel served as a smith, Jules as a scribe, Cristobert as a lookout, and Gax-exiled-from-his-own-council as a street preacher.
Folavril, for his part, decided instead to gain rumors about "a place that would be easy to rob. Unfortunately he only heard about the opposite. Three bravos it seems had recently set out to rob the infamous House of the Gnoles, but none of them had returned to speak of it.
Monsters Defeated
13 Toy Dogheads, 1 Piss King
Treasure Gained
10 zircon cabochons (50gp each), 50pp, 1000gp, 5143cp, jeweled torque (500gp), a warped nightstand, 5 spears, 5 short swords
A scitalis is a strange form of serpent found only on Cuccagna and its outlying islands. Whether it is the creation of some mad wizard - perhaps Prospero himself - or a relatively natural creature of the World of Nightwick is unknown to scholars. Some scant few believe that it is the descendent of normal serpents who have been warped for centuries by the weird magics of Cuccagna, though most agree that the magicians who inhabit the island have not done so for so long.
It appears as a serpent with a pair of vestigial wings and two stunted limbs, neither of which aid it in locomotion. Its head is rather like that of a normal serpent, but it sports two protrusions that look rather like the clipped ears of a fighting dog. In life its scales are pulsing and scintillating, forever creating new patterns across its opalescent hide. In death they maintain their iridescence but lose all sense of motion.
Scholars of Cuccagna say that the mesmeric effect of the scales is created by a combination of their strange alchemical makeup and the creature's extreme body heat. The source of this heat, whether organ or stone swallowed in youth, has yet to be found.
AC 15 (4), HD 3, Attk 1 Bite (1d4 + Constrict), THAC0 16 [+3], MV 90' (30'), SV D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (3) AL Neutral XP 30 NA 1 (1d6), TT U
Brilliance: Anyone looking at the scitalis must save vs spells or become hypnotized until they can no longer see the scitalis (including if it dies) or until the victim is constricted. Victims stand still, simply gazing at the scitalis.
Averting Eyes: -4 penalty to hit. The scitalis gets a +2 bonus to attack.
Constrict: 2d6 Automatic damage each successive round after a successful bite attack.
Body Heat: If either damage die for Constrict rolls a 6, the victim must make a save vs breath or lose all flammable items.
Hirelings Homobon aka Hambone - linkboy turned man at arms (deceased) Maria and Marco - complimentary one-armed porters (fled to parts unknown) Testus - Man at arms (deceased before his deal could be sused)
Events
Remembering the missive from the "King of the Monopods" that they must only return when they had something of value to the monopods, the party purchased 15 pairs of clown shoes, hoping that their prosthetic bigness would easy the dysmorphia spoken of by those proto-monopods of the Lapis Vaults.
They then purchased the services of a new man-at-arms, named Testus and purchased a polearm and armor for young Homobon, recently elated to receive the nickname Hambone.
Arriving by wormship they again made their way up the beach and through the gardens towards the Lapis Vaults.
They spied that something had moved the corpse of the cyclops they had slain last week, and hypothesized this to either be an enormous creature or a large number of little creatures (such as the toy dogheads).
They then debated whether to follow the blood - which most agreed would lead to an early grave - or through the secret entrance. Being without their mapper from last week* they had some discussion about whether or not this was the nearest to their desired destination - the "kingdom" of "monopods."
Entering through the secret entrance they had some doubts about their way but eventually landed on the correct door.
Beyond the door they found a number of proto-monopod guards on edge, but at least one of the guards was relieved to see Cruart's face.
He then left to go fetch the "King of the Monopods." Upon his majesty's arrival, Cruart dumps the clown shoes at their feet declaring they had brought something of value.
Unfortunately the party miscalculated. The King of the Monopods does not title himself the King of the Protomonopods and is rather deluded as to the size of his feet. A reaction roll determined his response: immediate attack!
"Kill them!" he shouted and his body guard rushed forward. The regular guards fled to rooms beyond as yet unexplored.
The ensuing battle saw all of the body guards fall but also saw the death of Testus, Homobon, and the second severe wounding of Cruart Staig. The king was wounded and fled to chambers beyond but the guards returned to try to drive the party out of the kingdom. Craveel rushes to close the door.
Jules rushed forward to patch Cruart up, but signs of monopods flanking from the side - evidently alerted by the guards - forced the party to flee through the secret entrance, Jules and Cristobert carrying Cruart together.
This handicap meant the monopods had the potential to gain on them quickly, and for a bit it looked quite close, especially since Marco and Maria broke into a full run and fled from the site of the party. Their whereabouts are still unknown.
The party did manage to make it to daylight where the protomonopods broke off the chase.
From there they limped back to the wormship and returned to the Great Wen.
Monsters Slain
3 protomonopod bodyguards
Treasure Gained
None
XP Per Player
75
* I use Foundry's lighting system but not its reveal fog feature. Given the complicated maps I use for dungeons mapping is still required to be able to find your way.
The Death of a Cyclops - A Decision Made - Arrows - A Secret Door - Meeting with "Monopods" - Searching for Treasure - A Trap - Good Boys - The Chamber of Slimes - Treasure at Last
Hirelings Homobon - linkboy, bestowed with a new nickname Catelano - linkman who is very particular about the verbiage Maria and Marco - One armed porters missing complementary arms Giulia - Peasantwoman somehow trained in arms (deceased) Jaco the Cruel - Hook armed man of violence (deceased)
Events
Returning to the Lapis Vaults with a number of new hirelings and a new primary member in tow, the party was again costed by the mysterious giant of the second story.
Cruart, in the mood for violence, denied the giant's suzerainty over the vaults. In a rage the creature ran from his window and momentarily burst through the verdigrised doors which act as the primary entrance.
Unfortunately for the "giant" - actually an ogre-sized cyclops* - Maglor was ready with a fairy enchantment similar to the spell men of the World know as sleep. The raging monster entered an enchanted slumber and was soon slain in his sleep by the party.
Again the party entered through the bronze doors, though Emmelot's initial attempts at mapping meant the party became strung out over a long area as she lagged behind, making notes, and Cruart forged ahead with wild abandon and suicidal ideation.
Cruart again triggered the magic mouth's message ("I can't come to the door right now") but the voice of the mouth seemed to summon no monsters.
It was agreed that the party should move more carefully and a new method for going about the dungeon was developed (we started using a token to represent the party as a whole outside the battle, a thing that probably should've occurred to us before).
Traveling up one of the corridors, a scant number of chambers were explored, netting the party a few arrows and little more.
The sound of a large number of creatures from behind one of the doors deterred further investigation and the party returned to the main hallway which springs from the magic mouth room.
Travelling north they were briefly confronted by a strange set of creatures - much like dogheads but only a little over knee high to a man. Their heads the adorable yet malformed bugeyed visage of pugs. These barked a bit but soon backed off in apparent fright.
Beyond the toy dogheads they found a long passage which led to a secret door to the outside. This could provide a potential future aperture for covert entrance should something be guarding they main one.
They also found evidence that this secret door had been used by one-legged beings, though the feet were too small to be the famous monopods of Cuccagna.
Returning inside, a failed listen check meant that they entered a room containing a number of "monopod" guards. The guards were pleasantly disposed towards the characters due to the ineffable charisma of its foremost members.
They revealed that several of them possessed the same name, and indeed possessed faces remarkably similar - though still oddly different - from their counterparts. Further discussion revealed that they were ashamed of their tiny feet and at least currently refused to leave the vaults for neither the world of men would have them nor would the tribes of true monopods.
When it was pointed out that there were a number of one legged men - in this case meaning the disabled - one of the Niccolo group of "monopods" immediately said he must leave but would return shortly. When he returned it was with the self-proclaimed "king of the Monopods."
The party entreated with his majesty, but when the imprecise nature of their claim - i.e. that the one legged men in the Great Wen were not, in fact, grown in the vats of Prospero the Blue, the king became irritated. He sent the party away demanding that they only return when they had "something of value to offer the monopods."
They spent some time in the corridor discussing what could be of value - including at least one suggestion of "clown shoes."
Maglor suggested that the cyclops killed earlier may have heaped up a store of treasure in his lair and that they should return to stairs they had seen earlier since the enormous eye of the dead-thing had been seen on the second floor. This was agreed upon by all as a sound plan.
They found the area above the stairs to be a similar gallery of arrow slits - one easily being noted as the one which the cyclops used to accost the characters. Unfrotunately, no treasure could be found in this space.
Attempting to make the full circuit of its roundness, the party was surprised when a set of steel cylinders - eacy about 6 inches in diameter - sudden thrust up from the floor at such a speed that two of the main party were injured - Cruart receiving a concussion and Maglor breaking an arm - and the two men at arms the party had hired were both slain.
The party retreated back for a moment to bind their wounds. Maglor was ready to continue on but could not use his shield arm, and Cruart was roused but unfortunately still seemed like he would do poorly in combat.
They managed to locate the various cylinders in their niches and thread there way through the trap. Beyond was a great hall dominated by two pools choked with algae. Jules experimented with this for some time but found that the algae neither concealed treasure nor was itself magical. The party withdrew without revealing the full dimensions of the room.
They then began to search for secret doors in the gallery. They found none, but just as they were about to finish they were interrupted by a group of toy dogheads.
Emmelot tossed the dogheads a ration quickly followed by other party members and soon the little guys were very well disposed towards our adventurers.
One of the members of the party demonstrated a coin and the way it glittered in the mix of torchlight and sunlight pouring in through the arrow slits. They hoped the dogheads would then know they sought a room filled with treasure.
And the dogheads seemed to get the idea. Yipping excitedly and motioning for them to follow, the group of dogheads led them by a number of corridors - including another set of stairs down ot the ground floor.
At last they came to a section where a great amount of strange, slimy material had gathered about the floor and the west wall. Two of the dogheads led the party ahead, the rest staying behind, and began to bark at a point in the wall which seemed to be seeping the slime.
Maglor soon noticed a secret door and, with the help of one of the dogheads - lifted it above his head - as it seemed to work like a portcullis with no locking mechanism. Beyond they found a similar door - which was soon opened by a number of strange, gelatinous creatures!
These jellies had a number of items in their bodies. They would exude long pseudopods that contained the item within it in order to attack. So if one had a knife inside it would protrude an arm ending in the knifes tip and attempt to stab you.
A melee ensued, with Maglor almost losing his sword twice and with one of the dog heads being smacked in the head with a brick and another fleeing towards his waiting friends. Still, the party was triumphant without further casualties.
The room beyond indeed contained treasure - several loose coins and a number of magic items. Some time was taken to gather these materials and then the party left the dungeon without incident.
Back in the Great Wen the party had the items identified for a fee. They are listed in the treasure below.
Monsters Slain
1 Minor Cyclops, 8 Slimes
Treasure Gained
1 Helm of Alignment Changing, a treasure map, a Sword +1 (+2 vs Magic Users) that the runes name "Witchslayer," a Sword +1 that the runes name "Sharp," a ring of control animals, 175gp, 2000sp, 2 book covers of scitalis leather (300gp each), and 7 blood stones (50gp each)
XP Per Player
515
*The estimate the party had made of the creature's size was based on the appearance of his eye in the window. Since it was disproportionately large due to his being a cyclops, they had added an additional 5-10 feet to its size in their mental calculations.
Worm Ships are a peculiarity of Cuccagna, being a neccessity in some of its waters, for the perfect slight breezes which cool one in the gardens of that strange island are ill-suited to the occupation of sea craft, and the monstrous fauna which dwell beneath the waves of some its harbors, bays, and even some of its more turbid rivers are hazardous to vessels of more conventional type. The average worm ship looks like a largish gondola of pure white wood, often with elaborate carvings and certainly with fluted bow and stern to make it resemble in part the warships of ancient Acheron - though these "rams" are merely of wood and their similarity to those ships of old is but an aesthetic affectation.
The most notable thing about the worm ship, regardless of its side, is its method of propulsion, for it relies not on sails but rather on a strange, shimmering-pink polychete worm bred for such purpose by some wizard of the island. The worminger, the sole necessary crewman on such a vessel, steers not from the back but from the front by prodding the worms with a specialized goad of wood and metal. Most work in teams of two or three, often accompanied by more conventional ship crews, for the prodding of an enormous sea worm is a dangerous business and the hardened bristles along the beast's segments can often snare the goad and hoy a man into the bosom of the ocean - and the waiting jaws of the worms.
The worms movement through the water drags the boat behind them, making the fact that the winds serve only the whims of some wizard of mercurial mood and great puissance a non-issue. Their perturbation of the water drives away the sawfish and swordfish which haunt this length of the Middle Sea. Cuccagna is well known as a site of shipwrecks and these creatures, who use their hardened and strangely shaped snouts to bore through the wood of a ship or to spear it at great speed, are one of the reasons why.
Worm ships allow characters to move across sea hexes as though they were traveling on foot on a road across clear terrain. Few wormingers will drive their away from site of the shore, for while the worms prevent the predation of weapon-snouted fish, there are more sinister things which lurk in the deeps near the island.
I decided I wanted to run a dungeon that was kind of a redo of one I did for my Cuccagna setting some time ago. Some of the Nightwick Regulars agreed and I decided to use the version of the isle of wizards set in the World of Nightwick.
Characters Present
Cristobert 1st Level Karslish Mountebank
Cruart Staig 1st Level Karslish Fighter
Jules Mozarin 1st Level Averois Magician
Maglor 1st Level Changeling
Hirelings
Homobon - depressed cheesmaker turned linkboy
Pippo and Rizzardo - Cuccagnan bravos (who died this session)
Tibio - Fellow bravo who managed to stay alive
Events
The characters have heard rumors of the disappearance of Prospero the Blue and the vacancy of his infamous manse - the Lapis Vaults.
Feeling this wizard's abode is ripe for looting, they hired a number of hirelings (described above) and set out on a worm-driven ship form the Great Wen to explore the smaller island which holds the Lapis Vaults.
Landing on the southwestern shore of the smaller island, they made their way inland and quickly found that it turned into a formal garden at the base of a large cliff. Set into the cliff was a large, blue structure consisting of walls abutting the cliff and a squat, round tower.
Approaching closer Cruart was challenged by a voice from within the squat tower. He claimed to be the king of this manse in the absence of Prospero the Blue, and demanded the party leave. The only clue to his identity was that his eye was visible through an arrow slit and - indeed- took up the entire slit. Cruart deduced the creature to be at least 15' tall.
After accosting him, the unknown giant seems to have felt he was threatening enough and left his vantage point to do unknown tasks, allowing the party to enter unseen.
But before they managed to make it to the doors, they found a number of statues set about the garden. All were in hyper-realistic mode and making pleading or frightened gestures. Cruart stated it was as if they had been turned to stone by a Medusa.
Approaching the large, bronze doors of the tower - as at the time these seemed the only means of egress - Cruart was the only one foolish brave enough to enter initially. He discovered a large hall decorated with satyrs frolicking with women. Cristobert soon joined him and they noticed the number of present satyrs was seven, and speculated that these must in some way represent the colored wizards of the island. When Cruart pointed out that they were all blue, Cristobert asserted that this was some means by which Prospero the Blue had meant to show ownership of the others.
The satyrs' eyes turned out to be peepholes through which guard chambers could be viewed. After looking through several of these the party found that one contained a number of dead, one-legged men.
At first Cristobert asserted that Prospero the Blue had chopped off the legs of these men to make them into monopods (the legs, not the men), which are known to inhabit the island. However, investigating their wounds showed that they did not have their legs chopped off or, if they were, it was done far in advance of their deaths as they mearly had a flat piece of flesh over the legless side of their pelvis.
The guard chambers beyond the satyrs eyes contained a number of arrows, which Cristobert grabbed up.
Jules cast detect magic in hopes that he would reveal much within the manse, but was flustered until they came to a large room dominated by a fountain and fanciful floor tiles. The fountain was not magical, but rather there was a small alcove which contained a magic mouth.
The magic mouth, glowing within the Averois magicians eyes, suddenly announced "I am unable to come to the door right now, but someone will be with you in a moment."
The party debated the meaning of the mouth, and whether it could be interrogated, when a creature suddenly appeared within their torchlight. It was a serpent but bore strange ear-like protrusions from its head, vestigal wings, two tiny arms, and scintilating, opalescent scales.
These scales quickly mesmerized most of the party, with only Maglor and the three Cuccagnan bravos free to act.
They rushed in to do battle with it, the bravos hitting it about the head and body with their clubs. They wounded it severly but in its death throws it was able to grab Rizzardo in its serpents mouth and crush his body with its enormous bulk. It died soon after with blows from the changeling.
With the creature dead its hypnotic pattern seemed to cease. Cristobert skinned the thing, for the scales still held an irridescent beauty, but found its body was strangely warm - especially for a serpent and especially for a creature gripped by the icy hand of death.
Exploring the corridor from which the serpent had come, the party quickly found that it branched off in many directions. Choosing the nearest, they saw dark shapes moving distantly in a large room, but decided to explore a door - closer than the shapes - anyway. They left Homobon in the hall to watrn them of encroaching danger.
As they entered the room, they narrowly avoided a trap consisting of a sack of stones held up by a trip wire mechanism. Cristobert observed this was likely not a trap made by a wizard as puissant as Prospero the Blue.
The room held a number of tools and materials used in the making of various items, but nothing that looked particularly valuable.
Suddenly. Homobon called out and shortly so too did the dark shapes in the large room - for they were those sinister fungi men call shriekers. Cristobert observed that if there were shriekers they must surely be on the lookout for piercers and other such strange dungeon creatures.
The party rushed forward to destroy the shrieker only to find the room filled with them. They also found the fungus to be more resilient than they would've liked, and its screaming could not be shortened before creatures came to investigate.
The creatures were largeish - but not necessarily giant - white rats. These rats called out in crued voices "Kill them! Kill them!" as one leapt at Pippo's throat and tore it open with its rodent teeth.
The party engaged the rats in "social combat," though I unfortunately do not remember the barbs that were thrown back and forth. I am reliably told that the party "won" this exchange, but since they fled in terror from the rats out of the dungeon they received no experience for this.
