Cringe Ye Be Lest Cringe Ye Become: A Nightwick Miscelany

 

Here's some random stuff from the long running Nightwick campaigns that doesn't really fit in the book and doesn't really have a coherent enough theme to be sorted into another kind of post.

Mumbletypeg
Of all the stupid amusements shared by both Bogdani and Realmishman there is none so stupid but also none more beloved as mumblteypeg. In the Dark Country variety the aim of this game is to throw a knife down at your own boot and the closest "without going over" (and suffering grievous injury) wins!

The mechanical representation of this is rather simple. Both players make an attack role against their unarmored* AC (10 + their dex bonus). The winner is the player who scores highest *without* meeting or beating their AC. Naturally this give an advantage to those with a high dex bonus, but games are never fair.

Usually a wager is involved, but some drunkards have been known to do it purely for the thrill of the thing.

Some say this was an import from some other realm, though the most likely candidate for its origins is the Kingdom of Vulgary to the north. Vulgarian rules may be different from those described above.

Songs of the Dark Country 
Over the years of the campaign both Nightwick Regulars/Howling Kommandos and the Weeknight Nightwick groups have been subjected to my butcherings of traditional songs to fit the Dark Country. Some are likely lost with G+ but a selection of those I can find are replicated below with some of their context.

The first is variously known as "the Brown Lady," "The Eunuch's Lament" and "Mab and the Madman" and tells the tale of a Zenopolitan Witch Hunter who heads into the 'Wood of Witches' to kill a fairy-witch queen. The parts in brackets noted are in a poorly formed, dog-bogdani.

The snippet opens with a part sung by the fairy-witch queen:

I can make thou feelest well,
[Walking in the wood],
And thou shalt never go to Hell,
[Where it's always autumn],

The Zenopolitan did say,
[Walking in the wood],
That his dick was made of clay,
[Where it's always autumn],

And he struck her right upon the head,
[Walking in the wood],
And the Elven Witch she fell straight dead,
[Where it's no longer autumn],

There is said to be an older version, written before the news of the victory at the Battle of the Witchfort, where the fairy-witch queen successfully tempts him. It is now lost to time.

This second one is commonly used as a marching song by the men known as the Howling Kommandos:

Well they were cast out of eaven when their bag became a burden,
So instead they made their garden where the banks of burdocks grow,
And there were was no gold or silver on the banks of the Dark River,
In the land of the Bogdani where the banks of burdocks grow,

Chorus:
Where old panes are broken and a thousand tongues are spoken,
And new saints awaken where the banks of burdocks grow,
So farewell cold winter we shall all go out together,
In the land of the Bogdani where the banks of burdocks grow,

There is no peace or plenty in the land of the Bogdani,
And the rain falls down so swiftly where the banks of burdocks grow,
And a pretty young maiden is a candle in the darkness,
But it’s a bright and blazing furnace where the banks of burdocks grow,

Chorus

Well the pope sent out his army to the land of the Bogdani,
And the soldiers they were weary where the banks of burdocks grow,
So they stormed the temple quarter and the glass fell down like water,
In the land of the Bogdani where the banks of burdocks grow,

Chorus

Third we have one that I didn't deploy at the time but was at least mentioned as being sung by knockers in mines outside the town of Blackleg:

It's dark and dank down in the mine,
And demons come out by surprise,
And none o' ye shall leave alive,
Ye dirty little miners,

Dunnae gang down in the mine,
Across the top we stretched a line,
To catch you throat and break your spine,
Ye dirty little miners,

Down here is a terrible place,
We'll rub wet clay on yer dying face,
And in the dark we'll run a race,
To catch ye little miners,

We'll grab yer duds, yer picks as well,
And hoy ye down the pit o' hell,
So down ye go and fare ye well,
Ye dirty little miners

Most recently the Weeknights in Nightwick group faced a trio of groans who sang a little song about themselves:

Oak of the clay saw many a day,
Fore e'er Acheron be damned,
Ash of the loam was a lady at home,
Before there was nary a man,
Thorn of the down so a little town,
From which was Lychgate born...

However upon hearing the approach of the PCs the groans ceased their songs and switched to lobbing rocks. 

Updates to the World of Nightwick Calendar
A combination of my inability to remember my own day names and a recent diet in the city of Koenigsburg means I have revised the days of the week thusly:

Sunday
Moonday
Swordsday
Wandsday
Cupsday
Coinsday
Devilsday

The Zodiac of the World of Nightwick
Warren had asked me to work up a list of astrological signs and so I did. They are in roughly the same order as those of our world - so the Undine being analogus to Pisces roughly overlaps with beginning of the month of Primes, being the start of the year in the World of Nightwick but representing March.

The Scitalis - the monster of the same name
Queen [sic] Moloch - A minotaur
Bophades - depicts a pair of twins whom Acherontic texts claims are... well now we say they're wrestling and it's Fine.
The [sic] Al Miraj - the monster of the same name
Aslan - A lion
The Uke - a beautiful male youth playing a stringed instrument
Ligma - two... weights
The Basilisk - the monster of the same name
The Measurer - a woman with a measuring tool in front of a 10x10 square
The Hippocampus - the mythical creature of the same name
The Torcherbearer - a youth carrying a torch
The Undine - in Acherontic texts it is said to depict a fish but all modern texts say it depicts a woman

* It is considered gauche to play while still in armor, though the specifics may be negotiated by the participants.

 

The Reynardine

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.
• Surprise: In animal form surprises on 3 in 6.
  

In Fair Cuccagna: Lost Adventures

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 were squatting in an Acherontic ruin.
• 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.

I forgot When Exactly

• A village the party had been visiting was discovered the village of strange duplicates is called Divisia.

Current Hooks and Loose Ends

• 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!

Cuccagnat Catch Up 2

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.

Magic in the World of Nightwick

I realize with the writing of this post that I am putting myself, and perhaps the world, at great personal risk, but wedding my desire for Vancian magic and my desire for magicians to be manipulating the threads of reality against the will of God. Hopefully this schema will quiet the Voices.

 

In time out of time before there was time, there was Nothing, and in Nothing there could have been anything. There could have been, but there never was. Endless potential but with nothing having to face the shame of having to be. Then the God of Law sounded like a great bell, and the tone spread throughout Nothing and made it a myriad of Somethings: land and see and rivers and trees and stars and demons and fires and angels. All these somethings were, it is said, from the mind of God, but since the God of Law had only the Nothing to make them out of they are imperfect.  The rest of this story is told elsewhere.

For us it suffices to know that everything that is something is two things: that which exists in the World and that which exists in the Law. Magic, then, is the manipulating of one of these two things. The Church of Law and its clerics wield magic by asking for the God of Law, one of His saints, or His angels, to intercede on their behalf. Typically this involves changing the thing in the World by realigning it with the Law. A man is healed by remembering who they are in the Law. A stick is made a snake by changing whether it references the Law for sticks to the Law for snakes. And so through piety are miracles worked.

The magic of the magician is different. Magicians learn as much about the forms which exist in the Law as they can, absorbing arcane formulae which bring parts of their brain in line with the strange thoughts of a thrumming sphere at the top of space. The human mind is fragile and can only contain a small number of these forms and as soon as they are utilized they are expelled until study again realigns their synapses to the thrum. However, they do not align the thing in the World with the Law. Instead, they change the thing in the World to the idea within their own head, changing its accident in the World to mirror their thought in an arrogant act of self-creation. In this way it is a reverse of the eucharist of Earth's Catholicism. A magician could not make the bread into the body of Christ, but they could make it smell and taste and feel like human flesh.

Demons are of particular use to the magician, for they remember the Nothing and the pang of the Law and how all things were rendered into existence. They have a unique perspective on the Law for they alone remember the world without it. As such demons commonly know a wide variety of spells and may teach them to mortals who agree to join them in their attempts to dethrone the God of Law and pitch him into the pit in a final act of suicide.

Some magicians crave this final act of self-destruction, for they too burn against the World and against the God of Law for making it, but most merely see this path as a way to enjoy riches and knowledge in life. And why wouldn't they? Even the most minor of familiars can instruct a magician in a variety of spells that normally only the most advanced scholars may learn. And besides, is not being really that different from returning to the mind of the Sphere?

The World is a Haunted House

 

Some time ago I was in a conversation with Cole about Nightwick in the very pretentious way I sometimes do and the topic veered into the definition of "Dark Fantasy." It's a genre which I think there is no question that the World of Nightwick occupies, even if it's not always serious. It's also a genre which, 13 years after I first started running Nightwick still has a lot of cultural cachet. If anything it's gotten bigger in this post-Dark Souls/post-Elden Ring world, and I think for someone who works in that medium, even if it's all hack work, it's worth thinking about what it is. 

Normally it is defined as "fantasy with horror elements," but very commonly Moorcock's Elric saga is included in Dark Fantasy and I wouldn't say it has horror elements. Cole provided a definition that I think does the wonderful job of including the things people would want to include and excluding what they wouldn't while also being very evocative: Dark Fantasy is fantasy that takes place in a world that is haunted.

What does it mean to be haunted? Probably at least in part because of my history background, I am going to be using "haunted" here to mean that it bears the scars of the past - a psychic shock that causes the memories of the dead to cluster there like bats in a cavern and for them to weigh as a nightmare upon the brains of the living. In thinking about this topic outside the realm of games, I have come to see history writing as a sort of ghost story. The crimes of the past have a long reach and haunt us today as much as any specter from the mind of MR James.

In our fantasy game worlds, or fantasy worlds in general, we can achieve this sense of being haunted through the numinous. The psychic scars of the past have physical and spiritual manifestations on the world. In the world of Nightwick, immediately to the northwest of Nightwick Village, is the Mire of Princes - created when the blood of an army facing the Sword Brothers so suffused the ground that it became a marsh ever after. More distantly there is the Blood Red Sea - stained that color after the demon Moloch pitched the men of ancient Acheron into it. And of course there is Nightwick Abbey itself.

Within Nightwick Abbey's hall, the sins of the Sword Brothers live on in twisted and exaggerated form. Tortures carry on forever, heedless of the death of both torturer and tortured. Hochmeisters of the past walk evermore beneath its ruins, returning again if slain for they are trapped forever. Even what was once a lavatory has taken ghastly shape in hideous memory of the room's previous purpose. Nightwick is, after all, a mythical underworld. 

If you want to run something that's Dark Fantasy, as seems to still be in vogue, that's how you do it. Think about the history of the setting and how its crimes gnaw away through time into the present. It is a mode of thinking that should be easy to all of us now.

There are times when I desire to run something where the world is less numinous - a lower fantasy where heroes of maybe a Howardian stripe come to grips with monsters of super science - but then I have to write dungeon rooms. It seems my brain is either too choked by the weeds of time and the study of past wrongs or too enamored with the gothic I engaged with in entertainment and saw in the woods where I grew up. But my dungeons are always haunted. Maybe I am too.

Large Adult Sons

It's big boy season

Those who are well versed in the men* of the World of Nightwick know they come in a much wider variety of forms than those of Earth. Most famously on this blog I have discussed the strange men known as dogheads and alluded to their miniature equivalents that dwell on the isle of Cuccagna. There are also certain sinister cults of Cathay who modify their own bodies to be quite inhuman to the eyes of one used to the men of Earth. And of course there is the emperor of Noppin, whose subjects claim he is a man despite his appearance.

Another such race** of man, and our topic for today, is Giants. Giants haunt the whole world of Nightwick and, other than their largeness, vary considerably from individual to individual. Two-headed giants are well known to exist - such as Thom-n-Biter,*** Ploughman Shorn, Fee-n-Fie and the infamous Headless Jack, though he now only has the one remaining. Some legends even recount three headed giants, three armed giants, hundred handed giants, and one-eyed giants. All of these seem to spring from the same lineage, rather than be distinct races, and once they had a mighty kingdom centered on the isles of Karse. It was, it is said, destroyed by Rutha the Conqueror who then set up the kingdom of men which rules there to this day - though it is supposedly in vassalage to the Realm of Man.

Giants are, as a rule, ruder than the men of most civilized nations, but as they tend to dwell alone or in very small groups this is to be expected. While they are often venal and violent, they are only rarely diabolic - or at least only as rarely as any other of the peoples of the World of Nightwick. It is said that some of their more sinister families sometimes produce human-sized offspring who go off to become robbers, brigands, and black knights. Despite this, their position as men is well established by the Church of Law, who often send missionaries to their lonely dwellings. Such missionaries usually do not return.

Worthy of consideration in any discussion of the larger races of man are the strange creatures known as ogres. Whereas giants' morality vary across the human spectrum, ogres are universally evil or chaotic due to the path by which one becomes an ogre. For ogres are made, not born, and they are the hideous result of the prolonged eating of the flesh of intelligent creatures. While typically this means a kind of cannibalism - or at least anthropophagy, since it is debatable if ogres are the same species - it often extends into those who devour the flesh of elves and fairies or even the sumptuous and somewhat tempting flesh of demons.

Ogres are also known to "recruit" by stealing children from their beds and taking them to dwell in the lonesome and fearful places ogres most like to dwell in - dark swamps, high mountains, rough hills, dense forests - and there force feeding them human flesh under the guise of another act.

Finally we turn our attention to trolls. Trolls are different from giants and ogres because they are creatures of the Old Gods and thus their natures are defined in part by their patron deity. They are much like elves in this manner. The most notable example to readers of this blog and players in my games is the monstrous groans, terrible servants of the White Lady. Since the White Lady is now Frau Prechta for the Nightwick Regulars, it remains to be seen how these creatures will change or if they will at all. Note that this connection with the Old Gods means that Trolls are not among the number of men and are instead a class of rude fairy.

*As always I use "men" and "man" to sound old timey, not to denote any special gender characteristics to the whole of humanity.

** Similarly I use race here for old timey reasons. They fictional author is not very woke.

***Thom of course pronounced with a soft th, i.e. a thorn.

In Fair Cuccagna: Cuccagnat Catch Up

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

XP Per Player

541

Cuccagna - a Tale Late in the Telling

 

An Explanation -- Dark Tunnels -- A Bright Snake -- A  Stratagem -- A Bag -- A Pit -- A Spell Gained

Characters Present
Jules Mozarin 1st Level Averois Magician
Maglor 1st Level Changeling
Tomantha, 1st Level Karslish Magician
Bouduin, 1st level Frogling

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.

Monsters Defeated

1 Scitalis

Treasure Gained

2500gp in amethyst cabachons

XP Per Player
695

In Fair Cuccagna - a Pun Delayed

The Wandering Monster Table

The Mute Woman -- A Scheme -- A Scintillating Serpent -- A Companion Lost -- The Fountain -- A Secret Door -- A Terror Out of the Past -- The Room Beyond -- Treasure -- A Compromise -- A Retreat -- A Termination of Contract -- The Golden Sword -- Of Spells

Characters Present

Cristobert 2nd Level Karslish Mountebank [Later in the Session]
Jules Mozarin 1st Level Averois Magician
Maglor 1st Level Changeling

Folavril 1st Level Averois Rogue
Emmelot, 1st level Averois Magician

Bouduin, 1st level Frogling

Hirelings

Baldassare - A cuccagnan magician now apprenticed to Jules

Magdalena - A woman pirate

Zaneta - A woman pirate (eaten by a serpent)

The Mute Woman - A mute linkperson

Events

• In the Great Wen the party debated which of the new crop of hirelings they were going to pick up, and Jules seemed intrigued by the presence of a mute woman whose services he acquired as a porter. The others were avoided as they wanted shares of treasure and experience instead of a daily wage.
• Folavril, having heard of the miraculous healing powers of the fountain in Prospero the Blue's manse, quickly came up with a scheme: they would enter the dungeon, retrieve more of the water from the fountain - preferably several doses worth - then demonstrate its effectiveness on the mute woman who was clearly only mute because of the removal of her tongue under mysterious circumstances.
• The scheme was met with tepid enthusiasm from the rest of the group, who seemed to prefer delving for its own sake and wondered whether the mute woman even wanted her tongue back. For her part she seemed indifferent and, through careful use of gestures, expressed that she saw herself as merely the pawn of fickle fortune and the restoration of her tongue would be the equal of losing it.
• They again entered by the secret entrance and made their way down the long eastern corridor. Once they found themselves outside the room with the fountain, Maglor spied the strange patterns of a scitalis approaching from the north easterly bend of the corridor.
• Soon the creature had advanced within the light of the torch, striking more than half of the party with the strange fascination that is the purview of such beasts.
• It then wrapped itself around Zaneta and began to unhinge its jaw to swallow her. The fighters of the party merely stared dumb-struck while the few magicians tried to figure out a solution.
• Emmelot used a scroll she had prepared of magic missile to strike the beast, which greatly upset it, and seeing the beast was woundable the mute woman moved to strike it with a wooden scratch plow - her only possession.
• The creature was bleeding profusely but as it made to retreat - Zaneta still firmly in its mouth - it was decided that the best  course was not to  follow it, even when the fighters regained their senses. And so was Zaneta taken off into the dark never to be seen again.
• The party was then able to make their way to the fountain unimpeded, and a new waterskin full of the stuff was gathered by Folavril. The rest of the party engaged in a debate of why anyone would keep a single scitalis, much less more than one.
• They then preceded down the hallway the scitalis had come down, but Maglor's keen senses spotted a secret door they had passed by several times, though only in outline and not the mechanism by which such a thing would open.
• The party began to search, but as they did so they heard a loud clomping coming from the direction immediately behind them. They turned to face whatever foe now charged them and found a strange thing.
• It was a Wandering Monster Table* - that is a table imbued with terrible life and given fangs and the ability to ambulate around the dungeon. 
• Bouduin quickly used his ability to hop to great effect, both hopping onto the table itself and then hopping again to flip it over.
• The beast... er... table flailed about with its strange, rubbery legs (ending in carved lion's claws of course) but was unable to hit anything. Soon it was dead. Or destroyed. One of those.
• Beyond the secret door they found an old store room that someone had made a makeshift sleeping area.
• In the storeroom was a great amount of treasure, quickly found by the efforts of Folavril and Jules. It included coins, fancy objects, books, and a clearly magical sword.
• They party then debated whether another door exiting the room should be explored or if they should instead quit while they were ahead.** A compromise was made where Jules, the one most fervently for continued exploration, was allowed to examine the door, but not go through it.
• And so the party exited the dungeon.
• Back in the Great Wen Magdalena announced that she would no longer be following the party into the dungeon due to the unfortunate fate of Zaneta.
• Meanwhile, Jules used his read magic spell to read the runes on the sword, which named itself Caliban's Claw.
• The party wizards then looked over the scroll they had uncovered from within the secret chamber. Jules, Emmelot, and Baldassare tried to add one of the spells - sleep - to their spell book. Emmelot and Baldassare were able to do so, but Jules has yet to comprehend the complexities, much to the amusement of his apprentice.

* I have had this monster on the encounter tables for many years - going all the way back to about 2008 or 2009 - but this is the first time it ever came up as a result. Probably the most appropriate campaign for it too.

** Except for Zaneta

Scitalis

 

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.

In Fair Cuccagna (Session 2)

The Missing Wizard

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

Characters
Cristobert 1st Level Karslish Mountebank
Cruart Staig 1st Level Karslish Fighter
Jules Mozarin 1st Level Averois Magician
Maglor 1st Level Changeling
Emmelot, 1st level Averois Magician

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.

On Worm Ships

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.

The Saints will Eat You

  

The Sphere in Judgement, a common motif in the art of the Western Church, by Chris Huth

James at Grognardia recently made a post about his use of saints instead of gods in his Urheim project. I have, to some degree, done this in the World of Nightwick as well. Originally this was just a set of oddball references I used to fill out the doctrine of the Western Church, and in the form of St Santa Claus it became a running NPC/faction in the game. However, since I have switched to 5e for the two games I'm currently running, saints have taken increasing importance since they are a vector for mechanics: they provide clerics access to divine domains. Below is a list of the divine domains and their associated saints now that new ones have been provided in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything:

Forge - St Joel the Witty
Grave - St Ingels the Ghastly

Knowledge - St Simon the Wise
Life - the Lady*
Light - St Richard the Prior
Nature - St Simian the Fool
Order - St Toad
Peace - St Henrich Kiss Monger
Tempest - St Santa Claus
Trickery - St Ralph the Liar
Twilight - St Roderic the Sterling
War - St Gax Lawgiver

*The role the Lady plays in the Church is of paramount importance and for more information you should check out this patreon post.

The Order of the Elk

The Order of the Elk is a holy order of knights dedicated to the Church of Law. They view themselves as protectors of the race of Man, regardless of their wards' religious affiliation. The universalizing of this mission has caused a stir among the more conservative members of the Church, who believe that pagans and their ilk should be slaughtered or at least left for the waiting jaws of their own "gods." Currently, Pope Palapatinius endorses them, though only meekly. Due to this controversy, the order lacks the prestige and resources of their brother organizations the Knights of the Dragon and the Knights in White Satin; however, recently they have gained some power in and around the Bishopric of Lychgate, and currently pursue war with Arnawald the Black Eagle.

Motto

The eyes of the sheep are ever on the shepherd.

Beliefs

• The God of Law seeks to extend his protection to the whole of the race of Man.
• Valiant deeds of arms will win converts to the Law.
• Fighting the Old Gods is but a distraction from the true war against the Pit.

Goals

• Establish strongholds that can defend against the forces of Darkness.
• Defeat agents of the Pit in open warfare.

Quests

• Clear a ruin that may be rebuilt into a castle for the order.
• Slay a vicious monster terrorizing a village.
• Defeat a diabolist knight in a duel.

Kommando Kronikles: Two Knights and Two Ghosts

Sir Sander of Lychgate

Characters Present

Stavros, Fanatical fighting-man and devotee of St Deodat [only in the first session]
Abraham Nermal, graverobber turned landowner
Kozel, Novgovite cleric and devotee of St Santa Claus (Eastern)
Johanna d'Ligne, Averois cleric and devotee of St Santa Claus (Western)
Uein of "Nordovulgaria" (actually just a part of Vulgary), folk hero and fighter

Istvan Melles, pagan barbarian and foul changeling (also from Vulgary)

Leftember 26th - Quintember 1st 1396

• Long has the party planned on traveling to Blackleg and dealing with the following hook, which they heard about last Duodecember:

  Perhaps in anticipation of needing to pay for this, or perhaps just knowing that with a war on he is likely to need the Iron, the Bishop has also let it be known that he is offering a knighthood (or 200gp if the person is already a knight) for any who can restore the mine in Blackleg to its proper activity. What precisely stopped the workflow is up to debate, but most agree that knockers are involved and some dimly whisper of a creature called "the Old Man of the Mountain."

• In the meantime, Bishop Notker had appointed a knight named Sander of Lychgate to take over the wardship of Anne of Waldheim, thus making him the de facto Count of Blackleg.
• He had arrived some time ago in Nightwick and had discussed making the journey to Blackleg with Abraham and Stavros in order to "meet the neighbors." A member of his entourage, Witchsmeller Hertel, made friends with Kozel during a drinking bout Kozel had with Osperant of Prattle. He had assured Sander that rumors of Stavros and Kozel's heresy were untrue.
• Johanna had spent the past month deep in prayer attempting to dedicated a ruined church near Frogguts to St Santa Claus and the God of Law. Upon finish her prayers she was able to change Uein back to flesh after he had been poisoned by a basilisk in the Great Swamp. They arrived a few days before the party was set to leave.
• Fingers, the lieutenant of the Howling Kommandos, had informed Stavros that the leader of the Corbies had become good friends with Sir Sander. Not yet sure what to make of Sander, Stavros decided he should leave the Corbies behind in Nightwick while the Kommandos traveled with Sander's small army.
• Fingers also informed him that Sir Sander had met with a strange group of men and women under mysterious circumstances, though he did not know the content of the meeting.
• Abraham elected to take the Loyal Toads (a group of frogling infantry) and the Company of Devil's with him on the journey, planning to leave the Toads in Frogguts where they could bolster the new trading house Fredrick Bull was running there.

The Journey from Nightwick to Blackleg normally takes about 3 days

• They left on an overcast morn with thunder threatening the oncoming deluge that marked most of their journey. 
• By the evening they had made it to the outskirts of Knightpath, where they found a man who claimed to be "the Knight of Knightpath" and demanded that those wishing to pass into the village must joust him before doing so. 
• Kozel, in one of his characteristic acts of zealotry, conjured part of the storm to bring down lightning in order to invite the God of Law and Saint Santa Claus to view any such joust.
• Stavros was able to goad Sander into doing three tilts against the knight noting that "it seems like your sort of thing."
• Sander bested the knight in the joust but took several hard hits in doing so. Kozel healed Sander and Johanna offered to heal the Knight of Knightpath. The knight took some persuading but ultimately was convinced by the logic that if the God of Law had not meant him to be healed then he would not have sent two clerics.
• Curious as to why the knight felt that only those who were good at jousting should enter Knightpath, Stavros queried him on this topic. The Knight of Knightpath responded that he meant to keep out frogling caravans, which he felt came too often to the village. This soured everyone's mood greatly, as the Howling Kommandos are known friends of Froglings.
• In Knightpath they discovered the lord of the village - a member of the Order of the Elk - was embarrassed by the storybook antics of the Knight of Knightpath, noting that he was a new recruit into the order.
• That night the leadership of the Howling Kommandos, along with Sir Sander, ate in the manor of the lord of Knightpath.
• During the dinner, Abraham attempted to recount the time he and others of the Howling Kommandos had saved Knightpath from a group of dreaded varkolaks. His storytelling was of poor quality, and soon their host and Sir Sander began to nod off.
• However, when he mentioned the name of Martha the Black, who had been the acting lord of Knightpath at the time, they heard screaming erupt from where the Howling Kommandos were sleeping.
• They rushed out to find that Martha's shade was attacking them, her head lolling around the gaping neck wound she had been allegedly delt by the mercenary Badder some years ago.
• Abraham had prepared for this eventuality, and removed from a sack the porcine head of Badder, who had been captured and turned into a pig-man after the Battle of Vollage. The Howling Kommandos had slain him during their retaking of the Witchfort.
• Upon seeing the black fur and white streaks atop the disembodied pig head, Martha's shade knew who it was and that his fate was far worse than hers. She let out a wheezing laugh as her head rolled back (again exposing the wound) and the spectre descended down into the earth - no more to ever trouble men.
• During the next day Sander proposed hunting in the Fog-bound Forest, but the torrential downpour and the fear that he might need silver weapons for such an endeavor put him off the idea.
• The party then made their way to Frogguts with little issue, left the Loyal Toad's there and found that one of the froglings in the service of Fredrick Bull had been convinced to worship St Santa Claus.
• The next day they passed an elf corpse that has lain unmolested on the road for many months now - seemingly incorruptible save for the mortal wound dealt to it by a bear trap.
• Outside the town of Blackleg they found a number of men they believed to be from Anne's garrison (many clothed in the livery of Waldheim) attempting to desert. 
• Abraham instructed the Company of Devil's to round up these men and they were subdued quickly. 
• Kozel, Johanna, and Witchsmeller Hertel discussed how to properly interrogate these men once they arrived in Blackleg. Kozel was able to determine from Sir Sander's demeanor that, despite employing him, Sander may be skeptical of Hertel's powers.

The Town of Blackleg

• The party arrived in blackleg during the worst part of a days-long storm. The town seemed to lack a garrison, and Sander was able to quickly get his men to occupy the military buildings both inside and outside the walls.
• As evening turned into night the thunder and rain continued, but a group of soldiers in the livery of Blackleg came down from the castle in the south and announced to Sander that Anne of Waldheim wished to dine with him tonight.
• The group opted to follow Sander, taking the Kommandos with them up the switchback trail into the foothills of the Nameless Mountains. The going was rough as the way was slick from the constant rain and the only illumination were the frequent bolts of lightning.

Castle Blackleg

• Arriving at the castle around midnight, the party found that both themselves and the castle's guards were dead tired. Still, both groups remained awake in order to perform the courtesy of having Anne feast the new lord.
• Their horses stabled and their soldiers quartered, the party was led to a dining hall of some size to meet with Anne of Waldheim. There they found her dressed not in the red livery of that city but in the yellow of Blackleg, and noted with some interest that she introduced herself as Anne of Blackleg.
• Kozel, who had cast a spell on himself as they were led to this large chamber, was able to see an immolated corpse seated next to her - the ghost of her husband Arn of Waldheim. The party had known for some time that his ghost was rumored to haunt the towers, warning that previous appointees of the bishop were responsible for his slaying. It was the general consensus of those living in the town that the ghost would be heeded more if his pronouncements had been vaguer.*
• During the dinner, Abraham and Kozel attempted to suss out the character of Sir Sander, as he had thus far been something of an enigma. Istvan, however, took opportunities to make Sander look like a city fop and to promote his own barbaric virtues.
• Stavros made a comment about Kozel's ability to see "between worlds" and Kozel noticed that Anne gave a very subtle hand gesture that the invisible (to all but Kozel) shade of Arn took as a command to leave.
• Anne shortly exited the dinner but offered to have more food brought up. It was clear to Kozel that this had to do with her husband but unclear if that meant she was a witch controlling him or merely a concerned wife unable to let go.
• After convincing Sander he should go to bed in the quarters appointed for them, the rest of the group debated the nature of Anne and the ghost. Kozel and Abraham said they should wait outside the sleeping quarters and then rush in to save Sander when the ghost "inevitably" attacked him.
• Johanna and Istvan had a different idea. They decided to sneak out into the courtyard of the castle and use the same magic Kozel had used to reveal the ghost in the first place to search for him. They found security to be quite tight, despite everyone in the castle being quite tired.
• While Johanna and Istvan were trying to find an exit through the latrine, they saw the ghost was above them - in the very room where Sander slept!
• Hearing Sander seemingly in the grips of a night terror, Kozel burst into the room. Seeing nothing, he placed Sir Sander under a hold person spell and then attempted to turn undead.
• The ghost, now visible to all, appeared in its burned hideousness and flew through the walls away from the Novgovite cleric... right into the stairway Johanna and Istvan were making there way up!
• A battle ensued with mostly Johanna, Istvan, and Uein battling the ghost.
• Uein, seemingly terminally unlucky, was aged 30 years by the ghost's terrifying scream.
• Abraham gave Sir Sander a silver dagger as Kozel announced that the "hunt [was] on," seemingly hoping to make Sander feel like an ally of the party.
• Sander, still in his bedclothes and armed only with his knife, arrived just in time to see Johanna destroy Arn's spirit for good, shattering it with the bells of St Santa Claus and watching it destroyed in the spectral fire of the Pit.

Anne of Blackleg

• The next morning, the absolutely exhausted party met with Anne once again, announcing to her the release of Arn's ghost from the World. She seemed saddened and relieved in a way that some of the kommandos compared to the reaction of someone who had been in an abusive relationship.
• Sir Sander took some of the credit for the deed, irritating some of the party and seemingly all according to plan for others.
• Some discussion of the ghost's attempt to possess Sander led many of the assembled to realize that the infamous fall that Baltzer the Bold had taken from the high tower of the castle to be an act of Arn from the grave.
• With all these adventures now behind them, the party made ready to talk to Anne about Blackleg Mine...

Monsters Killed

Martha's Shade and Arn's Ghost

Treasure Gained

10 suits of splint armor

XP Per Player for both sessions

950

XP for Stavros

750

* Famously he screamed "Baltzer murdered me, you fools!" before an assembly brought before Baltzer the Bold when he was lord of Blackleg.