The seated figure looks up at the approaching duo (quartet?).
He looks human, and is dressed in brown togs, with a hood. (You notice that the hood is filled with hay)
Quite old, he addresses you enthusiastically and earnestly: "Well, well, greetings to you all! Will we be fellow travellers - where are you heading ? Forgive me, I am Naifan Rander, traveller in goods and sundries." A wooden club lies in the dust next to him.
Chapter 05: Round the bend
Re: Chapter 05: Round the bend
Thorelf flashes a broad smile, and produces a quick bow with some strange hand gesture.
"Greetings friend. My name is Godfrey, Godfrey Windorff, Second of my name. I am a travelling merchant, and these good fellows here are my bodyguards and my trusted accountant and scribe. We happened upon an accident with our carriage and find ourselves in a precarious situation. You wouldn't by chance know the distance to the nearest settlement, Naifan? Perhaps are you on your way to deliver something yourself?"
Whispers to the group
"Greetings friend. My name is Godfrey, Godfrey Windorff, Second of my name. I am a travelling merchant, and these good fellows here are my bodyguards and my trusted accountant and scribe. We happened upon an accident with our carriage and find ourselves in a precarious situation. You wouldn't by chance know the distance to the nearest settlement, Naifan? Perhaps are you on your way to deliver something yourself?"
Whispers to the group
Re: Chapter 05: Round the bend
Tiny
Tiny just stands there and tries to act like a bodyguard.
Tiny just stands there and tries to act like a bodyguard.
Re: Chapter 05: Round the bend
Thorelf gestures at the cave in-like hole that swallowed Eaton.
"Well, you can see our predicament with your own eyes. Poof, down it went, wagon, horse and all."
"Well, you can see our predicament with your own eyes. Poof, down it went, wagon, horse and all."
Re: Chapter 05: Round the bend
Naifan Rander
slightly startled: "Eh what you say, young Mr. Windorff?" and squints in the direction Thorelf is indicating. "The plague, was it ? In Awad ? Dreadful, dreadful."
He ponders a while over the fates of horses going <poof> while chewing on some lichen he fishes out of his pocket..
"Nearest settlement ? Well.... ya got them river folks down there" (pointing somewhere to the left of the crater) "Not so hospitable I fear. But the coast is thataway, with Daggerstone and other towns, that's where I'm heading" (he points in one direction of the dusty road). "The other way..." he points in the opposite direction of the same road) "...goes through Kinghill Valley. Couple o' sleepy villages that way, Slowcroft and others. Y'er lucky though, should be rides coming along both ways, soon. So pick your fancy!"
And sure enough, in the distance, from both directions, horse carts appear in the distance. Slowly.
Naifan starts gathering his bags, socks and odd pouches.
"So where ya heading, spratlings? Or are y'all going to rot here ?" he winks with both eyes.
slightly startled: "Eh what you say, young Mr. Windorff?" and squints in the direction Thorelf is indicating. "The plague, was it ? In Awad ? Dreadful, dreadful."
He ponders a while over the fates of horses going <poof> while chewing on some lichen he fishes out of his pocket..
"Nearest settlement ? Well.... ya got them river folks down there" (pointing somewhere to the left of the crater) "Not so hospitable I fear. But the coast is thataway, with Daggerstone and other towns, that's where I'm heading" (he points in one direction of the dusty road). "The other way..." he points in the opposite direction of the same road) "...goes through Kinghill Valley. Couple o' sleepy villages that way, Slowcroft and others. Y'er lucky though, should be rides coming along both ways, soon. So pick your fancy!"
And sure enough, in the distance, from both directions, horse carts appear in the distance. Slowly.
Naifan starts gathering his bags, socks and odd pouches.
"So where ya heading, spratlings? Or are y'all going to rot here ?" he winks with both eyes.
Re: Chapter 05: Round the bend
Thorelf eyes Naifan, then each of the carts - conveniently appearing at the same time - then his friends, and then back to Naifan.
"Thanks, Naifan. I'm sure you will give us a minute to consider. Lots of stakes involved, as I'm sure you understand. Say, what are you doing here in the outback all alone anyway? Is this the King's Road or something? I mean, I am not a suspicious man, but there are bandits and hoodlums around in the countryside. Or so I've heard anyway."
What's with the hay in his hood? Thorelf is starting to believe this is some sort of illusion. Or at least a trick.
"Thanks, Naifan. I'm sure you will give us a minute to consider. Lots of stakes involved, as I'm sure you understand. Say, what are you doing here in the outback all alone anyway? Is this the King's Road or something? I mean, I am not a suspicious man, but there are bandits and hoodlums around in the countryside. Or so I've heard anyway."
What's with the hay in his hood? Thorelf is starting to believe this is some sort of illusion. Or at least a trick.
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GreyWolfVT
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Re: Chapter 05: Round the bend
Korin stands near Tiny looking like his usual gruff dwarfy self, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.
“All men did have darkness. Some wore it in the form of horns. Some bore it invisibly as rot in their souls.”
― Paul S. Kemp, Shadowbred
"If good people won’t do the hard things, evil people will always win, because evil people will do anything."
― Paul S. Kemp, Twilight Falling
DM - GreyWolf's Mystara Adventures - AD&D 2e
― Paul S. Kemp, Shadowbred
"If good people won’t do the hard things, evil people will always win, because evil people will do anything."
― Paul S. Kemp, Twilight Falling
Re: Chapter 05: Round the bend
Two horse drawn carts arrive at the same time - both will continue in either direction. Naifan ignores Thorelf's question and jumps aboard the one he said is heading for the coast.
And with this, The Oath of the Bolted Tomb ends. Your characters may catch a ride to civilisation in one direction, or in the other direction (or continue roaming the countryside) until it's time to take up adventure again.
The Oath of the Bolted Tomb is actually a classic White Dwarf scenario called The Lichway. Instead of traditionally entering it from the outside, I turned the starting point around and let all of you wake up right in the middle of it. Being experienced dungeoneers, I reckoned that being jailed, without weapons in an unknown location wouldn't stop you in the least. And I was right!
Content-wise, I DM:ed the module almost as it was printed, with only two major changes: I flipped part of the map horisontally, and I let the npc Cack-hand Amdor be a proper MU (Richard) instead of a fake one. Names of other characters were also changed. If you have a copy of the scenario you will find Krooda under the name Dark Odo, for example.
In the original module, you'll also get some clues to Richard's ("Cack-hand Amdor")'s initial scattiness and why he was so oddly attached to Krooda/Dark Odo. You'll also find out what the swooshing sound was, why various undead seemed to be in deep sleep, and learn about all the treasure you missed (hidden in goblin mattresses, in false-bottom chests, in the water filled hall, in the stream - not forgetting the massive hoard under the Susurrus).
Below are some images of encounters that never got to take place:
Glowing dogs cornering kobolds (you only heard them at one point)
Man-beasts
Svarts (the chatter you heard towards the end)
The Susurrus
The Lichway holds special nostalgia for me - it's the first AD&D adventure I ever DM:ed. I had no clue what I was doing at the time - but I fell for the setting immediately, and it's remained a favourite ever since.
Thanks for joining in!
And - if any of you feel like adventuring further in my AD&D world, just PM to let me know your interest.
Nordbo
And with this, The Oath of the Bolted Tomb ends. Your characters may catch a ride to civilisation in one direction, or in the other direction (or continue roaming the countryside) until it's time to take up adventure again.
The Oath of the Bolted Tomb is actually a classic White Dwarf scenario called The Lichway. Instead of traditionally entering it from the outside, I turned the starting point around and let all of you wake up right in the middle of it. Being experienced dungeoneers, I reckoned that being jailed, without weapons in an unknown location wouldn't stop you in the least. And I was right!
Content-wise, I DM:ed the module almost as it was printed, with only two major changes: I flipped part of the map horisontally, and I let the npc Cack-hand Amdor be a proper MU (Richard) instead of a fake one. Names of other characters were also changed. If you have a copy of the scenario you will find Krooda under the name Dark Odo, for example.
In the original module, you'll also get some clues to Richard's ("Cack-hand Amdor")'s initial scattiness and why he was so oddly attached to Krooda/Dark Odo. You'll also find out what the swooshing sound was, why various undead seemed to be in deep sleep, and learn about all the treasure you missed (hidden in goblin mattresses, in false-bottom chests, in the water filled hall, in the stream - not forgetting the massive hoard under the Susurrus).
Below are some images of encounters that never got to take place:
- Oath_Kobolds_and_glowing_dogs.jpg (206.86 KiB) Viewed 692 times
- Oath_Man-beasts.jpg (166.25 KiB) Viewed 692 times
- Oath_Svarts.jpg (280.81 KiB) Viewed 692 times
- Oath_Susurrus.jpg (266.45 KiB) Viewed 692 times
The Lichway holds special nostalgia for me - it's the first AD&D adventure I ever DM:ed. I had no clue what I was doing at the time - but I fell for the setting immediately, and it's remained a favourite ever since.
Thanks for joining in!
And - if any of you feel like adventuring further in my AD&D world, just PM to let me know your interest.
Nordbo
Re: Chapter 05: Round the bend
Thank you very much for this episode!
Richard will hop on the same wagon as that ol geeza, since Richard wants to get to a real town.
Richard will hop on the same wagon as that ol geeza, since Richard wants to get to a real town.
Re: Chapter 05: Round the bend
Thank you, DD for providing original and fun flavour in my favourite AD&D style ! By the way, don't miss the XP I posted in a PM.
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GreyWolfVT
- Wants a special title like Scott
- Posts: 33052
- Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 10:02 pm
- Location: Vermont
- Contact:
Re: Chapter 05: Round the bend
Korin hitches a ride going to the "not coast". Not being one for the sea/ocean and desiring to go home at some point he figures away from the sea is his best bet.
Korin is more than happy to enter your dungeons any time you wish to include him.
Korin is more than happy to enter your dungeons any time you wish to include him.
“All men did have darkness. Some wore it in the form of horns. Some bore it invisibly as rot in their souls.”
― Paul S. Kemp, Shadowbred
"If good people won’t do the hard things, evil people will always win, because evil people will do anything."
― Paul S. Kemp, Twilight Falling
DM - GreyWolf's Mystara Adventures - AD&D 2e
― Paul S. Kemp, Shadowbred
"If good people won’t do the hard things, evil people will always win, because evil people will do anything."
― Paul S. Kemp, Twilight Falling
Re: Chapter 05: Round the bend
Tiny
Tiny follows along with Korin.
Thanks for the great game Nordbo, I really enjoyed it.
Tiny follows along with Korin.
Thanks for the great game Nordbo, I really enjoyed it.
Re: Chapter 05: Round the bend
Thorelf shrugs and finally jumps on the remains to be seen which ones will adventure with him next
Thanks for a great dungeon trek!!!
Don't know if I want to read the "truth" in the Lichway or just hold this version in my head forever
Thanks for a great dungeon trek!!!
Don't know if I want to read the "truth" in the Lichway or just hold this version in my head forever