Castle Whiterock 18 September 2023: Red dragon? Dead dragon!

The murderhoboes

Garreth, half-orc swordsman
    Bleu, droning elf wizard
Zaber, suave and debonaire man
    Logan, wolverine
Thrognar, half-orc holy warrior

Polly, cute and deadly elf archer who is dead throughout most of this episode but gets better at the end

And our helpers:

Fthirya, aka Erica, ghaele eladrin

Galdiera, kobold who thinks she's an elven paladin

What they did

Garreth blasts from under the surface of the water and out into the ghost dragon's face. "Hey, big, dead, and ugly, how 'bout you and me go for a few rounds?"

Benthosruthsa's head shakes, boggled. "What?" A wave of evil necrosis comes away from the dragon as Garreth whacks him three times.

Erica casts Affect Spirits on Thrognar's weapon while I duck into an alcove. Logan flies towards the dragon and his claw lands once. A wraith runs after Garreth and throws knives, which do nothing. Another one lobs them at Galdiera, who knocks them away, as does Thrognar when a third wraith did the same. Yet another lobs them at Galdiera from behind, but they only bother her. Bleu blinks away when still another wraith throws knives at her.

Thrognar downs the wraith who lobbed knives at Galdiera from behind, then downs another when he throws his sword at it. Erica tries to blast a wraith with Sunlight, but it steps aside. Garreth swears in Orcish and whacks the dragon thrice while Logan does the same with both claws hitting twice each. This leaves the dragon with the thinnest wisps, though it still is in the fight. I slug a potion of Greater Healing.

Benthosruthsa flies through Garreth and hits Erica with a wave of evil. A bunch of the ceiling falls before Bleu. One wraith lobs knives at Galdiera and another at Garreth, but can do no harm. The last one is stuck and can't reach Logan, who starts to point his snout downwards at the water. Galdiera takes down a wraith as Thrognar rushes towards the dragon. He swings twice, felling the dragon, then he throws the sword at one of the wraiths, killing it as it starts to dissipate. The other two wraiths vanish.

We pick up Polly's body and put her in the Bag of Holding, while Bleu moves around the rocks. I pick up Elweiss's spear and give it to Garreth, who has slumped to the floor and is panting.

We take off after talking to Scithia, who is annoyed we're not giving her the wagon. "I'll give you charms so you can see me safely!" I remind her that we just took down an undead red dragon so she's nothing more than a skidmark to us, which ends that offer.

Elias raises Polly back in Cillamar. "Hey, I saw the Great Tree and my sister and ate lots of cookies!"

Garreth looks almost apologetic. "Should we have left you there?"

I shrug. "You'll have to go to another church if you wanna wash down those cookies with communion wine." Elias scowls at Garreth and me.

Polly smiles. "I'm sure there must still be some orks somewhere down here, right?"

Castle Whiterock game log 11 September 2023: The Beginning of the End

The murderhoboes

Garreth, half-orc swordsman
    Bleu, droning elf wizard
Zaber, suave and debonaire man
    Logan, wolverine
Thrognar, half-orc holy warrior

And our helpers:

Elweiss, ghostly guardian

Fthirya, aka Erica, ghaele eladrin

Galdiera, kobold who thinks she's an elven paladin

What they did

Thrognar shows up and summons his godly might, going full saiyan.

Then, out from the rock comes the ghostly shape of the dragon Benthosruthsa. He still has the wounds on him that killed him, with a wing pulled out of its socket and a big neck wound. "I must thank you for ending that bitch, Silhouette. In gratitude, I will allow one of you to leave, unharmed. The rest of you are now my playthings."

Garreth grins. He looks at Scalemar, and says, "Hey, Scalemar, ever kill a ghost dragon before?"

A wave of evil comes from Benthosruthsa. "Feel my presence, and know fear!" We hold out, and the fight begins.

I dash over to Logan. Elweiss mutters something, and a weak flash of magic comes from his spear, doing nothing. The wraiths we didn't kill before start to come out of the walls as well. Garreth slugs a Minor Healing Potion, then dives into the water. Galdiera heals Logan then sniffs, "Normally I would never touch a man's mustelid, but for you I shall make an exception." Thrognar attacks the wraith then steps as the wraith dissipates in a horrible howl of death.

Erica aims a finger at the dragon. "Let's see if you burn from holy light!" Benthosruthsa howls as he burns. Elweiss lobs his spear at the dragon, but it misses. I rip a potion out of Logan's potion belt and pour it down his throat. As I do this, I feel myself drying out, and see a faint magical glow coming from Benthosruthsa as he grins at me.

Elweiss feels a flurry of wraith knife stabs, sending him to his eternal reward at Koborth's side. As he dies, he says, "Sorry I’m a bit late, had a terrible time … All sort of things cropping up at the last moment. Uh, how are we for time?" Another wraith hurls three knives at Galdiera. They miss but one hits me, not piercing the skin but sapping weakening my soul. The other wraiths lob another couple volleys of knives at Thrognar and Erica, but both get out of the way. Galdiera casts Affect Spirits on Logan, who charges at a wraith, knocking it over, but feeling the loss of his lifeforce. Thrognar uses Faith Healing on Erica.

Castle Whiterock 25 October 2021: You get nothing for nothing, if that's what you do

The murderhoboes

Garreth, half-orc swordsman
    Bleu, droning elf wizard
Zaber, suave and debonaire man
    Logan, wolverine
Polly, cute and deadly elf archer

Thrognar, half-orc holy warrior

Mikal, human holy warrior

What happened

I let the others know about the wraiths, then turn a little down the hall on the other side of them. Polly moves, and shoots three cutting arrows at one, but misses. Garreth focuses on Great Haste, Mikal steps and casts Sunbolt, and Thrognar steps and focuses his heroic power.

The wraiths glide forward, unsheathing grim, flickering swords of nothingness. Polly looks suddenly shivering and starting to rime with frost as they near her. The swords of nothingness flash silently as shadow upon shadow. One wraith loses its balance as it swings at Polly, who gets out of the way. Garreth moves, then attacks, giving the off- balance wraith a couple whacks. He feels chill as he gets near. He hits, and feels the blade bite but only faintly, like fighting a swarm. Thrognar brandishes his holy symbol and holds it up to hold back the wraiths.

Polly moves and shoots thrice at a wraith, and the arrows rip small chunks of nothing away. I snap alert and yell at the nearest wraith, "You guys are doomed to an unlife of no booze!" It does not seem overly impressed. Then I step and wait for one to come near.

It does. Its aura of chill rimes me in frost.

There empty hoods full of angry nothingness turn gaze upon Garreth, but he yawns at them. The wraiths' voidblack blades lash out at Garreth. He takes some hits, drops his sword, and swears in Undercommon. He shouts at us, "Run!"

Polly looks sad. "But I was hurting it!" She doesn't fall back. Seeing weapons be less than effective, Thrognar keeps concentrating, in hope the wizard and or Polly can hurt them, "Polly, you can hurt them from behind me."

Polly says, "Oh okay." She moves and shoots thrice, wounding it. "I can't quite get behind you."
Mikal steps and waits to throw Sunbolt at any wraith coming towards him. Thrognar seems to be holding them back, so he keeps concentrating. "I can't keep this up forever, perhaps zapping them is in order." Mikal falls back and let them into the choke point, while Logan and I fly back to just behind Thrognar.

The wraiths split up. One goes to the left, while two others fly into a passage to the back and right. Garreth waits, trying to stay aware. I say, "They're gonna come around on us!"

Polly's worry is different. "They're getting away!" Bleu helpfully blabs that the spells Affect Spirits and Sunbolt work well on wraiths. None of this matters to Polly. She chases after the wraith that went east, and chills from its aura. She then shoots it thrice from behind. It dissipates in a blast of frost and chill. "Brrr!" Mikal steps and gets ready to throw Sunbolt. Thrognar readies a step for when someone gets out the way.

Logan and I move over to right keep aware for the wraiths. "Keep a look behind me, Logan." Polly chases the wraiths, shooting as she does. Garreth moves, putting his back to the ceiling. Bleu stays near to Thrognar, who steps, and Mikal steps in time with him.

Logan and I move into the tunnel a little bit, Logan looking behind. I see a wraith. "Boys and girls, we have company! One is coming!" It charges towards me, then sees Thrognar, so it flees instead.

I see that it seems to be silently saying something as it sees Thrognar. "The paladin doth stand before us, let us fly! Round back to the flank of our foes!"

I let the others know, "They're coming around again!" Polly moves around the other corner. We can hear the twang of her bow, and there's a slight thud from one of the arrows. I yell at her, "Polly! Get back here before you get your ass killed!" Polly moves back towards us on my advice. Garreth slides along the ceiling to stay with Thrognar, who steps. Mikal steps, too, and throws Sunbolt at the wraith down the tunnel. It sears fiercely into it, it burns as nothing and blackness flares up. It vaporizes into nothingness, a fresh clean nothingness.

I float forward a few steps warily. The wraith swings at Polly, but she gets out of the way.
She thinks about her life choices, but takes three shots as she runs past, and hits twice. Mikal steps and casts Sunbolt again. Thrognar steps around the corner towards the right. I fly down the tunnel kinda quickly but not too quickly.

The wraith steps and strikes Polly from behind, blade of nothing flickering in the darkness. She falls. Garreth rushes forward and shouts at the wraith, stunning it, then he grabs Polly. Mikal steps and throws Sunbolt at wraith, singing it. It flares up and it's mostly gone! Thrognar steps towards the wraith, holding it back.

I fly around the corner, trying to get behind the wraith, and I see an open-mouthed pit yawns in the middle of the floor. A fiery glow seeps into the room from that chasm, and waves of heat forshape the air above it. I then keep flying to try to get behind the wraith. Garreth swears in Undercommon, then shouts, again, stunning the wraith. As Mikal steps and casts Sunbolt, Garreth books it as fast as he can. Thrognar steps towards the wraith, and Bleu casts Great Haste on Mikal.

Mikal steps and throws Sunbolt at the wraith. The Sunbolt fries it to shadow and nothing. I hear sounds like something small hitting the ground as the wraiths died. I check out where it fell, and find a gold ring. I read the Undercommon writing on it. "Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die." I shake his head. "Nah, Logan, not for us." I then check out where the others fell, and find a silver ring and a copper ring. "Hey, Blah, what about these rings? They magic? Valuable? Boring?"

Bleu takes a look. "Ah, yes, it is said that in the Days of Old, when Benthosruthsa ruled Castle Whiterock, he chose three mortal champions amongst his guards, as men live less than elves or dragons, he forged them soul stealing rings of bleakest necromancy, to this day they are said to guard his realm eternal into undeath." Bleu thoroughly tells me all about this.

I yawn and ask, "I take it bad things happen if we wear them?"

Bleu says, "Yes, but they are valuable curios."

Garreth goes to sleep on the floor. I cover him and Polly with blankets.

Game log for 28 February 2016

Dramatis personae:

Anêr, swashbuckler
Mayhem, short barbarian
Yémos, cleric
Caleb, wizard
Kim, thief

cum

Kúflaug, orc

Quid occurrit:

Yémos cast Watchdog near the door between the rooms, and the gang started healing themselves. Kim and Yémos checked out the altar, and Kim got the idea that it was giving off bad vibes and making folks hate each other.

They dined on frog, but after many hours, the door opened, and Watchdog went off. A gaggle of orcs came through, and one saw Kúflaug, and screamed, "Free the slave!" Yémos unlocked Kúflaug's slave collar, which made the orcs stop for a second. The orc yelled again, "Let him come with us and join the Biting Tooth Band."

Yémos asked Kúflaug what he thought, and Kúflaug sighed. "I will look for you wherever there are dead bodies." Yémos said Kúflaug was welcome back any time, and gave him the collar and key. The lead orc asked the gang if they were with the dwarves, and they told them of the dwarves's strike on them. Then, Kúflaug and the Biting Tooth Band went to look for the dwarves.

Then they went down the hall. First door on their right had a smell behind it, but it wasn't locked. When they opened the door, they saw the piles of rusted armor and the five holes carved into the seats in the back. It was an old latrine, and the orcs had used it before coming into the room. Kim saw a door on the left wall, and went through it. In there, she saw old workbenches and a man-sized box with two holes in it: one at eye-level, one at waist-level. She put some bones into the hole at the top and it did nothing. The heroes then left the latrine and the workshop.

They walked around a bend in the hallway, and saw that the floor was going down. Right after the bend, they saw a cabinet. Caleb smelled something odd about it, almost chlorine, and Kim wrapped a rope around a handle and Mayhem pulled open the cabinet. This was a good idea; a box at the top of the cabinet squirted acid about where a man's head would be. Inside the cabinet, there were 80 copper farthings and 10 silver pennies.

After this, they went down the hallway, and Kim sprinkled the dust of skeletons on the floor to show if anyone will have trod on it the next time they checked. They took a turn to the left, and walked up some stairs. At the top was another workshop that overlooked the stairs, and a hallway. On the left, right past the workshop, was a door. They opened it, and saw the bodies of four men and women, all clad in robes—dead wizards. The heroes searched the bodies, and found a brindled deacon blue potion. Caleb tasted it, and found it was a potion of Major Healing.

As they searched the bodies, Anêr's sword started to vibrate. There was a ghostly sphere on the wall behind a latrine seat, through which one could see the wall. Yémos looked through it, and saw the wall behind the sphere flicker, and that there was a box behind the wall. He prodded the box with one of the wizards' staves, and saw the box budge. He stood over the toilet and reached into the sphere and took the box. In the box was 100 copper farthings, 25 silver pennies, and 4 gold pieces.

They didn't have much time to enjoy their loot because a dwarf with oily hair and rotting skin stood in the doorway of the bathroom. He said nothing, but lifted his mace and struck. Kim parried his blow, and Anêr came to stab the dwarf. His sword made it past the dwarf's defenses, but the dwarf didn't seem to feel hurt from his blow. Kim and Mayhem tried striking, but missed, and Yémos cast Shield on Anêr.

Caleb started casting Sunbolt, while the dwarf stepped back, dropped his mace, and his hand glowed. Anêr tried to stab the dwarf in the face. The dwarf dodged, but his hand stopped glowing. Kim stabbed him, and hit, but her blow didn't hurt the dwarf. Yémos drew his bow, while Caleb let his Sunbolt fly; it hit the rim of the dwarf's shield.

The dwarf crouched, and reached for his mace. Anêr tried stabbing the dwarf's face again, but the dwarf caught his sword on the rim of his shield again. Kim also tried stabbing the dwarf; he dodged. Mayhem, however, landed a blow on the dwarf. He felt it go into the dwarf's rotting flesh, but no blood came out. Yémos loaded an arrow and aimed, while Caleb started casting another Sunbolt.

The dwarf grabbed his mace and stood. Both Anêr and Kim again tried stabbing the dwarf, but he dodged. Mayhem's axe flew behind the dwarf as he tried to hit him. Both Yémos and Caleb shot the dwarf, but Yémos's arrow hit the dwarf's shield and the dwarf got out of the way of Caleb's Sunbolt. The dwarf then turned and ran down the stairs. Caleb cast an Explosive Fireball and got off a last shot, but it didn't hurt the dwarf.

With that, they checked out the area nearby. They didn't bother to go up the stairs, but instead looked at the slot on the floor on the left side of the hall. It had a rounded bottom, and there was a stone ball, about as big as a man's fist, with one hole in it. The slot went into a hole in the wall but a bit bigger than the ball. Kim pushed the ball into the hole; it did not come out. Afterwards, she took some tinder from the wreckage of some bunk beds at the other end of the hall.

They made camp for the night, and pushed the dead bodies out of the room. Yémos cast Watchdog, and they went to sleep, taking watch. On Kim's watch, the door opened: it was the dwarf wraith again. She roused everyone, and the dwarf stepped into the room and smashed Kim's chest. She staggered back in pain, while everyone started to stand up. The wraith stepped forward again and smashed Kim's chest, and she slumped to the ground. Everyone else made it to his feet, and Anêr and Mayhem drew their weapons. The wraith rushed to strike Caleb, but he missed. Anêr tried stabbing the dwarf's face but missed, while Mayhem's blow on the wraith knocked it hard, making it drop its mace. The wraith turned to go, and Caleb's fireball missed.

The heroes went to see if Kim needed healing, but they found she was beyond healing.

Res aliae

Obviously, we discussed what would happen with Kim, and at this point, they plan on bringing her body back to town to see if someone could resurrect her. I told them the cost would be $6,000, which didn't seem too high at all, but they didn't have the money. It would likely cost a quest. John would play a new character while Kim rested, if the roll to resurrect her worked.

On my way home, I realized that in my worry about what tactics the wraith would use, I didn't tell John to use an All-Out Defense. Big whoops, since John is still a bit new to GURPS. I'm not sure how much it would have helped, as I don't remember what John rolled to defend.

The reaction for the orcs suggested an immediate strike—I rolled a 3, which went down to 0 after the penalty for the altar—but I re-rolled after Yémos unlocked Kúflaug's collar. The new roll was a 7, which was enough since combat hadn't started. I already had rolled Kúflaug's loyalty before the session and it failed, but I knew Kúflaug wouldn't let the orcs kill the heroes.

I wasn't happy about killing Kim, but at some point, somebody had to die. Overriding the dice would have been worse for the game than fudging things to let her live. I like the ongoing story, and like having characters flee, but no reward is worth it without risk. John was disappointed, however.