The Demonic Caverns

A Windhaven Adventure
After their adventure in the crypts, our heroes returned to their patron and informed him of the tunnel into the depths of the earth. The Baron of Windhaven sent them back to investigate the source of the growing evil.

The party returned to the crypt and entered the mysterious tunnel (1).

In this corridor, they discover a rock-hewn altar with the terrifying sacrifice.

Onyx, Grizelda, and Rowan (L to R) find the bloody sacrifice

The tunnel then opened into a large cavern (2). As our heroes entered, they were attacked by 9 imps. The party drove them off, but Grizelda was wounded. Fortunately, the next cavern (3) contained a pool of water with healing properties. Grizelda was soon back to full health.

Next (4) they battled a large rock creature. Onyx struck with his ax, chipping a piece of rock of the beast. Then Grizelda used her staff to strike it with lightning. The bolt caused a split in the rock. Rowan then drove his sword deep into creature's body. It shrieked in pain then collapsed.

In the next cavern (5) our heroes fought off a swarm of hungry grubs. Note - I don't have figures for all the possible enemies. Instead, I substitute. Below, scorpions fill in for the grubs.

Next the party entered a cavern filled with toadstools. As they passed, one spewed forth spores. Rowan and Grizelda managed to cover their mouths and avoid contamination but Onyx breathed in the befouled air and immediately began to choke. The coughing spell lasted but a minute, however it left him visibly weakened.

The party then traversed an empty corridor (7) and entered another cavern (8). In it, a large shadowy form stood in the center of a pentagram.

"Something devilish, I'll warrant." said Grizelda.

The figure then spoke to them. "Are you from the bishop? Tell him that I serve him no more!"

The party looked at each other quizzically.

"Begone!" the foul abomination screamed. It then spewed forth a breath of hellfire. Rowan used his shield to fend off the fire and Grizelda stepped behind him for cover. Onyx, however, was late in shielding himself and suffered some dreadful burns.

Rowan then dashed into the fight, striking the demon hard. Grizelda used her staff's final charge - her lightning bolt struck true. Finally, Onyx swung his axe and cleaved deep. The demon swung wildly, but the Onyx blocked the blow and Grizelda dodged. Grizelda then struck with her staff. A burst of magical energy surged through the staff and zapped the demon. It howled in rage then with a poof was banished to the planes of perdition.

Grizelda strikes down the demon

With the source of the corruption gone, our heroes returned to the Baron. When told of the demon's words, he grew concerned.

"Does this mean that the bishop has been corrupted? We need to speak with him. Bring the bishop to me!"

What will happen when the party confronts the bishop? Find out next time!

The Crypt of Doom

A Windhaven Adventure

A couple of weeks after our heroes' adventure in the local graveyard, the Baron of Windhaven once again summoned Onyx the dwarf, Rowan the crusader, and Griselda the sorceress to his presence. They noticed that the bishop was present, and appeared very overwrought.
The Baron explained that the bishop had come to him after one of the acolytes had gone missing. He has been sent to the crypt under the church and never returned. An investigation found his corpse, mangled and gnawed, in the entry corridor. The clergy at the church are now terrified of the crypt. The Baron asked the trio to investigate the hideous goings-on.

And thus our heroes once again went forth into peril.

A map of the crypt

The entrance hallway (1) was lined with sarcophagi. As Griselda passed, one of the lids fell off, but she agilely jumped aside as it crashed to the ground.

"Wonderful," thought Rowan as the sound echoed throughout the catacombs, "we have just announced our coming to the whole world."

Sure enough, the sound warned the inhabitants of the next room (2). Four zombies shambled toward the entrance. Onyx and Griselda dispatched two each with ease.

Fighting "zombies"

The next room (3) featured a deep puddle of slimy water. Onyx and Griselda fell in, sucking some of the contaminated water down their throats. They went into a spasm of coughing that left them weakened (I treated this like poison - it caused a wound)

The heroes then entered a corridor (4) where two ghouls were snacking on some corpses. They attacked Rowan, inflicting a couple of wounds. He managed to kill one. As the other prepared to pounce upon Rowan, Onyx cleaved it in twain with a mighty blow from his axe.

While binding his wounds, Rowan complained about the "damned abominations." Griselda replied with a quip - "Hey, ghouls just want to have fun." (my wife's joke)

Backtracking past the slimy puddle, the party passed a rotting corpse (5) and then fought off some giant roaches (6). Then the party entered a room (7) with a wight. The party leaped into action and quickly cut it down.

"I guess we had the wight stuff," joked Onyx. Rowan just groaned. (my joke)

After passing through an empty corridor (8) the party came across a holy water font (9). Was it still blessed or had it been fouled? Griselda had her raven sniff it. It seemed OK so they tried a sip. It healed them of their wounds! The were ready for the final boss!

They explored an empty room (10) before finding the source of the corruption. In the last room (11) they discovered a skeleton mage. When it saw them it gave a bloodcurdling scream. Fortunately our heroes were made of stern stuff so they did not flinch from the battle. Instead, Onyx attacked and hit the mage; it countered and struck Onyx in return with its staff. Griselda launched a fireball that set its robes afire. It attacked her but she deflty dodged and flamed it again.

The mage stepped back and launched a lightning bolt from its staff. It struck Rowan in the chest; he reeled back in pain. Once again, Griselda fireballed him. The intense heat began to disintegrate its bones. As the deathlike figure began to decompose it shouted out a warning.

"You may have defeated me, but you cannot defeat death. Death takes us all!"

The skeleton mage falls

The party then checked the room. Griselda was able to recover the skeleton mage's staff. Rowan discovered a hole in the wall, which opened into a tunnel that led into the bowels of the earth.

"I think these abominations are coming into the crypt from these tunnels" Rowan remarked,

"I think we found our next adventure" suggested Onyx.

What dangers does the tunnel hold? Find out next time!

The Ghastly Graveyard

A Windhaven Adventure

Once upon a time in the Barony of Windhaven, there arose rumors of foul deeds occurring at the graveyard beside the old church. In the mornings, the caretaker would find graves defiled, coffins unearthed, tombs opened, and corpses mangled and chewed. After three days of such horrors, the Baron decided to send a team to investigate.

He choose two stout warriors, Onyx the sturdy dwarf and Rowan the valiant crusader, and the friendly sorceress Griselda Romero.

On a night when scudding clouds obscured the wan light of the moon, our heroes ventured forth into the ghastly graveyard. Entering through the main gate, they had barely entered when 4 figures shambled toward them.

Rowan called out "Identify yourself!" but the only answer he received was from low moans.

"Zombies!" warned Griselda.

With that, our heroes launched themselves into battle. Onyx and Rowan each struck down one of the walking corpses. One of the others clawed at Griselda, wounding her. The warriors then finished the job.

The warriors then readied to push on, but Griselda held them up.

"Some lovely gravestones for my rubbings," she explained. Rowan just grumbled under his breath.

Once Griselda was ready, the trio pressed onward. The jumble of gravestones and overgrown shrubs forced the party to turn left and then right. In this next section of the graveyard, a foul, clawed figure jumped them. It rushed at Onyx but he could not act; he was paralyzed with fear. Rowan's service as a crusader, however, had steeled him against supernatural horrors. He stepped forward and felled the abomination.

The party then wound through the graves until they came to a mausoleum. The family crypt of the Barons of Windhaven!

Rowan opened the gate and was greeted by low, inhuman moans. Griselda pushed Rowan aside and tossed something inside. There was a loud explosion; a gout of flame erupted from the tomb, singing Rowan.

"Next time a little warning!" Rowan scolded.

Two zombies, engulfed in fire, burst forth. Rowan cut one down. The other attacked and wounded Onyx before Griselda smashed it with her staff.

Finding nothing else unusual in the mausoleum, the party debated which way to go. Griselda released her raven, which circled and then headed left. They followed, and soon could hear the sound of digging. Rounding past some tall grave markers, they noticed a suspicious character unearthing a grave.

Onyx immediately recognized the figure as a necromancer. Before the enemy knew what was afoot, Onyx raced forward and clove him in twain with his axe!

The party looks upon the vanquished necromancer

And with that, our heroes solved the mystery of the ghastly graveyard. The next morning, they returned to the baron who was pleased with their service.

Game Notes

• This adventure marks the start of a new adventure, using a new/old set of rules that I call Kevin's Krawl.
• The party consisted of my character Rowan, my wife's character Griselda. We added Onyx because our cat Onyx was messing with the game pieces. Clearly he wanted to play! We choose the dwarf because we showed him the box of figures and he sniffed that one first.
• Defeating the boss was a bit anti-climatic. Onyx (the cat not the character) jumped on the table, knocked the necromancer's figure down, then shoved him off the table. According to house(cat) rules, that figure is considered out of action. Game over, necromancer!
• Like Four Against Darkness, character creation is quite simple (and somewhat free-form). Players simply choose a class, which has set starting equipment. Each class has certain abilities - like the sorceress' spells. I let my wife choose which spells her character got. She wanted to heal but also have a fireball, so I gave those to her. The raven was an ad hoc addition based on the figure (which I need to finish painting). Character level and armor determined attack and defense bonuses. And with that, we were ready!
• I created the adventure a week ago, using a template I created for Four Against Darkness. It results in relatively short adventures - perfect for my attention span!
• The picture above shows the set-up. I used 2 boards; one where I drew the "dungeon" map and another that I used as a battle board.

Chaos Unbound

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure
Using Four Against Darkness

Life had been quiet for Khamen ever since he returned from the adventure of the Three Rings. Oh, the High Priest at the Scotsile temple found occasional work for him - minor tasks below his skill level. He spent much of his time in the taverns, gambling and drinking (much to the annoyance of the High Priest).

One day as he huddled over a mug, he heard the tavern door open ever so quietly. He turned to look at who had entered, but could see no one.

"Hmm," he thought, "I must be getting rusty. I could have sworn that someone came in."

He returned to his mug, then felt a sharp point pressing gingerly into his back.

"Stay still, be quiet, and listen," came a rough, husky, voice.

Khamen relaxed his shoulders in relief. "What do you want Candorra?"

His elven friend gave a soft chuckle. Khamen hated to admit that he found it pleasing to hear her.

"Can't fool you, huh? And I thought you had let yourself go."

Khamen did not want to admit to her that he had not noticed her sneaking up on him. He just could never forget her voice, although there were many times he wished he could.

Instead, Khamen just repeated his question.

"Come with me. We have a new job!"

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A few days later, the duo rode up to an abandoned chapel.

"There have been rumors of foul deeds." Candorra explained. "We need to check it out."

They entered through the main doors into the narthex (1). The hallway was gloomy and covered with cobwebs, but not a creature stirred. Our heroes then entered the nave (2). Here they approached the altar. It had been defiled with foul sacrifices. Candorra felt a shiver of fear throughout her body. She knew that the horrid sight would distract her in coming battle. Clearly that was the evil intent of the new overlord of the church.

Khamen then led them through the western door into a long corridor (3). They could see a torch heading their way. Before they could back away, they heard a voice. "Intruders!" Four robed figures pulled out wicked-looking daggers and attacked. Candorra shot one down with her bow then drew her sword. Khamen dodged a blow and sunk his blade into his foe's vitals. He then backed away into the shadows. The remaining pair advanced on Candorra. Khamen got behind them and back-stabbed both.

The party entered the door at the end of the hall. Three devilish creatures lingered in the bare room (4). They rushed the duo, who retreated back down the hall. When the imps saw the fallen corpses of the cultists, they began to feast on the dead flesh.

"I guess we'll try this way," Candorra said as she crossed the nave and opened the eastern door (5). As soon as it opened, the duo heard a resounding roar. A three-headed monstrosity attacked. Khamen ducked under the beast and sunk his blade deep into a draconic head. The monster's head lashed out at our heroes - both were wounded. Khamen struck deep again. The dragon head crunched his arm. With a mighty blow, Candorra struck off the dragon's head. The wounded beast rushed past them and out of the church.

Our heroes bandaged their wounds and then steeled themselves for their next encounter. At the end of the corridor (5) they came to a door, which opened into a room (6). The walls were covered with arcane runes. In the center stood a robed figure.

The figure spoke. "I am surprised you made it past my guardian. No matter. You are fools if you can think you can stop the triumph of chaos."

He then raised his hand to cast a spell. Candorra pulled back her bow and shot him. Snarling in anger and pain, the Chaos Lord drew out a sword and attacked. His whirling strikes wounded both Candorra and Khamen. Stepping back, Candorra muttered an incantation. A bolt of energy leaped from her hand and struck the villain. He quickly recovered and struck both heroes again. Candorra backed away, reaching for a healing potion. The Chaos Lord advanced on her, sword at the ready.

Khamen then stepped in front of her. "Over my dead body, toad breath."

"That can be arranged, puny mortal!"

The Chaos Lord swung. Khamen somersaulted under the blow. Coming to his feet behind the foe, Khamen thrust with his blade. It drove deep into the Chaos Lord's vitals.

The enemy screamed in rage "Chaos shall overwhelm you all!" and then collapsed in a heap.

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Upon returning to Scotsile, our heroes reported to the High Priest.

"So there were no other enemies at the site?" he asked.

"None," Khamen responded, "and no clue as to what he was up to."

"The runes are the clue," the High Priest explained as he scanned a sketch of the arcane signs on the defiled church's walls. "Clearly he was trying to summon some abyssal entities into our world. I fear that we have not heard the last from the powers of Chaos."


OOC Notes

• My wife has gotten into Darkest Dungeon (a video RPG). It inspired me to write a new dungeon for Four Against Darkness. As I was pulling out my 4AD stuff, I found the game sheet for this dungeon. I must have played it last year but never bothered to record it. I decided to jot it down now.
• Note that I used the stats for orcs for the cultists and goblin swarmlings as imps. The guardian was a chimera.
• I notice that 2018 was a bad year for this blog. Only 3 posts and none since May! We'll see if I can do better in 2019. I have some thoughts and plots for a campaign. I hope to talk my wife into playing with me.