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!

Searching the South Wood

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure
Based on the Three Rings (A Four Against Darkness module)

After finding the second ring, our heroes returned to the crossroads. After a short rest, they began to follow the southern path.

In the first clearing (1), Rikk the Ranger got caught in a snare. It whipped him from his feet and suspended him from a tree. He bruised his head when he swung into a tree.

Khamen had to suppress a laugh as Candorra cut Rikk down.

"Watch yerself," the embarrassed ranger growled.

They followed a path (2) south. In the next clearing (3) Rikk discovered tracks leading south.

"Now what would ye do without me?" Rikk smugly retorted.

"Be without our comic relief" quipped Khamen.

"Khamen!" Candorra scolded. "Let's not start a fight among ourselves."

They continued south into a muddy field (4). Suddenly, the mud formed itself into 5 human-like figures. Candorra and Rikk cut down 2 of the mud-men with their bows. Then there was a brief struggle before the rest were defeated.

The path led south to a clearing (5) then turned west. As they proceeded along the path, they ran into a swarm of goblins (6). The goblins tossed poisoned javelins at the party. Candorra was hit in the thigh but the other two managed to dodge. Our heroes rushed into battle and easily defeated the goblins (game note - the party rolled 3 sixes in one turn).

As the path turned north (7) the party passed a field of large mushrooms. Suddenly, 5 funghi folk rushed to the attack. Candorra turned into a killing machine, cutting down 4 of the abominations. Khamen then dodged and took out the last.

Next they came across a pile of skulls (9). "Careful," Rikk cautioned. "Remember the last skull pile we found." Suddenly, the pile morphed into a dozen skeletons that attacked the party. The heroes were able to defeat them without too much trouble.

Following the path as it turned south again, the came to a rocky area. Before them, they could see a large cave.

What will they find in the cave?

Pirate Panic

After being sucked through a black hole, Zina and Zach stumble across a battle. Zach decides to aid the larger ship.

Our heroes' ship rushes into battle. Zach shoots but misses.

He comes alongside the larger ship. A large hole has been blown in the ship's side. A swarm of armed men rush from the smaller ship through the breach.

Donning a helmet and grabbing a ray gun, Zach exits the scout and boards the larger rocket. Zina reluctantly follows. In the first compartment, they confront a huge, brutish warrior.

Game Note - I lack proper figures so I improvise with meeples and tokens. Here is an example:

The heroes fire at the brute but miss. It charges Zach, who dodges a blow from the monster's powerful fists. Zina shoots, and nearly hits Zach!

The brute continues swinging at Zach. He dips and dodges, avoiding the blows. Meanwhile, Zina finds her aim and blasts the enemy. It barely flinches.

Finally, the brute lands a blow on Zach. He staggers and fall. As the brute leans over, Zina aims carefully. Her blast strikes the brute squarely, and it falls to the ground.

 Our heroes exit into the hallway and run into six pirates armed with blasters. In the ensuing firefight, Zach is hit twice but the pirates are scattered. After receiving first aid, Zach leads the way toward the bridge, fighting off some strange alien creatures that look like a cross between a yapping poodle and a lizard.

As they near the bridge, the heroes come across a lioness-like humanoid struggling with three sword-armed pirates. The one furthest away is bellowing orders to the rest of the crew. Must be the captain, surmises Zach.

The pirates knock the lioness to the ground. Zach and Zina open fire, taking out the pirate minions in a single fusillade. The enraged captain charges Zach. Zach dodges the captain's blow, grabbing a sword lying upon the floor. Zina shoots the captain, then Zach strikes him with his sword. The captain charges past them and flees back to his ship!

"I hope you are OK" Zach says to the lioness.

"Lt Hunter," Zina retorts, "I doubt that this alien species can speak out language."

"I am well, brave warrior." the lioness states with a slight bow. Zina jumps in surprise. It won't be the last time that the Slipstream catches her off guard.

Suddenly, there is a loud explosion! The ship rocks, shakes, and begins to yaw. Zach races to the bridge. The bridge crew is dead or unconscious so Zach takes the controls.

"No!" he screams as he checks the viewscreen.

"What?" Zina asks as she follows him onto the bridge.

"Those darn pirates blew up our ship!"

But he has no chance to wallow in misery. The ship begins to plummet toward a nearby rocky planetoid.

"We're going to crash land!" Zach announces.

Screaming toward the ground, the rocketship careens off a large hill.

Zach manages to right it and avoid another hill.

He puts the ship down but cannot stop it. The ship crashes into a rocky outcrop.

Zach and the lioness are thrown forward and knocked senseless. Zina begins to administer first aid,

Then she begins to hear a loud crashing. It sounds like large rocks banging together.

What terrors does this strange fragment hold? Find out next time!

Game Note
The plot point adventure in the Slipstream book is a straightforward fight against pirates. I tweaked it a bit to turn it into a simple dungeon crawl, Four Against Darkness style. Here is my map.

I used FU for the rules. I must say that I am souring upon them a bit. The BUT and AND options don't really work for my solo games because I just want to roll dice to come up with the result. I actually create the narrative details as I am writing up the report. I also feel that 4AD does a better job of providing a little granularity to the encounters. I'll continue to use FU for the 6  by 6 challenge but will probably move on to something different when I'm done.

Into the Black Hole

Introducing the Adventures of Zina and Zach

50 Years Later

The Federation scout ship drew closer to the mysterious black hole, which seemingly appeared out of nowhere a few months prior. Professor Zina Marks studied her instruments as she tried to analyze the enigma.

"Can you get closer?" she asked the pilot, Lt. Zach Hunter.

"Not unless you want an inside view of the hole." he quipped. "I'm already struggling to keep us in position!"

Zina scowled. Zach's flippant attitude grated on her stern professionalism.

Suddenly, alarm bells went off.

"An Imperial destroyer has warped into the system." Zach announced. "It's heading right for us. Let's get out of here!" He began to rev up the rocket engines.

"Hold!" commanded Zina. We are here on a lawful, peaceful mission. They have no right to interfere."

"Professor. the Imperials don't have any respect for rights. We need to go!"

"No, let me speak to them."

Suddenly, the Imperial rocketship let loose with its blasters. The scout ship was struck, damaging the engines.

"I'm losing power! I can't maintain my position; the black hole is sucking us in." Zach announced as he struggled with the controls. Zina raced to the engine room and tried to repair the damage. But it was too late. In a flash, their ship was sucked into the void.

The black hole was like a tunnel, with swirling lights outlining the boundaries. Within the tunnel asteroids and meteors whirled about.

Zach tried to reverse course, but he could not get enough power from the damaged engines. "Professor! Hurry up with those repairs!"

Zach managed to avoid one meteor, but another struck the ship. Alarms rang out.

"Now we have a hull breach! Get on it!" Zach commanded. Technically, Zina was in command but when it came to operations of the ship, his word was paramount. He liked these opportunities to boss her around. He just wished it was under better circumstances.

"Blast it!" Zach cursed as a meteor whizzed by his viewport.

Then another one glanced of the rocket. More alarms!

"I can't make any progress with the repairs if you keep damaging the ship." Zina commented.

More meteors approached.

But with some fancy flying, Zach avoided them.

Then suddenly, they were out of the tunnel and in a new area of space. It glowed with the soft hue of ambient radiation.

"Strange." Zina announced as she glanced at her instruments. " We're not in a vacuum. There is a thin atmosphere."

"Ship of the port bow!" Zach declared as he too checked his instruments. He set course. Soon he made visual contact.

"It's under attack!" Zach said as he saw a smaller ship grappling the larger. Armed men wearing breathing masks swarmed through a breach in the hull.

"We need to help!" declared Zach as he rocketed toward the battle.

"No!" commanded Zina. "We can't get involved!" But Zach ignored her. Instead, he energized his atomic blasters, aimed at the smaller ship, and squeezed the trigger . . .

Will Zina and Zach defeat the attacker? Find out next time!

OOC Notes:

• I'm now taking a different approach to my Slipstream campaign as I switch to RPG style with my new characters. I will be jumping back and forth between battles and RPG adventures, but in both cases I will be using the FU rules.
• I am beginning Death Clouds, a ten "episode" plot point campaign provided with the Slipstream rules. The campaign assumes that the characters already live in the Slipstream and are on board a merchant ship that is attacked. I wanted my characters to come from outside the Slipstream so I added some backstory, which I played out as narrated above. Instead of being on the merchant they will come to its rescue.

Say Goodbye to the Sunstone!

Although Queen Anathraxa's minions had overrun the Temple of the Morning Sun, some Templars had managed to escape with the Sunstone. The evil Queen ordered an immediate pursuit.

The Templars had loaded the Sunstone on an electric cart and were fleeing down the road to a waiting rocket ship.

Notes: The part of the electric cart is played by a chariot (with a yellowish base). I quickly improvised a rocket with some wood pieces. A meeple acts as the rocket's derrick.

Two companies of Templar knights and a band of Seers formed a defensive line against the primals rushing down the road.

More primals appear. The Templars are locked in combat while the Sunstone flees.

Primals cut down the Seers and the cart is temporarily stuck. At least the Templars on the right were victorious.

The primals begin chasing the immobile cart.

But the victorious Templars catch the pursuing primals from the rear. The Queen's minions don't stand a chance. The cart is mobile again and rushes towards the rocket.

Now the Templars face off against primals and the Queen's Handmaidens.

The Templars succumb to the enemy numbers.

Zephyria, centurion of the Handmaidens, waded through the field of dead or dying Templars. As she passed, she heard a laugh. Surprised, she looked around. A wounded Templar smirked at her.

"Why do you laugh?!"

"You're too late." the Templar stated. At that moment, Zephyria could hear the blast of a rocket's engines. She looked up and saw a ship lifting into the sky.

"Say goodbye to the Sunstone." the Templar said, his voice faltering as his blood trickled through his numerous wounds.

Zephyria screamed in anger, then turned on the Templar. "You shall pay for your insolence!"

The Templar laughed. "If the Maker is for us, what can you hope to achieve?"

In anger, Zephyria plunged her sword through the Templar's heart. She snorted in derision. "Your Maker did not save you from my death stroke!"

Yet her victory felt hollow. for now she had to report the Sunstone's escape to her queen. She looked upon her fallen foe. How was it that his face looked so content?

The Templars' Last Stand

A Slipstream Scenario

Following their surprise attack, the minions of evil Queen Anathraxa converge upon the Temple of the Morning Star, home of the fabled Sunstone. The Temple is defended by a band of Seers and two companies of Templars, the mystical knights of Theophilia.

The Seers are surprisingly inert while the Queen's primals rush through a barrage of blaster fire to assault the Temple.

A band of primals and a company of Handmaidens break into the Temple.

But the Templars repulse and annihilate them.

More primals get in and wipe out one company of Templars.

But the Seers come alive. With a powerful psychic blast, they wipe out the primals.

The Queen's minions keep coming!

Another breakthrough!

Primals catch the Seers from the rear. The priests are cut down!

Surrounded and outnumbered, the Templars fight a hopeless battle. Soon, they are also eliminated.

With all opposition gone, a company of Handmaidens strides into the Temple. They part, and Queen Anathraxa steps forward.

"Where is the Sunstone?!" she shouts. Her minions shrug their shoulders.

"THEN FIND IT, YOU FOOLS!" she commands.

The minions proceed to tear the Temple apart, but to no avail. The Sunstone is gone. Just then, one her captains peers through a shattered window. He sees a band of Templars escorting a cart as it rumbles away from the Temple. Shaking, he murmurs "Majesty" and points to the escapees. Anathraxa wheels about and spies the Templars.

"Fools. You let them get away!"

She strikes the unfortunate captain with her scepter. There is a sound of an electrical charge. The captain recoils from the shock then collapses in a heap.

"Get the Sunstone before they escape. NOW!' screams the queen.

Her minions race out the doors and pursue the fleeing Templars.

Will the Templars escape with the Sunstone? Find out next time!

Game Note:
The temple walls are actually from the Hadrian's Wall pack by Brigade Models. It is 1/1000 scale and fits well with 2mm.

Surprise Attack!

A Slipstream Scenario
It is a lovely day on the garden world of Theophilia, home of the mystical Sunstone and the Temple of the Maker. Visitors are wandering the gardens, drinking in the serenity of Theophilia. A group of Seers, the mystical priests of the Maker, are meditating in the gardens (upper left).

With a roar of engines, a fleet of rockets land in the garden. Out pops a horde of primals, the ape-like minions of the evil Queen Anathraxa. The are driven on by some Handmaidens, the Queen's elite warriors. One band of primals slaughters a group of visitors.

 Using their formidable psychic abilities, the Seers destroy a band of primals. Some visitors flee while others hide in the woods or in some of the gazebos situated throughout the gardens.

But seeing the advance of the bloodthirsty primals, the remaining visitors flee. The Queen's Handmaidens rush the Seers, but a psychic blast takes down some of the warriors.

The Handmaidens press on and overrun the Seers. However, the remaining visitors escape from the gardens.

It was a horrible sight - the peace and tranquility of Theophilia shattered by the Queen's invasion force. Some lives were lost - a group of visitors and a band of Seers perished in the assault. Fortunately, most of the visitors escaped.

Game Note:

This is the start of my Slipstream campaign using modified FU (Freeform Universal) rules. I will be posting some thoughts about the rules on my Warwell's Wargames blog (either tomorrow or later next week).

The Oak and the Skull

Part 2 of the Adventure of the Three Rings

Our heroes have been scouring the woods for the orc reavers who raided the abbey of Northport and made off with three sacred rings. After coming to a fork in the road, the party chose the left-hand path and began traversing northward.

North >

Soon they came upon an old oak (1) next to the path. A welter of tracks surrounded the oak.

"Perhaps they hid a ring in the oak." Khamen suggested.

"Be careful of old oaks," Rikk cautioned. "They can't be trusted."

"What could happen?" scoffed Khamen as he stuck his hand into a knot in the tree. He groped around and gave a cry of surprise. Then he pulled out his hand, holding a small bag. Unfortunately, it only included a few coins and no ring.

Game Note: I actually rolled a ring but decreed that it was too early to find one.

The party continued north, running foul of a swarm of bees, a magical whirlwind, and a forest fire (2-4). After surviving these hazards, our party rested in a clearing (5). Their break was short, for soon after they heard growling from the woods. Seven hungry wolves sauntered into the clearing.

Candorra jumped up and with a word and a gesture cast a fireball at the wolves. Two were burnt to a crisp and the others fled.

"Careful with that." Rikk warned. "Don't want to start another forest fire."

"Yes." Khamen agreed. "We'd be out of the pan and into the fire." Candorra just groaned.

Further along the path our heroes met a merchant and his guards (6). They perused his wares but he did not have anything of value to them.

Continuing north, they entered a patch of human-sized mushrooms (7). Suddenly, a fungoid-like creature attacked.

"A fungus ogre!" cried Rikk.

"Lets find another way!" suggested Khamen as he retreated down the path. His comrades agreed as they fled from the creature.

Their encounter turned out to be fortuitous. As they returned along the way they came they spied a hidden path that veered west. This path led to a huge boulder, about 20' high, that was shaped like a skull (8). Its jaw was opened wide. Looking into its gaping mouth, they saw a cave leading into the bowels of the earth. Around this entrance, Rikk could see orc tracks.

"A skull cave - fitting lair for an orc reaver." Candorra commented.

Khamen nodded in agreement. "This must be the way. Let's go in." At this, the party filed into the lair.

What will they discover inside? Find out next time!

The Crypt of Count Valod

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure

After their adventure on the island of Sarpedon, Khamen and Candorra hopped on a ship back to their home. Stopping for provisions at a little town on the coast, they witnessed a funeral procession. However, there was no body or casket, just an effigy of the deceased, a young girl. When Khamen asked what happened, the locals just scowled, said "the Count took her," and gestured to a menacing castle overlooking the town. After some pressing they were told that the Count was a "vampyr." It took some prompting from Candorra but they decided to investigate.

Here is a reproduction of the map that they drew:

They entered the foreboding castle through the front gate. In the foyer (2) a trapdoor suddenly opened under Candorra's feet. With a deft leap, she vaulted clear of the gaping pit. The next room (5) was empty; they searched and found a clue. In the next room (6), several corpses animated and shambled toward our heroes. Candorra minced them in seconds.

Opening the door into a kitchen (9), our heroes were confronted by a coven of witches toiling over a cauldron. The lead witch called out "Kill them!" Then she launched a lightning bolt at Candorra. The elf could not dodge and was singed by the electric shock. She responded by pulling out her sleep wand; 3 of the witches succumbed. Khamen and Candorra then defeated the remaining witches without further wounds.

After driving off some vampire bats (8), our heroes reached a dead end. They backtracked to the empty room then exited through the western door (4). This room was being used as a den for a pack of wolves. They immediately attacked but the party drove them off. Then the party had to backtrack again. fighting more wolves along the way until they entered a room (1) with four young women. Seeing our heroes, the women bared their fangs - they were vampires! One swooped upon Khamen; he dodged then stabbed it. Candorra took out two more and the last fled. After a couple more rooms they finally found the stairs (3) to the crypts below.

"Looks like we took the scenic tour." Khamen quipped, much to Candorra's dismay.

They passed along a musty corridor. Large mushrooms grew from the floor. Suddenly they erupted, spouting spores throughout the passage. Khamen and Candorra covered their faces and rushed forward.

Note: I treated the cloud of spores as a poison gas trap.

Suddenly a malevolent presence appeared before them.

"Welcome to my castle." announced Count Valod. "I trust you shall stay for dinner."

Candorra wasted no time. She cast a lightning bolt. It struck the Cont in the chest, knocking him back and singing him. In a blink of an eye he pounced on Candorra. She eluded her grasp and struck the Count repeatedly. Howling in pain, he turned into a bat and flew away!

"He got away! Now what?" said Khamen.

"Destroy his sarcophagus. He won't be able to return to this castle!"

The heroes dismantled the sarcophagus. Later, they would bring a priest to the castle to bless the ground of the crypt. This would seal the vampire's fate.

Game Notes

• For this adventure, I decided that the final boss would be a vampire. I then chose encounters that would give a gothic feel. The party missed (did not roll) some of the more interesting encounters, such as a laboratory, a Frankenstein monster, and a werewolf.
• I finally was able to get Candorra to level 3. Now my heroes can take on the published adventure Three Rings.

Castle of the Chaos Lord

Another Khamen and Candorra Adventure
Using Four Against Darkness

After their adventure of the sunken temple, Khamen and Candorra returned home for some relaxation. Alas, it was not to be. As soon as they reported to the Temple, the Preceptor offered them another job. A chaos lord had established himself in a castle in far-off Ehrlich. The source of his powers seemed to be a magical wand that he always carried. Steal the wand and his power would be broken.

They journeyed to the castle. Fortunately, the guards were very lax, and our heroes were able to sneak in through the front gate. The found themselves in a corridor (1) with an intersection.

As they approached the intersection, they could hear voices. Khamen signaled that they should hide. They pressed flat against the walls of the corridor as three robed figures approached from the right.

Khamen and Candorra try to avod detection

 Candorra tried to edge away from the passage, but kicked a pebble.

"What was that?" the cultist asked as he peered around the corner. Spying Candorra, he yelled and charged. Khamen slipped behind the attacker and stabbed him. But the next cultist struck Khamen. He stumbled back. The remaining enemies attacked, but both the heroes parried and then struck down their foes.

After the fight, Khamen turned to Candorra and said " I really thought you were good at this."

Candorra looked at him quizzically then he put a finger to his lips, indicating that she needed to be silent. She just rolled her eyes.

They turned right at the intersection and entered a room (2), where they were attacked by skeletons. After a short battle, they were victorious. They returned through the corridor (1), fending off some vampire bats.

The next room (3) featured a caged area, with seats outside the cage. Concerned that there might be prisoners, the duo crept down to the cage and opened the gate. As the hinges creaked, a looming bull-headed figure arose from the shadows.

"Close the gate!" Khamen yelled as the minotaur charged. Candorra slammed it shut just in time.

Leaving the minotaur's cell, they were wandering down another corridor (4) when they felt a sudden chill. They turned and saw an apparition pass through the wall behind them, cross the corridor, and then disappear through the opposite wall. Our heroes stood a moment, their hearts seemingly stopped. Then they shook off their fear and proceeded.

They wandered through a few more rooms and corridors (6-8), only facing some vampire bats. Then they opened a door to a small room (9). At one end was an altar of a hideous demon. A figure knelt before the altar. Lying next to him was what appeared to be a stick. Khamen realized that it was the Chaos Lord and his wand!

Trying to steal from the Chaos Lord

Candorra stood in the doorway, an arrow nocked in her bow. Silently, Khamen crept up to the wand. The Chaos Lord appeared deep in thought and oblivious to their presence. Khamen reached for the wand, gripped it, and started to slide it away.

"STOP!" a piercing cry called out. Khamen looked up. The idol was alive, screaming a warning to his worshiper.

The Chaos Lord turned, lashing out with a flaming sword that seemed to come out from nowhere. Khamen ducked, and the blow passes harmlessly over his head. Candorra released her arrow; it struck the Chaos Lord, knocking him back. Khamen backed away.

The Chaos Lord pursued Khamen, slashing at him futilely. Candorra drew her sword and rushed into battle. However, the Chaos Lord finally connected, and Khamen fell wounded. The Chaos Lord rushed to finish him. Khamen rolled and slashed his enemy's ankles. Howling in rage, the Chaos Lord forgot about Candorra. She slipped behind him and drove here sword into his vitals. The Chaos Lord collapsed.

"Let's get out of here!" Candorra urged.

Khamen reached down and grabbed the wand. Then they rushed back through the castle. However, the death of the Chaos Lord must have triggered some kind of warning. As they fled, they had to fight their way out against a horde of skeletons. They made it out, though. 

Shortly thereafter, they were riding back to the Temple.

"Well that was a near-run thing." Khamen commented.

"It could have been better. I thought you were good at this." Candorra replied.

"What do you mean?"

Candorra merely put her finger to her lips.

"It wasn't my fault! How was I to know that the idol would come to life!"

Candorra just repeated her gesture. Khamen rolled his eyes.

_________________________________________________________

Once they returned to the Temple, they reported to the Preceptor and delivered the wand to him.

"Although much good it will do you," Khamen commented. "Candorra killed him."

"Actually," the priest stated, "you killed him Khamen."

"No, it was Candorra. She stabbed him through the heart."

The priest held up the wand. "Ah, but if he had this, no blow from Candorra, nor any other hero, would have been mortal. Your, ah, recovery, sealed his fate."

Game Notes:

• I want to play the Three Rings adventure from Ganesha Games but my characters are not high enough level yet. I decided to try to level them up with an original adventure.
• For this adventure, I used my own encounter tables. I rolled the final boss first, then choose encounters that would fit the theme.
• I rolled for rooms as per the normal Four Against Darkness rules, although I reduced the size of the dungeon. I also ruled that the Chaos Lord would only be encountered in the back quarter of the map.
• I'm moving along with the 6 x 6 Challenge! Here is another completed 4AD adventure.

The Sunken Temple

Part 2 of Dark Waters
(A Khamen and Candorra Adventure using Four Against Darkness)

SPOILER ALERT
This post accounts my play-through of the Four Against Darkness module, Dark Waters. If you plan to play this module you may not want to read further.

Although they captured the corsair captain, our party of heroes failed to recover the idol of Telzany, the Shark God. Khamen and Candorra reported to the local Temple. The Preceptor shook his head in frustration.

"We must recover the idol. With it, the deep demons can summon Telzany itself."

Khamen looked perplexed. "What are these deep demons? And can they really summon a "god?"

"The deep demons are green-skinned, fish-faced humanoids. They live under water. And Telzany is real, but it is no god. It is a true demon, a powerful entity from the infernal regions. We cannot let them summon it!"

----------------------------------------------------------

The Temple arranged for a boat to take the party to the location of a sunken temple known to be used by the deep demons.The Temple priests cast blessings upon the party, allowing them to breathe and act underwater. Our heroes were joined by Gerard, a young warrior on loan from the local coast guard.. Together, they leapt into the water and dove to the ocean floor and headed to the temple.

The Sunken Temple

As they entered the first room (1), they ran into 4 deep demon guards. After a short fight, where Candorra and Gerard took wounds, the deep demons were defeated.

After passing through an empty corridor (2), they entered a room (3) littered with the corpses of drowned sailors

"Likely sacrifices to Telzany." Gerard explained.

Suddenly, 4 of the corpses jumped up and shambled toward the party.

Our heroes about the engage the zombies
Khamen, Flint, Candorra, and Gerard (L to R)

Khamen and Flint managed to kill two of the zombies. Another went after Gerard. He tried to strike it down as it lunged, but he missed. He froze in fright. Armed with a bow, Candorra shot the undead horror. Then another attacked him but once again Candorra saved him.

"I guess I'm not cut out for this." Gerard apologized after the fight. "Perhaps I should return to the surface and let real heroes finish the quest."

"Nonsense Gerard.' Candorra replied. "The mark of a real hero is to continue forth into danger, despite our fears, because it is the right thing to do."

Somewhat encouraged, Gerard agreed to continue.

Returning through the corridor (2), they were attacked by 2 giant octopi. The creatures entangled the party with their tentacles. Khamen and Flint managed to free their weapon hands and strike down the cephalopods.

In the next room (4), the party was attacked by 7 fish-men. Three rushed Gerard. This time he did not flinch, but instead managed to deftly block the attacks and strike down 2 of his assailants. The rest easily defeated the rest of the enemy.

"Well done, Gerard." Candorra said. "We'll make a hero of you yet." Gerard smiled at the praise.

After passing through an empty room (5) they entered a darkened sanctum. Eight deep demons clustered around an altar, muttering incantations. The idol of Telzany sat upon the altar. Khamen quietly signaled to his comrades to sneak up on the enemy, When in position, they struck. Three of the deep demons fell. Others spun around, pulled out wicked daggers, and attacked. The head cultist continued to invoke Telzany. With a sudden eruption of steam from the idol, a huge, fanged creature with claws and tentacles appeared!

"Telzany!" Gerard cried in terror. He felt a sudden urge to flee, but then he remembered Candorra's words - real heroes continue into danger despite their fears. He gulped back his horror and turned his attention to the enemy. He hacked down a pair of deep demons then turned on Telzany. Flint and Candorra, who struck down the demons attacking them, joined him.

Meanwhile, Khamen was locked in a fight with one of the cultists. He was able to avoid getting wounded but could not land the final blow. Now Telzany began lashing out with its claws and tentacles, slicing and battering the heroes. They also landed blows, but Telzany appeared unfazed.

It struck again with its talons, raking deep wounds in Flint's and Candorra's flesh. Bleeding profusely, both backed out of the fight. Candorra downed a healing potion but Flint had no such option. Khamen finally finished off his foe and took a position on the front line. Despite his fears, Gerard joined him and used his shield to protect him and his comrades.

Telzany began to focus on Khamen and Gerard. They took numerous wounds - now Khamen had to back out of the fight to heal. Flint and Candorra looked at each other. A fatalistic determination overcame them. With a cry, they charged back into battle. Freshly healed, Khamen joined them, doing his best to defend his wounded comrades. Together, they hacked and slashed at their enemy until viscous, black blood oozed from Telzany.

Yet Telzany refused to surrender. Instead, it decided to punish Khamen's temerity. It grasped him in its claws, drew him to its face, and bit hard with its shark-like jaws. Khamen screamed in pain. Flint tried to free his friend, but the demon grabbed him with the other claw. It began banging the two against each other until they were nearly unconscious, then flung them to the floor as it laughed in apparent triumph.

Righteous rage filled Gerard's breast. He yelled at the top of his lungs and charged at the demon. Distracted by its torture of Khamen and Flint, it reacted too late. Gerard smashed it with his shield, causing Telzany to stumble backward. Gerard ducked under the claws and tentacles, then drove his sword deep into the monster's torso. Telzany screamed in rage and pain. Then, as if dissolving in the ocean's water, Telzany disappeared.

Gerard slumped to the floor, exhausted. Candorra came over, checking his wounds.

"A hero indeed!" she whispered to him.

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A week after their epic battle, Flint and Khamen sat at a table in the local tavern in port town of Telzany's Cove. The Temple had destroyed the idol so that Telzany could never be summoned again. Gerard was the toast of the town; some of the townspeople even wanted to make him commander of the coast guard. Khamen and Flint were having one last celebration before they departed.

"And what now, my friend?" asked Khamen.

Flint guffawed. "The Temple has made me an honest man!"

Khamen eyed him quizzically. "Really?"

"With the reward, and the, um . . . souvenirs from the sunken temple, I can buy my own ship. The life of an honest merchant for me!"

"Honest merchant, now there's an oxymoron." laughed Khamen.

Flint snickered in return. "Perhaps, perhaps, but it's a start to respectability. But what about you?"

"I think I may keep working for the Temple."

"An honest Khamen. Now there's an oxymoron!" retorted Flint.

"I'm serious."

"And this has nothing to do with the elf lady?" Flint asked.

"No." Khamen stated. Then he grew philosophical. "Not that at all. It's that . . . All my life I've been struggling, to make ends meet, to get ahead. Over that time, I developed certain . . . skills. But what did it all mean. What was the point? For the first time, I see the point. I feel like I have a role to play in the greater scheme of things. And ironically, those skills I developed for my own gain, I can now use for . . . something greater."

Flint nodded and took a pull from his flagon. "Well, you're a better man than I, Khamen. I wish you well."

"And the same to you, Flint."

With that, they shook hands and parted, Khamen heading back to the Temple, and his next adventure.

A Hot Time

Being the 2nd Part of Sir Rudy's Adventures

After defeating the evil wizard, Sir Rudy departed on a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Oswald. Despite the delays arising from his garrulous companions, our hero led a group of pilgrims past scenes of battle and bandit-infested woods. At the shrine, Rudy's wounds were healed.

Refreshed, Sir Rudy continued his travels. He arrived at an inn where he hired a warrior named Mordret. From there, he was challenged by a recreant knight in black armor. Rudy defeated him relatively easily. The shaken knight fell to his knees and begged for quarter. Rudy relented, although he required the knight to deliver himself to King Arthur and pledge his fealty.

As he proceeded on his travels, Sir Rudy encountered a villages stricken by poverty or plague. Touched by their plight, Rudy tried to help. Alas, they were not sufficient to alleviate all the villages' needs. He also came down with the plague and took some time to recover. At least, Sir Rudy reflected, he was able to do a little to help. In another village, angry peasants challenged Sir Rudy. He gave them the Unicorn Horn and won their respect.

Rudy and his companions also faced deadly challenges. One night, three hell hounds attacked. Rudy was wounded but the heroes killed the beasts. Another time they were ambushed by bugbears. These too were defeated, although the enemy killed Rudy's retainer, Edric. Rudy and Mordret also ran afoul of 3 ogres, who wounded Mordret before they were slain.

But Sir Rudy's biggest challenge came one day when the heroes discovered a smoking cave. Rudy peered in then ducked away as a massive beast charged forth.

A dragon!

Rudy charged, skewering the beast with his lance. The lance broke and the dragon soared by, gashing Rudy with its talons. Again it swooped. Rudy ducked and slashed with his sword, wounding the beast again. This time the dragon opened its mouth and belched flames, which licked about Rudy. He could feel his armor heat up and his skin burn. Yet Rudy fought on, scoring another couple of hits. Blood gushed from the wounded beast. With its last reserves of strength it flew away in a panic.

Sir Rudy was disappointed that he could not finish off the spawn of Satan. Yet he rejoiced when he searched the lair. Amidst a pile of coins and jewels, he discovered a an exquisite, magical sword. Its marking revealed it to be the Sword of the Fisher King! Rudy also discovered a human tooth.When he picked it up, Rudy could feel a surge of holy power. Clearly it was a relic, perhaps the tooth of St. Oswald himself!

Sir Rudy was pleased with his successes. He could feel his prowess increasing. Yet he felt no nearer to the Holy Grail. Would he ever find it?

Find out in future episodes of Sir Rudy's Tale

Ambush!

Part 4 of A Can of Worms - A Kate and Kip Adventure

Driven back by a swarm of worms, Kate and Kip retreated to the pumping station and took up defensive positions. Given a brief respite, they treated their wounds, although Kate was still suffering.

One of the worms emerged. Kip missed but Kate blasted it!

A second emerged. This time Kip did not miss!

Then the third. Again, it was up to Kate to win the day!

The path is now open to the bowels of the sewers, wherein lays the heart of the mystery. What will they find there?

Tune in next time!