Ugh…wet dreams, a rejuvenating harpy, kid goats, a nasty dwarf, and black goo all take center stage at one point or another during this session. The party continues their exploration of the Bleak Mountains and climb up Mount Mourn to try to learn more about the happenings in the area. Are they successful? I guess we’ll find out below the break. Markus, of course, continues with his NSFW behaviors.
Everyone was in attendance. There will, obviously, be spoilers for Nightmare Over Ragged Hollow from The Merry Mushmen along with our mangling of this very fine adventure. My GM comments, as always, are in italics.
89th of Summer
- Liesl wakes during the night (during Markus’ watch) to the sound of thumping. Markus is “humping” the ground and mumbling something about feathers. (He was dreaming about sex with a harpy.)
- Liesl just stays on watch the rest of the night.
90th of Summer
- The group heads back to the cave of Grandma Harpy. They arrive without incident and hand over the harpy carcass.
- MeMaw Harpy plunges her hand in and rips out the heart, eagerly consuming it and growing younger and more vibrant as she consumes it and more of the carcass. (MeMaw is a U.S. southern term for grandmother.)
- During her dining, the group asks a few questions.
- Did you see Tobias (giving a description)? Yes. He was heading to Mount Mourn and then back again towards Ragged Hollow. There is a dark evil at the tomb on Mount Morn…noting that she is saying this as she is consuming the corpse of one of her daughters.
- Tomb? There is a tomb on Mount Mourn for Arvid, a dwarf disliked and outcast from dwarven society. Arvid shaved his beard and eschewed the axe in favor of a short sword. He dug too deep and released something. Something still there and which might have effected Tobias.
- During her dining, the group asks a few questions.
- MeMaw Harpy plunges her hand in and rips out the heart, eagerly consuming it and growing younger and more vibrant as she consumes it and more of the carcass. (MeMaw is a U.S. southern term for grandmother.)
- The party heads back to Ragged Hollow.
- They visit Radomir. Radomir shares that the temple bell tolled 18 times at dawn. Also, Ansel is upstairs studying. If the group needs Windler’s Boots, they can come back anytime and get them.
- The group shares their encounter with Grandma Harpy. Radomir shares that she is very old It would be best to stay on her good side.
- It is possible that Tobias may have brought back something evil from Mount Mourn. Radomir doesn’t have much to add, but he does confirm that Arvid was not popular with other dwarves.
- The group rests for the night.
91st of Summer
- The bell tolls 16 times.
- The group heads towards Mount Mourn.
- On the way, they spot a small Black Goat of Doom, a kid of the original. It gives Dieter the evil eye.
- Approaching Mount Mourn, they can see an unnatural flame flickering up on the slope, a good ways up. A switchback path clearly leads to it.
- Along the way up, the party spots a number of things.
- The path has various tracks, kobold tracks, traveling up and down the path.
- A couple of harpies are keeping an eye on the party…from a distance. They seem to be giving Markus a dirty look.
- A small group of young Black Goats of Doom also follow from a distance.
- A small tableau is at the top of the path with a few things of interest.
- A stone chimney, about fifteen feet tall, has the flame burning at the top. It is clearly not natural and of a strange reddish color.
- Four pillars support a stone slab that serves as a roof over a set of stone stars leading into the mountain itself. The kobold tracks go up and down these stairs.
- A barrow, crudely constructed of stacked stones, sits to one side. An open archway frames some stairs leading in and has runes carved across the top of the arch. There are footprints, looking like the ungainly gait of Tobias, entering and exiting, more staggering as they exit.
- The group heads for this barrow first.
- The barrow is largely empty. Only two things of interest.
- A shallow pit is in the center of the chamber. Lying within it is a dwarven skeleton, holding a short sword with a length of braided copper arcing around the skull…perhaps a representation of hair.
- A short distance from the pit is a pool of black tar with two fist-sized hunks of gold sitting within the pool.
- Markus enters and attempts to take the sword, by the tip of the blade, from the skeleton. The copper braid immediately lashes out to wrap around the sword’s hilt and the skeleton’s hands, crushing the latter.
- Dieter smashes the skull and the braid falls to the floor, limp.
- Markus takes the sword. The pommel has a spot for a gem or similar to be mounted. Markus is struck by the thought that it the glass eye of Jethra would fit perfectly. (Yes, an odd thought. Jethra was one of the “bandits” in town who slept with Dieter’s dad, turned said dad into a frog, and thought about keeping Markus around as eye candy, but then thought better of that.)
- Liesl picks up the copper braid and whips it at the tarry pool. She strikes it with no problem.
- A wail cries out as the tar quickly wraps up and around the braid…and around Liesl’s hand and forearm!
- Attacks on the tar appear to have no effect.
- Liesl feels a cold, ancient evil trying to force itself into her mind. The attack is psychic in an attempt to “enter” her.
- After a few tries, the group is able to pull Liesl free, leaving the copper braid behind, and flee the room.
- Not wanting to leave the braid behind, Markus grabs a grappling hook and rope. He snags the braid, only partially covered by tar, and starts to pull it toward the entrance.
- As he does, the tar rapidly snakes its way up the braid and the rope!
- He desperately tries to throw the grappling hook and the entire 50′ length of rope into the barrow and small the crude door shut.
- As he does, the tar rapidly snakes its way up the braid and the rope!
- The barrow is largely empty. Only two things of interest.
- Along the way up, the party spots a number of things.
That is where we ended the session.
RJ has made a serious blunder. He has put Markus into quite a predicament…not involving sex for once…and he will be missing the next session. I can only assume that RJ knew what he was doing and he has given me implicit permission to be utterly evil to his character at the start of the next session. Come to think of it, maybe the tar actually is just looking for a good time…wink, wink, nudge. nudge…if you know what I mean. I may also ask the other players for ideas for dealing with Markus and RJ’s absence. They haven’t seemed to concerned with what has happened to Markus during RJ’s previous absences. Hmm…
