Sunday, January 10, 2016

Crypts and Things: Expedition into Darkness and Death.

I adapted this for Crypts and Things from the adventure “Pale Shadow” from Beasts of the Dominions for Beasts and Barbarians which you can purchase here.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/104616/Beasts-of-the-Dominions?manufacturers_id=3554

After a relatively uneventful trip, the Blood Bride arrived at the island designated on the map that was recovered from the wizard/silk merchant’s tower.  Anaya took a strong interest in Raelic the Theif but Kord warned him to stay away from the Amazon captain as he believed that she had fangs in her vagina.

The crew disembarked and found a few abandoned villages.  Khale Roley III noticed that there were a number of amulets that were hung about the abandoned huts that were supposed to ward of demons.  He wondered how effective those amulets had been in the people of the village were no longer there….

It wasn’t long after landing that the hostility between the two factions of the crew turned violent.  One of Kord’s men murdered on of Anaya’s men with a mace and one of Kord’s men vanished soon after.  Chantel examined the tracks around the missing sailor and it appeared that he had vanished into thin air as his tracks just seemed to stop….

Eventually, the expedition found an abandoned and ancient city in the center of the island.  A high wall had long ago crumbed in certain parts so the adventures had no trouble entering the city.  The ruins were mainly towers with no entries on the lower levels.  The doors and windows were often hundreds of feet off of the surface of the city.  Whoever had built the city did not spend much of their time at ground level…

Both Kord and Anaya sent men off to explore the city in an attempt to find treasure while the main group headed towards the city center.  A massive tower awaited the party.  Its walls were cracked and it was easy to gain entry.  At the base level was a hideous idol stained with long dried blood.  The idol was searched and two items were recovered:  A bronze crown with a serpent’s head and bastard sword that was made of a shiny black metal.  Anaya was furious that her crew had come all this way just for these two items.  By this time it was nightfall and that was when the screams began….

The screams did not prevent the war between Kord and Anaya coming to head and swords were drawn and blood spilled.  Ultimately, the party and Kord’s pirates prevailed but not before discovering that the black bastard sword compelled the wielder, in this case Raelic to kill at least one sentient being a day.  Moreover, the sword killed most creatures and people that it struck almost instantly.

The remaining crew of the Blood Bride were holed up in the Tower while something or somethings was outside attacking the crew members that had been sent out to explore and loot the city.  Not one of them returned.

The crew decided to leave in the morning but they would not be able to make it back to the beach before night fell.  When the night fell, so did the Sky Demons: creatures that looked like they were park bat and part human and all nightmare.


The crew had to fight their way through the ruins and then through the jungle to finally make their way back to the beach and the row boats where they managed to make their way back to the ship.

Upon arriving, the crew that had been left at the ship looked like they might kill the survivors as it was obvious that Anaya was no longer with the crew. It was then that Chantel decided to put on the serpent crown.  She commanded the crew to obey her.  They did.  (I also had Kevin roll a saving throw which I seem to remember that he missed and lost some sanity. Such is the nature of magic in Crypts and Things)

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The trip back was uneventful…until Deep Ones, creatures from the ocean, attacked and attempted to steal the crown and the sword.  The Deep Ones were driven off but not before they managed to take the crown…

Finally the party returned to Jalizar to continue their adventures….