Gold Fever
Summary
Adventure Gold Fever
GM Martin
Season Winter 824 WK (beginning second week of Snow)
Night Monday
Location The House of Ellis
Area Serraine, Aquila, Dwarven lands
Level Medium
- Party
- Bodric Henrickson (GM Info) - Dwarven Rune Mage (m) - Mandos
- Duvon - Dwarven Earth Mage (m) - Dean
- Haedric of Bryn Coed - Dwarven Ice Mage (m) - Stephen Scribe
- Hrothgar Bronzebeard - Dwarven Artificer (m)- Alex
- Henric Henrickson - Dwarven Mind Mage (m) - Chris MilSci 2
- Lyric Henrickson - Dwarven E&E (f) - Michelle PL
- Bromli - Dwarven Namer (m) - Nick MilSci 1
- Employer
- Organized by Lorcan Skyratchet of Serraine, on behalf of the Everforge Trading Company, an enterprising dwarven mercantile concern and clients of the gnomes.
- Mission
- A lost dwarven hold rediscovered. Fortunes free for the taking. Summertime gold rush! But now winter snows have closed the passes and supplies to the prospectors are blocked. The Serraine gnomes seek help on behalf of some dwarven clients planning to fly in supplies – and make an honest profit off gold-laden prospectors to boot.
- Payment
- A share in profits (with a guaranteed base of 7,500sp each) with optional exchange for training/knowledge from Serraine.
Scribe Notes
Bodric's Return
- Th'rsday 8th Snow
We meet up in a room at the guild for a late employment request. Introductions, Dwarven in-jokes and then in walks Bodric, lost for the past 15 years with a story of an unplanned ocean voyage.
- Frysday 9th Snow
We head through Seagate for the noon transition to Mulberry where we're met by Anton. Framework for a new tower has being built in the back courtyard. Dunbar arrives in his balloon-basket ship, tying up to the new tower. After an extended lunch, we board and drift up into the clouds, finding the right winds. 4 hours later the clouds part and we approach the flying city to 'park' at a tower.
Dunbar stays with the ship, handing us over to Lorcan who takes us through customs and off by cable car to meet the Dwarves who are working through final preparations on their ship the Gryphon.
Their other ship, the Drake was on a two week mission and is now a week overdue.
Everforge Trading (ETC) bought up a couple of old Carracks and brought them to the Gnomes to get them fitted out for flight.
A church knight wandered out of the Dragonspines with gold he found on the ground near an old Dwarven hold, this triggered a gold rush amongst the local humans.
ETC decided to take advantage by shipping in and selling food & tools.
The plan is to head out to Konigburg, resupply then follow the Drake's planned route to the hold and look around.
While waiting we head out to see the sights and do some shopping and drinking.
We ask a local Sphinx if it knows what happened to The Drake, it decides that answering is a quicker route to peace than eating us.
Ills of your kin rise When old sins cast long shadows Buried in the past
- Reapsday 10th Snow
Returning in the morning, the ship is being prepared for departure. Bjorg directs us to our quarters.
Once untied, the ship drifts up then catches the winds and moves away.
The Gryphon
Details of the Airship Gryphon and its crew.
Into the Mountains
A stately shake-down flight, cruising through the clouds, getting to know the crew and the workings of the ship.
Setting anchor for the night, floating about 50' off the ground. Duvon elects to camp on the ground in a stone hut built by his Elemental.
- Sunday 11th Snow
Flying on we get to Konigburg in the late afternoon where we're met by Yanosh, Clovis' factor/cargo agent (human from Barovia Hold).
- Moonday 13th Snow
Shopping and sightseeing in Konigburg while the cargo is loaded aboard ship.
When everyone gets back that evening, Rabscuttle is missing, he got a forged message from Clovis directing him to go to a chandler's in town to pick up a chair. Locating and tracking Rabscuttle leads us to an old part of town where a small group of street thugs are trying to smash Rabscuttle apart. We accidentally kill 2 and capture the other 3 who confess they were hired to do this by a Dwarf at a shady Inn, The Raven. They were supposed to drop the parts at the back door of The Raven. We head there to check but the Dwarf is gone and nobody there knows who he is.
Back to the ship, we get a description of the Dwarf that did the hiring but nobody on the crew knows him. We let the remaining thugs go with a mix of stories to spread misinformation.
- Duesday 13th Snow - Th'rsday 15th Snow
Flying north, better food after the shopping in Konigburg market, investigating and divining Rabscuttle:
- Enchanted Dwarven Runes of animation incorporated into its cogs and components. Crystalline 'heart' full of life magic.
- Sentient Construct, GTN: Gearforged. Golem-like, has a spirit and an ITN. Usually in good health, self-repairing.
Slowing a little when we get into the mountains part way through the 14th.
On the 15th, a Roc takes interest in us and takes off with Ulf who was on watch in the crows nest. I chase after, annoying the Roc until he drops Ulf who I barely manage to catch and fly back to the ship.
- Frysday 16th Snow
The lookout spots a red balloon near the ground in the snow, The Drake. It is facing our way, it was heading south when it went down.
We approach carefully, it is anchored about 50' off the ground. 2 Dwarven corpses (dead just over two weeks ago from assassins short blades) and a sack of ore.
As we climb/fly up to the ship, we see 5 Dwarven bodies in sight on the deck and in the rigging, 1 in the crows nest. One of the ones on the main deck and the one at the helm have lesions or a rash. Another body fallen on its way into the captain's cabin, knife wounds. Another body at the base of the stairs down from the cabins, also dead, we're fairly sure it was poison in the porridge.
Curled around the mast is a living animal, Greater Ice Wyvern, was poisoned (eating a poisoned Dwarf corpse), it attacks.
Wyvern & Drake
I engage the Wyvern's teeth, Lyric steps in to carve it up, Henric bounces a spell off it, Hrothgar finishes it off. We find the remains of the Dwarf that it had been eating.
Bodric & I start the skinning while the others finish searching the ship.
- Greater Ice Wyvern Hide, teeth & bits
A dead (f) Dwarf killed by an area of flame (Dragonflames). Two Dwarves locked into close combat who killed each other. Eight dead humans (diseased, pustules, murdered in their sleep) in one fore-cabin, a group of dead halflings in the other (killed with poisoned weapons in a fight - Azure blade venom). Five more dead humans - a family? (murdered in their sleep). 15 dead Dwarves in total.
The gold ore in the sack is enriched by a touch of Mithril. It probably came from the open chest on the ship, the other (previously locked) chest is filled with the same ore.
The two dead Dwarves from below were also killed with daggers with Blue venom. They have medallions of Borgan/Athnar, rubbings of runic diagrams similar in style to those used in Rabscuttle. And pages torn from Captain Dain Stonebrow's log. The log pages detail trade and passengers:
- Mining camps near old caldera
- Dwarves occupying the old hold, let the humans in when winter hit hard.
- Trade with Halston (human), 2 chests of ore (120k sp) for their shipload of food and supplies.
- 8 quarantined (diseased) human passengers. Pustules are filled with dark silver bad-metal fluid.
- 5 not sick humans
- 3 Dwarven passengers (Albrkis, Alvin, Dagir)
- 4 Halflings
- as they headed home, some of the crew started showing signs of malaise,
Bored with waiting, Pongo flies down. He's most interested in the engine and his friend Sprinkle (Gnomish mechanician) who is clearly missing.
We brief Clovis and suggest he sends a minimal crew to identify the bodies and help secure the ship. He sends Bjorg (DA: Curse/Malady, Last Magic) who identifies the crew confirming our deduction that the crew are all dead, one of the Dwarf passengers and Sprinkle are missing. Coming over to fill out the 'prize' crew, Njal (DA: Curse/Malady) & Vianna (DA: Curse/Malady) - moderate strength magical disease/malady, Gold Fever (aka Dragon Greed).
Duvon cures Vianna of the Fever.
We get the Drake going, move to a more sheltered location and hunker down for the night until the storm has passed.
- Reapsday 17th Snow
We check the crew of the Gryphon and find they're all clear of the fever.
Bjorg (in command), Njal, Boso, Ulf, and Blain will take the Drake back to Konigburg. Henric and Hrothgar agree to step in as interim engineers looking after the steam engine, with assistance from stoker Oddrun and general meddling from Pongo. Bodric offers to take over breakfast from the departing Boso to some considerable relief.
Vianna, one of the other crew, Henric and I all have the fever by morning. Cures are applied.
In the Gryphon, we set sail for the hold.
The other Binder is the Traitor
We make a few hours progress before the weather closes in and we have to find shelter by midday, waiting out the blizzard for the rest of the day.
- Sunday 18th Snow
Pre-dawn, Bodric wakes us with cries of the ship drifting. The doors have become fused with the walls (Joining/Binding variant of Mending); stairways are frictionless; walls are adhesive; controls disabled. We hack our way out through former doors, slide down stairs, stick to walls, tear ourselves off again (less some beard), make our way down to the bottom deck to check out the engines...
Two small harlequin-golems amongst the cargo on the bottom deck; steam engine has been sabotaged, will probably explode soon; two holes in the hull at bottom deck level, one taking out part of the propeller; Ánarr the Stoker attacks Henric then falls through a new hole in the hull mid-combat; we take out the wood golem and sentient (triggering investeds) R&S golem; Vianna tries to 'secure' a chest of cursed gold; stabilize the steam engine; then the trapped fire in the coal store goes off, ripping a hole in the hull and losing a lot more cargo.
We eventually make it to ground level and 'beach' in the snow to assess damage and start patching.
- Golem Heart: Makes a Rag & String Golem a Sentient Servant, Zannie.
- Invested Adhesion, Frictionless Floor, Disintegration, Unfastening(?).
Carved in the wall near the engine is a Diamond inside an Octagon, similar to the holy symbol of Borgin.
Late in the afternoon, Duvon's elementals tow the ship back to where we were last night.
During the night a monstrous Ice Wyrm rams the ship, we lure it out with an elemental and knock a few chunks out of it before it flees.
- Moonday 19th Snow
Limping along with an improvised wooden propeller, several patched holes, heavy cloud, strong winds, limited visibility, slow progress.
Eventually come to a warm area - the caldera of the active volcano, next to the Dwarven Hold. Pulling up to the tower, a couple of giants throw rocks at us, we throw axes back at them and they retreat while we tie up.
Entering through the barred door at the top of the tower, we make our way down through empty levels to a lower level where the people are living close and odorous proximity - a variety of humans, halflings, and others.
Languages from below include Common, Folksprach, and Halfling. And sounds like a tavern.
To Dwarf and To Hold
- Sam, Halfling
- Dalm the brewer.
- Halston - Human, merchant with competent guards.
- Mamma - Elderly Halfling boss of the family.
- Father Johan, Raphaelite Priest and his 2 aids.
- Torbigon, Dwarven priest of the harvest
- Helga, Dwarven priest of death
- Sprinkle the Gnome
We head down into the Knucklebone Tavern / community room - drinking, gaming, talking.
Sam introduces us to Mamma, she's keen to trade for everything we have then Halston comes in with his guards to outbid and maintain his monopoly. Then the priest pleading for the starving and downtrodden. Clovis makes the deal, trading the majority to Halston, some to Mamma, and some seconds are donated to Johan. We take payment in Rubies, Topaz, Diamonds, Citrine, Amethyst, Silver, Platinum.
Over the course of summer, about 100 Dwarves arrived and took over the hold and closed it to everyone else. When winter hit heavily, the Dwarves allowed the other prospectors to shelter in limited parts of the hold.
About 3 weeks ago, a couple of the Dwarves executed a couple of prospectors for killing one of the Dwarven Elders.
We knock on the door and head on down to talk to the Hold Dwarves.
- Vardin
- Thin Silvertongue, Scald.
- High Castle Dwarves. Killed Elder was High Castle.
- Granite Peak Dwarves. Most of the trained fighters.
- East Guard. Small group of fighters.
- Azadmere. Gryphon Riders
- Brightrock. Mother & Daughter + retainers.
- 3 brothers from Wolf Kingdoms.
All have some ancestral claim to the hold here.
Story: The Dwarves gained great wealth from the Brill (True Gold). Borgin's dark twin (Athnar) cursed the gold with Avarice - the Gold Fever. There is rumour of a way to lift the curse, nobody knows what it is. Albrikis may have been researching this.
Story: The True Gold gradually became harder to find until everyone packed up and left. That doesn't fit with the recent levels of finds.
The Dwarves have heard disturbing howling from the deep. They have access to The Great Stair which connects to all levels. Yesterday, they sent a group of 20 Dwarves under the command of Thane Cragstone of Granite Peak to investigate why the furnaces are going cold, they're overdue.
We volunteer to go after Cragstone and crew, investigate below, and see what we can find. First we head upstairs to look for any remnant of Albrikis' notes. They put it inside him... the answer is the gears... Tears of the mother... wash away... mountain... cured.
One Rune suggests something hidden in plain sight. Another is the runic key to a significant lock / secret door.
Rabscuttle is caught tapping one wall upstairs, likely about to open a secret door based on locked off memories.
We chat with Clovis about what we've learned and our plans.
We rest, ready to head downstairs tomorrow.
Chapter 6
- Duesday 20th Snow
- W'nsday 21st Snow
- Th'rsday 22nd Snow
- Frysday 23rd Snow
- Reapsday 24th Snow
- Sunday 25th Snow
- Moonday 26th Snow
Locations
Buffs & Mil Sci
Buffs and Abilities
| Magic (caster) | Rk | Effects | Duration | Bo | Br | Du | Ha | He | Hr | Ly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength of Stone (He) | 12 | +12 EN | 13 hrs | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y |
| Armour of Earth (Du) | 10 | +22% Defence | 5.5 hrs | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| Enchant Armour (Ly) | 6 | +14% Defence | 3.5 hrs | |||||||
| Resist Cold (Ha) | 16 | +5 Temp Gauge, -5 Cold Dmg. | 9 hrs | Y | Y | Y | Y | |||
| Weapon of Cold (Ha) | 16 | +17 BC%, +6 Dam | 21 min ** | 4 | ||||||
| Ice Traversal (Ha) | 12 | 4 targets, +5 tmr over level ice/snow. | 4h 20m | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Spell (?) | ? | ? | ? | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Short Term
| Magic (caster) | Rk | Effects | Dur | Bo | Br | Du | Ha | He | Hr | Ly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enchant Weapon (Ly) | 16 | +17 BC%, +6 Dam | 21 min | |||||||
| Flying? (?) | ? | ? mph | ? | |||||||
| Spell (?) | ? | ? | ? | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Magic | Rk | Effects | Dur | Bo | Br | Du | Ha | He | Hr | Ly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Armour (Ha) | 16 | 26% 4 AP 1 SG 17 Fire | 9.5 hrs | Y | ||||||
| Mind Cloak (He) | 16 | +42% vs mental Attack | 33 hrs | Y |
| Capability | Rk | Effects | Dur | Bo | Br | Du | Ha | He | Hr | Ly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sense Danger (%) | 64% | |||||||||
| Detect Ambush (%) | Ranger (-5/rank of opposition) | 118% | ||||||||
| See Invis (Rk) | Effective rank for seeing invisible | 14 | ? | |||||||
| Stealth (%) | Std / Ranger Outdoors | 47% | % | % | 70% / 94% | % | % | % |
** Weapon of Cold Peace-Bound until needed.
- Enhance Enchantment
- Rk ? from Lyric
- Greater Enchantment
- Rk 20? from Lyric
- Mil Sci Raise Morale
- +3 WP - Bodric
- Brewing
- Golden Ale nightcap - +1 FT per hour of sleep
- Stoneybrew, Dur 1 Hr - +7 WP
- Fighting Ale, Dur 1 Hr - +7 EN, +5 PS, +4 FT, No Stun.
- Porter Ale, Dur 1 Hr - +7 PC, Death Aspect, +15% MR vs Charm/Hypnosis, +10% MR vs Illusion, -15% MR vs Necro/Wicca, Fearless.
- Herbalist Meals ?
- +3 FT for a Hot Meal, +2 FT for Broth
- Shape of Shelter (Br)
- Resting at night - for EN recovery, 1 hour counts as 24 hours. i.e. 3 hrs = 3 days rest = +1 EN. And FT recovery per hour is 6.
Astrology
| Bodric | Bromli | Duvon | Haedric | Henric | Hrothgar | Lyric |
| 2 |
Watch Order
| Hour: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duvon | Bodric | Hrothgar | Duvon | |||||||||
| Henric | Haedric | Lyric | ||||||||||
Marching Order
| Skirmish Formations (Front) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Default
Bodric
Bromli
Duvon
Haedric
Henric
Hrothgar
Lyric |
Single File
Bodric
Bromli
Duvon
Haedric
Henric
Hrothgar
Lyric | |
Calendar
| Winter: Frost 824 (7) | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moonday | Duesday | W'ansday | Th'rsday | Frysday | Reapsday | Sunday | ||||||||
|
Samhain | 1 | Guild Meeting Seagate | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||||
|
7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |||||||
|
14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 10 | |||||||
|
21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | |||||||
|
|
28 | 29 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||
| Winter: Snow 823 (8) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |||||||
|
|
12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Solstice | 16 | 17 | The Duke of Carzala's Winter Ball | 18 | Yuletide | ||||
|
|
19 | Days of Chaos | 20 | DoC2 | 21 | DoC3 | 22 | DoC4 | 23 | DoC5 | 24 | DoC6 | 25 | DoC7 |
|
|
26 | DoC8 | 27 | DoC9 | 28 | DoC10 | 29 | DoC11 | 30 | Twelfth Night | 1 | 2 | ||
| Winter: Ice 823 (9) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | First Plough | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||||
|
|
10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |||||||
|
|
17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | |||||||
|
|
24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |||||||
