Keep on the Shadowfell: Part Ten

This is part ten of a continuing series documenting the deeds (sometimes heroic) of the adventurers (sometimes worthy) that I DM for once a fortnight. It's primarily here so I can remember what the hell was going on in the last session. See all previous entries here.

At the end of the last (basically undocumented) session, our heroes had returned to Winterhaven to find the local graveyard had turned into some sort of recruiting ground for a Zombie army, led my Ninnarin, a mysterious elf who had appeared in the town at the start of the campaign, and was now revealed to be an agent of Kalarel. Long story short - 1 dead elf and a bunch of dead zombies.

The party finally had a chance to rest and recuperate, to explore the town some more and stock up on supplies. Much bartering was done, with Marroar upgrading to a +2 staff of Dubious Suggestibility and Scrindrel failing to bargain his way to a +2 longbow. Searos prayed to Avandra, and Malachi became very interested in exactly how many guardsmen there were protecting the town.

A small fight broke out in Bearwin's shop, forcing him to close early, but oddly Malachi seemed to emerge from the shop's front door some time after it had been locked, looking significantly better off in terms of potions and alchemist's fire. The team set off again, to continue their exploration of the Keep.

Returning to the maze of caves that had previously outwitted them, the party felt fully revitalised and able to dispatch the Kruthiks with ease. Later however, in the chamber of the mysterious pool, the party could still not be drawn to battle the magical ooze, despite the obvious treasure residing in the central island. An ill-thought out mage hand was summoned by Marroar to try to carry some gold back across the acidic water, but it clumsily dropped most of the coins, which instantly dissolved.

Finally, the stairs to the second level were reached. Below, in a large lit chamber, a hobgoblin issued a challenge phrase: "Shadow seeks shadow!" Recalling a note that had been found on Ninnarin and addressed to Kalarel, the party replied: "From the ground, some magic was found!"

However, this phrase had been placed with Ninnarin as a trap, and the hobgoblins knew straight away that their comrade was dead, and these folk were the culprits!

DM Notes: 1. Malachi is the only member of the party who is not Good or Lawful Good, which makes his character lots of fun to DM. I can't give away too much (because my other players are supposed to read this!) but some other gameplay occurred that only Malachi's player is aware of, and to achieve this we used Roll20's whisper functionality. Give it a try. 2. The pool of magical acid is completely different to the one in the published Keep on the Shadowfell adventure, which is a sort of large blob that occupies a 2x2 square and moves around a pool of actual water. A few weeks ago when the players first reached this area, I was underprepared and over-tired (which is pretty much every game) and went with my first recollection of what the pool was supposed to be. It's made it a much harder enemy, that they are yet to defeat, but it's also generated some funny roleplaying moments, and that's more important than accurate combat situations. How many of your players have a prosthetic wooden toe? 3. This session was sponsored (or at least, lubricated) by Potholder, a lovely Cheddar Golden Ale.