Vampire Stew and Bubble-Gum Walls

A synopsis of last night’s session of Legends Of Bucktangle (D&D 5E homebrew campaign), by Tim Gunsinger @MrGunsinger. Thanks Tim!

Having entered what seemed to be the basement of the Tower of O’sha’med, the Defenders of Thornkeep (I forget what name we settled on) found themselves in a room with 12 sarcophagi, which upon opening one resulted in a game of undead whack-a-mole.

After controlling the undead attack they were met by a large orc wearing a pink hat. Haff quickly made friendly with this fellow before it spoke of waiting until nighttime to climb out of the tomb to feast on the surface dwellers. It was then that Gunzin began thinking out loud to piece together what everyone already had…this orc was a vampire.

Continuing his thoughts out loud, Gunzin suggested the orc fellow take a rest in one of the sarcophagi until evening. In the meantime, Gimble cast major illusion to give himself and his friends some fangs and a paler complexion to further earn the orc’s trust. Haff and Taman escorted the orc to the sarcophagus of his choosing and closed the lid after convincing him that they indeed would not forget to wake him…

Gunzin dug into his bag and pulled out some clay that he smeared into the crevices along the lid and using the stone shape spell that the spirits provided him, he sealed the sarcophagus and added a bowl shaped funnel with a hole leading to the orc inside. He then plugged the hole with some fresh clay and filled it with water from his flask.

Haff blessed the water with Gambira’s might, making it holy then Taman casually removed the clay plug, bathing the vampire in some holy water.

Generic, the orc, screamed in agony within the sarcophagus, begging for help from his “friends”. They immediately “helped” by adding a couple flasks of oil and tossing down a flame. This didn’t seem to make Generic feel any better, so Haff called to Gambira again and summoned a moon beam inside the sarcophagus. Generic went silent inside…

They decided to clear out the rest of the sarcophagi and began to do so quite efficiently. With a hasted Taman running around like mad punching everything that jeered at the team (including some bear dudes that showed up to inspect the noise), Haff doing his best to try and one-up the speedy monk by slicing down anything in his path, Gunzin in dire wolf form nipping at the undead and Gimble saying “feck” a lot, the team secured the room.

In his speedy state, Taman ran off to inspect as much as he could. He discovered a spa room, which Gimble very much wanted to visit, however Gunzin detected the ring with the gear in the opposite direction and stubbornly urged the team to head in that direction instead.

Further exploration of the nearby armory resulted in Haff tossing his old shield aside for a magical one and the discovery of some nice armor. The team took a short break while having the workers above haul out the armor and an odd band of metal, which had the same odd symbol they had seen before.

The team discovered a sitting room with tapestries that depicted the same individual at different stages of his life. Throughout the tapestries it seemed he became very powerful, possibly god-like. A tower was noted in many of the tapestries as well as the symbol. Gimble sampled the brandy. It was delicious.

Taman and Haff scouted ahead, discovering a trap door on the floor that led to a pit of black liquid. Luckily Taman’s ability to keep an eye on his surroundings helped him find the trap before stepping on it.

In the next room, some alchemy experiments were being conducted, though no person could be seen anywhere nearby. Taman noticed the back corner of the room seemed odd and upon inspection, the wall was almost fluid, fully forming in front of his eyes. Haff’s eyes were attracted to an elegant sword hanging on the wall. The words “the heart of the dungeon” were engraved upon a plaque beneath it. Haff patiently waited with outstretched hands for permission to take the sword. Gimble and Gunzin snorted some chemicals.

Taman gave the word for Haff to take the sword off the wall (after moving across the room from the sword). A burst of poisonous gas shot out from the wall all the way to where Taman now stood. Haff choked on the poison, but used Gambira’s resolve to remove any lasting effects. Taman shrugged it off as he tends to do.

An oddity came through the door at this moment, gurgling and changing form as it went. Tentacles outstretched, mouths agape and eyes blinking all over. Its form constantly changed with the eyes and mouths replacing each other. The floor around it became a liquid, like a sticky gum. The team set to battling it, but found it difficult to focus with its shrieks and its bright flashes that blinded poor Gunzin in wolf form.

Haff went toe-to-toe with the creature, keeping it at bay and preventing it from moving further into the room. Gunzin relied on his sense of smell and hearing to target the creature and took a bite. Gimble…said “feck” a lot. In the meantime Taman powered up his ring and knocked the creature backwards with a wave of force. It slammed onto the trap door and fell down into the dark pit.

Examining the sword that Haff had pulled from the wall, Gimble discovered it was enchanted to make it look like it had a powerful enchantment. Impressed by the illusion, he decided he would hold onto it (and maybe fetch a high price for it at the market…). Gimble also discovered that the papers in the room that at first glance appeared to have writing, held nothing but scribbles…another illusion or trick of this dungeon?

It was then that the group found their way to a library. Immediately checking whether these books held real words, Gimble flipped through some pages. They were indeed real books! Gimble was excited. Gunzin searched for a book on prehistoric beasts long extinct in hopes of learning the nature of beasts he would otherwise not get to observe in person. He successfully held his book and pondered what other knowledge this library might hold. Haff searched for a book that described Hal Gambir in the times before the Pangid Empire to learn about the history of his faith, but couldn’t navigate the odd numbered system the books were organized in. Taman wanted to know more about the dark magics the Jaljala employed, but alas his search turned up poorly as well. Gimble had many interests, but first focused on trying to find a book that would help him unblock Wijaro’s mind. His initial search came up empty, but the book may be somewhere else within the vast shelves…