Underworld Adventurer

   Mischief Night is here as Orm starts the Souling Tide. Lanterns carved out of beets are set to ward against spirits, devils, elves, and other beings that will travel freely for the next week between this world and the Otherworld. Livestock are being selected for sacrifice. Wood is being set for bonfires around the Monument of the Old Gods and near the untouched corpse near Orm's center. Feasts are being prepared. Twisted papier-mâché masks have their finishing touches made was others get out their deep-hooded robes to guise themselves as the dead or other spirits. This Mischief Night, though, will not be like any other. This is something Fancy Jean-Yves, Copra, Kaan, and the Seer Kiddo discover as the return to the Burning Witch with a plea for a rescue party to be formed to rescue their fellow adventurers left behind in the clutches of the Imperial Mother and her forces. There is a peculiarity to the patrons of the Burning Witch that only grows with the day. The trio's aw...

 Here is Bors Redbeard's latest journal entry covering his take on the events of the last dungeon dive by the Dragon Slayers over at the Drinking Crow : Bors’ Journal Entry Fourteen: I almost lost Lefty.  Luckily I had that strange crystalline fruit which healed him right back up.  It also didn’t have the addicting component as the fruit that I gave Whiskers. Hopefully the fruit we planted will sprout, I have no idea how long it will take to grow and start making fruit, but I hope that it has some sort of magic and it will be relatively quick.  Although I do realize that we are planting it in a completely different habitat than what we found it growing in, but magic does make some strange things happen. After finding out that the Illuminated Eye were on the second level, the Great Hero Malagath was wanting to get rid of them, however, a few of us were low on funds and were trying to get a haul up instead.  We went down to a part of level 3 we haven’t really...

The streets of Orm are alive again as the city-state gets a break from their recent public health crisis. Here is what folks are talking about: Most of Orm is a buzz with excitement for the impending Souling Tide   starting with tomorrow at sundown with Mischief Night . It doesn't hurt that the holiday season comes just as Yellow Fever seems to have decided to recede from Orm. With the wealthy are returning and the healers brought to Orm through Bors Redbeard's efforts have yet to depart, it is believed that this year's festivities will be larger than normal. The coins spent traditional delights , decorations , and respectably ghoulish costumes is expected to be greater , too, as the recent trade woes brought on by the recent outbreak and the raiding in nearby waters continues to see Orm starved for goods . The mournful tone that hung over the Burning Witch seems to have passed has an influx of post-Yellow Fever business hits the tavern (though it still lags behind...

 A party of adventurers gathered in the Burning Witch . Much of the number was composed of dungeon delvers who in recent months have ventured into 'The Complex' with less frequency than they had earlier in the year. There were no special guests from the Drinking Crow . In many ways, outside of scars earned from the dungeon underworld or acquired treasures, the party could have been in its composition been from those early summer days before Yellow Fever have begun to plague Orm. This lot, whose last time walking the halls of 'The Complex' average well past a fortnight, whatever immediate objects they knew had mostly grown clouded in the haze of time. PakPak said he had a business transaction with some dwarves near the statue of the man holding a key on Level 3. The following party agreed to start there and see where fate took them: Abraxis (Level 3 Fighting Mutant) Betina (Level 2 Fighter) Murfy (Level 1 Magic-User) PakPak (Level 4 Kobold) Phasmo (Level 3 Magic-User) Wo...

 The last time the adventurers based out of the Drinking Crow journeyed to 'The Complex', it was to lead Journeyman Crannoc and Riverborn Scamandros to a parley with the self-proclaimed Sorcerer-King Valtropis. As they eyed another delve before the end of the month, their thoughts turned to the bills soon coming due. As they weighed options, Copra Kaan mentioned the rumored reappearance of the Order of the Illuminated Eye on Level 2. The hero Malagath Finbaros declared that they ended to "...put an end to those assholes." Ultimately, though, the group settled on Level 3 as the best chance to make some coin. As the following party left, they discussed whether to steal the magical bedding of the Imperial Mother (Copra's suggestion) or investigate further the mostly unknown Northern section of the dungeon level: Bors Redbeard (Level 4 Dwarf) Lefty Redbeard (Level 1 dwarf hireling) Copra Kaan (Level 3 Vat Spawn) Fredrick Featherstone (Level 4 Vestigater) Gregor the G...

 After the 20th session of the Drinking Crow crew's adventures, Bor's player Shahnawz delivered to me an entry in the dwarfin adventurer's journal that slipped past me. Here it is: Bors’ Journal Entry Thirteen: It’s good to be back home. I had missed my brothers and Gabby.  It is good to see Lefty so happy and relieved. The meeting was…interesting. They had paralyzed me with the carrion crawlers as a precaution before the meeting, I had complied as to not jeopardize anything and that it can be completed peacefully.  That…mostly happened.  The first thing I saw as the paralysis wore off was the Riverborn Scamandros stabbing Valtropis in the heart.  I at first thought that the meeting went terribly, terribly wrong, but then none of Valtropis’ troops did anything offensive. Whatever the deal Scamandros and Crannoc made with Valtropis apparently involved his death.  After that affair was all done with, we decided since we were here anyway, might as well go...

 The Athenaeum of the Dying Sun received a research request most usual a couple weeks ago. Much in Orm seems different since then. It was before the death of the 111th Company founder Banx. It was before the magician Scamandros, sometimes called Riverborn, stabbed the Sorcerer King Valtropis in his heart with his own dagger. The adventuring assassin Thea Noir was still a captive of the Order of the Illuminated Eye. The skald Fancy Jean-Yves Beauvollier wasn't married yet, either. Yes, indeed, times were very different in Orm when the Midnight Marauders offered to trade the location of an unspoiled chest of treasure for a quartet of librarians assistance in fixing the injury to their light-fingered compatriot Carabas. Some vats as drawn by Hate Pit's player Marie for comic. The Pool of Life is more orderly than this but looks less cool. The magician and co-founder of the Athenaeum, Journeyman Crannoc, quickly volunteered to undertake the first round of research into the matter. ...

 Phasmo returned to his notes on the research he is conducting into the rune-covered skull said to belong to one "Huugal Aerith". How does he know that is the name of the owner of said skull? According to Copra Kaan, the vat spawn adventurer that contracted Phasmo's efforts in researching the skull, Huugal's ghost told him as much. While not plagued by some unquieted spirit seeking a final rest, Phasmo still was pleased that Copra asked the Beholder to pick from one of the four lines of inquiry unearth in his efforts to pursue further. They were: Further delving into Xeelos exploration of the theology of the tale of Huugal Gold Tooth and the Four Divine Beasts. Studying more about the specifics in Xeelos' writing about the tomb Huugal's body resides. Researching the Vale Among the Oneric Mounds or Peaks in the only tome cited by Xeelos the library has-- Homerinous'  History of Magical Mysterious Appendix N: The Peculiar Realms of Twilight, Elfin and Other...

 The last few weeks, a seat in one of the dark corners of the Burning Witch has been vacant. Its usual resident, Thea Noir, has not been seen in the tavern nor on the streets of Orm since a delve into 'The Complex' almost a month back. When the waghalter did not return from the nearby underworld, it was without the fanfare usually surrounding the death or disappearance those brave & desperate souls that seek gold & glory in the nearby underworld. It was said that she had some matters to attend to before returning to the surface soon after. For the gnome adept GaWoosh, a month passing before her resurfacing was not soon enough. GaWoosh pulled together a small party to return to the Complex and see what fate befell his adventuring peer. That group consisted of: Abraxis (Level 1 Fighting Mutant) Fancy Jean-Yves Beauviller (Level 4 Bard) Freedom (Sapient Cat) DT (dungeon doggy) Two unnamed vampiric frogs Ur-Kel (Level 2 Vat Spawn Knight hireling) GaWoosh (Level 3 Gnome) Th...

  Dungeons are packed with treasure. After all, isn't that why adventurers decide to plumb their depths? While treasure finds of items that spend easily like coins of precious metals, gems, and jewelry often make up the winnings of successful adventuring expeditions; they are not the only items of value a party will haul back to the surface world.  Eager to make the most out of a group's expeditions, they often grab anything that looks like one could turn over for a quick coin or two. To turn such items into gold, though, adventurers have to locate an interested party to sell these art objects, non-magical tomes, trade goods, and other valuable dungeon oddities. Below is a new downtime system for locating buyers for dungeon treasures not inherently valuable like coins or gems or easily pawned off due to being made of inherently high-value items (like jewelry, items made of precious metals, etc.). The activity is based on some of the other downtime systems designed by Ben L. w...