Underworld Adventurer

 A Cold Moon eclipse had visited the night skies above Ur-Dun. With it came the powerful potential for change. Several of Orm's adventurers had locked themselves away to uncover some new element of their magical craft. Two among them were Journeyman Crannoc and Fancy Jean-Yves Beauvollier. In their breaks from their respective work, they would chew over one final adventure for the year with their fellows over at the Burning Witch or among the stacks of the Athenaeum of the Dying Sun. Soon, most of Orm would shut down for the Winter Solstice. The Ormens would partake in ancient ceremony to coax the Sun to not recline in final rest but shine its light upon this world for another year. Meanwhile, members of the Transcendental Congress of the Aureate Precepts would venture off to the Halls of the Brilliant Assembly to present their magical research and obtuse debate about the minutia of the Precepts that bind their order. Two topics of plunder rose to the top of the conversation for th...

Kiddo's player Cullen shared this image during the session the Frieze of the Seven Archons was discovered. How could I not let the magnificence of its design override my more Greek-inspired conception of the wonder the party had discovered?   On a previous delve into the Great Cavern below the complex, a party of adventurers based out of the Burning Witch discovered a magnificent work of holy art: The Frieze of the Seven Archons of Law . One of the party members, Bludoon, was able to surmise from his observations from his time cooking for some dwarven construction teams that it would take a skilled construction team under the guidance of a seasoned engineer to pull off the transportation of the Frieze to the surface. Another of the group's number, the bard Fancy, met with his patron the Duke Clavis of Far Anterra  about sponsoring such an expedition upon the parry's return to Orm. It took Duke Clavis a but of time to assemble a crew for such an unusual project. It was dif...

This post is the start of a new track on this blog. Previously, Underworld Adventurer has served a functional purpose of management for my Twilight Age campaign. The beginning of December, Sean McCoy tweeted about and then later  wrote on Substack about an idea he is calling #Dungeon23. The concept is simple: create a megadungeon in 2023 by writing a room a day and a level a month. A bunch of folks got inspired to take up the #Dungeon23 project. I am among them. I plan to post here about once a week or so with my progress on the megadungeon with more regular updates over on my instagram. View this profile on Instagram Underworld Adventure (@ underworldadventure ) • Instagram photos and videos That is about the end of my established plans for #Dungeon23. Some folks have pretty develop ideas of what they aim to do for their megadungeon but I am looking at the endeavor as a chance to engage in some creative play. Before the pandemic, I used to spend a lot of ti...

  The Wolf's Head that replaced the doors to the Impossible Fortress' throne room this passed Mischief Night as drawn by PakPak's player Rob A. Mischief Night once again had come to Orm. Two years after a celebration went mysteriously wrong , the people of Orm were ready to return of to partaking in the pre-spiritual holiday revieres of the night traditionally entails. The homes of Orm were decorated with carved beets casting a dim glow from their candles. Wood for the bonfire near the Monument of the Old Gods was stacked high while the sacrificial animals for its fires were being selected. And, yes, Ormens donned their traditional  papier-mâché  masks and deep-hooded robes to costume themselves as spirits and demons. A select few of Orm's adventuring community received messages from the near-by Impossible Fortress. Each sealed with the manticore symbol of that fortification's ruler: the Rani. These missives noted how each of them had caught notice of the court of t...

 The dwarven dungeon chef Bludoon had found success on his last adventure finding the ingredients for a top quality dish to impress the Order of the Dragon. The problem was, Drinking Crow regular Father Bert produced one of equal quality. The Bronze Dragon herself, the Dame Galatea, decided that only with a battle between the two adventuring cooks would resolve their competition. The knightly order's Hunter's Moon feast turned into a sudden death culinary face-off. In the end, Father Bert prevailed. Back at the Burning Witch , Bludoon nursed his loss over drinks. Commiserating with him was Wolfgang, fresh off of a month long absence from adventuring due to the loss of his off-hand arm. There were sorrows to be loss and a handful of of other adventuring regulars of the Witch help spin the pair from their sorrows towards dreams of adventure and loot. After a few drinking sessions worth of plotting, the following group were seen headed off towards the beaches east of Orm and ...

 The adventurers based out of the Drinking Crow (having adopted the new moniker of 'Demon Slayers' after the events of a recent adventure) gathered at their regular spot in the tavern to celebrate! Father Bert had won the cooking competition run by the Order of the Dragon. While the errant friar nearly achieved culinary perfection with his 'Saucisse Sous La Vapeurn D'Enfer', the skill was expertly matched by the stuffed lizard prepared by the dungeon chef Bludoon. In the final cook off set against the Order of the Dragon's Hunter's Moon feast, Father Bert prevailed against his dwarfin rival. To this, the Demon Slayers raised their glasses. The stranger that claimed to be Armeen of the Two-Rivers Attempting to join their table was person claiming to be Armeen. These person had a higher pitched voice, more pronounced cheek bones, longer hair, and a smaller frame than the cleric. They seemed like a stranger. The group seemed unconvinced by this person's cla...

 Bludoon sought to enter the cooking contest set up by the Order of the Dragon. The dwarfin chef dreamed of making giant lizard tail stuffed with glowing mushrooms. He pulled together a hunting party to travel down to the river on Level 2 of 'The Complex' to catch one of those deadly lizards whose like that had previous killed some adventurers. Adding to the pressure, Bludoon had heard of the rumor of the bar-setting dish Father Bert had created over the white-hot scales of a demon. The following party could be seen lugging bear traps and ghillie suits towards the Iron Gate of the Rani: Bex (Level 1 Vat Spawn) Bludoon (Level 1 Dwarf) Dawg Dog (Level 1 Cleric of Zotul) Drone 7 (Level 0 ex-Red Hive Drone hireling) Maevra Lun (Level 1 Plague Thief) Shoeless Vo (Level 1 Thief hireling) Ngorome (Level 1 Magic-User) Palla (Level 0 Amazon hireling) The party returned through the Iron Door of the Rani about three hours later. They were forced to pay a 10gp tax on the waterskin of r...