Session Report: Lair of the Fomorians #5
The initial party roster for this session consisted of Gallachan (Cleric 1) and Aviros (Magic-User 1). This session began as a “duet game” with a single player playing both of these characters. Shortly after the beginning of the session, however, an additional two players would join in, and the party would expand to include Gladden (Fighting-Man 1), Grognarr (Fighting-Man 4), one hired torch-bearer, and six hired Light Foot.
When Aviros’s player was rolling to determine their starting spell, it came up with “Contact Higher Plane”. The player and I both commented on how this was a cool spell for a first-level Magic-User to begin play with, and that it would be interesting to see how this spell would be used in the course of the game.
After stocking up on supplies, Gallachan and Aviros made their way to the sinkhole, climbing down into the darkness with little hesitation. Once inside, the duo made their way east, and as they continued in this direction, they both heard the sound of discordant chanting, being intoned in a deep, thunderous voice.
This sound was coming from the north, and the party elected to investigate further.
Turning north at a four-way intersection, the party made their way to a wooden door at the end of a long corridor. The sound of the chanting was definitely coming from behind this door, along with a strong smell of incense and smoke.
The party attempted to force open the door, but failed their first attempt. Immediately, the chanting stopped, and the door was pulled open. Standing in the threshold was a tall, gaunt Fomorian, wearing a loincloth and little else. The Fomorian was covered from head to foot in white chalk or ochre, and appeared greatly aged, with long grey hair, and a long grey beard. Behind the Fomorian, several lit braziers could be seen, filling the room with a heavy, sweet-smelling smoke.
The Fomorian gave a cry of anger, and the party began to flee, with the Fomorian in close pursuit. The party crashed through one set of doors, and continued running back towards the west. As they took pause at a second set of doors, Aviros cast “Contact Higher Plane”, and asked if there was anything he could do to somehow get the Fomorian “on his side”.
From a referee’s standpoint, this is a perfect example of why I love running old-school D&D. This single spell totally changed the course of the game, and there was no way I could have predicted this turn of events taking place.
I took a moment to shuffle through my notes, and I noted that I had previously identified a “power vacuum” that currently existed amongst the denizens of this dungeon level. After the Fomorian King was slain in the first session, there was tension between the Fomorian Queen, the Fomorian Sage, the Fomorian Champion, and the Fomorian Enchantress, regarding who would “step-up” and become the overall leader of the Fomorians. Roughly speaking, the Fomorian Queen and the Fomorian Champion are at odds with the Fomorian Sage, while the Fomorian Enchantress is not aligned with any particular faction at the moment, and instead seems to be “biding their time”, waiting for an opportune moment to strike.
All of this was entirely unknown to the players, until Aviros cast their spell, revealing this information to him. Fortunately for the Magic-User, when I rolled to determine if the information was true, and if the information was known, the answer was yes, and when I rolled to determine if the Magic-User was driven insane in the course of learning this information, the answer was no.
Now enlightened, the Magic-User turned back to face the direction they had come from, just as the doors to the east crashed open, and the Fomorian Sage came stomping down the corridor towards the party. By this time, Gallachan had managed to force open the western doors, and was poised to flee through them should the need arise.
The Magic-User shouted to the incoming Fomorian Sage, saying that the party would ally with him to defeat the Fomorian Queen. This unexpected offer broke through the Sage’s hostility, and after a short period of discussion, the Sage and the party agreed to form an alliance (at least temporarily) and go kill the Fomorian Queen together.
At this time, another two players joined the game, and the characters Gladden (Fighting-Man 1) and Grognarr (Fighting-Man 4) joined the party, accompanied by one hired torch-bearer and six hired Light Foot. After a quick introduction and explanation of what was going on, this combined force travelled to the east, heading towards the chambers of the Fomorian Queen. Two of the Light Foot were dispatched to scout out a branching northern passageway (doing so begrudgingly), while the remainder of the party continued east.
After coming to another door and forcing it open, the party found themselves in a throne room of some kind, with a huge stone throne in the middle of the room. There was a great tapestry on the north wall, which depicted Fomorians sacrificing humans at a circle of large menhirs. Seated on the throne was a female Fomorian of great stature and beauty, wearing ornate clothing. Two enormous war-dogs, resembling giant Irish wolf-hounds, lay at her feet.
As the party burst into the room, the Queen leapt to her feet, drawing a finely-made dagger, and shrieking “you’ve interfered with my affairs for the last time” as she caught sight of the Sage.
Battle was joined immediately, with the Sage rushing in to grapple with the Queen. As he tore at her with his gnarled claws, the Queen thrust at him with her dagger, and her snarling war-hounds leapt at the party, teeth-bared. The throne room turned into a slaughterhouse, with one of the Light Foot being torn apart, and both Gladden and Grognarr being grievously wounded. The combined efforts of the surviving Light Foot was enough to fell one of the dogs, which went down looking like a porcupine, such was the number of spears that had been thrust into it.
There came a gasping gurgle as the Sage was felled, the Queen driving her dagger deep into his chest. Another Light Foot was slain by the remaining war-hound, and it looked as if Grognarr would be joining him in death, until Gladden leapt in, and brought his sword down with all his strength across the middle of the hound’s back. As the hound’s back legs suddenly sagged, the last surviving Light Footman lunged forward with their spear, driving it deep into the hound’s snarling open mouth. The already bloodied spear-head pierced through the roof of the creature’s mouth into its brain, finishing the beast off at last.
There was no time to celebrate this victory, however, as the Fomorian Queen was still standing, albeit barely. It was evident that the Queen had been heavily injured in her battle with the Sage, but now the Sage was laying immobile on the ground, and the Queen was standing over him, the dagger in her hand red to the hilt.
With a war cry, the remaining party members charged at the Queen, weapons raised. As the battle began anew, the Queen’s dagger stabbed down through the swirling melee like the beak of a hunting heron, and pierced Gladden through the top of the chest, slaying him instantly! Although their numbers were diminished, the party’s determination was unabated, and the Queen was put to the sword a moment afterwards. At this point, the room was covered in blood, and strewn with corpses, both human and monster.
After catching their breath, the weary party gathered up the blood-spattered jewellery and fine clothing worn by the Queen. In addition, the party took hold of the Queen’s dagger, which was big enough to be wielded as a single-handed sword by an ordinary-sized man. When held, the the dagger gave off the signature “static charge” of a magic weapon, but no other immediate effects were apparent.
After cutting the throat of the fallen Fomorian Sage to ensure that he was completely dead, the party decided to investigate his now-vacant lair. After travelling north to the lair, the party entered, finding a wooden chest, covered in strange magic runes. The party asked their final remaining Light Footman to open the chest, and after a morale check to see if they were up for it, the Light Footman stepped forward to do their duty.
There was a loud crack and a searing flash of blue light, as the sizzling remnants of the Light Footman spattered the walls, ceiling, and the remaining party members. An “Explosive Runes” spell had been triggered as the chest was tampered with, killing the Light Footman instantly. After recovering from the shock of this unexpected event, the party cautiously opened the chest, as it appeared to have discharged its reservoir of magical energy, and was seemingly now inert.
Inside the now-smoking chest, the party found a crystal ball, as well as multiple large sheets of preserved human skin, tattooed with magical sigils. This appeared to be a gruesome “spellbook” of some kind.
With this treasure in tow, the party began to make their way back to the entrance. There was no sign of the two scouts that the party had sent off earlier, so now the party was only consisted of Gallachan, Aviros, Grognarr, and one terrified torchbearer. The party made it to the surface with no further incident, bringing the session to a close.
After the post-session treasure accounting had been dealt with, Gallachan, Aviros, and Grognarr all walked away with a substantial haul of 1898 XP each, and 1428 GP. The Fomorian Queen’s dagger was subsequently identified as being equivalent to a + 1 sword, without sentience or any further abilities.