Chronicles of Arcania: B/X Homebrew game.

Game Master Peet

Guys, I will post when I get home.

3:50 PM, Day 8

The party proceeds back towards the room with the eternal torches. But as they are getting close, they hear the sound of chanting coming from up ahead. The chanting is in no language that the party has ever heard.

I'll make up a tactical map soon enough. But you can see the position of the party and where the noise is coming from on the TIER 4 MAP.

Brathas has taken back his short sword from Fistep.
Presumably Fistep has King Alexander's magic sword?

Wallia says, "Should we just let them pass or should we introduce ourselves?"

Ferrous puts up a gauntleted hand to signal the group to stop and continues ahead around the corner to discover the source of the chanting.
Utilizing his infravision what does the dwarf see?

Brathas has taken back his short sword from Fistep.

Presumably Fistep has King Alexander's magic sword?

which sword? can't find one other than the 2handed ana is using, and the magic short sword you are

The one taken from the king's tomb. The sword has an inscription on the blade:
βροντον, it was found to be magical but we are not sure how.

Ferrous puts up a gauntleted hand to signal the group to stop and continues ahead around the corner to discover the source of the chanting.

Utilizing his infravision what does the dwarf see?

Ferrous is just going ahead enough to peer around the corner. Hopefully seeing the source of the chanting.

Rather than split the party I am having everyone follow along a little ways behind Ferrous.

As Ferrous approaches the bend in the corridor, he can smell incense wafting towards him, and he can make out the words of the chanting, though not their meaning. It sounds as if one voice is calling out a phrase, and then it ies being repeated by several other voices.

"Arûm kala tala tû..."
"Arûm kala tala tû..."
"Maka paka barha zû..."
"Maka paka barha zû..."

As he comes towards the bend in the hallway he can see a group of five Cynidiceans approaching at a very slow pace. They are dressed in burgundy robes and wear masks that portray a demonic face. They have maces clipped to their belts, and hold incence burners dangling from chains.

When the lead man sees Ferrous, he stops short. He stares at Ferrous for several moments, speechless.

Finally he speaks.

"What's this? Are these... demons I see?" he asks, haltingly.

The others behind him repeat his words, chanting.
"What's this? Are these... demons I see?"

Guys, I am going to switching to Google Slides for tactical maps and illustrations. The first map is up now.

TACTICAL MAP FOLDER

Can I hear the chants? If so do I understand or can I recognize the religion?

Wisdom check 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

Ferrous grins psychotically and answers the question with an inhuman howl taking a 5ft step towards the group banging his axe against his shield.
He is trying to scare the group by reinforcing their belief that he is a demon.

Brathas stands confused as Ferrous starts acting demonic.

Is this Dwarven diplomacy? I've heard that some apes do such displays to establish dominance. I hope they don't think he wants to take over their band and mate with all of their females. We don't have time for that.

rotfl

Hearing Ferrous make all that noise, he pulls in sword and readies his shield as he steps forward by the dwarf.

Ana merely raises an eyebrow (and readies her weapon).

Zynazyr shakes his head and looks around with a puzzled look on his face as if he's not sure how he got here. He watches the men closely for any aggressive behavior, preparing to cast a sleep spell if needed.

Damn... I made a reply here and I don't see it, so it looks like it got eaten. I'll do it again tonight.

Ferrous grins psychotically and answers the question with an inhuman howl taking a 5ft step towards the group banging his axe against his shield.

The Cynidicean steps back, shocked.

"Demons from the north! Brothers, to action! This is our calling!"

He raises the incense burner high, and with his other hand he reaches into a bag on his belt. Only he pulls the whole bag free and holds it high, his hand within - it turns out it is some kind of hand puppet, with long floppy ears. Perhaps it is meant to represent a rabbit, or a donkey.

"BEHOLD! I BANISH YOU IN THE NAME OF PUMPERNICKLOS! ARAKO ZARO KUM TAHARR!" he shouts. Though he is moving the "mouth" of the hand puppet, it is pretty clear that he is the one speaking.
"BEHOLD! I BANISH YOU IN THE NAME OF PUMPERNICKLOS! ARAKO ZARO KUM TAHARR!" the others chant.

He walks forward, waving his incense burner at Ferrous. The others begin to follow, single file.

"RETURN! RETURN TO THE LAND OF DEMONS! MARKO GORO GOMO PAR!" he calls out.
"RETURN! RETURN TO THE LAND OF DEMONS! MARKO GORO GOMO PAR!" say the others.

He marches past Ferrous, and turns north to circle around him. The others march slowly behind.

"BEGONE, DEMONS OF THE NORTH AND WEST! GUMBO TORO NEEBO ZOO!" he yells.
"BEGONE, DEMONS OF THE NORTH AND WEST! GUMBO TORO NEEBO ZOO!" repeat the others.

He continues marching, but clearly he intended to march in circles around Ferrous and now finds himself in the corner. Unperturbed he faces Ferrous with his puppet and incense burner.

"LEAVE AND TROUBLE US MORTALS NO MORE! PARKO GAMO FAMO ALAZAKO!" he shouts.
"LEAVE AND TROUBLE US MORTALS NO MORE! PARKO GAMO FAMO ALAZAKO!" chant the others.

he turns around, and sees the rest of the group to the south for the first time. He calls to his acolytes.

"Uh... I'll finish banishing this one. You guys banish those others."

Brathas, wearing the parakeet mask, replies, "Thank you, holy servants of the great Pumpernicklos! You have banished the demons that possessed my friends! See, the short one has stopped roaring. They are better now.
How can I repay you?"

Hearing Brathas's play Ferrous stops his howling and banging onto his shield. Putting on a confused face he stammered Where... Where am I? putting a hand to his face. What happened to me face?

"You have GOT to be kidding me," Ana rolls her eyes and mutters quietly.

Wallia says, "You must have a higher level of divinity than I, may I apprentice with you to attain your divine blessing?"

Zynazyr hesitates to see what the group will do. He gets nervous when the leader puts his hand into the sack but shakes his head when he turns it into a puppet. "These guys are as deranged as the ones with the mushroom," he thinks to himself and waits until the group moves on. He continues to watch, ready to cast the sleep spell, but doesn't expect much.

Brathas, wearing the parakeet mask, replies, "Thank you, holy servants of the great Pumpernicklos! You have banished the demons that possessed my friends! See, the short one has stopped roaring. They are better now.

How can I repay you?"

Interesting...

Brathas Charisma: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25

"What?" the leader looks at Brathas, confused. "How would a demon 'possess' another demon?"

He looks at Ferrous, and then back at Brathas.

Wallia says, "You must have a higher level of divinity than I, may I apprentice with you to attain your divine blessing?"

"Bah! If I teach you demons the secrets of banishment you might use it to resist being banished!"

Wallia says, "May I have an offering of your Lord's holy bread?"

"...I thought my friend's strange behavior was caused by an evil spirit of some kind that was making him act like a demon. ..."

"Then why does he still look like a demon? You all look just like the demons in the painting!"

He turns back to Ferrous. "Begone you great hairy demon, in the name of Pumpernicklos..." he mumbles, waving his incense burner.

He yells at the other 'priests' who are standing around.

"Get banishing already!"

The other priests turn back and wave their incense burners some more, but though in lieu of chanting they mumble incoherently... apparently without their leader to lead them in cant they aren't really sure what to say.

As the group fails to flee, one of them looks closely at his incense burner. He blows into it to make sure it is lit.

"Is this thing on?" he mumbles.

Wallia says, "May I have an offering of your Lord's holy bread?"

"DAMMIT!" the leader shouts. Though his face is hidden, you can see his ears are turning red. "I'M A BAKER, NOT A PRIEST! ARGH! I MEAN- I'M A PRIEST, NOT A BAKER! THERE'S NO DAMN BREAD!"

He turns back to Ferrous, still shouting.

"WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE? I BANISHED YOU ALREADY!"

"What? Were we cursed to look like demons as well as act like them? Oh, no! You must cure us! Wait, maybe this painting has a clue.
Show me the painting, great holy priest! You are our only hope!"
Brathas begins abjectly begging before the 'priest'.

Ferrous stands there with an incredulous look on his face. His chest heaves with a heavy sigh.

"The painting is in the great hall of history, one level down," says the 'priest.' "Everyone has seen it! It shows the demons that came from the north and west and destroyed the city above. You look just like them!"

"Oh, maybe we came out of the painting and need to go back into it. Thanks for the banishing. We'll be on our way now."
Brathas tries to walk through the crowd of priests in the direction of the fire room.
"Excuse me, coming through, been banished," he says to the priests as he walks past.
Brathas is thinking that a mad explanation will work better than a sensible one here.

Brathas is thinking that a mad explanation will work better than a sensible one here.

You seem to be catching on. :)

"See!" the 'priest' shouts to his followers. "Pumpernicklos triumphs once again! ALL HAIL PUMPERNICKLOS!"

"ALL HAIL PUMPERNICKLOS!" the 'acolytes' chant.

I'm ready to move on unless anyone else wants to keep talking to these guys. Or wants to kill them. :)

Let's move on

Move on. Ferrous is personally more insulted by those calling him a goblin than a demon.

move on

4:00 PM, Day 8

The party gets to the fire tomb without any further incidents. The room looks just the same as when you were here last. Nobody detects anything that they didn't spot last time.

Original room description.

Brathas pulls out his magical thieves' tools and gets to work on the sarcophagus. You know that it is trapped but are not sure quite how.

Brathas Tinker: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12

Brathas gets out some instruments and starts trying to pry the lip of the sarcophagus up to see how the trap is triggered. But he hears a *pop* and then a sigh as air escapes from the once-sealed sarcophagus. The brass urns containing the flames flare suddenly.

Out of the urns bursts four small creatures, looking liked winged human women, except made out of pure flame.

"Naughty, naughty!" the sprites speak in unison. "You're not supposed to do that!"

Working on a map now.

MAP UPDATED

Brathas, Fistep, and Wallia are surprised. Ana, Ferrous, and Zynazyr act normally in the first round.

Surprise Round Initiative
Block 1: Zynazyr
Block 2: Some fire sprites
Block 3: Ana, Ferrous
Block 4: More fire sprites

Zynazyr. acts first. FYI if you would rather be in a different spot, you can position yourself somewhere that you think you might have stood while Brathas was working on the sarcophagus. Obviously Brathas has to stay beside it.

Not wanting to be in the room in case the whole thing goes up in flames, Zynazyr does his best to give Brathas enough light to see by. When the urns flare up and the creatures emerge, he surmises that Brathas set off the trap and wonders if he needed more light to see. He tries to identify the creatures and then tries to send a bolt of energy at the nearest one but fails.

Cantrip: 1d6 ⇒ 4
Damage: 1d3 ⇒ 2

Zynazyr identifies the creatures as Fire Sprites, a kind of minor elemental. Aside from their affinity to fire though he can't recall much about them.

Two of the sprites (green and yellow) fling small bolts of flame at Brathas. One of them hits Brathas, giving him a minor burn. When Brathas shouts in pain, the sprites laugh with glee.

"That's what naughty people get!" they chitter.

Brathas: 1 damage.

Surprise Round Initiative
Block 1: Zynazyr
Block 2: Some fire sprites
Block 3: Ana, Ferrous
Block 4: More fire sprites

Ana and Ferrous are up.

acts surprised

Ferrous reminded of his encounter with precious faerie quickly swings at ome of the flying fire fae.
attack: 17 - 1d20 ⇒ 17 - (2) = 15

Anabot steps forward and strikes at the nearest flame-creature.

Two-Handed Sword: 14 - 1d20 ⇒ 14 - (20) = -6 ... BOOM!
Two-Handed Sword: 14 - 1d20 ⇒ 14 - (17) = -3

Damage: 2d10 + 10 ⇒ (7, 1) + 10 = 18

the fire sprite darts out of reach, and Ferrous is unable to connect. But Ana's two-handed sword cleaves right through one of the creatures!

"Eeep!" is chirps, as it disappears in a puff of smoke. There is no blood on Ana's blade, only a dark smoky smudge.

The remaining two sprites get to act. The one that Ferrous just attacked flits up just out of reach and shoots a small bolt of flame at Ferrous.

Fire bolt: 18 - 1d20 ⇒ 18 - (20) = -21d4 ⇒ 1
Fire bolt: 18 - 1d20 ⇒ 18 - (6) = 12

Ferrous: 1 damage.

The one hovering near Brathas giggles and points at the burning urn beside him. Suddenly it seems to burst with flame, spraying fire everywhere nearby! Brathas tries to duck for cover but is too late!

Fire Burst: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Brathas' Dodge Save 12: 1d20 ⇒ 7

Brathas: 5 more damage. Total of 6.

The burning urn next to Brathas is now spewing only smoke, and does not seem to be burning any more.

Round 1 Initiative
Block 1: Ana, Brathas, Zynazyr
Block 2: Some fire sprites
Block 3: Ferrous, Fistep, Wallia
Block 4: One more fire sprite

Ana, Brathas, and Zynazyr are up.

The green sprite is floating at about head level. The other two are about 10'-12' up and will require a weapon with a long reach or a ranged weapon to hit.

Brathas begins to think coming here was a bad idea.
He moves away from the urns, draws a dagger, and throws it at Blue.
THAC0 15: 15 - 1d20 ⇒ 15 - (17) = -2
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4

Convinced his decision to stay in the hall was a good one after seeing the urn burst with flame and injure Brathas, Zynazyr moves up into the doorway to send a bolt of energy at the sprite next to Ferrous.

Cantrip: 1d6 ⇒ 1
Damage (red): 1d3 ⇒ 3

Stepping up, Ana swings at the [blue] sprite.

THAC0 14: 14 - 1d20 ⇒ 14 - (12) = 2 Damage: 1d10 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Brathas pulls out a dagger and hurls it at a sprite. But the dagger passes harmlessly through it!

"Hee hee! Can't hurt us that way, silly man!"

Ana steps up and with a bit of a jump she is able to reach the sprite in the corner. Her sword cuts through the sprite and it vanishes with a flash and a puff of smoke.

Zynazyr's small lightning bolt strikes another sprite and the sprite shrieks.

"Ouch! Hey! That one's a magician! We don't like magicians."

It rises up further towards the ceiling and throws another bolt of flame. It strikes Zynazyr, burning his robes!

Fire Bolt: 18 - 1d20 ⇒ 18 - (13) = 51d4 ⇒ 3

Zynazyr: 3 damage.

Round 1 Initiative
Block 1: Ana, Brathas (-6), Zynazyr (-3)
Block 2: Red sprite(-3)
Block 3: Ferrous, Fistep, Wallia
Block 4: Green sprite

Ferrous, Fistep, and Wallia are up.

The green sprite is floating at about head level. The red sprite about 15' up and will require a ranged weapon to hit. This also means you could be in the same square (directly underneath) as it.

Walia will use the ice spell in his amulet 17 - 1d20 - 1 ⇒ 17 - (14) - 1 = 2 at the closest one. I am not sure what damage it does 1d6 ⇒ 3

Walia will use the ice spell in his amulet 17-1d20-1 at the closest one. I am not sure what damage it does 1d6

Produce cold can be used to throw bolts of cold energy around. It does 1d4 damage and you can throw one bolt per round for three rounds (because you are third level).

Produce Cold: 1d4 ⇒ 4

You said you would throw it at the "closest" creature but you positioned your token an equal distance between the two. I'm going to assume that you are going to aim at the one that Zynazyr wounded, which is also high enough to be out of reach of the melee guys.

Wallia flings a bolt of chilling energy at the far sprite. When it is struck, it shrieks as it turns grey and it's "fire" seems to go out.

"Aiiieeee! Noooo..."

Its grey frozen form shatters in a thousand pieces and the tiny bits of ash float downward and vanish into the air.

Only one sprite now remains.

Round 1 Initiative
Block 1: Ana, Brathas (-6), Zynazyr (-3)
Block 2: Red sprite(-dead)
Block 3: Ferrous, Fistep, Wallia
Block 4: Green sprite

Ferrous and Fistep are up.

The green sprite is floating at about head level.