Cardstock Campaign - First Interlude

Yes indeed, an intermission. I couldn’t quite justify calling this a full episode. 

On their way to Allesheim with the ore caravan, our trio heard of an abandoned temple complex that once belonged to the Moon Knights. A quick bribe to the caravan master convinced the train to stop for a day, giving our party time to cut through the woods to the north of the main road and find the complex. Find it they did! 

Entrance centre east. NE circles storeys of a tower.

 

Entering through the dilapidated entrance, they were immediately confronted by a wight. All of Yadoth’s magic arrows went wide, and the thing (damn it rolled well) burned away one of Syraia’s levels before Balesk could kill it with his magic sword that hates the undead. The wight’s eyes were two great jewels, each worth years of a peasant’s keep. 

In the guttering fire of the wight’s corpse, the party saw that one section of vine-covered wall was actually just thick with vines instead of actual stonework, and cut their way through. But in the one-time herb garden lurked three gnolls, gnolls who the party were unable to surprise! Balesk slew one and Syraia battled another to a standstill, but Yadoth continued to miss with his arrows… were the trees of the forest trying to call the wood of his bowstave home? Seeing Balesk gravely injured (half his hitpoints!) by the third gnoll who had come skittering round the corner to flank them, he slipped on his ring of invisibility to get behind it and stabbed it in the heart (critical backstab hit) just as Balesk swung his blade to decapitate it. 

Making sure Balesk was in no immediate danger of death, Yadoth hurried round to kill the last gnoll as it continued to press Syraia. At this point the party went “screw it” and decided to limp back to the caravan. Balesk was half-dead and Syraia had been gravely weakened by the wight’s touch. The forest could keep its old stone prize; they couldn’t very well make their fortunes in the big city if they were dead on arrival! 

A rational decision, but one that was a real shame because I spent 45 minutes making the map and only saw it in play for about 10… I suspect that while the trio continue towards Allesheim, another party of adventurers will likely enter the complex to end whatever evil lurks there. I like the idea of a themed party, but should they be dwarves, elves, monkish knights..? In any case, a perfect chance to start tracking a Gygaxian party calendar to see who's where when.

World-Building Notes

• Ooh, Moon Knights?! I loved the Marvel Comics character, but are they more like Marc Spector or the Moon Knights of Sehanine?
• The caravan is specifically carrying ore, but the words "ore caravan" make me wonder whether it's more like a Wild West train. But how to make that work in a low-magic setting? Maybe some kind of slug monster underneath the carriages?