THE LOST CITY PART 4

This post will be less narrative and more prosaic, for the sake of expediency! The last update for the Crystal Seas campaign took nearly two weeks to complete, and covered two sessions where virtually nothing happened.

Actual play adapted from module B4: The Lost City. Will contain spoilers.

Lost in the desert, four foreigners (Luke, Kostas, Romulus and Xavi) arrived at the mysterious city of Cynidicea, and have secured an alliance between two warring factions. However, during a recce of the lower levels, the party were intercepted by cultists loyal to Zargon: the most powerful faction in the pyramid... read part three here

Separated from his comrades, Luke ran into a chamber, awakening a nest of giant rats....

THE CRYSTAL SEAS... EPISODE 12: Rest and Recreation in Romani

After their incarceration by goblins in the Sunken Citadel, the remaining party members mounted an audacious escape, fleeing over the Ishmakh mountains towards the village of Romani...

14th Sositi

When he opened his eyes, Horace did not find himself on the floor of a barn. He was on a firm yet comfortable bed, swathed in a cotton sheet. He heard the sound of a woman singing. Soon the woman's face was immediately in front of his.

With sunlight cast from the window behind her, his eyes could not discern the details at first, but the shape was certainly appealing. Swiftly his eyesight adjusted, he could not help but wince ever-so-slightly at the enormous birthmark covering the woman's face, as though her dark skin had been bleached pink by a splash of bleach around her nose, eyes and mouth. He felt the shame double when the woman momentarily cast her eyes down, acknowledging his brief moment of revulsion, only to return to meet his gaze with a wide smile.

Rebekah: apologies to the real owner of the original face.

"Ah, you are awake!"

"Yes... where am I... my friends... ?"

THE CRYSTAL SEAS... EPISODE 11: ALL IS LOST

The following content borrows heavily from the 5e update for The Sunless Citadel, available in Tales from the Yawning Portal. There will be spoilers, although the module has been adapted for our Crystal Seas Sandbox. If you intend to play The Sunless Citadel, please look away now!

The second day of their expedition into the sunken citadel had ended in disaster. What began as a running skirmish with a group of goblins ended in a brief but bloody struggle with a blue dragon, Calcryx, resulting in the death of Kuriakos, as well as two recently acquired allies, Erky and Meepo. Captured by goblins, the party were stripped of their weapons and valuables... 

 ...and taken to the dungeon cells

Horace awoke. In truth he had not really been asleep. He had been holding his eyes forcibly shut, waiting for Analicia or Ursula to tell him what to do. But neither had done so, and now he realised it was up to him to make good of whatever fucked up situation they now found themselves in.

He was on the floor of the cell, his hands secured with iron manacles chained to the wall. There was no light, but his dwarven eyes could discern the location of his comrades, Analicia and Ursula, the former breathing softly beside him, the latter motionless on the far side of the room.

"Analicia."

"What?"

"Are you awake?"

D100 Fey Mutations

The following table is also accessible as an online random generator at the following link:

https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/p/random-fey-mutations.html

When one of the players in the Crystal Seas campaign wanted to play an elf, I was a little sad: I'd hoped to keep elves mysterious and strange and rare. Then the player wanted said elf to be called Analicia and have antlers, and a bit of retroactive worldbuilding was called for.

I'm going to make another post about our hispanically monikered organised crime elves, but here is where I talk about some of the random mutations afflicting 1 in 6 of their ilk due to their fey ancestry. The final 20 of them are (mostly) lifted directly from The Gardens of Ynn (follow that link and buy it), as Emmy Allen's concept of the sidhe fits quite snugly with my own concept of the eldar's ancestors. Plus, she's already included antlers as a mutation, so it made sense.

Use this table to add a random mutation to anyone with fey ancestry. Roll as many times as necessary.

THE LOST CITY, PART 3

Actual play narration adapted from module B4: The Lost City. Will contain spoilers.

Lost in the desert, four foreigners (Luke, Kostas, Romulus and Xavi) arrived at the mysterious city of Cynidicea, and decided to align themselves with the Brotherhood of Gorm. Believing their best way to find a way home to be the restoration of order to the chaotic city, Ser Luke sought to forge an alliance between the Brotherhood of Gorm and their rivals, the Sisterhood of Madarua. Initially rebuffed (and receiving a spear-wound for the trouble), Luke struck a deal: to assassinate the leader of a third faction, the brotherhood of Usamigaras. Explaining his plan to the his reluctant master, Kanadius, Luke then grabbed his men in order to explore the pyramid a little more. 

Read part two here

Once they had their combat gear together, the four comrades set out to explore the lower tiers of the pyramid. They had already explored an estimate 25% of the next level, and Luke was keen to unravel the deeper mystery of the place.

Down to the third tier they travelled, and once again to the mysterious twisting corridor. They opened the sliding granite panel and crossed the corridor without activating its turning mechanism, finding themselves at a t-junction. Taking the left-hand path, the party quickly found themselves in an abandoned storeroom. The men rummaged through the crates, before Xavi noticed that the room was rapidly filling with water. Kostas checked the door through which they had entered: it had sprung shut behind them, and possessed no handle with which to open it!

THE CRYSTAL SEAS... EPISODE 10: More Than They Could Chew

The following content borrows heavily from the 5e update for The Sunless Citadel, available in Tales from the Yawning Portal. There will be spoilers, although the module has been adapted for our Crystal Seas Sandbox. If you intend to play The Sunless Citadel, please look away now!

After raiding the Sunken Citadel, falling foul of one or two traps and finally defeating an ancient elf-troll, the party decided to spend the night in the abandoned tomb of the dragon priest, only to have their sleep troubled by dreams of a quaist-demon.

13th Sositi

As soon as the party had begun to stir from their slumber Analicia was excitedly informing them all about the "dream" she had experienced. The party were mildly interested but not entirely convinced of its value, although Ursula did seem a little perturbed that she had not been granted the opportunity to strike a deal with the devil. Sadly, Analicia's inability to recall the name of the demon she had spoken to meant neither Horace nor Ursula could shed any more light on it. Kuriakos shivered: he had had his fill of devils and demons.

The party made their way back through the hallowed halls of the dragon priests towards the crumbled turret, trying their luck with an unopened northwestern door. After examining an uninspiring cistern (in spite of the very sophisticated plumbing, they elected not to investigate it any further), they burst into a large, slightly smelly hall. The room contained a small shrine, and crude graffiti in the draconic language. A large metal cage sat on the southern wall, empty. A whimpering sound emanated from a pile of rags against the far wall...