Solo Blueholme: First Delve into the Stygian Library

Continuing on from my previous posts about the Stygian library & Blueholme, this is an Actual Play report of my first solo session in the library June 2024! Related posts can be found here:

https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2024/06/blueholme-stygian-library-solo.html

https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2024/07/solo-blueholme-session-0-chargen-etc.html

...both of which detail the minor changes I made to Blueholme (a retroclone of the first D&D introductory basic set) before starting the campaign.

This particular post was inspired by Technoskald's series of reports upon multiple delves into the library:
https://solo.technoskald.me/tagged/stygian-library

Emmy Allen's Stygian Library, cover image by Alec Sorenson 

You can purchase a PDF of Emmy Allen's Stygian Library from DTRPG at this affiliate link or a beautifully produced hardcover print edition from Soulmuppet Be aware that there will be a new edition of the book released relatively soon, to coincide with the re-mastering of Gardens of Ynn. The new edition appears to be an update to the cover only, but if you're planning on buying the Ynn remaster it might be worth holding out for the new print edition of Stygian as they appear to form a rather elegant pair...  the new print edition has been out for a year or so now, the previous remaster (with the Alec Sorenson cover) having been superseded. Otherwise the two book are identical.

The proposed covers for Gardens of Ynn and The Stygian Library, side-by-side

The Party

Inspiration for this entire game came from the illustration of three adventurers near the beginning of the book. Knowing that three 1st level adventurers would require a supporting team of several retainers, I thought the best way to generate characters would be to roll 7 sets of ability scores, and then assign each set of stats to the characters I felt they best corresponded. The remaining 4 characters were then fleshed out into the supporting hirelings.

Polstrum is an elderly academic who has organised this expedition. He is a first-level magic-user and a philologist at Old College, University of Friehaber. He is seeking a tome of magic spells known as Mazirian's Grimoire, which he is certain can be found in the Stygian Library.

Polstrum's character sheet, plain text available o request

Polstrum's spellbook is full of first level spells: he is not able to bring this with him (according to Blueholme rules it is far too big and unwieldy), though he is able to create spell scrolls (at significant cost) to act as a back-up to his spellbook. He has not done this, having spent all his coin on equipping manservant Marek and "apprentice" Rupert.

Polstrum's alignment is lawful (evil): he believes that the universe demands him to expand his own magical knowledge, and by extension enrich humanity as a whole. He supports the church and the state, and believes that this is the only "good" in the world: he is prepared to commit any act in pursuit of his goals, providing these do not compromise the will of the church nor the state. 

Larkin (real name Eliza Larkakis) is a first level fighter. She was born to a relatively affluent merchant family of Eastern origin, the youngest of four surviving to adulthood. Her three older brothers all volunteered for the Expeditionary Force and died fighting in the ongoing schismatic war between the Eastern and Western Empires. This was partly to demonstrate their loyalty to the Western Throne, despite their ethnicity. 

Larkin's intent was to follow in their footsteps and received full training in arms, but following a series of treaties the conflict died down and female soldiers were no longer required to bolster the front line. Larkin took her leave and now operates as a mercenary in Friehaber. She has a follower, an impoverished noble by the name of Ser Hugo (normal human, will advance to fighter one if he survives the first delve) who acts as her squire.

Sirka is a rumoured changeling spared a burning at the stake thanks to Polstrum, though the amateur wizard had sinister intentions for her. Believing that only a sacrifice of a fey-blooded being could open a gate to the Stygian Library, Polstrum's original plan was to murder her in the Old College Library. The ritual was bungled and resulted in the death of his last apprentice: this did satisfy the conditions for opening the portal, and convinced Polstrum that his ward Sirka was more valuable alive.

During the intervening week Sirka has picked up the western tongue and secretly memorised spells from Polstrum's spellbook. She has a vague idea of what human culture is about, but is happy to tag along, seemingly unfazed by the fact she is supporting her abductor and would-be murderer.

To round off the party, Polstrum has paid 50 GP up front to a local thief by the name of Ewing to assist with locked doors etc. Ewing will receive 25% of all coin, gems and jewels recovered from the expedition in addition to his up-front fee. 

The Delve Begins

I'm writing this up from a notebook one year after playing. This is mostly to refresh my memory and to give you a taste of the adventure. Detail will be sparse.

 

Turn 1 

Depth: 0

Lantern (remaining): Ewing (24 turns); Marek (24 turns)

Location (detail): Phantom Databanks (too small)

Squeezed into a cramped room with only a 4 foot high ceiling, the party inadvertently startle some rust moths. After 6 rounds of air swipes (Larkin missed six attacks) the rust moths are dispatched... as is Hugo's family shield and Ewing's lantern. Ewing nabs a phantom in a jar as an alternative light source, Marek has his own lantern still. There's something about a funnel web spider lair but for whatever reason I don't know.

Progress: 15/35

Turn 2 

Depth: 1

Lantern (remaining): Marek (23); Polstrum (24); Ewing phantom tube (∞)
Location (detail): Skeleton collection (chained books). 

Polstrum passes Rupert his lantern and searches the books, which are all about Statistical analysis. Meanwhile, some OGRE SPIDERS are sneaking up on them. They drop webs from the ceiling onto Hugo and Rupert. There follows a bruising 7 rounds of combat in which Hugo and Ewing are both killed, while Marek runs away (I did a morale check as he's a retainer). Following the "run blindly" rules, I establish that he is at a depth of 5. Larkin is wounded: this is going very badly! 

Progress: 15/35

Turn 3 

Depth: 1

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (23); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)
Location (detail): Skeleton collection (chained books). 

Larkin wants to abort, but is persuaded by Polstrum's insistence that they have to rescue Marek—and his agreement to send Ewing's share of only loot to Ser Hugo's mother. While they lick their wounds, place the corpses of their comrades and glass cabinets and redistribute their gear (Rupert takes Hugo's sword and Ewing's leather armour, Sirka takes Ewing's crossbow) Polstrum finds some notes from a previous researcher that may assist his quest (+1 progress). Sirka places an Ogre Spider corpse in a sack.

Progress: 16/35

Turn 4 

Depth: 2

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (22); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)
Location (detail): Map Gallery (candlesticks). 

The map chamber holds nothing of interest aside from an ominous locked door... Larkin forces it open thanks to Blueholme's forcing doors rule! It reveals a secret passage 1d6+1 layers deeper...

Progress: 16/35

Turn 5 

Depth: 7

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (21); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)
Location (detail): Ossuary (too small). 

Another low ceiling, traces of obsidian marmosets (event). The party need to rest next turn.

Progress: 16/35

Turn 6 

Depth: 7

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (20); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)
Location (detail): Ossuary (too small). 

While the party are resting the obsidian marmosets return to their lair. The party can see at least 8 of these crystalline monkeys and, after their previous encounters, elect to retreat. I allow each party member to save in order to retreat safely: those that fail suffer a free attack. Of course, they all fail, though I rule that Rupert makes it by abandoning all his gear. Larkin is not harmed by the attack but Sirka and polstrum each go down to 1 HP each.

As they flee into the secret passage, I wonder if I might have a TPK on my hands!

Progress: 16/35

Turn 7 

Depth: 2

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (19); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)
Location (detail): Map Gallery (candlesticks). 

Back int the map chamber lit by candlesticks, a sudden gust of wind extinguishes all light sources aside from the phantom-in-a-tube. The party huddle around its eerie, 5' radius glow.

This latest disaster forces Rupert to make a morale check, which he passes: however, the sensible thing for ALL the party to do would be retreat. The WISE thing. So, of course, I try to roll unde rthe WIS score of the de jure party leader, Polstrum. He elects to not do the wise thing, despite being at death's door. Polstrum claims to want to find Marek: in reality, he is greedy for the library's treasures.

Progress: 16/35

Turn 8 

Depth: 3

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (19, unlit); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Trapdoor Spider (gears). 

The noise of industrial machinery make this a poor choice for a trapdoor spider lair: I rule that Sirka notice sit, and guides th eparty through the location safely. She notes also a secret door (leading back to the beginning room) but doesn't mention it to the party. This is all because she's a changeling "elf".

Progress: 16/35

Turn 9 

Depth: 4

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (19, unlit); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Tea room (gas lamps)
 
The party find a shell-shocked Marek sat in the tea room, scoffing cake and scones and quaffing sherry. They re-ignite Rupert's lantern and enjoy some snacks, providing something of a morale boost, despite losing some progress. They elect to go deeper—mainly so they don't have to pass back through the trapdoor spider room.

Progress: 15/35

Turn 10 

Depth: 5

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (18); Marek (15); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Boiler room (vault)

The vault is enticing but is too tough to force. Elsewhere, Sirka notes a secret door but Polstrum is eager to go deeper.

Progress: 15/35

Turn 11

Depth: 6

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (17); Marek (14); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Syphons of Phantoms (vault)

Sirka and Polstrum are fascinated by the Phantom siphon, Marek is perturbed: he believes he sees Ewing's ghost getting sucked into the machinery. The party surprise a Black Librarian (the order charged with maintaining portals). Polstrum attempts to converse, the creatures responds that he is not a member of the Yellow Order so has no interest in the party's "research". 

They wisely elect to move on. However, I feel they're beginning to understand the library a little, and restore their lost point of progress. 

Progress: 16/35

I love Alec Sorenson's illustrations

Turn 12

Depth: 7

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (16); Marek (13); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Boiler Room (turning gears)

Another boiler room, this one full of clanking gears and heavy machinery—and an animated spell, darkness. It casts itself against Marek, smothering his lantern and causing chaos. Take party take swings atit, to little avail, as it casts itself around the battlefield. The consequence is a minefield as PCs chase it while attempting to avoid lethal gears and pockets of no light. Marek holds his never but ultimately, morale fails and once again he scampers into the dark. Though Sirka lose her crossbow she still has her infravision, and guides the confused party to their escape.

Progress: 16/35

Turn 13

Depth: 8

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (15); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Paper Bee Hive (stacks of papers)

Stumbling through the corridors away from the living spell, the party find themselves in the midst of a pitched battle: white librarians are attempting to reclaim their lair from a hive of paper bees that have infested this part of the the library. The party are desperate to catch a breath and at a low ebb—they do their best to skirt the edge of the battle and find somewhere to rest.

Progress: 16/35

Turn 14

Depth: 9

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (14); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Calculation Engine (glass tubes)

THE SHELVES GIVE WAY TO A HUGE MACHINE MADE OF CLOCKWORK AND STEAM PUMPS. Incredibly complex, the machine hisses, creaks, clicks, and turns

The room is criss-crossed with glass tubes fastened to the ceiling and walls, and that snake over the tops of the shelves. 

Entering this area Rupert spots Marek cowering in the corner. Polstrum marvels at the chamber, surmising that these glass tubes are connected to the boiler room they were in twenty minutes ago (+1 progress as they understand the library better. He approaches a solitary Grey Librarian and asks if its okay for them to rest while the librarian carries out its work, it is very accommodating (reaction roll = 9). The party take some wine and water and make sure Marek gets his head together, the darkness spell wears off.

Progress: 17/35

Turn 15

Depth: 9

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (13); Marek (10); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Calculation Engine (glass tubes)

The party rests and discusses where to go next, agreeing that they cannot follow the route back as the bees and darkness spell are too dangerous in their present state. The only alternative is to venture deeper into the library and hope to find another secret door or route back to a safer area. I increase the progress by 1 again as the party's planning reflect a broadening of their understanding of the weird, intra-dimensional topology they are attempting to navigate.

While the debate rages, Sirka has a casual peruse of the impromptu shelves nestled between the engine's mechanisms. She finds an arcane grimoire and slips it into her sack without telling anyone.

Progress: 18/35

Turn 16

Depth: 9

Lantern (remaining): Rupert (12); Marek (9); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Calculation Engine (glass tubes)

Polstrum turns back to the librarian for advice and instantly is told they have no interest in the party's struggles, but will happily show them how to operate the Calculation Engine:

If the the party input a fact that is known to be true (which is to say, correctly recorded as factual in any book anywhere in the world), the response is:

Data Confirmed 

If the players input a fact that is known to be false (which is to say, correctly refuted in any book anywhere in the world), the response is:

Data Contradictory

If the players input a question that has an answer in any book anywhere in the world, the machine responds by naming the closest book which contains an answer.

• They get +1 Progress if the question asked is related to the information they are looking for. 
• This +1 Progress applies for each related question they ask, each getting the response of a new book, until they have a list of 6 books (a total of +6 Progress). 
• After this, the Calculation Engine begins to repeat the same books.
  

If the players input a question to which no answer is recorded in any book anywhere in the world, the response is: 

Data Not Found 

If the players input anything which is neither a stated fact nor a question, the response is:

Unknown Input

Polstrum is an intelligent scholar and is able to follow the librarian's instructions

(NB: were I running this for a group, I would not have the librarian provide them with any help, because it would be fun to watch them experiment with the device. That would be less fun and a bit contrived to try to mimic on my own!)

Polstrum's entries into the calculation engine are as follows. These are printed out on ticker tape, along with a response:

The Grimoire of Mazirian is located within this library.

DATA CONFIRMED

Where is it located within the library?

Catalogue of Contents by Yellow Order [+1 prog]

Where is the catalogue of contents located?
My Journey Through a Stygian Library by Daniel Defoe [+1 prog]

Does the Grimoire Contain the Greater Spells I seek?

Mazirians Grimoire  [+1 prog]

Mazirian's Grimoire Contains the Forbidden Magic of the Dying Earth
DATA CONFIRMED

Why are there no copies found within the Great Libraries of the Western Empire?
Hagiography of the Gnostic Martyrs by Lupercal [+1 prog]

Are the Martyrs responsible for the eradication of the Grimoire?
Treatise on Black Magick by Ossian et al [+1 prog]

Is THIS text contained within the library
Index of Stygian Grimoires by Yellow Order [+1 prog]

Polstrum's eyes bulge from his head as he hungrily inputs his questions into the engine, bundling up ticker tape and squashing it into the loose pockets of his robes. His questions begin to confound the machine and, soom, it starts repeating the same list of six tomes again and again.

The rest of the party are disinterested and scour the room for objects of interest. Initially, they find only candle stubs... but unfortunately, they also find an Ink Elemental! The puddle of ink rapidly spreads across the floor, rising up and engulfing Rupert before he has a chance to do much more than scream.

Turning, the party are astonished to witness the Grey Librarian launch a volley of magic missiles at the fiend, but it is too late: Rupert vanishes into the floor, and the party retreat to the next area of the library...

Progress: 24/35

Turn 17

Depth: 10

Lantern (remaining): Marek (8); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Printing Press (vault)

Mournfully the trio (there's four of them but Sirka isn't feeling mournful) press on through corridor after corridor of low quality books, before arriving at another locked door, behind which they can just make out the sound of a printing press. In despair the party look around for alternative routes... and finally, luck is on their side!

They find a secret door, which leads them back to the ossuary.
Progress: 24/35

Turn 18

Depth: 7

Lantern (remaining): Marek (7); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Ossuary (too small). 

They immediately recognise the space by the smell of obsidian monkey droppings, so are very relieved to note that the monkeys are out hunting. Still, it is with some trepidation that they crouch and crawl back through the cramped space... though Polstrum does stub a toe on a loose floorboard. Unfastening it, he uncovers a scimitar: it turns out to be magical (+2, allows wielder to see invisible things!). Larkin takes it.

From the ossuary they are able to take a shortcut back to the map gallery (see above).
Progress: 24/35

Turn 19

Depth: 2

Lantern (remaining): Marek (6); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Map Gallery (candlesticks). 

Once again, the party are in luck: Sirka sees an unfamiliar chest-of-drawers and sneaks over to it. larkin sees her and casually alerts the others, not realising Sirka is attempting to take the contents for herself. The party reveal a cache of scrolls!

Using Blueholme rules the following scrolls were obtained:

• Protection from Lycanthropes
• Diminution Spell
• Cure Light Wounds (as potion rather than spell)
• Three spells on one scroll (Dancing Lights, Shield, Protection from Evil
  

Polstrum casts Read Magic to identify the spell scrolls, then uses the Cure Light Wounds scroll on himself without telling anyone of its purpose. The text disappears from the parchment and he rolls it up. He then tells the rest of the party that they must hurry back.

Progress: 24/35

Turn 20

Depth: 1

Lantern (remaining): Marek (5); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Skeleton collection (chained books)

Returning to the chamber of the snake skeletons and site of the Ogre Spider attack, the party are alarmed to see a group of Red Order Librarians clearing up the mess from that encounter. Polstrum explains to them that the party are researchers who have lost their way, and are looking for a way back. Larkin adds that they will happily remove the human corpses (Hugo and Ewing) that have been stashed in the cases, explaining that hey should be returned to the human world and have no place cluttering up the Stygian Library.

The positive reaction of the Red Librarians permits the party to do just that, but also catch their breath: they may be close to the exit, but they need to collect themselves a moment before heading back to the real world.  

Progress: 24/35

Turn 21

Depth: 1

Lantern (remaining): Marek (4); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Skeleton collection (chained books)

While resting something else returns... a group of Yellow Librarians! Of course, the incorrigibly curious Polstrum immediately attempts to strike up a conversation, explaining his area of research. The party are eager to leave, and this does not contribute to Polstrum's progress.

Progress: 24/35

Turn 22 

Depth: 0

Lantern (remaining): Marek (4); Polstrum phantom tube (∞)

Location (detail): Phantom Databanks (too small)

The party clamber through the cramped space, stumbling upon traces of dust in a very deliberate trail. The party don't linger: they force their way out of the exit, and back to the Old College Library.

So after more than three hours crawling around an extra-dimensional library the party return with very little treasure and two corpses of their comrades. A third member of their party has been consumed by an ink elemental. Polstrum, however, is excited: he knows that with a stronger party they can almost certainly use the knowledge he's gained to locate the tome he seeks...

To be continued!

Links

The run-up to this session:

https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2024/06/blueholme-stygian-library-solo.html

https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2024/07/solo-blueholme-session-0-chargen-etc.html

Technoskald's very cool solo play reports of the same (or very similar) set-up:
https://solo.technoskald.me/tagged/stygian-library

Alec Sorenson Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/oddsbod/

Stygian Library on DTRPG (affiliate link)
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/257113/the-stygian-library?affiliate_id=767873

Hardcover print edition from SoulMuppet
https://soulmuppet-store.co.uk/products/the-stygian-library

My recent elf post, featuring a Blueholme-esque elf class, The Changeling
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2024/07/elves.html