Castle Xyntillan - Session 0.1: Mustering forces and testing the waters.

 

Church bells tolled a muted chime as four strangers seated themselves at a table in the Black Comedian inn, eagerly eyeballing their long awaited drinks. But ale was not the only reason they came to Tours-en-Savoy, a small idyllic mountain town that has recently seen an increasing amount of traffic. No, they came to discuss business. Just like many adventurers before them, the four men plan to travel to the Valley of the Three Rainbows, where the ominous Castle Xyntillan still stands tall on the shores of a great lake. 

The party:

• Rubert: level 1 Figher hp 6 (Ruben)
• Shubert: level 1 Cleric hp 4 (Tom)
• Karl Gruber: level 1 Dwarf hp 8 (Toon)
• Gaston le Serrurier: level 1 Thief hp 4 (Leon)

Retainers:

• Jerome (normal human) hp5 
• Clement (normal human) hp 2
• Piere (normal human) hp 4 

In Tours-en-Savoy

After exchanging pleasantries the party quickly got to work. Their budget was very limited, so they wanted to the make for the castle as soon as possible, without making unnecessary expenses in the town. In the tavern they managed to convince three poor sods to join them on their perilous quest. A sturdy fellow named Jerome, son of a blacksmith, and two farmers sons: Clement and Pierre. They were promised a daily rate of 5, 1 and 3 gold pieces respectively. Before calling it a day, they did some last minute shopping; buying rations, torches and two slings. They then went to sleep in the common room of the Black Comedian (again, their budget was limited), departing at the crack of dawn towards the Valley of the Three Rainbows. 

Approaching the castle

The hike through the mountains took two days. As they entered the valley, the party, now consisting of seven members, finally saw the silhouette of the castle, towering above the lake. After approaching cautiously towards the castle, the adventurers gathered their courage and quickly decided to go inside the walls through a ruined gatehouse in the southwest of the complex. As they went through the gatehouse, ravens gathered on the piles of rubble that were once it's great towers. The ruins opened up into a large yard that featured a stable, a vegetable field, a garden and a small lake. The party then noticed a statue of a 'comely maiden' at the lake, pointing towards a sarcophagus. The party also noticed the sound of a hammer striking an anvil, coming from the stables in the south. Lastly, at the far east of the yard, the party noticed two brightly painted guard posts, standing along side a road which led up to a large gate. 

   Exploring the yard

The party promptly decided to split up, a tried and true tactic proven in every horror movie. Gaston went with Jerome to check out the sound of the hammer, Shubert and Karl went towards the sarcophagus, and Rubert stayed on guard with Clement and Pierre. When Gaston peeked through a keyhole in the stables, he discovered that the ringing of the anvil was not produced by a friendly blacksmith, but rather by a seemingly enchanted hammer. The poor thief was greatly disturbed by this sight, so he recoiled and quickly checked the other side of the stable. This part was inhabited by skeletons, and this disturbed him even more. Too disturbed to check out a leather strap sticking out of the hayloft, the thief quietly left the building. 

Shubert and Karl were slowly approaching the sarcophagus when, before reaching their destination, the gate in the east opened and three shapes slowly entered the yard! They were the "rigormortis", desiccated, wheezing skeletons. Although they were slow, their claws looked menacing enough to worry about them getting closer. The party first planned to hide, but Karl the dwarf got impatient and fired his crossbow at the lungless coughers. Fortunately the threat was swiftly dealt with, as most arrows and bolts hit their target with ease. 

Now that the coast was clear, Shubert and Karl finally decided to open up the sarcophagus which, according to a convenient name plate, seemed to belong to a Tristano Malévol the Love-Lost. Inside was a skeleton with four arms dressed in a colorful courtiers outfit. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the skeleton immediately sat up and started talking:

"Where are the ladies?"

After a failed attempt to pair the finely dressed skeleton with the statue of the "comely maiden", Tristano closed the lid of his sarcophagus, annoyed by the fact he was awoken for such nonsense. The party agreed that bringing a lady to Tristano might help them in the future. 

Bloody roses

Karl and Shubert then tried their luck at the two guard posts, but soon discovered they were housed by two snoring skeletons, who apparently slumbered through the fight from before. Not wanting to wake them up, Karl and Shubert sneaked back. The party now finally decided, taking some time to convince the still very disturbed thief, to enter the castle through a rose garden that lay on top of a ten foot high terrace, in the north of the yard. After climbing the parapets and running towards a door leading to the castles interior, Rubert and the dwarf were attacked by animated corpses that littered the gardens soil. The dwarf came out unscathed, but Rubert was severely wounded when animated hands tripped him and he tumbled through the sharp thorns of the roses. The blood spilled made the roses grow higher and even more beautiful. The thief was again so disturbed that he now refused to go into the garden, even though the rest of the party made it safely through, after the cleric had successfully turned the undead bodies grasping at their feet. 

First steps into the castle

Inside the castle the party was greeted by pale women, followed by a small army of black cats. The young dame, dressed in beautiful silks and brocades, was indifferent about the party's presence in the castle, until the cleric told her (falsely) that Tristano the Malévol asked for her specifically. The lady then swiftly exited the hall, looking for her suitor.  

After finally convincing the thief to enter through the rose garden (again), the party went to explore some rooms. Most of these were rather dull, apart from a hallway that was filled with smashed furniture and a flat, trampled corpse. But at this point, the party decided that they had explored enough for a day, and went back empty handed, avoiding the rose garden by way of a makeshift bridge. 

The map with notes made by the players

-

A fun first session. The players took quite some time hiring the retainers and deciding how many rations they needed for the expedition, so there was limited time in the castle. Still the first steps were made, and no one died! Running the module was easy, although I did prepare this part of the castle quite well. I didn't roll any wandering monsters beforehand, but it was easy enough to add them to the situation on the fly. In a few days the second session will probably spent a lot more time inside the castle. We'll see if the adventurers make it out alive once more!

Merijn