by Michael Eckenfels, 7 May 2023
Champions of Krynn AAR: Part 3, Finally Getting to Business
With the terrified caravanners safely ensconced back the Outpost, we decide to head back to Throtl to check out this abandoned, empty city.
Heh-heh-heh. What’s the odds on the place actually being abandoned?
click images to enlarge
We trudge to Throtl. I suppose that the lack of monster encounters in the area, or the lack of contact by patrols from the Outpost, are good indicators that this place is as empty as the Commandant says it is. Yet, there was that erstwhile hint that some patrols never returned.
And then yet again, it could be they deserted for more interesting climes. The place isn’t exactly hopping, innit?
We advance to the big front entrance and trapse inside as if we own the place.
After all, it’s abandoned, and-
Hmm. Apparently, not so abandoned. And our hosts are rather rude, to boot – threatening us with bodily harm if we do not leave their city. What nerve!
“Abandoned” in D&D parlance, of course, means “teeming with monsters.” There’s probably a monster convention (MonCon?) going on and we’ll walk right into the middle of it. These bouncers are not taking kindly to our presence.
The “abandoned” city of Throtl was built by hobgoblins and was deserted after the War of the Lance, but apparently, their ancestors have come home to roost as we are accosted as we enter the city. The information we received from the Commandant is, obviously, extremely out of date.
Hobgoblin “No. Go away or we will attack you.”
Hero Knight (Sir Fsup) “Bro, we’re straight up just wanting to take a quick look around.”
Hobgoblin “What part of ‘no’ and ‘go away’ did you not understand?”
Hero Knight (Sir Fsup) “Wow, how rude. We come into your home, heavily armed and armored with weapons drawn, and you decide to get mouthy with US? Do you not realize what happens to NPCs that treat PCs like that?”
Hobgoblin “…wait, what?”
A battle then begins. As you do in D&D.
Looks like about a dozen Hobgoblins, which are basically tanked-up Goblins, and a few human fighters as well. Scruffy chaps, all of ‘em. We should relieve them of the burden of their money, weapons, and life in general.
First things first, having Izzie Dedyet shout a few ancestral insults to the Hobbos.
Female Kender “Time to die, you manure-mouthed primates!”
Hobgoblin “Gosh, that’s hurtful! (sobs uncontrollably)
The battle is joined, our first real challenge of sorts. At least, as challenging as Hobgoblins can be. We get in a few good licks, but as always with lower-level monsters, the ‘Great Equalizer’ is the Sleep spell.
Heh-heh-heh.
Soon most of them are in Hobbo Slumberland, which is the gateway to Hobbo Heaven.
Whoa, 146 XP. Not TOO bad, I suppose, but nowhere near what a lot of our multiclass characters will need to advance. This will be slow going. Apart from a few whacks to our two frontline meat shields, no real damage was done in return.
At least, no real damage yet. The ‘real damage’ is slaughtering all these creatures that were just trying to defend their town from invading heavily-armed interlopers, and finding no money at all.
Just a bunch of random armor and a few weapons.
Our snoopy looting through monster bodies completed, we decide to take a chance to encamp and rest. The Mage, Waxhon, used both her Sleep spells and it would be nice to have those back.
Of course, encamping right at the entrance of a major monster city that’s not at all abandoned means we will be totally inconspicuous, right?
Well, apparently…yes. We Fix the party (which is awesome in this version of the Gold Box games, because you don’t have to get into the minutiae of casting individual Heal spells and then re-memorizing them), and then we get the Mage to re-memorize her spells. And we do so without being accosted by anyone.
Maybe the place isn’t as populated as we were thinking.
Looking at the situation, hallways stretch from this entrance to the north, west, and east. We look east, if anything just to choose a direction
We proceed down this hallway to a door, which creaks open to reveal…
Caramon? Trap? Wait, what?
Journal Entry 38:
‘They’re back . . . back there . . . who, look out! No, no, no. I stabbed one but it took my sword. I couldn’t get it out of its body! Caramon!”
His eyes clear for a moment and he becomes more lucid. “Listen to me,” he says, “they’ve captured Caramon. Most of our party has been wiped out.” He suddenly jerks about. “What’s that! Get them! They’ve got Caramon. Find him. I’ll find him. North, north and west and south. Traps! Back up. . . go back now. Quiet, quiet, quiet . . . look out! above you! oh no, oh no, oh no . . . “
He gets a sly, slightly mad conspiratorial look on his face. “I saw a money chest in a room to the east. I’m gonna get it and I’m set.” He looks around and leans towards you, “You wanna help! Huh, what d’ya say?
The terrorized look comes back. He screams and gasps in terror.
Welp. Nothing to see here, move along, I guess!
But he DID say a few key things, including the magic word – MONEY.
Sir Fsup “What do you all think?”
Izzie “Money. Money’s good.”
Kimjong “I need to buy more arrows, so yes. Money is good.”
Wynn “There are hapless NPCs in need of our help. Of course, we should do that. And if we happen to find money along the way, so be it and praise Majere as well as a nice shiny suit of plate armor to bring Her blessings violently to the skulls of these demon incarnate types.”
Waxhon “Duuude. What if…the spell I’m seeing is different from the spell you’re seeing? Like, how can we be sure what I call Chromatic Orb is the same thing you call Chromatic Orb?”
Smashen “Kill?”
Sir Fsup “…Alrighty then. Money it is.”
CHAMPIONS OF KRYNN AAR
PART ONE ~ PART TWO ~ PART THREE ~ PART FOUR ~ PART FIVE ~ PART SIX ~ PART SEVEN ~ PART EIGHT ~ PART NINE ~ PART TEN
PART ELEVEN ~ PART TWELVE ~ PART THIRTEEN ~ PART FOURTEEN ~ PART FIFTEEN ~ PART SIXTEEN ~ PART SEVENTEEN ~ PART EIGHTEEN ~ PART NINETEEN ~ PART TWENTY
PART 21 ~ PART 22 ~ PART 23 ~ PART 24 ~ PART 25 ~ PART 26 ~ PART 27 ~ PART 28 ~ PART 29 ~ PART 30
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There once was a game called Krynn,
With warriors, mages, and dragons within,
In Champions of might,
They battled all night,
For glory, for honor, to win.
The heroes were brave and true,
Fighting foes, both old and new,
With spells and with swords,
They faced their rewards,
To vanquish the dark and break through.
From the streets of Solace they roamed,
To the lairs where dragons called home,
With quests to fulfill,
And battles to thrill,
Champions of Krynn, on they’d roam.
