NIGHTWICK ABBEY: The Purple Eater of People Session 78

Previously in Nightwick...

This week's adventurers:

Blossom (Rogue 5)
Mayfly (Magician 5)
Mechtilde (Fighter 4)
Yevegniy the Coward (Cleric 4)
Verinka (Changeling 3)
Cherwe (Cleric 3)
Liminal Space (Changeling 3)
Krupe (Cleric 1)
Voorhis (FX)
Poppy (Fighter 1)
Hirelings: Helusch

AT THE MEDUSA'S HEAD...

The month of Unodecember has brought cold air, light snow, and some change. The Pope Teodorus has declared new days of the week: Sunday, Moonday, Swordsday, Wandsday, Cupsday, Coinsday, Devilsday. 

Hard to miss the
6'6'' quest giver

While the party is discussing this week goal, retrieving thousands of silver coins from a deep pool, they are approached by Johanna d' Ligne, cleric of Father Winter, offers the party healing potions in exchange for collecting the miasma of a slain Knight of Armadeus (PC NOTE: This is another player's character from a completely different group who is also in Nightwick now. Or more accurately has returned to Nightwick after hearing someone (who???) broken open a way to the 4th Level)

Since the winter's cold had stiffed a few joints, the party decides to first tackle the stash of coins on the 4th level of the dread abbey, but for tangling with "management". In preparation, the party discusses how to create nets for coins and how to efficiently fish them out of the pool. In the end, several sacks, hoes, wooden pitchforks and 10-ft poles are purchased to do this task. And off the party goes.

...THEN DOWN TO THE ABBEY...

TWO TOWERS: Emerging from the fog-bound forest, the party immediately notices that the ubiquitous purple vines have seemingly withered in the cold winter months. Additionally, it appears that someone has been doing repair work on the two normally crumbled towers. Very strange.

MOSELEUM ENTRANCE (LEVEL 3): The party takes an increasingly familiar path through Level 3 to reach the broken seals and the spiral staircase down the Level 4. Fortuitously, the journey is unhindered by the denizens of these horrid halls.

SPIRAL STAIRCASE (LEVEL 4): All is quite so far. The party reaches the bottom, ESP is cast, and our Rogue and Changling listen at the door in the northwest. Again nothing.

MODEL CITY & CRYPT ROOM: The travels west into the room with a small model city from a land far off from the Dark Country; party continues west unimpeded- Mayfly picks up strange thoughts on the edges of the ESP range. The party entered a room containing a crypt in the northwest corner, previously investigated, and turns north- ESP checks (nothing), listening (nothing)- pops open the door

THE SILVER POOL: Before the party is a pool glittering with what Blossom suspects is ~3,000sp of silver coins. However, it was previously discovered the water is super-heated. Equipment is assembled into a rickety ~12ft fishing net using 10ft poles, wooden pitchforks, and large sacks. Hoes and a shovel are then used to escape the coin into the sacks. The rest of the party watches the doors.... suspicious the abbey seems quiet.

HOLY COW: Feeling lucky, which in Nightwick is worse than feeling scared, the party decides to explore the hallway to the east (after traveling back out the door they came in). Blossum checks for traps and discovers a tile 10ft in front that might be something. She tests the trap to reveal when depressed a rain of darts shoots out from the sides of the room.

Mayfly then reaches into his pocket, removes something, and whispers into his cupped hands. All of a sudden four bands that spend the wide of the room illuminate in an ill-purple hue. Pointed questions ensue. Awkward deflection occurs. The party then works to stake each metal strip in the "up" position allowing investigation of the now-revealed statue.

The icon lounges in a luid position is cow-headed, and craft by an artist with the eyes of a pervert and the erotic subtlety of a grope. But its made of gold (Blossom estimates 3000sp)! So still worth something! And the party sets to work repurposing their poles, hoes, sacks, and rods to carry this golden tribute to fecundity.

And still no trouble is present. Hmm. Not wanting their luck to run out as their torches sputter, the party decides to depart this horrible place and makes it back out.

...THEN BACK TO THE VILLAGE.

(PC NOTE: Miranda give us a choice to leave our bounty outside the Abbey and attempt another delve, given we had played only ~2 hours, or we can call it an early night. Given we have delved for longer before and ended up with nothing to show for it except dead hirelings (or a PC), we decided to take our 6000sp and call it a night.

I think this choice is an important facet of long-term megadungeon campaigns, particularly those that enforce a town-dungeon-town loop. Some nights you hit it just right: delve for 3 hours, have some fights, and get some nice loot. Other times, you delve, get your ass kicked, delve again, and still get your ass kicked- and leave with nothing. But just the opposite can happen, your party can find or know of a nice pile of treasure, you delve with that goal in mind, obtain it, and get out. These short sessions feel great as a player and provide the DM with a little bit of a break as well.

This ebb and flow of session length, treasure gained, and losses endured is a pattern that more unfolds with prolonged play. And contrary to what others might claim, is not unique to a particular advanced system, but more in the commitment to returning to the same campaign world.)