Legacy of Adventure: The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth

Sowing the Seeds

Lord Dunsany has many wonderful writings, my favorite so far being the Chronicles of Shadow Valley. His works are rife with dreamlike imagery and strange magic, a cascade of imagination and inspiration. Don't believe me? Check out the chapter in the Chronicles where Rodriguez meets a wizard, sees the horror of humanity's future, and nearly loses his life to the cosmos! Alas, I'm here to talk about D&D; and with it The Fortress Unvanquishable.

Taken down by a man with a will and magic sword.

The adventure begins as many do with a legend about the atrocities suffered by villagers at the hand of an ancient wizard, and a prophecy on how to end it. Our hero, Leothric, steps up to fulfill the first part of the prophecy by taking on a mechanical dragon-croc whose spine contains a legendary sword: Sacnoth (the adventure setting is probably Australia). Its weakness? Getting booped in its snoot made of lead for three days and starving to death. This first test is one of endurance, as Leothric fights for three sleepless days against the man-eater.

The dragon-crocs' carcass is smelted and eyes harvested; Sacnoth must be sharpened in both blade and sight. The instincts of this semi-mindless blade provide Leothric the guidance needed to navigate the dangerous marsh that hides the wizard Gaznak, leading us to the Fortress proper.

In true Dunsany fashion, this fortress is a work of wonder, both inside and out; immense metal doors only Sacnoth can hack through, tall halls filled with unseen vampires and other horrors, a talking monstrous spider, decadent princes and queens, inhuman concubines that attempt to prey on Leothric's good will, and mechanical dragon-like servitors to spare. Even Gaznak himself is a dreamhaze horror. Despite all the obstacles, Leothric pushes through and finally ends the wizard's dream.

A final note leaves us with the rumour that there was never any Leothric, Wizard, or Fortress; it was all some fever dream. Perhaps the weaver of the tale was Gaznak himself?

Plentiful Harvest

While this is only a single piece of Lord Dunsany's work, it is rife with adventure material used and re-used through years of D&D and its derivatives; ancient legends, horrific monsters, magical craftsmanship, temptations, and terrible wizards. It is myth made manifest.

The Power of Archetypes: Angel of Vengeance

Angel of Vengeance

I just finished reading the Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, a gift I received this past Christmas. I'm still new to the various Appendix N authors and slowly branching out as I find things from used bookstores (I prefer paper to digital), and Kane is right up my alley.

For real, buy it.

 

You see, my favorite book to date is the Count of Monte Cristo; a classic about loss, tenacity, and vengeance. Edmond Dantes is crafty, and you follow him through the layers of intrigue, setups, and payoffs until his enemies have received their just desserts. Kane, however, is more direct, animilistic, and primal. Howard describes near everything about Kane as inhuman: steel, iron, or wolf-like. Everything, that is, except his righteousness.

Rotvalan Reveries Ep23: Logistical Concerns

Run Date: November 24, 2024

PCs
Lysalia: Lv4 Witch
Francisco: Lv4 Fighter

Hench
Julius: Lv1 Fighter
Hurriya: Lv1 Explorer
Leighann: Lv1 Bladedancer
Phaoros: Lv1 Fighter
Dhaivol: Lv1 Ruinguard
Bellara: Lv2 Fighter

Logistical Concerns

This is hardly worth calling a session, but due diligence requires me to report it nonetheless.

The party, such as it was, had a couple wounded henchman. The thinning of the front line and general lack of numbers resulted in hesitation to venture out of town. Instead, the players discussed logistics and used the time to build up their core of information, connections, and adventure opportunities.

The first point of discussion was assisting Lysalia with building her repertoire to be more useful in combat scenarios. Given Rotval’s hatred of witches, this would be a difficult task. The group began by hitting up the cathedral and inquiring about available stock. The players rolled out the scrolls and spells, discovering that a “Monster Scroll” (22 spell levels) had a lot of things they wanted. Such an item was outside their current fund, but Francisco floated the idea that they may be able to pay for that single spell instead of the whole scroll. Would the church take such a deal?

Rotvalan Reveries Ep22: Opalescent Investments

Run Date: November 17, 2024

PCs
Lysalia: Lv4 Witch
Francisco: Lv4 Fighter

Hench
Julius: Blacksmith
Hurriya: Lv1 Explorer
Leighann: Lv1 Bladedancer
Dhaivol: Lv1 Ruinguard
Phaoros: Lv1 Fighter
Bellara: Lv2 Fighter

Foreword

This session used Sharpbone Opal Mine from the Delightful Dungeons Competition, a two-page dungeon project and competition to encourage the creation of smaller adventure sites useful for sandbox play. I used the hook of a Merchant who’d won the deed to the mine in a game of cards, but was unsure if it was even still viable or functioning. She put out a 100gp bounty to adventurers who’d head out there to recon, and potentially secure, the place. For the shrewd adventurer that demanded more, she offered a stake in the mine’s profits; once it got up and running again, of course.

Rotvalan Reveries Ep21: Semi-Solo Play

 Run Date: October 27, 2024

PCs
Lysalia: Lv3 Witch

Hench
Julius: Master Blacksmith
Hurriya: Lv1 Explorer
Leighann: Lv1 Bladedancer
Dhaivol: Lv1 Ruinguard

Semi-Solo Play

Only one player today. I left it up to Lysalia whether or not we’d run something or skip the night. We ended up running wilderness exploration and doing some stocking.

Lysalia set out from Rotval (the city) to explore a hook from a local merchant about an opal mine. The cash on offer was something like 100gp for information and clearing it out if there were issues, and a 10% stake in the mine. However, the merchant didn’t quite note its exact location.

Rotvalan Reveries Ep20: Not So Double Header

Run Date: October 13, 2024

PCs
Lysalia: Lv3 Witch
Francisco: Lv4 Fighter

Hench
Bellara: Lv2 Fighter
Julius: Master Blacksmith
Hurriya: Lv1 Explorer
(Leighann: Lv1 Bladedancer)
(Dhaivol: Lv1 Ruinguard)

Not So Double Header

Francisco and Lysalia decided to redouble their efforts and return to the Whispering Cave to delve proper. They ran against several walls during their previous trip and hoped no more obstacles would have popped up. The trip out was overall uneventful and the party arrived at the dungeon ready to hit it. Francisco had sketched a paper map and was ready to navigate (this lead to a later conflict since I was trying to convert the map to something usable in Owlbear).

The party descended into the entry chamber where Francisco opened the way via snake-neck lever. He followed down the bear hall and skipped the miniature well inside the room. What followed was a desire to complete some loops and fill gaps in his map. This lead him through a long series of hallways and back toward the bramble or thorn door. Upon proper examination, he deduced that bashing the door open would incur damage to himself (yes, even through his plates). He proceeded to smash the thorns flat with his magic hammer then kick it down.

BroXT Jan 9: The Champ Throws Down the Gauntlet

 

It wouldn't be a trial by fire without someone throwing on some gas.

The current BroXT champ, Crom, was unhappy with the narrow offerings being put forth for the Appendix N King of the Ring challenge! "Why is everything Conan?" As such, he gave us a proper lashing and demanded we do better! So much so that he began handing out assignments. I've said it before, but this man deserves his belt; he believes in us and demands nothing less. Can we believe in the him that believes in us?

My assignment was Leigh Brackett's Vanishing Venusians. I had purchased and read the Illustrated Stark last year and loved Brackett's writing; especially her take on Venus (Enchantress of Venus). Her writing is evocative, even to someone as illiterate as myself, and full of pieces you can steal for adventure sites and dungeons. Vanishing Venusians was no different.

The story introduces us to a veritable ark of humans looking for a promised land. They roll through the deep underseas of rot and mist that make up this version of Venus in the hopes of seeing the sun again. The grim present is often contrasted with the beautiful, heavenly past of the elder and experienced "adventurer" Harker. He's lost nearly all hope, but sometimes dreams of what was. Poor guy.

When the ark comes across a new swampland with high, dangerous cliffs, Harker breaks from the stagnation and offers to hunt down the plateau. A pair of men join him in his endeavour; a strongman fighter and a younger man at the edge of hope. This latter man has an incoming child and a strong personal drive to find a better life for him.

All this is a simple setup for the real meat of the story which takes the trio through the dense and horrible upper clouds of Venus into "another world." They wander dark caves, relying on simple weaponry and tenacity to push through a horde of plant-fish men just to find a beautiful paradise with a dark secret. Brackett makes ample use of contrast to manage tension while offering small clues and insights into just how alien and dangerous even the seeming brighter areas of Venus can be. Crom gave a solid recommendation here.

To be honest, I feel I've missed the mark and had too narrow a view on the Challenge. I'm not really the one to come to for elevated thoughts or deep conversation. What I can say is that I've done more reading the last year or so than I have the last decade, and the antecedents that inspired D&D have so much on offer that don't rely on waiting 100 years for Book 2. I have to wonder, did Gygax and the Old Guard feel the same excitement when they read about these strange worlds? How did they feel when Rodriguez nearly lost his life in the tower of a Wizard?

BroXT Jan 9: Sparks of Inspiration

The Challenge

You ever read something and think, "Man, I'd like to adventure there" or "I could plop this into my game!"? It turns out that I've had that come up twice! The first with Scarlet Citadel and the second with Moon of Skulls (Both by Robert E Howard).

The skinny of Scarlet Citadel is that King Conan is lured into a trap and chucked into a dungeon connected to the underworld. In it, Conan must escape among hellish fears and grotesque abominations created by an evil Sorcerer. If you ever have need of an antagonist or need help understanding Dungeon as Underworld, this is the story for you.

On the flipside, you have Moon of Skulls which takes the crusader Solomon Kane into the halls of an ancient race in search of his friend's daughter. Kane scales a sheer cliff-face, ventures into black caves, and wanders through lost passages while avoiding death at the hands of the fanatical, bloodthirsty residents.

Each stands on its own as a seed for adventure. Moon of Skulls features mix-raced madmen consumed by bloodthirst, their leader, Kane, a lore dumping Atlantean, and our damsel. Scarlet Citadel has several traitors, but our Sorcerer and his playthings are the real meat. What if I tried to turn them into an adventure site?

The Scarlet City

A mountain of scarlet floats atop the canopies of a great jungle, its peaks casting long, cold daggers toward the horizon. Where there is shadow, untold horrors await.

Short and simple. Our floating mountain is surrounded by deep ravines with only a narrow bridge giving access. We'll populate jungles with abominations ala Scarlet Citadel; reskin or add some simple powers to already existing monsters for simplicity (in ACKS II, just borrow some abilities from the MM). Limit their movements to the shadow of the mountain and you've got time pressure; but crossing the jungle is only the first obstacle.

A narrow stone bridge is the only obvious entrance, but in Kane's case, he stumbled upon an unseen cave that followed one of the many lost secret tunnels. This is already a natural hazard, and could serve as a means of skirting around a defensible front gate; but let's borrow a bit from Citadel and add more entrances, winding paths, and a prison for failed experiments! Oh, and the well to the Underworld. Gotta give adventurers opportunity to take risks for great rewards, right?

What about the city itself? Factions! The Tigress and her half-bloods venture out for slaves and "product" and relish in the tortures Master Sorcerer commits to the hapless victims while searching for Atlantean secrets. Meanwhile, the Ageless Antlantean Sages use their knowledge of the secret tunnels to evade capture and execution, while using their own dark magics to create or possess their own allies, perhaps through some psychic prowess. Is that why the abominations go mad? What about the Dark God from Moon of Skulls? Remember our Well to Hell? He's itching to make a deal and break his chains.