ACKS Session 32: Return to the Unicorn Pool

Session was played on 09/08/21. The party spent one day in the Turos Spen market and adventured for 4 days. Needing 1 day of rest as per ACKS rules (barring PCs with Endurance) means these PCs can begin taking actions starting 09/14/21.

Foreword

It's been a while since this session was played and I'm writing this report a month later. Much of it has faded from my mind. I started waiting to release the session reports a bit later so PCs and Patrons wouldn't have information they shouldn't. Give a week or two from the session events to blog post release, you see. But that then turned into me simply being too lazy to write the reports in a timely manner at all. Sad!

is it real?

This goes against #brosr best practices and I advise you not do the same! Session reports are Proof of Concept which our hobby thrives on. OSR and Nuskool ttrpg sorts rattle(d) off hundreds (thousands?) of blog posts about their various dnd theories and house rules with many (most?) not even providing session reports proving their theories in practice. When you play real dnd you can easily glance at old osr blog posts and realize they must not have played much at all; very obvious things about Real Play escaped their mental grasp. Don't be like them! Be #Elite

What this means to me is this session report will be a bit hazy. The sessions after The Desolation of Turos Tem were a bit uneventful on a macro scale. There was no grand counter attack on Dairin (Player Controlled Patron Mage Level ???) or Ferigno (Player Controlled Patron Green Dragon Level ???) during Session 32, for instance. But it's my guess Players were working behind the scenes on something like this. (I don't know for certain since they plan privately away from mine prying DM eyes.)

This session appeared to be about shoring up their numbers and moving slowly into position for a future Big Event. Read on.

Session Report

This session the party wanted to take Kagan (PC Dwarven Craftpriest Level 1) to get is Mortal Wound healed up by the Unicorn Pool. He lost his leg long ago and had been hanging out in Cyfaraun just chilling. Hopping around town.

Drink from the Pool: get healed up. What a place!

They set out from Turos Spen after spending a day to shop for Military Oil, horses and the like. Leaving the next day it took them about a day to get to the eastern edge of the Viaspen Forest. They befriended a mule (Random Encounter) on the way. Free mule!

Three days into their travels they realized they were lost in the Viaspen Forest. For how long? BriarWhisper (PC Elven Ranger Level 3) sent his pet owl up into the treetops to scout around for a bit and see if they could use that to find their location. The Owl came back some hours later and Daria (PC BladeDancer Level 5) cast Speak with Animals so she could communicate enough with the bird to justify mine rolling a "Not Lost" Check. They failed and so they traveled East out of the forest so they could come back in at a location they knew and no longer be lost. It wasted some hours of travel time and lost Daria her spell (which became VERY important later).

The party came upon a goblin warband, many of whom were riding wargs. The party had Surprise on the warband so the players debated for 15 minutes or so about whether they should attack the goblins at all and whether they should try and ambush the goblins from a rocky outcropping that was nearby. I got a drink.

Gaius (PC Fighter Level 4) wanted to charge his warhorse and his cavalry mercs at the goblins right away so the party used their surprise round to do that. The rocky outropping became less of an element of the battle as a result except BriarWhisper (I believe) who posted up there for the entirety of the battle. 

Daria used the surprise round to cast bless. Gaius charged his horse at the goblin king leading the warband, getting many cleaves and killing screaming goblins on the way. As the battle raged Marn (PC Mage Level 3) cast Summon Beserkers on top of the leaders in the goblin ranks, hemming them up in melee with disposable summoned fighters. Daria cast Blindness on the goblin king making him about useless in melee.

Even with the initial big hit on the goblins in the first couple rounds, the beasts kept making successful Morale Checks; so the battle raged on. Gaius and BriarWhisper were killing many of the goblins by chaining their cleave attacks. Daria waded into melee but was largely ineffective due to using her polearm rather than her dual sword attack. 

Marn used a round of combat to come down from the rocky outcropping to flank a side of the melee scrum. Some of the PCs including I believe Turin (PC Cleric Level 1), and Xanthos (PC Cleric level 1) came along with Marn to give him cover if goblins exited the scrum to get in the Mage's face.

Marn cast a brilliantly placed Flaming Hands spell and burned up and killed 11 goblins. Melting green faces all around. 

Turin guarded Marn when the goblins tried to engage the Mage and sadly died himself, his head chopped off. 

Eventually all the goblins were dead painting the forest with green blood yet the wargs were fighting on (Morale Checks made again!). The party was having trouble bringing the big dire wolves down but luckily my damage rolls against the party stayed low. Marn blinded one of the beasts with Darkness which made him pretty useless (-4 to hit and the dog mostly wandered around confused for a few rounds).

Daria was down one spell the whole fight due to the fiasco of the party getting lost and the gambit on the Pet Owl helping them get found. Daria's player informed me this was a pretty big hit since the BladeDancer could have shot off another useful spell to become less of a support class and more of a killer similar to Gaius. Choices have consequences in real dnd!

By the time all the goblins and wargs were killed (NONE fled) Turin, Daria's pet Giant Snake, and all the cavalry mercenaries were dead. Gaius was most bummed about the latter.

One player said this reminded him of the sessions early in the campaign where the party faced down gobin warbands but this time the Party had a few higher level PCs to make it more feasible to kill all the gobs.

The party scoured the battlefield and goblin bodies for treasure. Sadly this wasn't a warband flush wish cash and the party only found 9,000 copper pieces and a handful of semi precious stones. Sad!

The next day the party traveled deeper into the forest and came to the known location of the Unicorn Pool. Disaster!

The Unicorn Pool had been destroyed and the rubble of the marble gazebo around it had been felled. The marble rubble was laid out to spell the name "Iskara"; the name of the evil chthonic goddess of a Chaos. Queen of the Monsters and seeming patroness of the Buried Tempe (which the PCs call the Blister of Doom). 

Players were bummed, angry, exasperated, annoyed... etc. Their plan to bring Kagan to the Pool for healing was all for naught. Due to Patron or NPC actions by some bad guys, the location was found and destroyed. The Unicorn himself was no where to be found. It was a major loss for the metaphysical forces of Law in the Viaspen Forest and Southern Argolle. 

The party rested at the ruin and traveled to the Elf Lord Oakhilt's Fastness to rest and end the session. On the way they saw a wandering warband of Orcs but evaded it completely either due to the session having running late, not wanting to push their luck, or because they were just plain bummed out.

This is the first time the PCs had ever "Parked" at a non-human settlement to end a session. The Elves met them miles from the Fastness and blindfolded all the non-elf PCs before allowing them to approach the stunning Fastness. They were met with suspicion and not some impoliteness on the night they stayed there.

Afterword

BriarWhisper used some downtime a few weeks (I think) before this session to meet with the Elf Lord Oakhilt (NPC Elven Spellword Level ???) to discuss local events with him and ask his advice on various things. BriarWhisper traveled with an elf ranging party to attempt to scout the numbers of the Gnolls and the ranging party stopped at the Unicorn Pool. (The Gnolls that were being scouted were eventually tracked and attacked by the PCs in Session 27.)

I had a challenge on my hand because this was around the time the Patron(s) involved intended to bring death down on the Unicorn Pool. It was an interesting thing to juggle as I did the math on which day BriarWhisper would be there vs which day the Patron(s) would be there. 

Might the Elves stayed to help defend the Unicorn Pool? Might BriarWhisper end up dying in downtime? Might Dairin (if he was involved) get got by a happenstance Elf Warband? All big questions that come up during real brosr style dnd.

I had to ask the Patron(s) and PC pointed but subtle questions about "ok so when do you leave? when do you get there? etc" without revealing why it was so important exactly which date they were where.

As it happened the Bad Guys hit the Pool some days after the elves had moved through. The timing was quite close, however, and would have be a wild coincidence and campaign scale game changer similar to what happened in the Trollopulous Patron Event with Elric, the cavemen, and Fluid the Druid.

Surviving PCs Present

BriarWhisper (5% xp bonus) Elven Ranger Level 3. Gained 216 xp. Total: 8,077

Daria (0% xp bonus) Bladedancer Level 5. Gained 206 xp. Total: 14,306

Gaius (10% xp bonus) Fighter Level 4. Gained 227 xp. Total: 11,558

Marn (10% xp bonus) Mage Level 3. Gained 227 XP. Total: 5,782

Xanthos (10% xp bonus) Cleric Level 1. Gained 227 XP. Total: 704

Surviving Hench

Kagan (5% xp bonus) Dwarven Craftpriest Level 1. Gained 108 xp. Total: 1,578

Owl and horse received 103 xp.

Deceased:

Dama (L1 Venturer) played by RR.  Current total xp: 75. DECEASED. Poison gas in Session 3.

Darius LeVay (L1 Assassin) played by JB. Current Total XP:451. DECEASED. Poison gas in Session 3.

Donald the Guardsman (L1 Fighter) played by MP. Current Total XP:570. DECEASED. Intra-party justice in Session 3.

Felix (L1 Thief) played by Nicholas. Current Total XP:431. DECEASED. Poison gas in Session 3.

Hektor (L1 Paladin) played by Moai. DECEASED. Cause of Death: goblin warg rider throat removal surgery in Session 2

Leonidas the Inquisitor (L1 Cleric) played by RR.Current Total XP:498  DECEASED. Frozen undead blistering cold aura left his skin frostbitten and broken in Session 6. Body not recovered.

Mard the Mage (L1 Mage) played by Nicholas. DECEASED. Frozen undead blistering cold aura left his skin frostbitten and broken in Session 6. Body not recovered.

Yolo Baggins "My friends call me Swaggins" (L1 Gnomish Trickster) played by J. DECEASED. Paralyzed and eaten by ghouls in Session 12. Body not recovered.

Jack Filcher (L1 Thief) played by C. DECEASED. Shot full of arrows by Inthorn's brigands in Session 12. Body not recovered.

Swoleous Maximus (L1 Paladin). DECEASED. Captured then drawn and quartered by Inthorn the Brigand warlord in Session 12. Posthumously named "Petty Hero of Turos Tem" by Legate Valerian. Ashes offered a place of pride in the Hospital.

Damianus (L1 Cleric). DECEASED. Captured and beheaded by Inthorn the Brigand warlord in Session 12. Posthumously named "Petty Hero of Turos Tem" by Legate Valerian. Ashes offered a place of pride in the Hospital.

Bucky (L1 Barbarian). DECEASED. Became a illegal pit fighter during his downtime. Had two bouts to the death, winning the first and losing the second. Was killed by Young Jack Sparrow who sashayed into the ring, drank rum, and mogged on Bucky before putting a dagger into his ribs, killing him. This happened during downtime between Session 17 and 18.

Broll Wolf-Eater (L1 Barbarian). Current total XP: 1079. DECEASED. Carried off by harpies after falling for their enchanting song in Session 19.

Brother Franklin (L1 Cleric). DECEASED. Decapitated by a mad cultist of a Lovecraftian slime thing in Session 19.

Felix the Elder (L1 Bard). Total XP 825. DECEASED. Captured by mad cultists and fed to a Lovecraftian slime monster in Session 19.

Templar Flavius Africanus (L1 Cleric). Total XP 7. Killed by the claws and beak of mad harpies in Session 19.

Xendi (L1 Explorer). Total XP 6. DECEASED. Carried off by harpies after falling for their enchanting song in Session 19.

Yllmeeton (L3 Shaman). Total XP 4,563. Bludgeoned by the corpse of a bowmen by Rosie Odonnel hag in Session 21.

Longinus (L2 Assassin). Total XP 2,036. Had his face ripped off by Rosie Odonnel hag in Session 21.

Mandonio (L3 Fighter). Total XP 4,779. Charred to a leprous crisp by diseased Dragon breath in Session 22.

Corydon (L1 Joker). Total XP: 0. Burnt to a crisp by chimera breath so thoroughly his corpse wasn't even fit for the crows. Died with a smile on his face and a song in his heart. that's life and as funny as it seems... some people get their kicks, stomping on a dream... In Session 25.

Donny Keebler (L1 Elven Spellsword). Total XP 2,238. Had his legs burned completely off by chimera fire breath in Session 25.

Marina (L2 Fighter). Total XP: 2,204. Burnt into ash by a chimera fire breath in Session 25.

Gundro (L2 Gnomish Trickster). Total XP: 2,575. Had his mouth and tongue bitten off by a lizardman ambusher in the dank sewers below Cyfaraun in Session 26.

Polydoros (L1 Fighter). Total XP: 0. Had his legs ripped off and eaten by Akira monsters in the dark canopy of the Viaspen Forest in Session 28.

Odrum (L1 Explorer). Total XP: 287. Javelin to the heart from the hands of weird vine goblins hidden in the walls of Ferigno's lair in Session 30.

Garvin the Nutless Wonder (L1 Mage). Total XP: 0. Fell off the side of Ferigno's lair 20 feet to his death in Session 30.

Blackmoon (L1 Assassin). Total XP: 768. Choked to death by BOB from Twin Peaks while stealing treasure from Ferigno's dragon horde in Session 30.

Xanthus (L2 Cleric). Total XP: 2,364. Choked to death by BOB from Twin Peaks while hanging out on the roof of Ferigno's lair in Session 30.

Turin (L1 Cleric). Total XP: 0. Eaten by Wargs in Session 32.

Alexa this is so sad play "Jump" by Van Halen