Session #65: The Tower Invincible

Last week, Lord Althis of the Crag came again into Cothon seeking adventure--but seeking for others to join him in the further exploration of certain unexplored crannies in the depths of his own Crag Keep! Two answered the call, those being Bartholomew Pettibone, and Durham of the Ringing Anvil, each followed their usual leal companions.

The company set out from the Gate of Mourners and made their way quickly into the ruins of Tsurr al Qadim--encountering on their way, near the outpost of the Poor Brothers of the Dead, a merchant train of slave-bearers run by the merchant Enshunu. No gold or wares exchanged hands at the time--only pleasant greetings--but Althis enjoined Enshunu (and through him, other merchants!) to consider the keep open and friendly to their kind, a market as yet untapped in all its potential. Or so Enshunu reported when he made his way into the city.

Meanwhile, this company entered through the gates of the Crag, and thereafter sought adventure in its depths--seeking ingress to the legendary Tower Invinvible!

• Lord Althis (magic-user 5)
  accompanied by two crossbowmen, Jermo and Nona
• Durham (fighting-man 7)
  accompanied by Pako (renyu)
• Bartholomew Pettibone (magic-user 6)
  accompanied by Gan ad-Din (fighting-man 5)

Bart and Durham, and their companions, returned to Cothon rather full, having been well-feasted by Althis and his companions and servants at the Crag. They claimed to indeed have accomplished what has seemed impossible--to penetrate into the very depths of the Tower Invincible. And most curiously, they wonder about the legends of the Elver Worms, and whence they come, for they encountered not even a scale of the dread creatures within. ... Or so they say.

They did bear evidence of having ransacked some kind of wealthy estate, however--carrying fine linens and bedding, an assortment of precious room-services, and even a great (though moldered) tapestry. Also--the  strangely musky heads of vampires, and the mortal remains of an adventurer who seemed to have succumbed to those very fiends.

the Tower Invincible, as seen from the side, rising out of a rocky
 outcropping, and the conjectured halls carved within the stone

The Tower has around it a strange field of force that resists all attempts to enter by the (closed) main gate--or even to approach very closely the tower itself--and of course catapult-shot and rams have no effect on the field, as evidenced by its continued survival even past the ruin of Old Tsurr during the Man-Kzin Wars. So how did they manage to enter it? And indeed--how is it that are creatures within that succor themselves on living flesh and blood?? And how did some other unfortunate manage the same feat of entrance (only to have his life ended before the boasting he could have done, alas!)???

All this must be told by those who went, or discovered by further adventure ...

The Lucre

• 2000 dinars (gp) from rich linens and bedding
• 2200 dinars from varied services of silver and brass
• an ancient tapestry depicting Old Tsurr in its hey-day, badly faded by time; though materially damaged, it might still be sold to the right buyer if someone with a great interest in history, esp. of Old Tsurr, could be located (~3000 gp value)
• materiel and tools for metalworking, ore-smelting, &c.; these could be sold for a tidy sum, or perhaps split between the workshops of the Ringing Anvil and the Crag Keep
• 
  six spell scrolls (but one ruined by blood, leaving only 5 viable scrolls):
  1) written in silvered ink, the spells ethereal jaunt and dimension door
  2) & 3) apparently written in invisible ink, these each hold both invisibility and invisibility 10'
  4) inscribed on the rim of a small shield, to be broken when casting: shield
  5) a strange spell, Allos' Scintillating Shield--perhaps detailed in the spellbook (below)?
• a slim "adventuring" spellbook, including a map
• matching fine short sword and handaxe taken from the dead adventurer, both worked with an electrum thunderbolt
• a black orb and the dark metal tripod upon which it can stand
  
• three grey suits with red decor, which could easily be slipped on over one's clothing; Bart claims these might protect against "poisoned light" [right]
  
• an odd brick with a glass surface on top, inside of which is a needle that can swing back and forth; it occasionally clicks, or even makes a strange "burping" sound
• 6 vampire heads, still musky

A note--the dinars from beddings and services taken from the Tower represent about 3 apartments' worth of stuff, perhaps esp. choice selections; which, given the workshop materiel, the tapestry, and the remains of the poor adventurer all also carried out of the Tower, I find reasonable for the 7-member company to have absconded with

The Learning

• 7200 xp from treasure
• 1301 xp from vampires x6 (200 + hp ea.)
• 400 xp to each player-character for penetration into the Tower Invincible

The Cut (this was the easiest money-cut I've ever had to calculate)

• 3234 xp to each player-character
  1617 xp to Gan ad-Din
• 1000 dinars to each player-character
  500 dinars to Gan and Pako
  100 dinars each to Jermo and Nona, serving as "footmen", i.e. receiving 10% shares
• the faded tapestry of Old Tsurr
• workshop materiel
• 5 spell scrolls
• the spellbook and map (the map is written inside the book)
  
• matched thunderbolt-decorated short sword and handaxe
• the black orb and its stand
• three grey suits worked with red
• a peculiarly noisy brick
• 6 vampire heads

Any item of vale that a party-member wishes to possess may be "bought out" by adding their own dinars into the pot equal to its stated value; other items must be negotiated for by the members of the company, according to their desires.

And, as always, artwork, maps drawn by players, write-ups, &c. from the point of view of the characters, sent by players to be published here, will earn the corresponding player-character 100 xp per level.