Tower of the Archmage

Some months are much more up and down than others. This one was full of wild swings, and to be honest I’m happy it’s over.

I lost my Alicemonster on the 24th. She was the best beast and I miss her terribly. 

It wasn’t all bad, but the bad certainly tainted the good. I got the taxes done, with a small refund. I got some solid work done on some minis, played some D&D, and even went out with a friend to see Dune 2, eat some great BBQ and play some pool.

Gaming
Back in Rappan, and since it's been many months since we played on that side of things it took a few sessions to catch up on things. Amusingly we're heading away from Rappan to go raze a temple that has fallen to some sort of demonic force.

Miniatures
Definitely a month of random minis. I wrapped up 3 drakes from the chainmail game, an old carrion crawler, a board game demon, a 3d printed robot, a bones 1 mage, and started working on some heresy minis sci-fi troopers and a GW Tau Ethereal. 

Media
Ted lasso
Ghosts
Resident Alien
Dune 2
Star Trek Voyager
Delicious in Dungeon

Goals for April
Play scenario 3 for Hope Eternal (gonna happen some month…)
Try to get at least 2 session reports written per week.
Take a day off and make some terrain

Session 224 was played on 8/2/23

Morgana, Magic User (Rob)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)
Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)

After collecting their wayward goblin who talked his way out of a beating at the furry hands of the bugbear guards, they head back to Tanna T’Liev. Having gotten the lowdown on the3 houses that jointly run the settlement, Morgana picks the one most known for their wizards. Getting an audience took a little doing, but not as much as Morgana was expecting.

In the end the bargain was simple. Morgana would turn over Beard bane, the troll king’s ax, and pledge to serve the house. Oh, and they’ll need to get magical tattoos as well. Lor’Koth declines the tattoo. Word of their talk with Crope also has come to the head wizard, and she also wants the Gloom Crown from the dwarven hermitage. Morgana agrees.

Gains: magical tattoos
Kills:
Losses: Beard bane

Session 223 was played on 7/23/23

Morgana, Magic User (Rob)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)
Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)

The party packs and and heads directly down deep into Stonehell, with no encounters along the way all the way to the elevators that take them down to level 6. The Vrilya guardians thankfully don’t recognize the party, but they have doubled their rates for entry to 200gp per person. An expensive pass given that they pass through the Vrilyan territory and right out the other side to the Fire Beetle Bar.

Getting themselves a table, they look around at the various patrons. The order a round for themselves, mostly getting the Fire Beetle Ale, but Blotto tries the Morlock Grog, while Morgana goes for the blandest wine she’s ever tasted. Feeling bored, Blotto tries to sneak into the upstairs and pee on the owner’s bed, but is caught by a bugbear guard before he gets too far.

While Blotto was getting himself caught, Morgana chats with Crope the barkeep, who tells her that if she wants to be able to pass through the Vrilyan controlled territory they need the patronage of one of the great houses… or one of his counterfeit tokens, which are good but not foolproof.

Gains:
Kills:
Losses:

Session 222 was played on 7/16/23

Morgana, Magic User (Rob)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)
Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)

Downtime! Morgana spends a month working on plate mail +3 for Koltic (successfully). Blotto spends the month trying to teach the rust monsters to serve as mounts, and gets the local kobolds to make tack for them. He also consults with a exobiologist who’s super excited to have access to a pair of (potentially) breedable examples to learn from. Blotto names the female Esmeralda. The 3 amigos don’t find a weapons master to work with so putter about town.

On the way to the dungeon a flock of hippogryphs attacks the party. Morgana fireballs them as they swoop down, taking out 10 instantly. One avoided the fireball, and races for Koltic, but he hits it with Hold Monster, and it hits the ground hard. They rope it up, heal it, and being it back to town and deliver it to the local lord.

Heading back to the manor, a visitor is waiting for Morgana… a mummy lord who wants her to craft boots of traveling for him. Morgana considers it.

Heading, again to the dungeon, they’re stopped at the gatehouse by 4 gargoyles perched on the roof. The kobolds are refusing to come out, or even open the door initially. The party calms the kobolds, and goes up to the roof. Blotto goes first, as they figure goblin probably isn’t especially appetizing to gargoyles, and they’ll pause before ripping into him. They’re right, and that gives the party a chance to negotiate with them. It’s settled that the gargoyles will refrain from eating any kobolds, and will wait for them to indicate who is a valid meal.

Into the dungeon, they go straight to Rocky and ask him about how to get to level 6 without dealing with the Vrylia. Rocky tells them that there is a way, but isn’t big on specifics beyond the phrase “scintillating orbs”.

The party heads back home. Morgana works on the boots, and knocks them out a little faster than expected.

Gains:
Kills: 10 Hippogryphs
Losses:

I look forward to a month where there isn't any illness to report. This month was a head cold followed up with an eye infection. Thankfully the rest of the family remained largely healthy. It was also another busy month at work, but it looks like things will get a little less hectic next month. On top of that, it was the lunar new year, so family obligations… Needless to say there has been less time to do the painting and blogging that I had planned.

Gaming
I rarely talk about playing video games because I rarely do. However, one night early this month I was in a foul mood, and while I’d planned on painting, I knew that was a bad idea, so I loaded up my Epic Games library to see what I had that I could just click and kill some monsters. I thought about booting up my old XBox and playing some Halo, but I didn’t want to wake the toddler. I settled on Torchlight 2, a slightly cartoonish Diablo clone. It’s a relatively simple game with little that you need to remember either control or plot wise. I’ve continued to squeeze in some play time pretty regularly though the first half of the month, which is better than mindlessly scrolling Instagram or Facebook, but not as good as getting some writing or painting done.

Stonehell is reaching a pause point, and my player Rob is getting ready to take over the DM’s chair and run more Rappan Athuk. I’m looking forward to that.  


Miniatures
The focus this month was Frostgrave Barbarians, and some Chainmail drakes (which I didn't finish). I also squeezed in the last of my Bones Pathfinder goblins, and a kobold sorcerer. 

Media
The Brothers Sun
Echo
The Marvels
Ted lasso
Ghosts
Resident Alien

Goals for March
Play scenario 3 for Hope Eternal (gonna happen some month…)
Try to get at least 2 session reports written per week.
Take a day off and make some terrain
Finish taxes