Pool of Radiance AAR: A GrogHeads™ Experience

[BanzaiCat]

Entry #9
Sokal Keep Explorations; Undead a-Plenty



The interior was rather vast and would take a bit of time to map out. From first glance, it looked to be U-shaped, with us entering the inner courtyard at the center of the bottom of the U. For no particular reason, we headed to the west line, on guard, trying to get a feel for our surroundings. The footsteps we heard earlier were reasons to give a tremendous amount of pause.

Then, we stumbled across something, finding we were indeed not alone here.



These abominations had to be dealt with. No parlay would take place, not while we were still breathing.



We faced about half a dozen zombies and an equal number of skeletons. KYZBP had initiative over everyone, so he raised his hands on high, calling the power of his deity to Turn these abominations away. It worked...maybe too well.



As the undead were turned one after another, they began to flee to the north. As they turned their bony backs to us, we took full advantage to give them parting blows.



...or not.

A few were not turned, and stood their ground; MIRTH and GUSINATOR took care of them, though these undead fiends landed several of their own strikes, wounding both of them.

The effect of Turning undead within a confined space was suddenly not lost on me. Several of them ran off into a corner. This being an interior courtyard with no open doors, there was nowhere for them to run, so we were forced to chase after them and strike them down.



Soon, all of the undead in this patrol were down, but we had several wounds to show for it. KYZBP's Cure Light Wounds repertoire was soon exhausted, and many of us were still bleeding. We chose to risk encamping to get some more healing done, but unfortunately the undead were having none of that.



This time, we stood our ground, fighting the undead without Turning them. We didn't take as many wounds, strangely, though BARTHHEART was down to 5 hit points.



We decided to look around, perhaps to find a safe place to rest, and were ambushed again. This time, MIRTH and BARTHHEART fell to the creatures, and KYZBP still had no healing spells so we're either going to have to stay and bear it, or retreat back to Phlan.

(In these games, leaving an area will probably repopulate these undead patrols. I really don't want to leave, but I decide to do so anyway.)

We head back to the main gate; those two fallen comrades were bandaged so they didn't die from their wounds, but they won't earn experience laying on their backsides. We have little choice but to leave...for now.

And as we try to leave, we're jumped by yet another patrol of undead.



Now we're in for a bit of trouble with two of our number down...

[BanzaiCat]

It is my legitimate hope that you can keep this up for the whole quadrology. 

Thanks, JP! I fully intend to go through all the games of the series. Though, I might change some of the characters along the way, say, using the same name but changing to a different character class/type. I know the later games had more offerings than just the 'basic four' of this particular game.

[KyzBP]

If you think my ability to turn the Undead is good, you should see my ability to turn women.

[BanzaiCat]

Entry #10
Sokal Keep (yes, still...)

This last ambush came just mere steps from the gates to the outer courtyard. With two members of the party down and injuries to several of the others, we'd be in for a struggle just to get off the island.

That's when it hit me...the three words on the dead Elf, out there in the outer courtyard. I chose to Parlay with this ambush group. I then chose the word in the middle of the three - "SHESTNI."



That's a relief. I guessed right.

So with that knowledge, I encamped, had KYZBP memorize his Cure Light Wounds, and we managed to get through the rest without interruption. I rinsed and repeated, with a few intrusions by Undead patrols, but every time they did, I could just say the password again if I wanted to avoid a fight.



So we did NOT have to return to Phlan, thankfully, and now with the party back to full strength, it was time to crack the nut of Sokal Keep. Which means, no more messing around with the peripherals. I was going to move us to the center Keep itself.

We now knew the extent of the inner courtyard. My guess was that the two doors at the far north, one on either side, were the entryway to the central Keep and perhaps whatever mystery was behind this evil.



We head up to the door. I save the game, because that's not a bad thing to do every once in a while, especially when storming the central keep of haunted locales. Just sayin'.



Across from us, a small army bursts in through the other door (and how such a large force got on the island without us hearing them, seeing them, or - ugh - smelling them, that's beyond me. Since 'Ranger' hasn't been invented yet, there's no such thing as tracking, at least not in-game. Not yet anyway; one can hope.

Anyway, this is a BIG fight. There's a lot of these bastards lining up to hit us.



The enemy is roughly split into even numbers of Orcs and Hobgoblins. Not a bad fight with a smaller group, but their numbers here can wear you out quickly. The Orc Leaders, of which there are four, each have Longbows, so they'll sit back and pick at us.



Normally I'd back us up and form a defensive line in the doorway, but initiative being the fickle bitch that it is, the Orcs are all over us pretty quickly. The line holds at first, but there's a lot of them, so I can't go wading in and get surrounded.



Copious Sleep spells work wonders here, but you need to wait for them to gather up into a nice block of nine enemies to make it the best application of the spell. A Stinking Cloud in the lower right corner holds that flank - the monsters are afraid to advance into it.

Those damn Orc Leaders are hitting more than they're missing. MIRTH gets hit, as does KYZBP, so the latter casts a couple of Cure Light Wounds to keep them both in the fight.

My last Sleep spell goes onto those jerk Orc Leaders. I manage to catch three of the four in a grouping, so they go to dreamland. That reduces the missile attacks significantly, and now we can concentrate on clearing out what's in front of us. Another Sleep spell put a block of nine out of the battle, and a Hold Person spell by KYZBP puts a few more out of commission, so now everyone is having fun with a little hack-n-slash action!

They're dropping like flies now, but I've only killed perhaps half of their numbers; there's still plenty of them left, and I'm out of spells to take them down. That's when it happens...



They start surrendering en masse. Angrily, we charge forward, slaughtering those that don't surrender in time (too bad, so sad, for your poor Initiative rolls - ha!). Within a few rounds, all of the monsters are defeated.

That was certainly anticlimactic. Then again I knew what was coming, having played this a few times before. :)

Hmm...what's this?



A ratty piece of parchament with large writing on one side.
"Our spies in the city inform us that a party of invaders will travel to Sokal Keep to free it. To combat these invaders, assemble a force of no less than three squads. Travel by boat from the small docks at the west of town to Thorn Island. Move undetected to Sokal Keep. Find the adventurers in or around Sokal Keep. Kill them before they can return to the city council with information about the true situation at the keep.. Return with the invader's heads as proof of the completion of your mission. Upon completion you will be rewarded with food, treasure, and many slaves.

Signed,
The Boss

"Invaders?" I thought we were more like "freedom fighters." I guess it's all about your point of view.

Too bad 'The Boss' didn't anticipate the cowardly nature of Orcs and Hobgoblins. I think he underestimated us. And anyone named something like 'The Boss' probably won't make that mistake again. Lovely. We're in for an interesting time, I think.

We turn to enter the chapel, which forms the central part of the Keep.



Hoo-boy...something scared the Orcs to death, here. Maybe someone showed them a bathtub?

We advanced towards the altar. Something there needed to be seen, obviously. As we crept between the pews, we held our weapons ready, waiting for another ambush - undead or otherwise.



Uh-oh.

'Parlay' seems to be a sensible choice, here.



Uh...I guess "Candygram for Mr. Mongo" probably won't work too well. I'm pretty sure the one word we've been using might not work - after all, why would there be three of them? So I try my luck by saying "LUX." After all, I *did* save the game after the big battle, so if I screw up...



Oh thank Tyr, you're not going to turn into a demonic horror and suck our soul forces out.

Well...let's try the truth. After all, we *are* heroes, technically.



Tyranthraxus, eh? Sounds like someone has a rap name they made up for themselves...maybe some kind of size thing they're trying to make up for? Hmm...

He talks some more, of Phlan's past and their presence, and then says suddenly that their work is done. He tells us about something that can help us in our battles in the Keep's armory. He then fades away, and we get the feeling that the undead are now un-around.

We do some more exploring, sticking to the north part of the Keep. Eventually we find a illusory wall, and behind it is a rack of weapons and armor. A suit of Chain Mail and a few other things greets us, and we of course loot it with great abandon.



Some more exploring reveals a blacksmith's shop, and in the muck we find a Hammer that seems to radiate a bit of magical power. Some poisonous frogs take umbrage to our presence, but we make them croak pretty easily.



Afterwards, there isn't anything much else interesting around the Keep, so we head back to the docks. The boat that dropped us off is miraculously waiting there for us, strangely enough. The captain of the boat grinned widely, already seeming to sense that the trade lanes will once again be open and Phlan will be able to become a center of commerce again.

Then again, 'The Boss' might have something to say about that...

[bayonetbrant]

KYZBP
Human
Level 3 Cleric
XP: 4,504 (need 6,001 for 4th Level)
Current Equipment: Ring Mail, Shield, Flail +1 (also, Wooden Holy Symbol of Tyr, and three Clerical Scrolls with two Cure Light Wounds, one Animate Dead, one Silence 15' Radius, and one Detect Magic).
Spells: Cure Light Wounds x 4, Hold Person x3

You forgot his "Wand of NCAA Tournament Winning"

[BanzaiCat]

You forgot his "Wand of NCAA Tournament Winning"

I don't deal with high fantasy! :)

[bayonetbrant]

You forgot his "Wand of NCAA Tournament Winning"

I don't deal with high fantasy! :)

Sadly, that's not fantasy.  He's won something like 5 of the last 8 or so.

[BanzaiCat]

Yeah, I know. Seems like he has a +2 Computer or something.

[JasonPratt]

Out of curiosity (because I've forgotten almost all the plot, though I recognized Tyranthraxus when I saw the name), have y'all gone to deal with the Phlan cemetery yet?

[BanzaiCat]

Out of curiosity (because I've forgotten almost all the plot, though I recognized Tyranthraxus when I saw the name), have y'all gone to deal with the Phlan cemetery yet?

No. That's much further into the game, and something I truly don't mind putting off. It's one of the hardest missions in the game, and I hate undead since some drain levels when they hit.

[mirth]

My character is such a wuss. I actually played an elf fighter-magic user in one of my first RPGs 30 years ago. I stayed away from multi-classes after that.

[JasonPratt]

By the end of this game, and during Azure Bonds, he'll be an unspeakable badass.

By somewhere early-to-mid Silver, he'll hit the level caps and be an anchor. ;) Unless they've upgraded to some of the later rules by then. But I'm guessing B_C will, ahem, remake you as something without level caps before Silver if that's going to be a problem.

[BanzaiCat]

The level caps now are around 6th, which is max, I think, for Pool of Radiance. That's no way to go through life.

[bbmike]

My character is such a wuss. I actually played an elf fighter-magic user in one of my first RPGs 30 years ago. I stayed away from multi-classes after that.

Come on! Without "It's Not Unusual" we would all be dead by now!  :P

[MetalDog]

Bad news on Fireball and Lightning Bolt.  Third Level spells aren't gained until you become 5th Level.