6-12 Sviftmont - Return to Mantru

 Broneslav awoke stiff and sore but still alive. The dragon's corpse near him was testament to the horrendous fight he had the day before. He immediately decided that it would be unwise to travel as battered as he was, so he set about checking the dragon's lair and making a proper camp. He would wait here a couple of days before heading back to Mantru and then back to where he hoped his ship would be waiting for him.

Breakfast of iron rations did not appeal to him, so he cut out the dragon's heart and roasted it. He had heard in the old tales that eating the heart of a beast like a dragon could grant you special powers. Nothing happened, except that his belly got full. Well, at least he had tried.

On the second day he went out looking for water and to scout the area. He found a large lake surrounded by jungle vegetation. Massive long-necked lizards were immersed in the water. Even the dragon would have felt dwarfed by them, standing ten times and more the height of a man. They ignored him as he filled his water flask and he returned to the cave.

Early on the third day, he set out towards Mantru once more. The journey went well and he managed to avoid any hostile encounters along the way. The villagers were surprised to see him and astounded that he had killed the dragon alone, but they had to believe him because he had its skin with him.

5 Sviftmont - The Dragon's Lair

 The night passed peacefully and Broneslav was woken by the biting insects once more. He readied his pack and set out. He knew he was in the right area to find the dragon he had been told about, but was not sure quite where it was. Fortunately, as an experienced outdoorsman he was able to spot the signs of the beast's passing. His tracking led him to a low stony hill in a clearing in the jungle. A broad opening in the side of the hill gave access to the interior, and the hard-packed dirt and tracks in front of it showed that a massive beast used this area a lot.

Pausing at the mouth of the cave, Broneslav heard the heavy breathing of a massive creature coming from within. The regular, slow nature of the breathing suggested that the beast was asleep. His heart was in his mouth and the adrenaline thundered through his system as he drew his sword and advanced carefully into the cave. Just visible ahead of him was a mound of treasure and in the small amount of light that reached the mound, he could make out the form of a dragon. He knew that this would be a tough fight, so he contemplated turning around. He dithered, and in that moment it was too late.

The dragon's eyes opened and it huffed out a puff of noxious green gas.

"Who dares disturb my slumber?" it roared, "Wait, no, I don't care. You woke me and you shall pay!"

The dragon launched itself at him faster than a beast that size should be able to. He cut at it but his blows seemed to bounce off its armour, barely drawing blood. It belched out a huge cloud of poisonous gas that left him choking and weak despite managing to hold his breath just in time. He rolled out of the cloud of gas and leapt to the attack again. His cut was deeper this time, but not by much. The dragon raked and battered him with its claws and bit it him with razor sharp teeth that left gaping wounds. Seeing no chance to escape, Broneslav surged forward once more. This time his sword bit true and glistening ichor sprayed from a huge wound in the beast's side. The beast fought frenziedly, its claws and teeth tearing chunks out of the young hero. Desperately, he swung his sword at it once more as it drew in a breath to launch more noxious gas at him. His first cut bounced off its scaly hide. The second cut a small gash.

Suddenly he found himself surrounded by poisonous green gas again. He choked once more and rolled away, his lungs painfully labouring under the assault of the chlorine. He could barely stand but had no choice. He leapt in under the dragon's head once more and thrust with his sword. It skittered off the heavy scales, but then suddenly caught and pierced the body to the hilt. Blood sprayed once more and the dragon looked stupidly down at him as its eyes filmed over. He rolled to the side and narrowly avoided getting crushed under its corpse.

Exhausted he lay there a while before bandaging his wounds, of which there were many.

"Why did I think this was a good idea?" he muttered to himself as the adrenaline left and the pain took hold. "Well, it is one less creature of Chaos, so there is that."

With his wounds bandaged, he searched the cavern, not that it took much searching. Thousands of coins lay in a pile in its middle, and the dragon had been sleeping on them. There was far more here than he could take with him, so he picked out the most valuable pieces that he could carry without slowing him down too much. Then he began the slow process of skinning the dragon and taking as much of the skin as he could carry and which had not been damaged in the fight.

By the time he was finished, night had fallen, so he lay down to rest in the lair. Nothing else was likely to challenge the dragon, and nothing should know it was dead yet, so he felt safe enough sleeping an exhausted sleep.

That was tough. Broneslav's dice rolls were really poor and I had to use the Defy Death mechanic for him to take half damage from the dragon breath each time. His combat rolls were not much better. He got one good strike in and the rest of the damage was in increments of 1 or 2 from the Fray Die. Meanwhile, the dragon hit him every time with every attack, and he finished the fight at 2 hit points. I really did wonder if this was going to be his end.

4 Sviftmont - In the Land of the Big Lizards

 The following morning, the triceratops lumbered off. Broneslav tidied up and sorted out his possessions which the massive beast had nosed through. Fortunately, nothing important was broken, and he was soon on his way into the hills and towards his goal. The journey through the hills was easier than through the mountains, and he made good time, while avoiding unfortunate encounters with local wildlife.

As he camped for the first night in the jungle beyond the hills, the sound of crushed undergrowth woke Broneslav. He readied himself in the cover of a tree and watched as a lumbering beast three times the height of a tall man pushed past near his camp. It was a remarkable creature, walking on two legs but having a bill like a duck. He marvelled at it as it disappeared once more into the night, obviously unaware that he was there.

"A True and Accurate Representation of a Duck-Billed Giant Lizard" from the journals of Broneslav Torenescu, Merchant Adventurer*

The next day, Broneslav marched on through the jungle, cursing the large, bloodsucking flies that seemed to be everywhere. Distracted by them, he did not see the massive, sail-backed lizard that bore down on him and only barely managed to avoid getting swallowed whole. As it was, he scored a tiny cut in the beast's flesh as it bit at him and he only just got his arm out of its mouth before it took it off. It was lucky that he had such good armour! With his scattered wits gathered, he focused better on the fight and was able to block the creature's bites with his shield, while simultaneously cutting hard at its neck. Several hard blows saw its head fly from its body.

He leapt back to avoid the spray of blood and looked around for more of the creature. Luckily, this was a lone beast that had fancied a snack, and not a hunting pack of them. Broneslav bandaged his wounds and carried on.

* Historical life restoration of Edmontosaurus annectens (referred to as “Trachodon mirabilis” in the original figure caption): William H. Ballou: Strange Creatures of the Past – Gigantic Saurians of the Reptilian Age. Century Magazine 55(1):15–24 (1897)

2-3 Sviftmont - Travelling through the mountains

 The following day, Broneslav climbed the cliffs down and began the arduous trek into the mountains. It was heavy going. He was exhausted by the end of the day and slumped into a deep sleep in the sheltered spot he had chosen for his camp. His sleep was disturbed several times by the hunting cries of a raptor in the distance, but when morning dawned, he had not been eaten, so he set out again.

As he travelled, he filled his water flask from mountain tarns and marvelled at the giant lizard that was wading in one of them. It was even bigger than the triceratops he had seen, with a long snake-like neck and head, but it was also intent on eating the vegetation around it, so he presumed it would not want to eat him. It's booming call when it saw him indicated its displeasure, so he made haste to finish filling the flask and move away.

By the end of the second day, he had reached the foothills beyond the mountains and breathed a sigh of relief. He would be able to travel faster tomorrow.

That night he slept well until suddenly a triceratops invaded his camp. He rolled out of his bedroll to his feet, stunned by this close encounter with the enormous beast. Fortunately, it did not seem aggressive! Instead it seemed more curious. The greatest danger was clearly going to be getting trampled because it was snuffling at him and his gear. Was it looking to see if he or his gear were an edible plant?

Without warning, the creature lay down in Broneslav's camp and promptly began to snort and snore. It was hard fast asleep! Seeing nothing else he could do, Broneslav found a spot where he figured he would probably not get crushed if it rolled over in its sleep and did the same.

The description for triceratops in the D&D Cyclopedia says they are aggressive and will attack on sight. I chose to roll its reaction instead and got a natural 12, so it was friendly! It clearly did not recognise the puny human as a threat. Maybe it is a young and inexperienced dinosaur. Maybe it could adopt the young human as a pet. I wonder if you could train a triceratops to be a riding beast.

1 Sviftmont 1000 AC - In Search of a Dragon

 Broneslav awoke early and packed his gear. He thought about what was happening back in Karameikos. It would be autumn there, but here it still felt warmer than high summer. He also worried about his ship. Would the captain return for him? He knew that he had stayed out in the jungle longer than planned, but he had also given the captain instructions on what to do. If he was lucky, the captain had been canny enough to trade on his behalf and earn him a good bit of silver into the bargain. It was really too late to worry about that now though.

Bidding goodbye to the villagers, he set out on his next adventure. It would involve a circuitous route round the plateau, unless he got lucky and found a way down the huge cliffs on the north-east side. He had rope and climbing gear with him, so it would be possible to do so. He mused on the problem as he followed the guide from the village using a much easier route out than the one he had climbed to get in.

Saying farewell to his guide, Broneslav set out across the plateau, glad of the relatively easy going for now. Ahead he could see mountains and he knew that the going would be slower and tougher in a day or so.

Cresting a low rise, he stopped suddenly and ducked back. A huge lizard was grazing on scrubby bushes about 100 metres ahead of him. The beast was about half the size of the ship he had sailed here in and stood twice as high as Broneslav himself. It had three massive horns on its head and a huge bony frill protecting the back of its head. It was intent on its meal and did not appear to have noticed him. He skirted the area warily in case it spotted him, but the triceratops was too intent on its food.

By the end of the day, the young warrior had reached the edge of the plateau. He found shelter and made camp in a concealed spot. Tomorrow would involve climbing and he intended to be well-rested for that.

21-28 Ambyrmont - Recovery

 Broneslav awoke the next morning feeling tired. He had slept badly because of his wounds. It would take a little while, even with the shaman's help, to fully recover, so he decided to stay at Mantru until then. It felt good to be able to leave off his armour and just potter around. Without headhunters to attack it, the village was peaceful, and the villagers were grateful to him for his help. He spent a week swimming, fishing and generally doing light work around Mantru until his wounds had fully healed. Rest and the shaman's spells had done their job.

In addition to healing, Broneslav had been listening to the tales told by the people of Mantru. The did not travel far from their crater home, but they were aware of events across the island through infrequent contact with the other dwellers there. Most of these tales were of dangers from giant lizards to the north-west and a dragon to the north-east.

Here's a green dragon I prepared earlier!

"The dragon flies over occasionally, but it has not attacked our village," Fano, the talking chief, informed Broneslav one day, "We are surely tiny morsels, not even snacks for this beast, compared to the huge lizards that live to the north-west of here."

This talk of a dragon piqued Broneslav's interest. He was keen to slay a red dragon and this might be his chance, if he were lucky. He also wondered about the lizards to the north-east. Were they also dragons? Or were they something else entirely? He had never heard of giant lizards that were not dragons. Well, if he survived the dragon, he would find out.

20 Ambyrmont - Return to the Temple

 Fully healed, Broneslav set out early for the temple, and quickly made his way through to the lower level. The headhunters had not returned. Aware of the difficulties, he was able to avoid getting swept away, and his opening the door had led to most of the water draining out of the sub-level, leaving a slimy and slippery, but much drier path. As he stood at the top of the stairs down, he girded his loins, drew his sword and stepped carefully down the steps. As he did so, the air grew noticeably warmer. At the bottom of the stairs, the heat was stifling. he stood on a terrace overlooking a massive dark cavern that smelt of sulphur and mud. The terrace itself was covered in white calcium deposits. He could feel the heat of the cavern through the soles of his boots. Apart from the light from the spell on his shield, the only illumination in this cavern was the occasional flash of ruddy light that accompanied the muddy slurping of a geyser blowing.

Temple level 3 (from X1 The Isle of Dread. (c) TSR, Inc.)

Broneslav advanced carefully down into the cavern proper, feeling like he might slip at any moment. Mud bubbled near him as he edged around the cavern and began to look for points of interest. It seemed weird to him that the temple was built on this cavern. There must have been a reason for it, but he had no clue what that reason was. Well, time to explore and see if he could find out. The young hero stalked carefully over the slippery, uneven cavern floor and around the muddy pools, seeking to see its extents. Progress was slow and involved climbing up and down rises in the natural floor level. By the time he had reached the middle of the cavern, he was hot, sweaty and covered in mud from the cavern floor and from bubbling mud that burst and splattered near him.

Suddenly, a weird creature emerged from the mud near him, Choking on noxious gases that had bubbled up from the hot mud, he was caught flat-footed. Its smooth head, large eyes and tentacled, sphinctered mouth gave him the creeps, as did the fact it seemed to walk on three fluke-like tails. The creature spoke into his mind.

"We are the Kopru, rulers of this island and the last of a great civilisation that must be restored. You are now our servant and will help us. We see from your mind what the world is like out there. It will be ours and you will use your power and influence to achieve our goal."

A strange lethargy and drowsiness clouded Broneslav's mind as he felt himself slipping under the creature's influence until a mud pot near him burst, scalding him. The pain focused his mind once more and he leapt into action.

"No, foul fiend! I shall have none of your tricks! Your civilisation is gone and shall not arise again if it must rely on controlling others!"

His sword cut a terrible gash through its rubbery flesh and the kopru howled in pain, striking out with one of its tails as it did so. Broneslav grunted in turn as he felt a rib break where the tail had smashed his side. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he smashed his sword down on the creature's head, cleaving through so that the tentacles of its mouth fell to the floor.

Another of the creatures had approached from behind in the meantime. It grabbed at him, crushing his already broken rib and threatening to break more as it sought to envelop his head with its tentacular orifice. The hard teeth on its tentacles gouged his neck, just below the helmet as he flailed and tried to skewer it but failed.

Broneslav struggled in the creature's grip, feeling another rib break under its crushing grip. He could barely breath as he cut at it and scored a minor wound. As he did that, it bit and crushed him further until he was seeing stars and the edge of his vision was growing dark.  In return, he steeled himself and struck harder, this time scoring a solid hit that spattered him with the monster's ichorous blood. It became a battle of which of them could hold out longest, each dealing damage to the other, but in the end it was Broneslav who stood over the kopru's corpse. He was battered and bruised, but still alive and not under the creature's control.

The young hero prowled the caverns to see if there were more of these creatures, but found no more. At the far north end of the cavern, he did find a limestome-encrusted skeleton on a calcified throne. The stalactites above it had dripped for an age upon the throne until it and its occupant were covered in stone. Broneslav presumed this to have been a servant of the kopru. As he examined it, he spotted a ring and a sword that seemed to have withstood the ravages of time. He helped himself to them before returning to the surface and back to the village of Mantru, where he told his tale to the amazed villagers.

"I cannot guarantee that there are no more of these creatures, but it seems they cannot leave the temple, so it is best that no one visits there. You should remember why, if you have visitors, so that you can warn them of the dangers and consequences of visiting Taboo Island," he advised them.

The villagers welcomed and feted him for what he had done. Tired and bruised but content with his work, Broneslav was able to rest peacefully that night.

That could have been interesting. Broneslav failed the saving throw versus the kopru's charm ability, so I used the Defy Death mechanic to have him pass it. He took a little damage from that but was able to then defeat the kopru, although they did significant damage to him in the process.

I was tempted to let him stay under their control instead, because it could have been interesting to try to work out how he could use his nascent merchant empire to advance their cause. However, I am not sure that is the direction I wanted this campaign to go at this point.

Now I need to decide what to do next. X1 Isle of Dread is designed as a hex crawl for a party to explore and map the island. Is that something that Broneslav would do, or is he more focused on his own plans and endeavours? Should he return to meet his ship and head off somewhere else next, or can I find a suitable hook to lead him elsewhere on the island?

14-19 Ambyrmont - Interlude

 The young hero lay unconscious for several days. He groaned in his sleep and twitched a bit, but those were the only signs of life. When he did come round, he was weak and drained.

Where are the dinosaurs?

Broneslav sat up on the sleeping mat and immediately wished he had not. He felt dizzy and like a grey fog lay between him and reality. The chattering of excited children reached him, but as if from a distance.

"See! He is alive. I told you he was not dead."

"Well, he sure smells dead."

"Let us fetch Umlat."

The patter of small feet racing off. Peace for a while, and then a heavier tread alongside the two lighter sets of feet.

"So, you are awake once more, Broneslav. It was clear that you had been fighting from the wounds on your body."

Broneslav struggled to focus on the words.

"I have healed your wounds, and cured the infection that ravaged your system. You were lucky that our fishermen spotted your canoe and ferried you here or you would almost certainly be dead now."

"Uh, thank you."

"Now rest and we can talk later."

Broneslav lay back down and slept for an age watched over by the children of the tribe, who were not used to this much excitement, and by the ancient priest Umlat, whose skill had ensured Broneslav's survival. Food and rest helped his strength return over the next few days and soon he was up and moving around again. He told the tale of his adventures in the temple to Fano and Umlat once he felt strong enough. Their eyes grew round at the various trials and tribulations he had encountered, but they were grateful for his help.

"Although I drove off those headhunters, I must return to the temple to see if any have themselves returned," he announced, "I shall do so tomorrow."

Fano declared, "We are grateful for your help and sorry that you were so hurt in helping us. If there is anything you need, just ask. It is yours."

Broneslav thanked them and prepared himself for his journey back to the temple before ensuring he got a good night's sleep. He wondered what lay down those stairs he had last seen.

Some thoughts

Broneslav encountered a diseased rat and failed his save versus poison when bitten by it. Fortunately, he did not suffer instadeath, managing to roll high enough not to do so, but the disease did massively debilitate him. Being also wounded and down to just 8 hit points, it was only reasonable that he would return to the village to recover. One thing not in the rules was how quickly the rat's disease would affect him. I made it quite quick for narrative purposes. Scarlet Heroes has better guidelines than the D&D Cyclopedia on how disease progresses: I like the repeated saving throws that see the character either improve or deteriorate gradually. The D&D thing of "you just die" if you roll too low seems a bit harsh. Having diseases be progressive feels like it gives the character more agency in their own death.

Another thing that occurred in the temple was that I actually remembered the magic items and rings that he carries, and used them. I keep forgetting that he has these things. I shall try to do better!

One more level to go and that is the temple fully explored. What will Broneslav find there? And what should he do after that? It is in the nature of D&D parties to explore every hex of the adventure area and every room of the dungeon, and there is much that he could find, but is that what he would actually do as a real person? How should he arrive at the other encounter areas, or do I write those off and send him off on other adventures after this (assuming he survives)?

13 Ambyrmont - Swept off his feet

 Broneslav pulled the door open. It resisted strongly, but he was stronger. Suddenly the door gave. Broneslav was swept off his feet by the weight of the water flooding into the room beyond. He crashed into the opposite wall and groaned as he felt a dozen new bruises emerge. Picking himself up, he looked around. This was not a huge room by the standards of the temple, but it was very much a dead end. There were no exits other than the one he had been swept in by. A small stone altar and several stone benches occupied the room. Broneslav knew they were stone because he had made their acquaintance in passing as he entered the room. Hanging from a stone hook near the altar was a mace that Broneslav recognised to be of good quality. He grabbed it and put it in his backpack.

"No option then," he said to himself resignedly, "Crab it is."

After surveying this room once more, he turned around and trudged through the water back towards the door where he had encountered the crab. As he did so, he saw the giant crab coming towards him. The door beyond it was in splinters and the crab was scuttling sideways as fast as it could in his direction. It had a friend with it.

Broneslav's first blow skittered off the crab's shell and left him open to the crab's attacks. Fortunately, he was able to block its wildly flailing pincers with his shield. Recovering his balance, he plunged his sword into the crab's face and it collapsed to the floor. It's friend clambered over it to get at Broneslav. Angered and bleeding, Broneslav split the crab's shell with his sword and it joined its deceased partner.

"Shit, that hurts," he grumbled as he bandaged his wounds. Then he headed into the next room. There were stairs leading down into the water and he could just make out stairs leading up on the other side to a blocked passageway. There was also a set of stairs leading up to another passageway out of the room.

The water looked deep. Good job he had a potion of levitation. Chugging the vile concoction down, the brave lad floated up to the ceiling and used his purchase on that to move to the only other way out. As he did so, he noticed a massive oyster some six feet in diameter just below the surface of the water.

"Good luck to you, fella."

The oyster was no danger as far as he could tell, so he floated over it and into the passage beyond.

As the potion wore off and Broneslav splashed to the ground, he heard chittering noises. Giant rats burst from small tunnels in the side of the passage and assailed him with all their furry fury. Taken aback by their ferociousness, Broneslav fumbled his attacks and took a series of nasty nips through the gap sbetween his armour plates as he slowly got his rhythm going again. Once he had got their measure, the rats soon died.

The passageway he was in ended in yet another door. Bracing himself, Broneslav opened it. There was no sudden rush of water this time and he was able to wade into yet another room with a goodly quantity of water on the floor. A door on the opposite side of the room beckoned. As he crossed the room, he felt a tug at his ankle. Suddenly the room filled with burning oil and he was covered. Broneslav leapt backwards, but the fire did not burn. He had forgotten the magical ring he was wearing would protect him from flames.

Backing away from the smoke, so that he could breathe, he waited for the oil to burn out, before going to the other door and opening it, again bracing himself. This time, water rushed out of the room and into the passage beyond. Despite being braced, Broneslav was swept along and fetched up against a portcullis that stopped him from being carried even further away. Just as well, because even as he spluttered and coughed and fought to keep his head above the rushing water, he noticed stairs at the end of the passage going downwards. Who knew how far they would take him?

Broneslav took a fierce pounding as he tried to climb the portcullis, be he survived and once the water had leveled out, he was able to stand easily. He felt terrible but was back on his feet. Looking around, he found a lever that opened the portcullis and a door to his left that led into a passage back to the original room he had landed in. The lever also opened the original portcullis that had forced him to go the other way initially.

By now, the young warrior was feeling distinctly woozy. He decided that he should head back to the village and explore further later, after he had properly cleaned his wounds and had a bit of rest to recover. He made his way back up through the hole in the floor and out onto the temple landing place, where he got into his canoe and started to make his way back across the lake.

About halfway, suddenly everything went black.

13 Ambyrmont - After the flood

 After a five minutes of searching, Broneslav worked out how to open the secret door. Triggering the mechanism, he pulled the door open and was suddenly hit by a flood of water that blasted him across the room and would have taken him on down the corridor, if the portcullis were not there. He spluttered and spat filthy water as he cursed the new bruises he had acquired [3 DAM] and pulled himself to his feet again.

With the door open, he was able to wade through the flood and enter a corridor beyond the secret door. He was at a crossroads. A short corridor ahead of him led to a door. He could see the iron bars of cells lining either side of that corridor. To his left was another short corridor leading to a door. To his right, the corridor extended beyond the light given off by his shield.

He decided to check the cells out first and was quickly disappointed. There was nothing in them. He opened the door ahead of him with difficulty because of the water, but found nothing in the room beyond either, although the floor of the corridor and the room was littered with small objects that caused him to have to walk slowly or stumble. He was glad that he had thick armoured boots to protect his feet here.

One thing that struck him in this new room was the ceiling. Remembering how fragile the trapdoor had been, he realised that this rooms roof was similarly fragile. The wooden beams looked rotten and ready to give way. If he wished, he might be able to bring the ceiling down and get back up to the upper level from here too. He noted that and moved back to the crossroads, where he waded through the water to the other door.

He pulled the door open and was immediately confronted by a crab that was eight feet wide and stood as tall as him. The crab seemed as surprised to see him as he was to see it.

"SHIT!"

He slammed the door again, figuring the crab might smash the door but was too large to fit through it.

"Right, the other way it is," he muttered and sloshed away as the door shook under the crab's assault. He could always come back this way if need be, and would be better prepared now.

As he waded through the water, he came to a corner turning to his right. Ahead was a raised platform with steps up. The dry platform would be a blessing. Hopefully, everything beyond would be dry too. He could feel his feet wrinkling in real time now! The steps up to the platform were slippery and slimy. A fungus grew on top of it that made the top part slimy and a bit slippery too. However, what grabbed his attention were the three trails in the water and the large jaws that opened as they approached him.

He braced himself as three crocodiles tried to make a meal out of him. His sword sliced through the upper jaw of the first one and it rolled over, spraying blood into the water, as he sliced the second open, but only wounding it. The wounded crocodile took a chunk out of his hand [1 DAM], but he blocked the third and then dealt a mortal wound to the already wounded crocodile. That left a single crocodile and a lot of blood in the water.

The young fighter's mighty thews bulged and he drove his sword straight through the head of the last crocodile. It died instantly, thrashing in the water in its death throes.

As he cleaned his sword, he examined the crocodiles with a practised eye. They were small for their species and looked emaciated. There was obviously not a lot for them to eat here. Broneslav was glad of this. Sure, it made them eye him up as a meal, but it also made them weaker. With a merchant's eye, he also noted that their hides would not be worth much. They were in poor condition from the beasts' poor diet.

"Well, it's either deal with the crab or check up ahead."

He waded down into the bloody water and headed towards the end of the corridor, where a door led into the unknown. He prepared to open it, hoping he was ready for anything.

13 Ambyrmont - A Hiss and Tell Story

 Looking around the room he had just fallen into, Broneslav saw statues lining every wall but the exit. A quick glance up showed the remains of a trapdoor that he had fallen through, but what grabbed his attention most were the large snakes curled around four of the statues. Worse yet, they had all reared up and were looking at him hungrily.

"Shit!"

He grabbed his sword from where it had landed after his fall and prepared for the worst. Meanwhile, the worst prepared to make a meal of him.

Fortunately, it was cold down here, so the snakes were a little sluggish to start with. Unfortunately, Broneslav was slow to shake off the effects of his fall. His first swings were clumsy, although not so clumsy that he did not manage to crush the head of one snake with his boot, and to crush another between his shield and the statue it was curled around. The remaining two snakes reared up and spat poison at him. Broneslav ducked his head behind his shield and blocked them. Then he took a quick breath, stepped in close and decapitated both snakes before they could do any more.

The room was quiet once more and he had time to look around. The statues lining the room depicted a variety of subjects: a young woman holding a child; a fearsome monster of a type that he was unfamiliar with; a serpent but with feathers covering its body; a graceful fluid creature that almost appeared to move in the light from his shield; and several others, all well-made but showing the ravages of time. And all glistened an unwholesome green and red in the light. There were small puddles of water around the floor, and a larger one in one corner of the room. This area must not have been used in a long time.

The young warrior was curious about where he was. The open doorway and the corridor beyond could lead to the treasure he sought. Thinking of treasure, he suddenly realised that one of the statues still had a gem in its eye socket. He pried it loose and put it in his pouch.

On lithe feet he strode towards the opening to see what lay beyond. A flagstone gave under his foot and he dived backwards as a portcullis slammed down to block the exit, deafening him in the process. Broneslav cursed. He had a choice now. He could try to lift the portcullis or use his grapnel to get out of the room the way he came in. There might be another way down that he had not yet found, so it would not be totally giving up to climb back up and seek a different route down again. He tried the portcullis, but even with his mighty thews, he could not lift it.

A thought occurred to him. The large puddle in the corner was an anomaly. Nothing else in the room suggested that water had an easy way in, at least not to that extent. Searching the area around the puddle, he spotted small gaps and had soon worked out that there was a secret door here. He sought a way to open it...

13 Ambyrmont - Heading for a Fall

 A little investigation revealed the key to opening the secret door. It groaned open protestingly. The headhunters had presumably not used and maintained it during their stay here. Perhaps they were completely unaware of it. The undisturbed layer of thick dust in this otherwise bare room attested to this fact. Broneslav sneezed as he stepped into the room and looked around.

The only way out seemed to be stairs leading up to a balcony. He walked carefully over to them and climbed up.

From the balcony, Broneslav could see through two slits into the main chamber beyond. This was presumably the other side of the massively damaged sculpture on the wall of the main chamber, perhaps a god's image before the headhunters had literally defaced it. A large wooden piston and handle were situated between the two eyeholes through which he gazed at the carnage he had moments earlier wrought.

Seeing no other way out and thinking that the piston might open another hidden door, Broneslav cranked it. A massive cloud of dust blew out into the main chamber. It ignited on the headhunters' fire and the room was filled with fire. The blast blew back in through the eyeholes and Broneslav stumbled backwards as he was enveloped in flame. Fortunately, his magical ring protected him from damage, but his clothes were singed and he slipped on the stairs as he stumbled, falling to the floor below.

Dust billowed around him causing him to cough as he landed. It was accompanied by a creaking of the floor, which quickly splintered and gave way. He fell through it to land on a hard, damp floor partially stunned and even more bruised and battered than he was before. As he scrambled to his feet and uncovered his shield so the light spell could illuminate the murky room, Broneslav heard hissing from right beside him...

13 Ambyrmont - The Skulls of their Enemies

After bandaging his wounds, Broneslav looked around. He had seen the direction that the surviving fighters had fled, so he marched off to the south side of the large chamber to the door they had gone through. This was, coincidentally, the same door that the chief had emerged from.

Headhunters flee to Room 3

He kicked the door in and dodged to the side just in time to avoid an arrow from within the room that lay beyond. With a roar, he charged in. He caught the remaining headhunters flatfooted and quickly wounded the shaman before blocking and dodging their return blows. There was a pause as both sides took the measure of each other before Broneslav darted in and thrust his sword through the shaman's body. As he withdrew the sword, the shaman slumped to the ground and he killed the second headhunter on the reverse swing.

The cowardly bodyguard who remained threw his spear to the floor and raced past Broneslav to the rope that the women and children had used to escape. Broneslav raced after the bodyguard and cut him down. He could not risk the man returning to ambush him.

As quiet fell, Broneslav realised that he was now alone in this area. He searched it while keeping a wary eye out for more headhunters.

The room he stood in was cluttered with sleeping mats, pots, gourds, animal skins and furs. Shelves on the wall were filled with skulls, a testament to the tribe's leisure activities. Among the clutter, Broneslav found a number of gems and some exotic furs that might sell well. The other rooms off the main chamber offered no further treasure unless he could find a market for bowls containing mud and ash or files for teeth.

There was no obvious way out of this area, until he spotted a discoloured patch on the wall and floor in the south-east corner of the large chamber. Further examination revealed a secret door, which he quickly opened, ready for anything...

13 Ambyrmont - Bitter Conflict

 The warriors emerging from the doors on the balcony looked better fed, stronger and better equipped than those that Broneslav had fought so far. Worse yet, some of them had bows. He would have to see if defending the passage was still viable, so he backed up. Unfortunately, these warriors were clearly more experienced. Instead of charging straight in, they formed up in a line around the largest of their number. The archers prepared to fire. Broneslav ducked behind the rubble and the first volley flew past him. He drew his bow and placed his sword and shield within easy reach.

Ducking back out, he saw that the archers were preparing to fire again. Broneslav shot first! Letting arrows fly as fast as he could, Broneslav quickly slew two of the archers. The return fire saw arrows leaving gummy trails on his armour, but none found a gap.

The shaman beside the largest headhunter chanted as the arrows flew. As the shaman completed his spell, Broneslav suddenly felt paralysed for a brief moment, but his willpower pushed him through and he shook it off. The shaman looked startled.

Another arrow flew and another enemy archer died. One of the archers scored a hit on Broneslav. The poison on the arrow tip made him feel slightly queasy but his armour and strong constitution ensured that he felt no worse than that. He shot the enemy archer and two more in quick succession as arrows bounced off his armour. Despite the deaths, the headhunters screamed defiance at him and stood firm.

With the archers being whittled down, the chief of the headhunters decided that enough was enough. He and his bodyguard charged as Broneslav's arrows missed their mark for once. Seeing them charge, Broneslav grabbed his shield and sword and braced himself. The chief stumbled as he charged and his bodyguard reached Broneslav first. The plucky hero fended off their blows easily, the narrow gap he stood in making it easier for him to defend.

Deftly wielding his sword, Broneslav cut the first bodyguard down with two swift blows. Another lightning-fast lunge skewered a second bodyguard as he fended off their slashes with his shield. This was too much for the remaining bodyguard, who fled and left the chief to face Broneslav alone. The pair were evenly matched, it seemed as each scored hits on the other. Grunting grimly, Broneslav settled in to the fight.

Seeing his chance, the shaman rushed forward chanting a hasty spell and tried to grab Broneslav, but the youth twisted his way out of the shaman's fiendish assault. He retaliated against the chief, scoring a heavy blow on the large headhunter, but it was not enough to cut the man down. As he fought desperately against both the shaman and the chief, Broneslav sought an opening while fending off their further attacks. Suddenly he saw one and slid his sword into the chief's gut. The big man fell. The shaman fled. A single archer joined him.

The remaining archers howled their ire and fired. A single arrow found its mark. It was just a scratch, but it was enough. Pain flashed through the young hero and his guts curled up into knots as he wretched violently. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stand straight again despite the pain, the fever and the need to vomit that the poison on the arrow had caused. It felt like his guts were being ripped apart, but he stumbled forward towards the archers at full speed.

The archers stood horrified as the young warrior flailed wildly with his sword, cutting all of them down in short order. They had not even had time to react to his sudden assault before the room was quiet once more. He stumbled back to the corridor as the fever took hold and rested a few minutes to recover his strength. He felt awful and was quite badly wounded now, but the worst of the poison seemed to have gone through his system already, or maybe not much of it had entered his system in the first place.

Standing up once more, he scooped up the chief's sword, which seemed to be better quality than expected and prepared to advance further into this temple.

I used the Defy Death mechanic for Broneslav to survive the poison without further problems. It cost him hit points and it might have been more interesting to let him fail and have him be captured. I am sure there will be time for those sort of shenanigans later though. He is bound to fail another saving roll at a critical juncture in this or another adventure.

13 Ambyrmont - Entering the temple

Faced by two dozen tribespeople, Broneslav made the decising to retreat back past the rubble that the headhunters themselves seemed to have placed as a defence. He would use their own preparations against them so that they could not overwhelm him. The boldest of the headhunters raced towards him with the others straggling behind. He took up position at the narrowest point of the passage and braced for the impact.

(1) Guard post
(2) Living quarters

The armed headhunters swarmed towards Broneslav, as their children escaped up a rope towards a hole in the ceiling of the temple. The noise was like the worst bedlam as children screamed and warriors howled their rage. Six of them fell in the first rush as Broneslav's sword cleaved through their unarmoured bodies repeatedly, while his own armour and shield protected him to the full. Seeing their tribespeople fall, four of them ran for the rope. Four of the bolder tribespeople fell in the second wave. This was too much for another three tribespeople who routed to the escape rope, which seemed badly overloaded even though all the children had managed to climb out of the top of the room by now. Those that remained in the room were cut down in short order, but as Broneslav stepped into the living quarters over the bloody corpses of the headhunters, doors were suddenly thrown open all around the balcony surrounding the headhunters' living quarters. A new wave of armoured attackers emerged. Broneslav wondered if the emerging warriors would finally be too much for him, but he resolved to try to achieve the quest laid on him by the friendly villagers. He could do no less. Snarling, he lifted his shield and sword once more...

13 Ambyrmont - First steps on Taboo Island

 Broneslav woke to a gaggle of children staring and pointing at him. They were chattering excitedly about the strange warrior and what he would be doing today. After washing and dressing, Broneslav went outside and found more children playing "Broneslavs and headhunters". No one wanted to be a headhunter in this game!

Fano and Ulmut ate breakfast with him and then showed him to a canoe.

"This will be yours. Do you know how to paddle it or should we send someone with you to drop you off on the island? They cannot land, but they could paddle you up to its edge."

"Don't worry. I'll paddle my own canoe," Broneslav assured them. Replete from a hefty breakfast, he loaded his essential gear into the canoe and set off. Paddling across the lake went easily. He was comfortable on the water and enjoyed the ease with which his canoe rode over its surface. As he paddled, he examined the rocky island ahead of him.

Its nearest side was a rocky cliff face. Above that cliff he could make out terraces and vegetation. As he got closer, Broneslav started being able to make out ruins on the terraces and the form of a large structure carved into the cliff face. He was worried that he would have to paddle around the island to find a landing spot, but he soon realised that steps ran down from the temple to the water and that there were a couple of rickety wooden jetties sticking out into the water from the steps. He steered his canoe to the steps and leapt from it onto the steps. With the canoe moored to the rickety jetty, he braced himself for the encounter with the headhunters that must surely come. He knew it must surely come, because around the steps, sticks had been stuck into cracks between the stones and the remains of people's heads adorned those sticks.

Marching up the steps, Broneslav saw the remains of statues flanking his route. Only feet remained of these once great works. Reaching the top, he faced an entrance into the cliff. Red marble pillars held up the remains of a roof that jutted out from the cliffside, and carvings of humans holding braziers flanked the entrance. With only one route in, Broneslav had no choice but to advance through the temple entrance into the hot and humid air within.

(1) Location of guards

Sword in hand, the young warrior stalked forward wary of what he might face. Small creatures scuttled out of his way into the refuse and detritus that had gathered along the walls. Ahead, he could see that larger piles of rubble and rubbish had been placed to narrow the passage. He could make out bright, flickering firelight shining from beyond it. Only a single person could pass throught that gap at a time. Well, he was alone as was his preference, so he boldly stepped into the gap and found himself face to face with four warriors. They threatened him with their spears, but he did not hesitate and leapt forward, only to stumble on loose rubble. Despite this, his wild slashing cut down two of the warriors. The remaining two thrust their spears at our doughty hero. Their spear points skidded off his armour and his counterstrike killed the remaining two grimfaced foes.

Broneslav now had time to focus on the cries of alarm that had arisen from ahead of him. Looking into the massive chamber beyond where the guards had lain in wait for him, Broneslav could see two dozen tribespeople grabbing weapons and preparing to attack him even as a group of children started climbing a rope to a hole in the ceiling. He paused. Could he defeat this many foes?

12 Ambyrmont - To Mantru

 Broneslav awoke early. It was too cold not to now that his fire had died down to ash. Pulling his warmest clothes around him, he looked down into the crater of the volcano. The first obvious feature was a massive lake at its centre. Near its shore, smoke rose into the sky. This would be the settlement he had guessed was here. Then his eyes took in the island at the centre of the lake. Even from this high up, he could make out some details of the ruins carved into the cliff on the west side of the island. There, then, was his objective. Broneslav grunted with satisfaction. If he could avoid falling over his own feet on the way down, then he would be within an ace of achieving his goal.

Clambering down the mountainside kept him warm and occupied his whole attention, so it was only when he reach the bottom that he had time to look around more. Ahead of him there was a small village with a palisade around it.

The Village of Mantru (from X1 The Isle of Dread. (c) TSR, Inc.)

As Broneslav approached the stockade around the village heads popped up looking over it. Excited children ran out of the main gate, goggled in wonder at his shining armour and shouted questions at him, none of which made sense to Broneslav because they all shouted over the top of each other. The villagers clearly felt safe from him and were not hostile, so he waved to the children and smiled at them. A small delegation of adults awaited him at the gate. They were armed with spears and were more wary than the children.

Broneslav raised his empty hands to show his peaceful intent and stopped short of the gates.

"May I approach? I mean no harm?"

The adults in the gateway conferred briefly and gestured to him to come forward. The mandatory questioning then occurred in stilted Common. Broneslav found their accents hard to understand, but they too found his difficult. In the end, he was invited in and taken to the chief's hut, where he was introduced to Fano, the "talking chief", and Umlat, the village's priest. Both men were extremely old and infirm. Fano was badly scarred from a fight or accident and his left arm hung limply at his side. Umlat was simply ancient, having lived far beyond the normal lifespan of others in his tribe. Between the two was a stone statue of an old man, which was introduced to Broneslav as "the chief".

Fano interpreted "the chief's" wishes and questions while Umlat supplemented with questions of his own. In short order, Broneslav had been interrogated and found welcome. He was soon seated on the sandy beach by the lake edge with about fifty villagers enjoying a meal of baked fish and yam paste, and fruits, together with a yam beer, which Broneslav considered to be an acquired taste.

On top of this, he had been told that he would stay the night with one of the extended families that lived in the large huts, and had been given the opportunity to put his belongings in there. These huts were long and open inside with sleeping benches lining each side. The whole family lived in this single room with no walls or divisions for privacy. This felt weird to the young warrior, who was used to having his own sleeping cabinet.

Feeling very full and relaxed for the first time in a while, Broneslav conversed with those near him and found out more about the village and his surroundings. He repaid this information with tales of his adventures, which some of the adults looked sceptical about, but the children loved. After the meal, Fano and Umlat joined Broneslav once more.

"We have a problem and your stories tell us that you might be able to help solve it," began Fano, "There is a tribe of headhunters living on the island you can see in the lake. They have recently moved in and are creating trouble for us. They are more warlike than we are, but more importantly, we cannot set foot on that island because it is taboo to us. Our gods require that we stay away from it. Will you help us by driving them off?"

"Of course!" Broneslav's response was instant. "Tell me all you can about them, and I shall travel there in the morning to see what I can do."

The "talking chief" and the priest told Broneslav everything they could and promised to let him use a canoe to get to and from the island. They said that they would offer whatever other help they could, but that no one from the village could actually join him on the island.

"Not a problem," the youth replied with a confident grin, "I work better alone anyway."

He was satisfied with this. With the villagers' help, he could reach his objective and the information about the headhunters there was a useful warning. As he lay down to sleep in the hut, he wondered what else he might find there. Well, tomorrow he would know for certain.

11 Ambyrmont - Ever Onwards, Ever Upwards

 Thankful for an undisturbed night's sleep, Broneslav packed up his camp and set out at first light. His experience of ranging wildernesses came in handy as he picked his way up the steep cliffs and hillsides of the volcano. It was difficult going, but he was able to find a stable path that did not slide out from under his feet as he climbed. He cursed the volcanic ash that got into his every orifice as he climbed and that made the climbing all the harder because it was soft and gave underfoot, but he made good progress.

Balancing tentatively on a boulder outcrop, he ate his lunch and looked out over the plateau back the way he had come. The mountains he had crossed before were dwarfed by the volcano he now climbed. Just a little further and he might even see over them to the jungles beyond. As he did this, he kept a wary eye out for the pteranodons and pterodactyls that he had seen before, but they resolutely circled much higher than he was. He praised the immortals and asked their blessing that the beasts might not consider him a morsel worth plucking off this barren hillside.

The volcano got rockier!

After lunch he carried on picking his way slowly and carefully up the volcano. By late evening, he had to put on his warmer clothes from his pack. The hillside was getting icy and snow lay in patches across it. Further up Broneslav could see that the snow and ice lay thicker upon the hillside. He soldiered on. The snow actually made the climb slightly easier. It was hard frozen and gave firmer footing than the volcanic ash, but he had to watch out for sheet ice that would treachously trip him. Still, shortly before dark, he reached the summit. From here, he could see across most of the island. Though the sun had set on the land below, up here it would shine a while longer. He used that to his advantage to dig his camp into the snow and to light a fire to keep warm. It was fortunate that he had brought wood with him for this purpose, because there was none up here. He settled in for the night and prepared himself for the hard climb down, that would, at least be shorter if not easier, but getting a good night's sleep.

It is fortunate that Broneslav has wilderness skills and that I rolled well for him to see if he made the right preparations. Had I not done so, he would be suffering frostbite now!

10 Ambyrmont - The Plateau

 Waking early, Broneslav packed his things together and set out towards the ruins. It was easier going across the plateau which was strewn with small rocks and boulders and scrubby brush, but nothing to hold him up like the jungle had.

Detail will be added to this map as Broneslav explores.

The journey went faster than he had thought it would. By midday he had reached a river that crossed the plateau. He slaked his thirst, filled his waterskin and waded across it. The river was not deep, but the cooler air on the plateau made the water feel colder than he liked. Climbing out on the other side, he shivered a little in the breeze, but it dried him quickly too as he pressed on.

By mid-afternoon, Broneslav was standing at the base of the volcano staring up at it. It had looked smaller and less intimidating before. Now he could clearly see that it would be a steep, rocky and difficult climb. Worse yet, more of those giant birds were circling in the air far above. He could just make out their raucous screeches far overhead. It would be hard work both climbing and fighting if he had to do both at the same time.

Broneslav decided that the climb would take too long and that he would not make enough progress to warrant starting now, so he sat down near the river and got out his fishing line. Later that evening, he was cooking fresh fish over his fire and feeling quite pleased with himself. With a full belly, he lay down and went to sleep. Tomorrow would be a hard climb and he wanted to be well rested for it.

9 Ambyrmont - Pteranodon Pterror!

 The next morning, Broneslav gathered his things together and set out to cross the rope bridge onto the plateau. Its presence indicated that intelligent creatures lived in this area, but there was no guarantee that they would be friendly, so he was wary as he approached it and took time to survey his surroundings. He noted giant birds circling in the sky at a distance, and their coarse cries wafted to him on the breeze. There was no sign of other activity here, beyond the usual small birds and animals that scattered from the area as he approached.

He was halfway across the bridge when several piercing shrieks rang out in quick succession. A trio of the giant birds swooped at him. He was startled, but their cries alerted him to the attack. He swiftly drew his sword and grabbed his shield, ready to defend himself. As he did so, he became excessively aware of the ricketiness of the bridge he stood on. There was no time to run to the end and get onto solid land, so he would just have to watch his footing.

As the first pteranodon swooped in, Broneslav cut towards its neck with his sword. The blade bit just behind the creature's crest and sliced on through to decapitate it. The follow through nicked the following pteranodon, causing it to flinch away from him, missing its chance to strike at the young warrior. The third one struck towards Broneslav, but he ducked under it.

As it flew past him, his blade struck true again and the pteranodon screeched its pain as blood flowed freely from a deep wound. Once more, Broneslav ducked and weaved on the wobbly bridge, just barely keeping his footing, as one of the pteranodons bit through a gap in his armour, and his own blood started to flow. He was startled but still managed to evade the attack of the other one.

Bracing himself once more, Broneslav swung wildly at the nearest swooping pteranodon, just barely cutting it again, but it was enough. The birds innards sprayed outwards and it plummeted to the ground far below. Undismayed, the final pteranodon struck for Broneslav, but with only one remaining, he was able to focus properly on it and block its attack. As it swooped in for another go at the heroic lad, he thrust hard with his blade. It struck in the creature's sternum and the dinobird's own momentum carried the razor sharp edge through its own body, tearing it open from stem to tail. Blood and bile sprayed everywhere as it followed its fellows on the long fall to the ground.

The whole plateau (A very basic map!). At its centre is a volcano.

Broneslav quickly bound his wounds and crossed the bridge to the plateau beyond. It was weirdly flat and steppe-like. Grass blew like waves in the breeze and there were woods all around. Ahead, he could see the volcano that the city must be within. Its sides were steep and would take a long while to climb.  Thin wisps of smoke rose from its top, just barely visible, but clearly not an imminent eruption. If he carried on, he could reach the volcano late in the evening, but it would be dark by then, so he sought shelter in a small woods ahead of him instead. He would sleep first, and march to the volcano in the morning, so that he would arrive in daylight with plenty of time to explore and see how he might get up it.