Hexcrawl 129 - The Return of Mr. Rag-and-Bones

In our spooky Halloween special, Eero leads Flip, Kain, Vint, and Aulderik on a murder mystery in Llorkh. Someone has been killing elderly folk and stealing their teeth, and when a strange taxidermied skunk with human teeth arrives at the Manticore's Muse, all signs point to the ever-creepy Mr. Rag-and-Bones, now stalking the streets of Llorkh. Can the party save the latest victim from becoming part of the macabre artwork of the damaged soul that once served the Dewdrop Man?

Aulderik leads the caravan crew (including Eero, Flip, Ibin, and new Tempus paladin Ardo of Chelimber) back to Llorkh before the weather gets bad at Dragonfang Mountain. Along the way they stop at a Zhent fort, fight a foul beast in the night, find a gnome hamlet, and see some sheep farms. With every active character in Llorkh at the Manticore's Muse, they exchange maps and rumors. Aulderik visits a local priest of Mystra, then takes the party northlefterly to re-clear the wizard bolthole known as Haronin's Folly, a ruin with an air-filtering system in an otherwise miasma-choked valley. Strange groundhogs are sighted across the river constructing what looks like a small human-style home. The party explores the ruin of Haronin's Folly (see episodes 94-95), and discover that the Yellowbone goblins are once again using it as a lair. Some books are retrieved, and the party heads back to Llorkh, stopping to meet some dwarven prospectors at the farmsite formerly infested with doppelgangers.

Tals leads Neville and Lysander as they investigate other Red Wizards in Llorkh. They are hot on the trail of Elzid, who seems to be courting a local farmer's daughter, when they discover that his tower has recently exploded. They rush to investigate, and deal with some old-school traps and a malicious imp as they piece together what happened to the Red Wizard and whether he has any connection to the dastardly Tharidun Mirza.

While the dwarves are off getting Vint Westland reincarnated, trouble is brewing in Llorkh when the head of security for the Manticore's Muse is slain under mysterious circumstances. Kain leads VS, Neville, and Tals on a hunt for the killer that will take them to hidden corners of Llorkh! VS recruits for his cult of Grandfather Eelism along the way, and they meet an unexpected ally who serves a mighty power in the Greypeak Mountains. It seems the dwarven portal network is under observation by others, including the agent of a sapphire dragon and the nefarious Red Wizards of Thay!

After we recount some Rooms and Teams, Vindalf leads our dwarven explorers Vint, Jendri, Gemwin, and Hokan into the mysteriously abandoned Greywatch, rumored to have been an early casualty of demonic invasion in Ammarindar. After a brief examination of a side entrance, they go in past shattered stone, iron, and adamantine doors to a large room where they are attacked by demons: a howler, a twisted demonic ettin, and a hook-headed babau demon. Gemwin takes on the ettin while most of the rest of the group takes on the howler, and the babau tries to escape and warn its master, the "Spine Feaster" about the dwarves. Vindalf drops a wall of ice that divides up the battlefield, Vint dies terribly from the howler's keening sonic attack and vicious bite, and Hokan looks like he will soon die too, so Vindalf tries to keep Hokan alive while Jendri shoots eldritch blasts and Gemwin lays into the ettin and babau. The party is victorious, but flees the complex with enough parts of Vints body that they hope to be able to reincarnate him by bringing him to the druid Bariq in the west. They retreat to Llorkh and vow to return with their higher-level characters soon.

We regale Judd with various tales of the campaign from before he joined us, and he tells us the story of the Donkey Murder Trial. Bonus content only for our Platinum Patreon Members (which is everybody, there is no Patreon)

Eero leads Vint, Flip, Aulderic, and Ibin as they take relics of Tempus from the Abbey of St. Clewyd to Lord Harrand Torblade for sale. He pays them in diamonds and reincarnation unguents for the Battle Standard of Tempus, and accompanies them eastward to the Abbey of the Broken Blade. There, the Sage Skin of Tempus is exchanged for some magical armor and weapons. The party continues east to Dragonfang Mountain and tells the dwarven party there where Greywatch is on their map. The Conquest Dwarves (Gemwin, Jendri, Hokan, and Vindalf) decide to activate their portal to Greywatch, and Vint accompanies them as they step through to a windswept cliff outside the ruined dwarfhold.

Still mourning the loss of Zaza, VS takes the lead with Eero and Ibin. They meet Aulderik, a Mystran cleric investigating the Prismatic caves, who joins the party and is shown the strange random magical properties of the cavern. They converse with "crystal dwarf" Feldspar, who tells them of his friend Dumathoin. Exploring some of the other caverns, they encounter crystal-encrusted and possibly immortal Tyrran monks having a schvitz in a sandsauna and mineral baths. Having apparently explored the whole complex, they depart and explore the nearby mountains, looking for the dwarven ruin known as Greywatch. They inter Zaza in some streams full of szorp fish that he would have loved. Hazbarg the Stone Giant shows them how to find Greywatch but warns it is a difficult climb on an eroded cliff-road. They explore back towards Llorkh, hoping to find some new recruits for the Grandfather Eel cult there.

Vint Westerland leads Eero, VS, Ibin, and Zaza as they explore the complex of caves and dwarven stonework known as the Prismatic Caves of Dumathoin. They encounter a training dummy that calls itself by many names and claims to be a powerful wizard, but VS is offended when it disses Grandfather Eel and attacks; the dummy is destroyed but whatever was controlling it in the hat possibly escapes up the fireplace. They discover a permanent Prismatic Wall in one room and avoid hurting themselves on it. They explore an alchemy lab used by later Mystran wizards and Zaza befriends an Iron Cobra there. In a bunkroom, a ghost asks many questions. They see the beautiful central cavern with its huge amethyst crystals, and explore a shrine to Dumathoin now missing its altar. They reach the pond where the waters change color because of a domed (second) Prismatic Wall, and Zaza dives in to investigate. Unfortunately, the red layer inflicts enough fire damage that he starts making death saves, and an unfortunate roll of 1 meant that Zaza died before help could reach him. VS casts Gentle Repose on Zaza's body and swears to return him to Grandfather Eel.

From Llorkh, Ibin the Scorcher leads Eero, Zaza, and new party member and dwarven bard Vint Westland northwards, seeking a dwarven ruin to explore. Along the way, they stop at a ranch house and are attacked by murderous doppelgangers, and end up showing mercy to one of them. Zaza tries to tame a giant goat, they fight a random giant centipede, and they spend several days exploring the same mountain hex before finding the color-changing stream associated with the site. They explore the first few rooms and Vint finds a pretty cool warhammer. They hunker down in the guardroom before proceeding further. Happy 5th anniversary to the Hexcrawl Campaign!