Being unconscious sucks!

Agree, and sorry 'bout that Sil. Don't think we'd survive another attempt to rest down here though

Hey, DM, do you want me to ask when you think you'll be able to update? That seems to help you focus. Otherwise, I can do as I have been doing, piping up if it has been a week or so.

Yeah, sure, Sil, I'm sure you're real excited about moving on to your coma. I think Thunwin will beat you to it.

--Lenny
This message was last edited by the player at 13:21, Tue 24 May 2022.

Nah, I should be good, but I'll let you know.

You can't hear it distinctly enough to tell.

That's what I like to hear.

It looks like we're going to wait a bit. It's not like we can beat a hasty retreat from this area with all of the dead weight, heh heh.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:38, Wed 25 May 2022.

Meanwhile, I hope Thunwin can be healing.

In reply to Lenny (msg # 612):

I'm not dead yet!

No worries, Vale...I'm just whining.

There's nothing like a good wine.

Travelling over the net few days so connectivity uncertain. Will post when I can

In reply to Vale (msg # 616):

Farewell wherever you fare.

Let's walk this back a bit, guys. Everybody remains in place except for Vale who drinks an 1/8 of his invisibility potion and then scouts out the room to the south. We'll still have 13 servings left after Vale takes his sip.

Maybe these are a couple of tomb raiders who got separated from those other two at the entrance. Maybe they're setting their own ambush; maybe not. Since we have the resources to get more intelligence, let's do so.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:31, Sun 29 May 2022.

Happy with that here. Amy counter views?

Sil'qian seems to grunt his approval as he slumbers on!

Might as well find out if it is an NPC party, or unusually quiet baboons!

Well, it's that post everyone's probably been worried about.

Unfortunately, after giving this a lot of thought, I've reached the conclusion that I can't run the game any more.  I've really tried to find the time and energy to give it the attention it deserves,  but I think I have to face the fact that I just don't have the time, energy, or enthusiasm for it, and even changing to a system that I like better isn't going to fix that.  I'm really grateful for the enthusiasm you've all shown the game; your patience with me has genuinely been nothing short of extraordinary for RPoL.

I'm sorry to spring this on you guys after all this time, but I'm just tapped out.  Happy gaming to all of you.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:36, Wed 01 June 2022.

It is an interesting dungeon. Thank you for running it for us.

Ah, well, a disappointment to be sure. But I'm also kind of glad that you're were able to come to this decision. It's better than lurching along like we've been doing. So true of any relationship.

For sure if I didn't have a 35-hr a week job, I wouldn't run a game like this.

Hey, even though you're tapped out, maybe you could find a hidden reserve and give us a going out post? Tie up a few loose ends and all that? The escapes from the private baboon reserve... What benefit fully restoring the well would have had? Who is just south of us? What treasure those nasty ghouls had? What was that light blue potion?

You could just spell it out in the OOC if that'd be easier.

Thank you! It has been a pleasure, sometimes a harrowing one, over the years!
This message was last edited by the player at 01:44, Wed 01 June 2022.

Sure, I can do that.  This'll be a bit scattered, but here's what I have to say.  If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

• The baboons are sentient beings, though most of them are of low intelligence.  Their backstory is too long to cover here, but that's the short version.  They have a few leaders who wander this level, though you didn't encounter any.
• Fully restoring the well would have involved cleaning the lens in the pit as well as finding another mirror, which is kept elsewhere on the level.  Doing so would cause virtually the whole level to be lit up during the day, reducing random encounters and giving the baboons a severe morale penalty. (Incidentally, you could have rested safely in the first lit room you encountered, or in the nearby chamber with the teleport pyramid.  I'm surprised none of you considered that after learning that the baboons fear the light.  And you could have conceivably escaped back to level 3 via a staircase, though it would have required some creativity.)
• South of you is a kitchen where the baboons have chained up some goblin slaves. They're noncombatants and wanted nothing to do with you.
• The ghouls had a couple of magic items and some money.  Nothing really exciting.
• Fun fact: the Halls of Thoth are level 3.  You're currently on level 2.  Arden Vul breaks from the idea that deeper levels are always deadlier.
• The blue potion was a Potion of Clarity, a new item in this module that temporarily increases Intelligence.
• Remember the tower where Zuru fell to his death?  It's inhabited by 22 wraiths.  Good thing you didn't go in after those magic boots he had - especially since they were cursed. :v
• Roger the Rapier and his buddies were actually entirely trustworthy.  Kronos Kettle-Belly, on the other hand...
• Lankios exists primarily as a helpful NPC on the tutorial level, but he's also part of an event you can encounter deep in the dungeon.  The journal you found referenced the Tomb of Kaitor, which is the "K" he kept mentioning.
• Remember the secret door on level 1?  There was actually another secret door in the room behind it, but none of you found it and only about half of you even looked.  On the other side was a very nice treasure haul.

There's so, so much more, but I don't think much of it's relevant to anything you found.  Still, if you have any more questions, I can certainly answer them.

In reply to DM Maleketh (msg # 624):

Thanks for all the information. It sounds as if we missed some interesting opportunities. I am very sorry you do not feel up to continuing, but I hope to play with you again when you feel up to it.
Thunwin must seek adventure elsewhere. At least he did not (quite) die here.

Thanks for running the game Maleketh.

This dungeon seems like it would be a blast to run but it really is old-school. We probably needed 2 or 3 more characters and also some henchmen.

And, let's face it to DM it you really need to be a die hard grognard with lots of old-school gaming experience. I think you did a great job and I really enjoyed playing for the past few months.

Good gaming to everyone, I trust we will cross paths on RPOL at some point.

Thanks DM for giving this a good go. I had a great time. Thanks to all the other players. Hope to see you around.

I agree.
Best wishes

Yowza!


They evinced no fear of torchlight, so the deduction that only sunlight would do, especially given the system of mirrors and their whiteness, should not have made our actions surprising.

I guess my last itch would be the general location of that staircase ... down into lesser danger and what the obstacle would have been. I take it the chimney was no means of escape.

Thank you for providing that last set of answers. I don't even remember that level 1 secret door. Sometimes the dice just don't favor you.

If you'd continued north and west from the ghoul room, you'd have found it pretty quickly.  As for where it leads, do you remember the room on level 3 with the 3 levers?  You'd have come out in the passage behind the south gate.  That gate was closed, but could potentially have been opened by an Unseen Servant.

World-weary sigh...

That was the direction the baboons has been coming from and where Vale had retreated from. It would have been our last choice for a continued search. That was the one thing I didn't like about the room where we had tried to camp.

I think a potion of diminution might have done the trick in the absence of an unseen servant if, against all odds, we had found that staircase.

Ah, well, that concludes this line of inquiry.