MOOR'S END - 16 & 17

Party comes upon a Carpenter's Cave of sorts, lots of woodworking tools, hand saws, stacks of 2x4s and ply wood, the frame of a chair, and a table top are against the east wall in the north section, and old wood chips are scattered about the east section of the south part. In the west portion which joins the north and south, sits an old, rusty table saw.  The party turns it on and it starts sputtering loudly, issuing an excruciatingly high pitched squeal. Though quickly turned off, two bandits come rushing in. One of them is killed, and the other, named Joey T, succumbs to questioning about the nearby bandit hideout, etc. Eventually, when the party enters a room full of statues, they let Joey T go.

The statues are mainly of goblins and dwarves frozen in running poses, perhaps running toward the small passage, and door, at the south side of the room. One of the party locates a bag with 300 sp hanging from one of the dwarf statue's hands. Mattie notices a tiny passage in the east section of the room that leads out into a hallway. Other than that the party spends much time debating the door to the south. They decide to skip it for now, afraid of what may lie on the other side. Other than the goblin & dwarf statues, in the middle of the room is noted a statue of a hooded figure.

The party heads north and locates a den where Joey T and his buddy may have been hanging out. Some fairly nice chairs of wood with upholstery, a divan, two tables, 75 cp spread about each, on one table some dice, on the other, a pack of cards. Also, on a small table in the west part of the room next to a recliner chair is a corn cob pipe and a Common translation of Count Falconer’s novel, As I Lay Writhing. Jin grabs the book and Gil grabs the pipe, quickly smoking the contents, feeling a bit high now, though the smoke had a repulsive odor.

Heading out they move NW to work on their map and come on four fire beetles. Backing up, they use the cave & the den to their advantage battle-tactic-wise, victorious. They move east, entering another large room, coming upon two Bugbears, scarfing food around a table. A fight breaks out, and though the party has a bit of trouble with the male, the bugbears are not a match for such a large party. The party sets about searching the large room.

5:10 PM, Sunday, 17th day of the month of the Hummingbird, Moor's End, Furthermoor.

THE SPIRIT OF HOLMENTZER

"Dungeon Master, I'd like to be a Chef Magic-user Weretiger, please."

HOLMENTZER ENCUMBRANCE

[I've never been much into bookkeeping re: encumbrance, and have always hated in video games when I have to spend time choosing what I want to keep and what I want to drop. That said, as annoying as it can be, I wanna give the rules a try, mainly for the humorous possibilities they offer.]

[Holmentzer Players Handbook]

MOOR'S END - 14 & 15

So at 3:00 AM the party returns to the Inn of the Forgotten Worm where they get the best sleep they can before setting out for the Caves in the morning, a return to their quest in obtaining the diamond spider relic which Mattie the Mournful of the Church of the White Widow has told them a pack of bandits stole during a ceremony at the church.

Jin visits the grave of his brother on the way, wood elves are encountered in a cave by a pool and join the party, the statue of a rat god is seen in a clearing, a large, sleeping wolf is bypassed, a cave of bone examined, a gelatinous cube burned into ash, a pack of giant rats sliced up...

New party member, Dafydd, elvish magic-user from Glowing Pines, elaborates:

17th hummingbird
 
The halfling came up to save me from the bartender, i’m grateful but concerned, talkative folk always unnerve me. Turns out they did indeed venture into this library, but it seems they already looted the place. They seem to be venturing into the nearby caverns i’ve heard that there is something magical about these caverns perhaps it would be beneficial to join them. Also i want to leave town for awhile, i don’t know if that elf is from Glowing Pines or not, but he seems familiar.
 
We entered into the caves and ran into a group of wood elves. I was cautious at first, but it seems they don’t know me. Their leader Helium the Blue seems an honest fellow. I was thrust into the role of translator for the band of adventurers. I care not for this spider of the church, but magical caverns and an evil rising in the north-east are interesting.

A group of berserkers came upon us. We almost had a fight, but it seems one of their party had joined my new compatriots and died, I hope my fate will be different. We keep finding old potato sacks; it is most curious.
 
We found a strange statue of a rat-god of some sort. I for one am not into the study of the gods, but it is interesting nonetheless.

We came across some sort of gelatinous monstrosity. My new compatriots are suicidal, they wanted to fight it for treasure! We were lucky to defeat it. We were also lucky that group of orcs that stumbled by was smaller than our group. Among the loot we found three rings, a shield, a hammer and a strange wooden box. I also found a bone flute of some sort.

The wood elves and I were leading the group when we were attacked by giant rats. At first we were too surprised to engage effectively, but after a moment we felled one and all of the beasties. I was bitten quite efficiently, I believe I need a moment of rest. I am beginning to feel that this group may get me killed after all. Won’t that please the citizens of Glowing Pines.

And lastly, some inspired prose from Jinshen the Monk:

12:30 PM, Sunday, 17th day of the month of the Hummingbird, Moor's End, Furthermoor.

HOLMENTZER TRAPS

More and more, I'm seeing how Mentzer's Basic Players Manual can come in handy for Holmentzer.

[Holmentzer Players Handbook]

MOOR'S END - 13

[b/c of my Holmentzer obsession, session reports will be abbreviated for a bit; I'm backed up, here's to gettin' closer]

Though most of the party made it out of the library, Link leapt to his death on trap spikes and Clone was imploded on impact. I think someone even made it out w/ a book.

3:00 AM, Sunday, 17th day of the month of the Hummingbird, Moor's End, Furthermoor

ELVES - PART II - WOOD ELVES

[Previous post about elves here.]

Wood elves are not often seen in Furthermoor, as they generally keep to the deeps of the woods, their communities good eyes among swirling storms of chaos. Their cities are built upon trees with mighty branches and leveled shrubbery, ladders and bridges leading to and fro. The ancient wood elf city of Bonsai, may or may not have been the first city in Furthermoor, or Wild Earth for that matter. Early in Wild Earth history, this unknown fact caused much antagonism between a burgeoning Furthermoor City, and the supposed city of gold in the east, Fezco.

For while the Fez happened upon Bonsai and made friends with the wood elves, or so they thought, the humans knew nothing of them, and in contrast found themselves attacked by wood elves when attempting to establish a port in the swampland across the water from Furthermoor City. Though the Fez at that time divided their worship between that of the Sun and Set, it is quite clear they had great reverence and admiration for the wood elves, as many decorative Fezco reliefs show them greeting them as minor deities.

That Old Dream Green Man by Eric Whollem

One hundred and thirty seven years later Seven Moons appeared. In the far west of Wild Earth, the flickering of rainbow lightning could be seen off and on for a number of years, and during those years, chaos festered, finally spilling into the lands like no one had ever seen. After the great worms appeared, during the years of earthquakes, lawful beings in Furthermoor joined together to construct a wall, from the sea in the southwest, up to the northern icy reaches, just west of the Howling Moors. This division of Wild Earth took hundreds of years to complete and the lands west of the wall came to be known as Kush, land of Kushdar.

Eventually, wood elves found themselves fighting side-by-side with humans and other demi-humans, against evil forces such as orcs, goblins, undead, etc. It is also of note, that during the Fez Furthermoor War, the wood elves made no appearance for its entire seven year duration.

As elves, wood elves harbor the capacity for magic, however, not all of them tap into it. Holmes writes in his characters section, "some elves" have the advantage of "being able to work magical spells." Therefore, many wood elves don't know how to cast magic (90%), though they do have innate magical qualities.*

Appearance-wise, they're similar to high elves, though more rugged and wear foliage for dress, sometimes even wooden armor. A wood elf's skin is green, and as they age, they decline in height and size. The oldest known living wood elf, or elf in general, is the Old Elf/Man of Gold Mountain, said to be 4023 years old. In East Furthermoor, some of the Fez believe that the Old Man, along with a Spider and the Sun, created Wild Earth.

In woods, or near woods, wood elves are mostly invisible to the general eye and they gain surprise on 1-5 of 6, even against high, or half-elves. Also, within maelstroms of chaos, wood elves are able to bargain with ancient chaotic forces unlike lawful, neutral, or other chaotics. Though the lawful have never truly trusted wood elves, the chaotic fear them.

Magic fascinates elves, however, and if they have a weakness it lies in this desire. - AD&D DMG

These creatures are very reclusive and generally (75%) avoid all contact. Wood elves... are unusually strong for elves... but they are not quite as intelligent... They usually wear studded leather or ring mail (armor class 6) and fully 50% of any band is equipped with bows. Only 20% carry swords. 40% of wood elves use spears. - AD&D Monster Manual

When a group of 50 (or possibly fewer) is encountered, they will have a leader (fighter/magic-user) of 2-4 level/2-8 level ability. - Holmes, pg. 25

* There are times when a non-magic wood elf may do something magical effortlessly, without casting etc. More on this at another time, when perhaps wood elf PCs are an option.