I haven't been as diligent about taking notes in my current LotFP campaign as I was in the previous one. I figure I should write some of the most important details down before I forget anything too important. This is mostly for my own reference, but if you get bored enough to read it I hope you find something fun or interesting here.
WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW FOR TOMB OF THE SERPENT KINGS AND THE GOD THAT CRAWLS.
Oh, and PLAYERS: STAY OUT!
Elzevir - Since no one in the party knew how to cast Identify, one of the elf magic-users sought out the local sage, Elzevir. He said he would be willing to cast it free of charge, in exchange for a small service. He wanted a blond hair of at least three inches in length, fresh from a woman's head. The magic-user searched the town and found Rosemary, a young woman with the requisite hair who worked as the salesperson and co-owner of the only haberdashery in the area. The magic-user turned on the charm and surreptitiously obtained the hair sample for Elzevir, who cast the spell as asked and then immediately skipped town.
Soon, Rosemary fell into a catatonic trance, and her father Irmok (the other co-owner of the hat shop) became desperate for a way to revive her. Since the elves felt they needed some backup for a rescue mission to save the rest of the party from Xiximanter (see below), they convinced Irmok and a posse of seven other villagers that Xiximanter was responsible for Rosemary's plight. They led the eight villagers to the entrance of the dungeon, presumably intending to do battle with the sorcerer, but the rest of the party emerged just as they were about to enter, having already escaped on their own. The elves abruptly called off the mission, giving Irmok and company some fast talk about how a confrontation with the sorcerer wouldn't help Rosemary after all, and Irmok would be better off seeking professional help for his daughter's illness in the city of Fillmore. Suspicious and dissatisfied, the posse broke up, and Irmok set out for the city with the unresponsive Rosemary the next day.
Now that more time has passed, the villagers have thought this whole Rosemary issue over a bit more. Gossip and speculation have spread, especially concerning the PCs. Especially concerning the elves. They might not find themselves quite so welcome in this town anymore.
Xiximanter - This is probably the party's most dangerous enemy at the moment, courtesy of the Tomb of the Serpent Kings. He's not really a serpent man, although he is a very old undead wizard and alchemist. Before transforming himself into a living mummy, he replaced his lower body with that of a giant snake, grafted some fangs and scales onto himself, and imprinted his own mind with false memories of being an ancient serpent man. He's basically a crazy full-time cosplayer, but he has real eldritch power under his command, albeit slightly diluted by his crackpot magical and pseudoscientific theories.
When the party tried to force Xiximanter to confront the fact that the serpent men are long extinct and eons have passed since the height of their empire, his psychological defense mechanisms kicked in. He cast Sleep on the party (affecting everyone but the two elves and one of the two human fighters, the latter not being present), kidnapped them for his experiments, and promptly blocked out all memory of the evidence shown to him that could disprove his delusions. When the party awoke, they found themselves in oubliettes carved into the floor of the serpentine sorcerer's lair and covered with heavy stone lids. The sorcerer explained that he wanted to "uplift" the poor mammals to snake man-level intelligence so that they would no longer "senselessly attack" him, using a combination of potions and brain surgery.
The halfling specialist managed to sweet talk Xiximanter into appointing her as a lab assistant and letting her out of the pit. With the help of the previously absent fighter, she managed to free the rest of the party and trap Xiximanter in one of his own oubliettes. They fled the tomb and haven't been back since.
Xiximanter has almost certainly freed himself since then, and will not be happy to see the party should he encounter them again. In addition to his stats listed in the adventure, Xiximanter has exceptional strength.
Zoom Tubes - While trying to flee from Xiximanter, the dwarf fool found a secret button on the floor. Upon pressing it, a hidden door opened in the ceiling, revealing a tunnel glowing with purple light. She was sucked up into it like a dust bunny into a vacuum cleaner and deposited in Xiximanter's lair, right next to the battle between her companions and the sorcerer, through another such hidden ceiling hatch. "YOU USED MY ZOOM TUBE!" cried the sorcerer, enraged at her trespass. Luckily, someone finally pushed him into the pit after the dwarf and two others failed. The party managed to close the lid over the pit before the sorcerer could climb out, but not before he cast continual darkness, making it impractical to do much looting. The party quickly gathered what they could and fled.
But what is a zoom tube, and are there more of them?
The Basilisk - The two human fighters (one much more so than the other) have fed the basilisk enough food, and generally been nice enough to it (scratching its neck, dislodging the irritating key from its collar, etc.) that they could theoretically begin to tame it.
The party has retrieved the key mentioned above, but not put it to use. The visor on the basilisk's helmet has been lowered over its eyes. It is still chained up.
Goblins in General - One thing I forgot to mention before is that the goblins in this campaign, being positively ancient compared to the PCs, and having taken many strange forms, tend to reference things that are completely unfamiliar to people in the current age. Things like "ice cream" and "workers' comp." The goblins live a simple and isolated life, but they might know a great deal more than they let on.
Smogo, the Goblin That Crawls - Now that he has taken the form of the God That Crawls (a saint revered by certain small Gnostic sects and transformed into a monster by druids), Smogo wishes to subjugate the other goblins who once bullied him and crown himself the Goblin King. He was last seen by the party entering the Tomb of the Serpent Kings with Elroy Bacon in tow.
If he succeeds in his coup, Smogo's first decree will probably be that the title of Goblin King is no longer a temporary position ending in the sacrifice of one's current host body. His second decree will probably involve making somebody kiss the basilisk.
The "Reverend" Elroy Bacon and the Gnostics - The particular Gnostic sect to which Bacon belongs believes that "the God That Crawls" is actually a historical figure known as St. August. Details on this person are scarce, but since he was apparently a well-respected theologian and philosopher (according to some musty old tomes, which the Gnostics of this particular sect love to fawn over despite admittedly lacking the proper historical context to fully understand them), and some kind of saint at that, they figure it's better to take care of him than to let him rot alone in the ground. Besides, they might glean some useful information from the experience regarding the natural of the false reality in which they believe they are imprisoned.
Bacon and a few friends faked credentials as members of a more mainstream religion in order to avoid rousing local suspicion while restoring the church. Working from "Catholic" records (whatever that means), they pieced together a worship service which they believed would soothe the creature, but they never got a chance to try it, since Smogo took over the saint's body.
Now Bacon has offered to be Smogo's "scribe," following him around and taking notes on his misadventures in the hopes of learning something useful or profound that he can share with his fellow religious scholars.
As for the stuff the PCs stole from the church, Bacon doesn't really care about it at this point. He said they could have it as long as they spared his life, which they agreed to. He figures the other Gnostics will understand.
The Catacombs - Now that the "big bad" has left the dungeon under the church, and so have the PCs, new monsters should start showing up to live there within a month or two. Veins of the Earth would be an ideal source for restocking the dungeon.
The Rapture - Since the incident with Panic Attack Jack in the aforementioned catacombs, the human fighter who was previously attacked by the Rapture should probably continue to be visited periodically while underground, at least until that character either does something about it, fights it off enough times to send it a message, or dies.
I Know a Guy in Bloodpool - Thanks to this house rule, one of the elf magic-users has an uncle who lives in the distant city of Bloodpool. He can supposedly tell the party a bit about the history of the war that resulted in the sealing of the passages between worlds about two hundred years ago. For some odd reason, historical records from before or during the war are extremely scarce, and almost everyone who lived through the war either has difficulty remembering it or just seems reluctant to talk about it. Not this uncle, though; he'd gladly tell what he knows if his niece comes to visit.
Dungeon Connections - The easternmost path in the Tomb of the Serpent Kings (next to the giant pit) connects at the north end to the third floor of the catacombs of the God That Crawls (after about an hour's walk at exploration speed) via the large crevice splitting the level. One can carefully edge along the walls of this crevice a short distance in order to reach the easternmost hallway of the third floor.
At the south end, the path is blocked by "dungeon barnacles," a dangerous form of fungus which only lets the goblins pass freely. Beyond this point is presumably the main home of the goblins (with their territory in the Tomb being an outpost of sorts), where their primary "body maker" is located.
According to the goblins, the pit leads to "the Veins of the Earth."
The Hills Have an Eye - There are rumors of a cyclops wandering the hills outside of town.
Quick-Aging Corpses at the Tomb's Entrance - During their first foray into the Tomb of the Serpent Kings, the party found a trapped door near the entrance to the tomb proper. They figured out a way to pass back and forth through the door without setting off the trap, but they purposefully left it rigged so that if any other group of treasure seekers tried to lay claim to "their" territory, they would hopefully be killed.
The plan worked. The next time the adventurers came to the tomb, they found the corpses of a band of rival dungeon delvers (borrowed from a room description in Better Than Any Man). But there was an oddity. The corpses and their clothing and gear were almost completely rotted away, the bodies practically reduced to skeletons, as if they had been lying there for months or years and not merely for a day or two. The party found no signs of magic on the trap itself, so how did this chronological phenomenon occur?
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