The Temple of Madathak – The Dungeon: Part Ten

One hex = six miles

The campaign so far

Happy New Year readers! Here is the final instalment of Freblun’s adventures in the Temple of Madathak, although it is not the end of this solo Exemplars & Eidolons campaign. I’m now going to focus on my creative writing and will return to Freblun’s adventures sometime in 2024.

In the previous adventure the warrior Freblun, having returned the four captive youths to the hamlet of Drothorn, used King Othtar’s Shield, which functions as a magical teleportation device, to return to the Temple of Madathak. He came to the underground chamber of Dratharg, the high priest of Madathak. Freblun found that he Dratharg was keeping the two women from Urkothan, who had been slaves of the cultist Kulsev, in his chamber. Another of his prisoners was Naran, the beautiful daughter of the sorceress Evendra of Bluestone Tower. Dratharg told Freblun that he also had Medron, a man from Bruld who accompanied Freblun on his previous adventure, kept prisoner to be sacrificed to Madathak.

After fighting and slaying Dratharg, Freblun set Medron free and told him to guard Naran while he used King Othtar’s Shield to return the two women from Urkothan to their home. Freblun and the two women appeared on Urkothan, the moon, near Arzek’s Rock which is sacred to Droithara tribe of Urkothan. The two women came from the Droithara tribe and were named Altheela and Teshana. They left Freblun to return to their village in Thonoom, the forest of giant mushrooms that grows near Arzek’s Rock. Before they could reach Thonoom, Altheela was attacked and killed by a grodgath, a huge lizard-like monster. Freblun killed the grodgath, and handed King Othtar’s Shield to Teshana so that she could use its power to return the two of them, along with Altheela’s corpse, to her village of Tholzon.

In Tholzon, a village of stone cottages, Freblun gave Altheela’s corpse to the chief. Teshana went with some other women of the Droithara to tend to the corpse in a mortuary hut. Freblun was approached by Dabentha, a woman whom he had rescued from the cultists’ banqueting hall in the Temple of Madathak in an earlier adventure. Noticing his loneliness, she took him back to her hut to treat his wounds and provide him with a night of pleasure.

Freblun is a sixth level warrior with eight Facts and six Gifts.

The Temple of Madathak – The Dungeon: Part Nine

One hex = six miles

The campaign so far

Here is the latest session of my solo Exemplars & Eidolons campaign. In the previous adventure the warrior Freblun continued to explore the underground Temple of Madathak in search of the cultist Kulsev and the keys to the chains binding the four captive youths from the hamlet of Drothorn. Accompanied by two cultists of Madathak, Brenara and Drold, Freblun came to a chamber inhabited by undead huecuvas. Drold was killed by the huecuvas and Brenara used her spell-like ability of Teleport to escape back to her chamber. After Freblun destroyed the huecuvas, he returned to Brenara’s chamber where Brenara, following an order from Madathak, tried to kill him her spell of Command by ordering him to drink poisoned wine. He resisted the spell, but Brenara escaped from him by teleporting to Madathak’s citadel of Ivurk Yath on Urkothan, the moon.

Freblun released a prisoner of Brenara, a man from Bruld named Medron. They came to Kulsev’s chamber where Medron posed as cultist and offered Kulsev Freblun’s Robe of Binding. Kulsev put on the Robe of Binding which trapped him within its magical grasp and made it impossible for him to use his spells. Freblun interrogated Kulsev at sword point and made the cultist tell him where the keys to the chains binding the youths from Drothorn were hidden. In a compartment hidden beneath a loose flagstone Freblun found the keys, and a magical elven bottle of ash wood named Lifebringer. Freblun then used the severed head of the gorgon Cholaldia, whom he had killed in a previous adventure in the dungeon, to turn Kulsev to stone. He used his magical sword to smash the statue into pieces.

Freblun told Medron to remain in the chamber and guard two woman from Urkothan who had been held captive by Kulsev. He used King Othtar’s Shield, which functions as a magical teleportation device, to return to the cell where the four youths from Drothorn were chained to the walls. Kulsev had intended to sacrifice one of them to Madathak when Urkothan was full again. He released the youths from their chains and intended to use King Othtar’s Shield to return them home to Drothorn. But the Shield malfunctioned, as it sometimes does when used again within a short space of time, and Freblun and the youths found themselves within the Labyrinth of Arbdus within the ethereal plane.

Arbdus, who could be heard as a disembodied voice, told Freblun that it was his power that allowed the Shield to function as a teleportation device. He assured Freblun that no harm would come to the youths and sent Freblun off to explore the Labyrinth on his own. Freblun came to a hall where he ate some drugged food, and then, with his fighting ability impaired, he had to fight a Killer Robot from the planet Zadkoth armed with laser weapons. Freblun was almost killed in the combat but Arbdus, impressed by Freblun’s fighting ability, ordered the Killer Robot to cease its attack. Afterwards Freblun met Arbdus, who reunited him with the youths from Drothorn. Freblun used King Othtar’s Shield to return to Drothorn where the people were overjoyed to see the youths again. Weak from his wounds, Freblun went to The Black Basilisk inn to spend the night recovering.

Freblun is a sixth level warrior with eight Facts and six Gifts.

The Temple of Madathak – The Dungeon: Part Eight

One hex = six miles

The campaign so far

Here is the latest session of my solo Exemplars & Eidolons campaign. In the previous adventure the warrior Freblun continued to explore the underground Temple of Madathak in search of the cultist Kulsev, who holds the keys to the chains binding the four captive youths from the hamlet of Drothorn who have been imprisoned in the dungeon. Kulsev intends to sacrifice one of the youths to the evil deity Madathak when Urkothan, the moon, is full again.

Freblun has made an uneasy alliance with Drold, a cultist of Madathak who wants to poison Kulsev. Freblun is planning to trap Kulsev by having Drold offer him the Robe of Binding that Freblun found in the Strange Caves. Drold led Freblun to a flight of steps leading down into the lowest level of the Temple of Madathak. They came to a bridge over a chasm where Freblun fought and killed a zurtorb, a huge monster from the subterranean depths. After spending the night in a nearby chamber, they came to the old altar hall of Madathak. Here they encountered Brenara, a young woman who in a previous adventure (The Shadow over Bruld) betrayed Freblun to the cultists of Madathak who then imprisoned him within the shrine of Madathak in Bruld.

Although still beautiful, Brenara had clearly become a dedicated cultist of Madathak; she had solid red eyes without pupils and irises, and grey skin that was smooth and not leathery like that of other cultists who were long-time servitors of Madathak. Brenara told Freblun that she was favoured by Madathak. She appeared to be grateful to Freblun because, in the shrine of Madathak in Bruld, he had killed the cultist Gomord who had charmed her and made her his concubine. She said that she hated Kulsev because he had tried to rape her, and agreed to help Freblun and Drold find him so that they could carry out their plan to trap him. She also warned Freblun about Dratharg, the high priest of the Temple of Madathak who is even more powerful than Kulsev. Brenara led Freblun and Drold through the dungeon to a chamber where the three of them fought an enveloper, a shapeshifting monster that was eventually killed by Freblun.

Freblun is a sixth level warrior with eight Facts and six Gifts.

The Temple of Madathak – The Dungeon: Part Seven

One hex = six miles

The campaign so far

Here is the latest session of my solo Exemplars & Eidolons campaign. In the previous adventure the warrior Freblun continued to explore the underground Temple of Madathak in search of the cultist Kulsev, who holds the keys to the chains binding the four captive youths from the hamlet of Drothorn who have been imprisoned in the dungeon. Kulsev intends to sacrifice one of the youths to the evil deity Madathak when Urkothan, the moon, is full again.

Freblun encountered Naestra, the gorgon who escaped when Freblun fought and killed her two sisters Chidis and Cholaldia. He killed Naestra and destroyed the five rupture skeletons accompanying her. He acquired most of the gorgons’ treasure which Naestra was carrying in a Bag of Holding. In another chamber he acquired a magical +3 sword.

In a storeroom Freblun encountered Drold, the man who served as the headman of the hamlet of Drun when Kulsev, the real ruler of the hamlet, was not present. Drold fled from Drun after Freblun killed nine men and boys of the hamlet who had been ordered to attack him by Kulsev. In the storeroom, Freblun saw that Drold’s skin had started to turn grey which identified him as a true follower of Madathak.

Drold informed Freblun that Drun had been destroyed by hill giants, and that he had been making a poison which he intends to put in Kulsev’s wine, as he hates Kulsev. Freblun suggested that they make an alliance against their common enemy, and that Drold should offer Kulsev the Robe of Binding that Freblun found in the Strange Caves so that he can be bound and interrogated. Drold reluctantly agreed to this proposal.

Freblun is a sixth level warrior with eight Facts and six Gifts.

The Temple of Madathak – The Dungeon: Part Six

One hex = six miles

The campaign so far

Here is the latest session of my solo Exemplars & Eidolons campaign. In the previous adventure the warrior Freblun, having spent the night in a cell with the four captive youths from Drothorn, further explored the underground Temple of Madathak in search of the cultist Kulsev who holds the keys to their chains, and in search of the object of his quest which was the Jewel of Athaya.

In a nearby chamber, Freblun encountered three gorgons. He slew two of them and the third, Naestra, escaped. In a chest he found a hoard of treasure including the Jewel of Athaya. He used King Othtar’s Shield, which functions as a magical teleportation device, to return to the town of Bruld. There he gave the Jewel to Dorsunda, the high priestess of Athaya the goddess of healing. Dorsunda used the Jewel, which is a powerful healing artifact, to the cure the victims of the plague that had recently reached the town.

In the infirmary of the temple of Athaya, Freblun visited Mulglonem, the gnome illusionist who was his adventuring companion and who was raised from the dead by Dorsunda after having been killed by a troll in the Temple of Madathak. Before he could return to the Temple of Madathak to retrieve the remainder of the gorgons’ treasure, he was accosted by a strange young woman who was a member of a cult named The Way of the Oracle.

Freblun went with the woman to a house, where he discovered that The Oracle was a vile demon lord named Vorbithu who was presiding over a group of charmed townsfolk. Freblun resisted Vorbithu’s attempt to charm him and to make him sacrifice a young girl. He used King Othtar’s Shield to teleport himself and the girl to the temple of Dronlan, the god of merchants and adventurers, where the high priestess Mulglonem told him that she would investigate The Way of the Oracle.

Freblun then used King Othtar’s Shield to return to the Temple of Madathak. He reassured the four captive youths that he would rescue them from Kulsev, who intends to sacrifice one of them to Madathak when Urkothan, the moon, is full again. Freblun returned to the gorgons’ chamber where he found that most of the treasure had been taken. He obtained a Ring of Delusion, which he thinks is Ring of Invisibility, and a Crystal Ball. He thought that the Crystal Ball was allowing him to spy on Madathak in his citadel on Urkothan, but it was actually a Crystal Hypnosis Ball that Vorbithu was using in an attempt to control him again. Freblun resisted the effect of the Crystal Hypnosis Ball and left it in the chest.

Freblun is a sixth level warrior with eight Facts and six Gifts.

The Temple of Madathak – The Dungeon: Part Five

One hex = six miles

The campaign so far

Here is the latest session of my solo Exemplars & Eidolons campaign. The warrior Freblun is on a quest to retrieve the Jewel of Athaya, a powerful healing artifact, from the temple of the evil deity Madathak. Athaya is the goddess of healing worshipped in the Drenroth Wilds. Freblun must acquire the Jewel of Athaya soon because the plague is slowly advancing towards the town of Bruld. In addition, he must rescue four captive youths from the hamlet of Drothorn who are being held captive in the Temple of Madathak. The cultists intend to sacrifice one of them to Madathak when Urkothan, the moon, is full again.

In the previous adventure Freblun came to a minor shrine of Madathak (23) where he fought and killed two nightmanders, but not before one of them briefly trapped him within the astral plane. Later, he came to a cell (25) where the four youths from Drothorn were being held captive. Freblun was unable to free them as they were bound with heavy iron chains. One of them informed Freblun that Kulsev, the cultist of Madathak whom Freblun fought in the hamlet of Drun, had the keys to their chains. Freblun told the youths that he would go in search of Kulsev and then spent the night with the youths in case Kulsev returned.

Freblun is a sixth level warrior with eight Facts and six Gifts.

The Temple of Madathak – The Dungeon: Part Four

One hex = six miles

The campaign so far

Here is the latest session of my solo Exemplars & Eidolons campaign. The warrior Freblun is on a quest to retrieve the Jewel of Athaya, a powerful healing artifact, from the temple of the evil deity Madathak. Athaya is the goddess of healing worshipped in the Drenroth Wilds. Freblun must acquire the Jewel of Athaya soon because the plague is slowly advancing towards the town of Bruld. In addition, he must rescue four captive youths from the hamlet of Drothorn who are hidden somewhere in the Temple of Madathak. The cultists intend to sacrifice one of them to Madathak when Urkothan, the moon, is full again.

In the previous adventure Freblun came to the cultists’ hall (17) where 19 cultists of Madathak were feasting and being served by three captive women from Urkothan. Using his Master of Deception Gift, Freblun masqueraded as a cultist of Madathak until a cultist started to assault one of the serving women. After the cultists had been killed Freblun used King Othtar’s Shield, a magical teleportation device, to return the women to Urkothan.

Freblun tried to use King Othtar’s Shield to return to the cultists’ hall, but the device malfunctioned and instead teleported him to the plane of chaos, the abode of demons. After slaying a monster there Freblun was able to return to the Temple of Madathak. He explored the chambers beyond the cultists’ hall until he came to the lair (22) of two annis, evil giantesses. The annis created fog clouds and one of them told Freblun to leave their lair, so he returned to the cultists’ hall where he rested.

Freblun is a sixth level warrior with eight Facts and six Gifts. I used Schweig’s Themed Dungeon Generator to randomly generate the Temple of Madathak during play.

The Temple of Madathak – The Dungeon: Part Three

One hex = six miles

The campaign so far

Here is the latest session of my solo Exemplars & Eidolons campaign. The warrior Freblun is on a quest to retrieve the Jewel of Athaya, a powerful healing artifact, from the temple of the evil deity Madathak. Athaya is the goddess of healing worshipped in the Drenroth Wilds. Freblun must acquire the Jewel of Athaya soon because the plague is slowly advancing towards the town of Bruld. In addition, he must rescue four captive youths from the hamlet of Drothorn who are hidden somewhere in the Temple of Madathak. The cultists intend to sacrifice one of them to Madathak when Urkothan, the moon, is full again.

In the previous adventure Freblun explored the Temple of Madathak, destroying the remaining zombie ogre guards in the secret corridor shrouded with the grey mist of Madathak (12). In another chamber (15) he found a pile of gold coins which turned out to be a protein polymorph, a shapeless monster with the power to disguise itself. After killing the protein polymorph, he came to a door at the end of a nearby corridor. Beyond the door he could hear cultists of Madathak drinking and celebrating…

Freblun is a sixth level warrior with eight Facts and six Gifts.

The Temple of Madathak – The Dungeon: Part Two

One hex = six miles

The campaign so far

Here is the latest session of my solo Exemplars & Eidolons campaign. The warrior Freblun is on a quest to retrieve the Jewel of Athaya, a powerful healing artifact, from the temple of the evil deity Madathak. Athaya is the goddess of healing worshipped in the Drenroth Wilds. Freblun must acquire the Jewel of Athaya soon, because the plague is slowly advancing towards the town of Bruld. In addition, he must rescue four captive youths from the hamlet of Drothorn who are hidden somewhere in the Temple of Madathak. The cultists intend to sacrifice one of them to Madathak when Urkothan, the moon, is full again.

In the previous adventure Freblun explored the Temple of Madathak, fighting zombie ogres who are the undead guardians of the place. He came to the altar hall of the Temple where he fought stone guardians, and escaped from a combat that he knew he couldn’t win by using King Othtar’s Shield, which functions as a magical teleportation device as well as a shield. Later on he discovered a secret corridor shrouded in the grey mist of Madathak, which impaired his fighting ability when he had to fight more zombie ogres.

Freblun destroyed one of the zombie ogres, but being close to death he used King Othtar’s Shield to return to the temple of Dronlan, the god of merchants and adventurers, in Bruld. There Medornae, the high priestess of Dronlan, healed his wounds to a limited degree. He spent the night in the temple of Dronlan, and the next day he used King Othtar’s Shield to return to the Temple of Madathak to continue his quest in search of the Jewel of Athaya.

Freblun is a sixth level warrior with eight Facts and six Gifts.