Halls of the Mountain King was the second 4th Edition Open Design project from Kobold Press. I ran the adventure in 2010 as part of the same Parsantium campaign as Wrath of the River King. Here’s the write up from the 10th session.
Begin here with Session 1 – Alarm in the Dead of Night.
16th Quintilis (contd.)
The battle with the cultists of Mammon over, the adventurers turn their attentions to their captive, the tiefling spellcaster, Orodak, who Khuma has been trying to track down for some time. The shifter brings him round and starts questioning him aggressively, learning that the tiefling had tried to get Khuma’s tribe off their land to gain control of valuable silver deposits for the Cult of Mammon. He hasn’t heard of Khuma’s missing totem – it seems as if the men Orodak hired via the fixer Jinam must have stolen it. The tiefling also says that the cult in Mount Rygar is trying to gather as much gold as possible but that’s it for information. Sharden walks past wearing the apron and regalia of the Illuminated Brotherhood to see if this elicits a reaction. It doesn’t.
Meanwhile, Abelard has returned, explaining that a corrupted magma elemental named Gefangak has led the other elementals astray. He needs the characters to help him deal with this ringleader but first he asks Saethus to help him fix the gaping hole Vianna the dragon made in the vent shafts.
The Fire Shepherd leads the party down the corridors to the fire-damaged Lower Market where a large elemental of earth and fire stands atop a pile of burning rubble in the centre of the room. Three groups of fire elementals are gathered around the chamber. Krivinn steps forward to negotiate with Gefangak and gets off to a good start with Bolval’s help. Unfortunately, Sharden’s attempt at helping by taking off his Brotherhood apron and denouncing the “cult of mmmmmm…” [mumbles] doesn’t work and the elemental demands that Abelard’s champions face him in combat.
Battle is joined but Krivinn and Bolval find it hard to get into melee with Gefangak as his crushing hammer blows send them spinning into the watching fire elementals, and his devastating bellow’s wrath sets the characters on fire. Ella wisely hangs back by the entrance, firing arrows at the elemental, as Khuma, Saethus and Khuma attack with their magic.
The party’s attacks whittle down Gefangak’s strength and after a while the elemental is bloodied. Ella and Krivinn try again to reason with him but they don’t get anywhere. In fact, their words seem to anger Gefangak, causing small spark-like minions to appear! The party’s fighters still can’t get toe to toe with him so Bolval uses his turn elemental power, shoving the creature towards Sharden and Ella who have been trying to keep out of harm’s way. Then, Khuma’s bear spirit gets in for an attack and does 23 hp damage (!) allowing Bolval to finish Gefangak off with lance of faith.
The characters take a short rest, then Abelard leads the elementals back towards the Hearthforges. When they get back into the main corridor past the ghoul barricade, the azer says he can hear voices from the Shrine to Korak. Brave Ella scouts ahead, listening intently. There are indeed voices coming from the doorway to the west – the insane ramblings of a female derro and the chanting of her male compatriots. Wounded and almost out of surges, the adventurers form a huddle to discuss tactics…..
If you’d like to keep up to date with my Halls of the Mountain King campaign and other posts, please do join my mailing list – there’s a sign up form on the home page and subscribers receive a free Parsantium supplement.
If you’ve already signed up and haven’t received a download link, please get in touch.
Richard Green | Game Designer 