Solo 'Through Sunken Lands RPG', a Tilly and Moonwane adventure, session 3

 

Before I get on with the adventure.

As with the session two (read that episode here), I have no idea where this is going to lead Tilly and Moonwane, but they still need to get some silvers together before morning so they can pay for a passage on a ship leaving for the Southern Continent.

We will be using the following toolkit for the game,

Through Sunken Lands and other adventures RPG

MUNE GM emulator

UNE for any NPS that may come up
Randomlists.com for a few verbs if I need a hint to work out what is going on.

At the end of the last session, Tilly and Moonwane (also known as Moon) had made their way through part of Jundarrs sewer system and are currently heading up some stairs which lead into an empty basement.  What happens next we shall now find out.

Leaving the sewers.

First thing I do is ask the oracle if everything is as is expected as the Tilly and Moonwane ascend the stairs and enter the basement, roll on d6 = 3, 'No but', in this case I ignore the but part.

I use randomlist.com to get two random verbs to try and work out what is different, I get "colour" and "invite".

Moonwane leads the way up the stairs battle axe in one hand, torch in the other, Tilly is just just behind she has loaded both her hand crossbows and is moving as silently as she can.  The basement is in darkness and seems empty.  As they move cautiously across the room it lights up in a cacophony of flickering colours caused by a fire that sparks in to flame.

A hooded figures steps out of the centre of the fire, he says to Moon & Tilly "Welcome friends, I am so glad you could make it, please, I invite you to follow me, it will be to your advantage to do as I ask"

Tilly looks directly at the hooded figure and notices that his face is of an ancient eldritch male, she turns to Moon "do we do as he asks?".  Moons reply comes back "I think not"

The Eldritch Noble
Hit Points 27
Armour Class 17

Attack +6, Damage 1d8 + 2 (valuable eldritch blade)

Cantrips - Hexing, Mage Light

Spells - Brave the Flames

Can summon 1d4 Chaos Hounds HP 9, Attack +2 to hit, 1d6 damage (bite) AC 14, he cannot summon them whilst being attacked.

Tilly fires her crossbows, she rolls 17, +1 to hit for one, causing 3pts of damage, she misses the Eldritch with the second.

Moon decided to rush the Eldritch, and attacks with battle axe, needing 18 to hit, rolls 13 +3 bonuses, a miss

The eldritch attacks Moon, needs 17 to hit Moon, rolls 10 +6 a miss.

Tilly draws her Rune sword and rushes to help Moon in hand to hand against the Eldritch, she rolls 18 +1 to hit, a good strike with her sword is needed, rolls 8 on d8 +2 bonus = 10hp, Eldritch down to 16hp

The Eldritch attacks Moon rolls 6+6, 12, again he misses, Moon only rolls 10 so he fails to inflict any damage on the Eldritch.

Tilly rolls 17 +1, so a hit , only inflicting 6hp this time. (Eldritch has 10 left)

This time the Eldritch rolls 11 +6, so 17, he inflicts 6+2, 8 hp against Moon.

Moon rolls 2, again he fails to hit the Eldritch.

Tilly rolls 20, she is rolling well to hit, and inflicts a further 4 + 2, 6 points of damage on the Eldrich.

The Eldritch rolls 10 +6 = 16, he lands a blow on Moon but this time Moons armour protects him.

Moon rolls 17 + 2 = 19 a hit, 5 points of damage, the Eldritch male falls, the flames go out and the room is sunk into darkness.

Tilly fumbles around in the dark, searching the ancient eldritch male, she picks up his sword 

I ask the oracle if she finds anything else of value on him, roll 3, no but.  

Tilly finds nothing else of value but she can see the sword she has picked up is of great value.

Moonwane spots some stairs leading to an exit in a corner of the basement, "Tilly, come, we need to get away from here"

The two head for the stairs and run up them, a door bars their exit,

I ask the oracle if the door is locked, roll 2, no.  

They burst through the door into a crumbling and rotting hallway, the entire house looks like it is about to collapse around them.  Without wasting time they exit the building and, keeping to the shadows, they make their way towards the docks of  Jundarr, Moon leads them to a galley ship which he knows is setting sail for the south continent in the morning, after getting aboard, they negotiate a passage  and a room, the captain happily accepting the Eldritch sword as full payment.

Moonwane sinks into his bunk, exhausted and in some pain, he falls into a deep sleep, Tilly is unable to rest, she keeps a close eye on the door to their small cabin in case someone tries to get in, hand on her runesword, she anxiously awaits dawn and their departure from Jundarr.

In Session 4

For now I am going to leave this adventure there, I need to put a little bit of work into the ships journey south and also a bit of thought as to why they need to go south to meet up with the old priest. indeed, how they are to find him in a vast continent.

I suspect Tilly's relief at leaving Jundarr many miles behind may well be short lived.

Till next time.

Solo 'Through Sunken Lands RPG', a Tilly and Moonwane adventure, session 2

Before I get on with the adventure.

As with the first part, I have no idea where this is going to lead Tilly and Moonwane, just that they need to get some silvers together before morning so they can pay for a passage on a ship leaving for the Southern Continent.

I happened upon 'Into the Sewers Environment Cheat Sheet on themudworldblog.com which has some cool random tables for delving into underground sewers and I think it will be a big help with this part of the adventure, at the moment I am not sure how I will use it exactly, I suspect it will be a case of seeing what comes up when rolling on MUNE GM emulator.  I also found a great sewer map on Dyson's Dodecahedron blog which I will use bits of for my sewer map.

As with the first session, we will be using the following toolkit for the game,

Through Sunken Lands and other adventures RPG

MUNE GM emulator

UNE for any NPS that may come up
Randomlists.com for a few verbs if I need a hint to work out what's going on.
Into the Sewers Environment Cheat Sheet as mentioned above.

I left my two characters, Tilly and Moonwane, descending a flight of stairs leading to the underground sewers, I know from when I rolled on the tables to create Tilly that she had been to forgotten underground crypts in the sewers, although I guess if there had been anything of worth in said crypts, Tilly or some other person would have cleared them out but never say never and so,

Let the adventure begin.

we start this scene with 0 intervention points brought over from the last scene as we ended with an intervention, 'advance plot', which we did by sending the duo down to the sewers.

 

 I ask the oracle if there is anything unusual about the sewers here, roll on d6 = 1 'No and'

As they descend the stairs the alter from the temple above closes over the entrance and what little light there was is extinguished.

"Do you have a torch of any description" Tilly asks in a rather curt manner "otherwise we are not going to find our way".

Moonwane being use to the Thief, replies, "just wait a couple of minutes, your eyes will adjust to the darkness, trust me, you will see enough to get to the next exit",  he takes Tilly's hand and leads her down the stairs.  From above there is a sound of doors being broken open, "I think we made it out of there in the nick of time, don't worry Tilly, that alter will only move for two people, one is in the South, I am the other".

"I would rather take my chances up there than walk through this rat infested warren in the dark", Tilly replies, sounding less than happy about her situation.

At the bottom of the steps, they pause allowing their eyes to adjust to the darkness, Tilly makes out a door directly in front of her and to the left a second door.  Tilly asks Moonwane what is behind the doors.  Moon says that the door directly in front of them is a store room for the temple, he has never been allowed to enter it, to the left the door opens into a long passageway leading to the sewer itself.

Tilly decided there may be something useful in the store room but Moonwane says the door is magically sealed.

I ask the oracle if the door is magically sealed, roll d6=1, 'No and'

Tilly tries the door with her lockpick set from her thieves tools, the door is not magically locked and, rolling 5 against her intelligence, is easily opened.

Both Tilly and Moonwane walk into the room, both search the room for anything that may be useful to them.

I ask the oracle if  they find anything useful roll d6 = 3, 'No but'

I generate two random words and get Suffer' & 'Guard'.

Tilly and Moonwane search the room in the gloomy darkness they find nothing of use they are about to give up their search when out of the corner of the room a Ghoul appears.

HP 9

AC14

Attack +3 to hit, 1d4 damage (claw)

Notes, Deadly Touch, anyone touched by a ghoul must make a roll vrs paralysis or remain frozen for 1d4 combat rounds.

I need to know if either Tilly or Moonwane (or both) are surprised by the ghoul.  To do this I ask the oracle , first Tilly who has an alertness skill so I roll 2 dice and take the lowest score to reflect this, d6 = 3 & 4, 3 is the lowest so 'No but'.

So Tilly is not surprised but, maybe she cannot attack the ghoul because she is too far away, ask the oracle d6 =6 'Yes and' (also 1 intervention point)

Tilly is too far away to attack the ghoul and, can she warn Moonwane, ask the oracle, d6=6, yes (I drop the and part also a second intervention point)

So Tilly has warned Moonwane, he is not surprised, I ask the oracle if he is able to attack the ghoul, roll d6 = 4, 'yes but', so he attacks but only with his sword not his enchanted battle axe.

Moonwane spins round drawing his sword and thrust it at the oncoming ghould, roll d20= 16, +2bab bonus +1 strength bonus = 19, a simple hit, rolls d8 for damage, 2 +2 str bonus = 4 damage to the ghoul not enough to stop it.

The ghoul lashes out at Moon, roll d20 to hit = 20, slashing him across his face, roll for damage d4 =3, so Moon takes 3 hits and must make a poison saving roll to avoid being paralyzed.  Moon needs 14 or more on d 20, rolls 17 so he is not paralyzed.

Tilly is able to attack this round.

Tilly draws her runesword, it glows with a blue aura as she rushes to Moon's aid, rolling d20 to hit = 9, she fails to land a blow on the ghoul.

Moon slashes with his sword, roll d20= 17, 20 with his bonuses, rolling d8 for damage =2, this time he has made sure the ghoul can do no more harm.

Moon turns to Tilly, "well, I wasn't expecting that, what in the name of the balance was the old priest keeping a ghoul in here for, there isn't anything worth protecting'.

'Maybe we just didn't spot it as we are in such dim light', Tilly scours the room, 'maybe we should look again'.

I ask the oracle if they find anything of use this time, roll d6 = 2, 'No'.

Moon shrugs his shoulders. 'There is nothing here Tilly, just junk and stuff for the temple, if there is anything of value, I can't see it, we need to move on'.

Tilly agrees and they leave the room.  As they do so the door locks itself, inside a ghoul stands up and moves to hide in the darkest corner.

They go to the second door, it is stiff to open but Moon manages to force it, he has been here before.

They enter a room with 4 cells, each cell has old iron bars as doors, although it is dark they can see the room and cells are empty, Moon leads them towards a portcullis which bars their progress.

Tilly takes a hold of the portcullis bars but they wont budge, "looks like we have gone as far as we can go Moon, what now?".

Moonwane moves to the wall on his left hand side, "I have been here many times, there is a lever right...".

As Moonwane pulls a lever in the wall, the portcullis rises, the two pass through into a long straight corridor, as they walk down the corridor a few rats dash past them but otherwise nothing, they pass through an opening at the end and are at a  path running alongside the open sewer.

Moonwane leads Tilly to the right, they quickly reach a bridge made by a few planks of wood over the sewer water.

Moonwane tells Tilly to wait by the planks, there is an entrance to a tavern nearby, he knows it well, he will go and see if they can get out of the sewers that way, he will shout if it is safe to do so.

I ask the oracle if there are any signs of the thugs who are after Tilly in the tavern, roll d6 = 6, 'Yes and' (+1 intervention point,), thats the third intervention point, so I roll on the intervention table, roll d6 = 3, Entity Negative.

I roll d12 on Into the Sewers NPC table and roll a 12 resulting in Thugs. (roll 1d6 to see how many = 2)

Moonwane disappears down a little offshoot of the main sewer, Tilly waits by the little makeshift bridge, before long Tilly hears a splashing noise and Moonwane reappears holding a torch aloft, running as quickly as he can, followed fairly closely by two thugs.

Thugs -

HP 4 each

AC14

Attack +0 to hit, 1d8 damage (longswords)

Tilly rushes to Moons aid, drawing her runesword, she rushes the two thugs as they climb out of the water onto the patch

Tilly rolls d20 to hit = 5, she fails to strike a blow on either thug.  I ask the oracle if they can strike back as they are both getting out of the running water, roll d6 = 3 'No but'

The thugs cannot strike back at Tilly this combat turn but Moon cannot attack either, although he does draw his battle axe.

Tilly gets to attack first again, roll d20=3, her rune sword seems to be working against her.
Moonwane strikes next, roll d20 = 17 an easy hit doing 4 points of damage, just enough to put one thug out of action.

Tilly is spared any damage this round as the thug she attacked fails to land a blow on her.

Tilly tries to hit the thug a third time, again he fails rolling only 8 this time, lucky for her Moon fairs better, rolling 16, an easy hit again with his enchanted battle axe, causing 7+2 damages.  The second thug is brought down.

Moon searches the two thugs and finds 14sp on their persons, a small help towards theit passage to the south should they get out of the sewer alive.  He pushes the two bodies into the water and they start to float away from.

"Best we get out of this place quickly" Moon tells Tilly "that noise could bring us goodness knows what unwanted attention, we can't get out through the tavern, quick, over those planks to the other side, we need to find a different exit".

The two of them make it over to the other side of the sewer stream, Tilly pushes the planks into the water, it would not stop them being followed from that direction but it would slow anyone down.

They notice an open entrance into a passageway to their left, it is quite a short passage, the end of which they find a locked wooden door barring their way.  Tilly attempts to pick the lock, she needs to make an intelligence test with a +1 for having a lock pick, she rolls 3.  The lock is easily picked and the door opens.  

They continue walking down the corridor, a long u shaped corridor, this sees them double back on themselves, There is an opening to their left which they enter in the hope that it may lead to an exit, they find themselves in a room with a door on the furthest side from the way they entered.

I as the oracle if there is anything in the room, roll d6 = 6, 'Yes and' (also +1 intervention point)

I roll d 12 on the into the sewers 'features' table, rolling 8, sacrifice alter.

In the centre of the room there is an alter and it seems a sacrificial ritual has been performed recently down here.  The door behind the alter is locked.

Tilly tries to open it, rolls 20 on d20, she fails to pick the lock, this door has been made to stay shut.  They decide to leave the way they came in and continue down the corridor. This leads them to a third locked door.

Tilly tries her luck with this one, rolling 2 against her intelligence ability, she easily passes and the door is unlocked, it swings open leading to a straight corridor which seems lead to a dead end.  Tilly's rune sword begins to glow blue again.

"I think there must be something magical here Moon, thats got to be why the sword glows"

Moonwane agrees and they search for a secret door. 

 I give them a roll against Tillys Int ability again, with a bonus of +1 for her alertness skill and +2 because Moonwane is helping.  She rolls d20 = 16, they just spot a secret door.

I ask the oracle if they can open the door, roll d6 = 5 'Yes'

With some effort they both force the door open, ahead of them stairs lead up and out of the sewers, they decide to go up them, though they have no idea what awaits them at the top.

We will find out what happens in session three, the cultists.

If you missed Session 1, it can be read here

Solo 'Through Sunken Lands RPG', a Tilly and Moonwane adventure, session 1

Preamble.

Sometimes with my solo games I get stuck, the game just seems to either hit a dead end or I just cannot find the right path to take the players along, the whole adventure fizzles out.  This past week I have spent evenings trying to put together a game using Beyond the Wall RPG, Bay of Spirits campaign setting and Mythic GM emulator to guide the 5 characters I created for the Blood in the snow adventure.

Three times I started the game, each time I found myself instantly at a dead end, each time I did a little more planning, rolling on random tables for ideas, making new NPC's for inspiration, trying to push the game along in the hope it would work out, in the end it fizzled out.

I am not sure what the problem was, I had may favourite rules, a great campaign setting , five characters I really wanted to play again and whist I had never used Mythic, it is a tried and tested GM emulator, it seemed to be when I mixed them all together they didn't combine for me.  Possibly I was overthinking the games plot, possibly I was struggling using mythic, possibly running 5 characters myself was a little to much, I suspect the biggest issue was I had already built up illogical prejudices and barriers, deciding a while ago that the Bay of Sprits would work better with a different set of rules, deciding that I wanted to run a Beyond the Wall game the way the rules were written, that is to say, building the village and the surroundings from scratch.  The best thing for me to do was something different so for now I have put those books to one side, it was just a matter of still needing a game to play.

And then in front of me was the character sheet for Tilly, the thief from my Through Sunken Lands adventure and I though, lets see what happened to Tilly next, lets give her a new sidekick, Moonwane, a barbarian, no, a sellsword, no no, a cosmic champion, yeh, maybe Tilly has a greater purpose and she just doesn't know it yet and Moonwane, the cosmic champion, is there to help her find her true self, that'll do.

The two characters.

I have already created Tilly, her basic stats are here 

Tilly, a level 3 Rogue.
Base Attack Bonus 1,  Initiative 6
Strength 11, Dexterity 14, Constitution 9 Intelligence 13, Wisdom 12, Charisma 13.
Armour Class 13 (leather armour), Hit Points 18, Fortune Points 5
Skills - Trapping, Deceit, Alertness, Gossip, Stealth
Class Attributes, Fortune Favour, Highly Skilled
Trait - Gifted Climber
Weapons, 2 hand crossbows, dagger, rune sword
A local Aristocrat owes Tilly a big favour.

Moonwane, a level 2 Warrior (cosmic champion)

Using the Cosmic Champion playbook, I got the following for Moonwane.

He starts with a Strength and Wisdom at 10, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence and Charisma at 8.
Rolling for the various table in the playbook I get the following

From what land do you hail - roll d12 = 9, so 'you come from a city state proud of its arms, its wisdom and its lasting alliances.  +2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, +1 Charisma

where the city state is, and it may not be the sunken lands, is not indicated. 

How did you distinguish yourself as a child - roll d8 = 6, you never met someone who didn't like you. +2 Charisma, +1 Strength,

When you first entered the war between Law and Chaos, on which side did you fight. = roll 1d6 = 2, An alien and incomprehensible warband descended on your homeland.  Determined to save your home, you were unwittingly drawn into a larger conflict.  You strive for balance, that human world might survive the cosmic struggle. You are a champion of the balance.  +2 Strength, +1 Constitution.  Weapon specialization, Battle Axe.

This worked out well, Tilly is Neutral alignment, of the 6 possible outcomes only one is for the balance, (Neutral alignment), the one I rolled.

What brought you to the great city - roll d6 = 3, A priest aligned with you in the cosmic struggle summoned you here and now houses you in the temple.  +2 Intelligence, Skill Cosmic Law.

Besides the other characters, who is your most valued contact or friend in the great city - roll d8 = 6, you are often found in a seedy in near the temple and are friends with the proprietor.  +2 Charisma, +1 Constitution.

How were you most recently embroiled in the cosmic struggle - roll d6=3, you travelled to a distant island and slew an ancient and powerful sorceress. +2 Constitution.  Knack= Fleet.

normally the player (or character) to the right would get an ability bonus here, but as Tilly was rolled up in the last adventure, I ignore that.  Also Moonwane would normally get a bonus from Tilly when her caracter is generated, so that Moonwane does not miss out I roll 1 d6 = 5 so give him +1 to his Wisdom, (1 would = strenght, 6 would = Charisma).

What sign of the struggle do you bear -  roll d6= 2 an enchanted weapon of alien origin. +2 dexterity, a magical battle axe. (1d8damage, +1 to hit by day, +1 damage by night.  When the bearer of this weapon rolls hit die, they can choose to reroll and take the highest result).

Moonwane, a level 2 warrior and champion of the Balance.
Base Attack Bonus 2,  Initiative 3
Strength 15, Dexterity 10, Constitution 12 Intelligence 12, Wisdom 11, Charisma 13.
Armour Class 16 (Chain armour, breast plate), Hit Points 18, Fortune Points 3
Skills - Fleet
Class Attributes, Knack, Weapon Specialization (Battle Axe, +1 to hit, +2 damage)
Trait - Defender of the Balance
Weapons, dagger, sword, enchanted battle axe.
Owns - a token of the balance.

Money - non for now.

Toolkit for this adventure.

Through Sunken Lands and Other Adventures RPG
MUNE GM emulator (its simple and works for me, so for now I will stick with it)
UNE for NPC's
randomlists.com for when I need a random verb or three.

With the exception of having Tilly meet up with Moonwane, I have no idea where this adventure will takes me let just see what happens.

Let the adventure begin

Date - 22nd March

Time of Day - 7.22pm (already dusk)

Weather - windy, dry and a little cold for the time of year

I ask the oracle if we start the adventure in Jundarr, deciding that its likely I roll 2 d6 getting a 4 and a 6, I take the highest roll so that is a 'Yes and' as well as 1 intervention point straight away.

Tilly makes it back to Jundarr on foot, having decided to leave her horse and cart at the 'Tanners Wife Tavern'.  By the time she gets back to her old home, well, its not exactly hers but no one else wants it, its getting dark and there is a rather brutish looking welcoming committee standing watch by the front door. Tilly decides to try the back and see if there is anyone there, maybe she can climb in through the first floor window/

I ask the oracle if there is anyone guarding the rear, roll d6 = 6 'Yes and', a second intervention point, this early on.

I ask the oracle if the brute guarding the back spots Tilly, roll d6 = 3 'No but' 

I ask the oracle if anyone else is there, roll d6 = 2 'No'

I get two random words to see if I can work out what the guard is up to. Festive and Fish, interesting, I guess he is eating and supping ale.

There is just one guard at the back of the house, he has a flagon of ale and a bag of sprats with him, he is on his feet but seems a little drunk and very preoccupied with stuffing his face,

I decide Tilly will try to sneak past the guard and climb up the wall to the first floor window.

Tilly has a dex of  14 and stealth ability, she needs a roll of 16 or less on a d20 to get past the guard, she rolls 19.

As Tilly tries to sneak past the brute at the back, he turns to pick up another flagon of ale, as he does so the spot Tilly and attempts to reach out to stop her and call out for help.

Brute HD 1d8 (5hp)
AC 14
ATTACK +0 to hit, 1d8 damage (longsword)

xp20

I ask the oracle it he grabs Tilly, roll d6 = 4 'Yes but'

I ask the oracle if Tilly can strike him first, roll d6 = 5 'Yes'

The brute tries to grab Tilly, before he can Tilly attacks him with her rune sword, needing 14 or more to hit, she rolls 14 +1 bonus, a hit causing 1d8+2 damage, she rolls 7, killing the guard outright,

Tilly puts her sword away, takes out the ancient documents that she stole from the merchant to whome these guards belonged and stuffed them in the unfortunate brute mouth.

"they proved of no value to me, your master can have them back" she whispers in the dead mans ear, turning she heads off towards the docks of Jundarr.  

Tilly makes her way to the temple of the cosmic balance near the docks.

I ask the oracle if the temple is as it should be, roll d6 = 1 'No and'.

When Tilly gets there the temple is in total darkness and the doors are wide open.

Tilly looks cautiously inside, she realises something is amiss, the temple doors are always kept closed, there is always candles and incense burning, to enter you would need to have the doors opened for you by either the old priest or Moonwane the young warrior and one of her few close friends.

As she cautiously walks in to the temple, sword in hand, the doors mysteriously close behind her, spinning around she sees a figure emerge from the shadows.

"Tilly, its me, Moonwane".

I ask the oracle if Moonwane is alone, roll d6 = 6 'Yes and', thats a third intervention point.

Moonwane steps up to Tilly, he is alone and looks tired and hungry, Tilly asks him where the old priest is.

Moonwane tells her that the priest went to the southern lands, he told Moon to wait at the temple for Tilly, he expected her back 2 days ago, he has no money and not eaten in two days, the priest told him she would return with riches beyond imagination and that they should go to the southern land and find the priest, a ship sails in the morning, they can get a passage on that.

Tilly tells him of her failed adventure and that she has but 16 silvers to her name, not enough for a passage to the southern lands, suddenly there is loud banging on the doors, someone or thing is trying to break in.

"The merchants guild are after you Tilly, and the thieves guild are non to pleased with you, we need to go, NOW!"

He pulls Tilly along with him and heads to the temple alter, it moves to one side revealing some stairs, the pair rush down them and the alter closes over the stairs again, a dim light illuminates the way.

"This leads to the underground sewers, we are safe for now", Moonwane says leading the way, "we just need to work out how to get some money by the morning", 

Part 2 - a journey through the sewers of Jundarr.

Through Sunken Lands - a few thoughts and what next.

 My first Through Sunken Lands RPG adventure has come to a close, I thought it wasn't going to happen, just trying to find the time to fit the last part of the adventure, the mini dungeon crawl, in  proved difficult but today I stole some time and completed it.

Did I enjoy the game, yes I did, I really like the rules but I already knew that as they are the same as Beyond the Wall, for me the adventure worked, having a reason to head off adventuring, having an end point to get to, in this case the mini dungeon, certainly helped and the oracle threw up some interesting encounters along the way, including a side adventure which kept my interest going.  

I felt engaged with the four characters I had created and want to see them progress with further adventures.  I also enjoyed the part played by Tilly the thief, although she was an NPC, there was no reason she could not  have been my PC and the other four allies, that would have worked just as well, so maybe I will revisit Tilly at some point, I am curious to see how her relationship with Karloak develops, he is certainly more than just an old hermit, and I don't know why he keeps a watchful eye over Tilly.

The four characters, Alrik, Doranus, Marianne and Sana left heading to see if they could find Gedyel Moodlum, the warden at Karmble Hold having seen the ship that sails through land, that should lead to an interesting adventure itself and I feel Gedyel Moodlum has an important part to play in future games.  The whole thing seems to be moving in a very Michael Moorcock direction, which is not surprising really as I am a big fan of his books and loved Stormbring RPG, I still have the GW 3rd edition.

Sadly, the adventures did not find the treasure Tilly hoped to get, indeed we never found out what the treasure was.  Should I have allowed the characters to simply find the secret door that would have opened the way to the final showdown, it was an option but the characters failed to find the secret door and so be it, even in solo play there has to be a chance of failure.  Maybe Tilly will try again, maybe Karloak will offer more help, or maybe not.

So what's next?  For now I intend to leave Jundarr and the Sunken lands, I really want to go back to Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures, back to my first five Characters, Corvus, Hugo, Strawberrie, Rhian and Karina the Bard, after much debate with myself I came to the conclusion that they were still my best bet when it came to exploring the fantastic 'Bay of Spirits' by roan Studios, so my next adventure will be based around Winterton, those five characters and Beyond the Wall.  In addition, look out for a new world building series for my Chivalry and Sorcery 5e games, that will begin in my next post, also got a lot of minis to paint, so more details photos and some 'how I paint things; on those as well.

Finally, I think I will drop my Zanthum 2.2 and MUNE hybrid oracle for now, I have never used Mythic so I am going to try it out, if it works for me great, if not, back to the hybrid.

So there is lots going on in my solo chainmail and sword head, maybe no as much time to devote to it as I would like, but that's just the way life is.

Cheers!

Solo 'Through Sunken Lands' RPG, Part 7 - the final chapter of this adventure

The final journey.

Time 9am 

Date 16th March
Weather - Overcast.

It is around 9am by the time the party are ready to set off on their journey.  Tilly makes sure her horse and cart are secure at the High Mountain Inn, they are treated to a hearty breakfast by Cooragh and Martisha makes sure that they have enough provisions to see them through their journey.  
Tilly leads the party over the mountains, the journey is difficult and slow but eventually the begin the decent to the grasslands on the other side.  Thankfully for the adventures this part of the journey is very uneventful, as evening approaches Tilly leads them to a cluster of ruins from ages long past.  The ruins are deserted like most of the land around here and the party set up camp for the evening, taking it in turns to keep watch although non of the group are able to get much sleep.

Time very early

Date 17th March
Weather - Very overcast.

Its early in the morning when the group of adventures prepare for the last leg of their journey, I ask the oracle if everything is as it should be, roll d20=13, d6=1, so a straight 'Yes'.

GM - Tilly tells the group that they are nearly at the place she believes the treasure she is seeking will be found.  There is a further two to three hours walk.  She explains that somewhere at the location she is heading to there is some kind of subterranean passage into which they need to go.
As Tilly leads you further east, the land becomes inhospitable, nothing seems to live in this remote part, you pass forests of dead trees, grass is brown and decaying and streams full of foul putrid water. 

I roll d6 to see if there is an encounter (1 in 6 chance) roll =3 

Your walk for 3 hours, although the journey is extremely unpleasant, you encounter nothing.  Eventually you come to a place with three barren hills, each just black bare stone.  Tilly stops and tells you that somewhere in the middle hill there should be a secret entrance to the underground cavern.  

Question to oracle, do we find the entrance, roll of d20=12, roll on d6=6, so a 'Yes' and +1 intervention point (now 2 intervention points)

GM - as you approach the hills, Tilly's rune sword suddenly begins to glow, surrounded with an aura of electric blue light and a doorway begins to appear in the front of the middle mountain.  Tilly holds up the sword and the entrance to the cavern becomes more solid.

ALRIK - is the entrance open?.

ask the oracle the question, roll on d20 = 3, d6 =1, so a straight 'No'

GM - no the entrance has a door barring its way.

DORANICUS - can we open the door?

ask question to the oracle, roll on d20 = 2, d 6 = 4, so a 'No (in order to')

GM - the door cannot be opened, in order to open it you seem to need a code word or a key of some kind. the door remains firmly shut.

MARIANNE - I will ask Tilly if she can use the rune sword to open the cave door.

ask the question to the oracle, roll on d20 = 10, d6 =4, so its 'No (apparently). 

GM - whilst the rune sword has something to do with the way in, it is not a key to open the entrance.

SANA - we have come this far, we cannot give up now, is there any lettering around the door.

roll on oracle d20 = 8, d6 = 5, so 'No (but).

GM - no, nothing that you can make out but there are ancient runes and symbols carved into the shimmering stone near the door.

ALRIK - I can read the ancient language, can I make out any words.

DORANICUS - so can Tilly and I, we can help.

I roll against Alriks Intelligence, with the help of Doranicus and Tilly he needs 17 or less to work out the letters, he rolls 16 of d20, so just makes it.

GM - You are able to work out that what you are reading is indeed from the ancient eldrich language but what you read makes little sense to you, it speaks vaguely of vanishing and another world.  Tilly gets out the old documents from which she discovered the caverns location in the hope it may help.

SANA - does it?

roll on oracle d20=17, d6 = 6, so 'Yes and another +1 intervention point, making 3 intervention points.

roll d6 on MUNE intervention table = 2, so we get an 'entity positive'.

Suddenly Alrik understands, he is able to work out from Tilly's ancient documents how to get into the cavern system.

ALRIK - the  symbols, they speak to me, if I can speak them correctly, I think the door will open for us.

roll against Alriks intelligence on d20 = 8 so.

GM - Alrik seems to go into a bit of a trance and utters words in an ancient long forgotten tongue, the door barring your way, shimmers even more brightly and opens up before you, allowing you all to step inside into a short corridor. Once you are all inside the entrance closes fast and you are plunged into complete darkness.

MARIANNE - do we still have the torches from the High Mountain Inn, if so we can light them to see our way.

Roll on oracle d20= 20, d6 =6, so 'Yes' and +1 intervention point (1 intervention point).

GM - yes, you still have the two torches and are able to light them, they give out just enough light to illuminate your way.  You are walking down a 10' wide corridor, it is about 60' long and carved, roughly, out of black granite.  

ALRIK - I will take on of the torches and draw my Eldrich Sword, I will take the lead with Tilly if she will walk next to me.

GM - Indeed, Tilly draws he Runesword and walks next to you.

SANA - I will walk just behind them, my spear at the ready, if need be I will us it to back them both up, I am sure it is long enough to do that.

DORANUS - I will draw my short sword and if Marianne will take the other torch we can both be rear guards.

MARIANNE- for sure, I will hold the torch in one hand and my dagger in the other and keep a lookout behind as best I can.

GM - you walk down the corridor for about 60' then it opens up into a large uneven cavern some 150'wide, 90'deep (location 1 on map).  Tilly suddenly disappears into the recesses of the crudely hewn cavern walls   

ALRIK - I will move cautiously forward, can I spot anything untoward in the cavern.

SANA -  I will move up beside Alrik, ready with my spear should there be an attack.

roll on oracle d20 =8, d6 = 2, so ;No(but)'. 

GM - you hear a 'fizz; then a faint grunt, closely followed by Tillys rune sword glowing blue as she wields it through the air and hits a vile looking humanoid creature, smiting it to the ground.  You just notice in time a group of 5 foul creatures running from the shadows towards you.

5 Chaos Children (lower)

Hit Dice 1d6 (4hp)
AC 12

Attack  +0 to hit, 1d6 damage (club)

Alignment Chaotic

XP 15

GM - Tilly rushes towards the 5 Chaos Children, lashing out at the nearest to her, her runesword still glowing electric blue in the dim light, rolling d20 = 6, she misses the Chaos creature, it rolls 11 to hit, not enough to touch Tilly.

MARIANNE - I will run ito the fray too, attacking one of the Chaos Children with my dagger, roll d20 = 6, I miss to.

SANA - I follow Marianne, using my spear to attack a Chaos Child, I roll d20 = 9, I have +4 to hit with my spear so that makes 13, a hit, roll d6 +2 for damage, I get a 3 +2 =5, one chaos creature down.

ALRIK - me likewise, I only roll 5 on d20 so a miss with my eldrich blade.

DORANUS - I attack one with my short sword, roll d20 = 2, terrible roll.

GM - They strike back, one hits Marianne for 4 hits, Sana is unhurt, Alrik is hit for 6 hits and Doranus hit for 3.
Tilly rolls 3 on d 20 missing again, her adversary also misses.

MARIANNE - I roll 16, a hit, roll for damage with dagger d4 =4, I fell my adversary, thankfully.

SANA - can I help Doranus?

roll on oracle d20=14, d6 =5 so 'Yes(if)'.

GM - if you use your spear, yes.

SANA -  I roll 13 +4 bonus = 17, a hit, d6 =5 for damage, another one hits the cavern floor.

DORANUS - Thanks Sana.

ALRIK - I roll 15 to hit this time, my eldrich sword does, roll d8, 6 points of damage, just the one Tilly is struggling to hit left.

GM - This time Tilly makes no mistakes and hit the last Chaos Child, it falls to the floor.

ALRIK - that was a little tougher than I would like, we will regroup, Tilly and I can lead the way, Sana behind us again, Doranus and Marianne last.

GM -  you are a little bruised from that action but all of you are able to carry on, there is another corridor leading further in to the cavern complex, it twists and turns but before long you enter a second cavern (location 2 on map).

I decide to ask the oracle if the room is empty. roll d20=12, d6=5, so a 'Yes(While).

GM - The room is empty, in the dim light of your two torches you spot the exit on the far wall, you will need to cross the room to get further in to the cavern system.

I decide it would be reasonable for the characters to cautiously cross the room, which they do, keeping close together, Tilly and Alrik leading, Sana just behind, spear in hand and Doranus along with Marianne last.

GM - while crossing the room, a stone object, shaped like a pyramid rises out of the ground, whilst an the same time a circle of flame surrounds you and the pyramid, the circle keeps slowly getting smaller, forcing you towards the centre of the room and the pyramid.

DORANUS - is there any way through the circle of fire, 

roll on oracle d20=3, d6=6 so a straight 'No' and another intervention point (now 2 intervention points),

ALRIK - I will head towards the pyramid rising out of the ground, it must have something to do with the circle of fire.

GM - the circle of flames gives you no choice but to move quickly towards the pyramid.  you can see that it is covered in ancient runes, Tilly tries to read them.

DORANUS - I will try to help her, that should give her a +2 to her Int.

GM - it does and Tilly rolls 10, so she is able to read the runes with Doranus' help.  She reads the following riddle

What breaths, consumes and grows but was and never will be alive.

You will need to roll against Int to see if you work it out before the flames engulf you all.

DORANUS - I have the highest Int, 18, so I roll d20 = 3, I easily work out that the answer to the riddle is 'Fire'.

GM - as you speak the word fire, the circle of flame vanishes and the pyramid, slowly sinks back into the ground.  Tilly says that she is certain from what she read in her stolen ancient documents, that tis is the place, she says that the runes told of passing a test of fire and just beyond lies riches untold.

SANA - we should quickly move on.

MARIANNE -  I will load my crossbow, I have a feeling I may need to be ready for a surprise attack.

I ask the oracle if the next room is empty, roll d 20 =13, d6=4, so a 'Yes(but)'.

GM - you walk down a winding corridor into the next rook, this one has been neatly and perfectly carved into a triangular shape, it certainly looks like the work of someone or some thing, the walls are black but very shiny, they almost seem polished.  The room though is completely empty but for some coins on the floor at the point of the triangle.

Tillys sword is glowing electric blue again.

ALRIK - is there another exit from the room.

GM - no, the only way out is the way you came in.  

MARIANNE - I am goint to see what the coins are.

GM - you find 20 coppers there and the remnants of a pouch, it looks like they have been dropped.  Tilly is upset, she thinks someone has found their way here already and the treasure she expected has been taken, she now believes the journey has been for nothing and that they may as well go back to the impossible city.

DORANUS - we can do a search to see if we can find a hidden exit, again I roll against my Int, d20 = 19, fail.

GM - if there was another way out you do not find it, it does indeed seem as if you have all travelled 5 days for 20 coppers.

I ask the oracle if they find anything else in the room, roll d20 =7, d6 =2, so 'No(if)

if there was anything else here Tilly is sure it is now long gone.

Actually, there is a secret door in this room, had they found it they would have been led to

Nebroz, Lesser Demon of Chaos

Nebroz, Lesser Demon of Chaos

Lesser Spirit.

Hit Dice 5d8 (23 hp)
AC 17
Attack  +5 to hit, 1d6 damage (claw or shove)
Alignment  Chaos
XP  480
Notes:  Although Nebroz can take any form, he choses to appear as a large, grotesque large purple humanoid with three odd shaped eyes, large drooping mouth, sharp teeth and many horns at the top of his head.

As a Demon of Chaos, any ordinary creature not prepared to see a demon must immediatly make a saving throw versus polymorph or be stunned for 1d4 rounds.

Any cantrip or ritual cast in his presence has a +3 bonus to succeed, any spell or other magical ability which causes or heals damage will do an additional 1d4 points of damage or healing when cast in his presence.

Demonic Powers, Furious Attack, can attack twice each combat round.  Immunity, can only be harmed by magical or eldritch weapons.

and to have defeated him would have given them a greater prize, I could for sure have just had them find the secret door but that seemed like cheating, so my band of adventures come away with nothing but a few coppers each.

Maybe Tilly will return one day but for now they return to the High Mountain Inn, Tilly get her horse and cart and decided to return to Jundarr, the part decide to go back with her but on their way they spot a strange oared galley ship moving through land.  The party decided to head to Karmble Hold and seek out Gedyel Moodlum and do part ways with Tilly the thief.

From a distance an old hermit watches them depart.

Solo 'Through Sunken Lands' RPG, Part 6 - The High Mountain Inn

Karloak the hermits cottage

The wayside inn in the mountains.

Time 7am 

Date 15th March
Weather - Overcast and raining.

The 4 PC's and Tilly the rogue are fully rested, clean and ready to continue after spending two days at Karloak;s cottage.  They are all a little puzzled by Karloaks strange appearance's and equally strange disappearances.  They came upon Gedyel Moodlum, warden of Karmble Hold who told them the rumour of the ship that sailed on land and when asked about Karloak seemed to hesitate before answering that he new nothing of the old hermit.  The storm that forced them to spend two nights ant the cottage has now subsided but it is still raining.   Tillys mood seems worse than the weather.

GM - Tilly is in a foul mood, she is upset by Kaloaks disappearance and the fact that its taken four days to get just two days into the journey, there being still a further two to three days before they reach their destination.  She takes the party eastwards over meadow land towards Eastward towards a large forested area.  At the forest, Tilly picks up a narrow trail which she follows for about 2 miles into the forest before turning off the trail and picking a way through the forest for a further 4 miles, the going is slow but, thankfully perhaps, uneventful.  The weather is overcast, cool and, as the forest thins and gives way to a low mountain region, the rain comes.  Tilly picks up another track through the mountains, she says she knows a wayside in nearby and she feels sure that they are far enough away from Jundarr not get unwanted attention.  As evening approaches you make it to the inn, the aptly names 'High Mountain Inn'.

This was about a 12 miles journey, I made dice rolls for both random encounters and unwanted attention from the Jundarr Merchants men, it was only towards the end of the days travel that an encounter in the mountains occurred, I rolled on a table to find out what this encounter was and got 'Inn', that seemed very appropriate as it was the end of the day.

I ask the oracle if everything was as it should be at the 'High Mountain Inn'. roll d20 = 10, d6 = 3, so we get 'No (apparently)'.

GM - The inn seems unusually quiet even for a wayside inn high in the mountains, you have settled yourselves down at your table to enjoy the meal provided by the Inn.  The meal is unusually bland for one provided by the High Mountain Inn.
As you wash down your food with ale from the bar, Martisha Vinetalker, the inns owner, appears from the kitchen and makes her way to your table.

She asks how your meals was but before you can answer she pulls over a chair and sits down,  She says she has a problem and hopes you may be able to help her with it.

Martisha tells you that her cook, Cooragh has run out of her favourite herbs and thats why the food is so bland.  She gets the herbs from a grove in the woods nearby, apparently on her last trip she found a group of unsavoury types had taken up residence there and prevented her from getting the herbs she needed.  She is happy for you to speak to Cooragh for more information and would then like you to deal with the problem.  She is desperate to get Cooraghs the herbs as the poor quality of the food is already losing Marisha customers. 

To your surprise, Tilly bangs her fist on the table and tells Martisha that you would be happy to sort the problem out, with that you all trot into the kitchen to speak to Cooragh.

MARIANNE - we should ask Cooragh if she knows what or who has taken over the grove/

I ask the oracle if Cooragh can tell us who the unsavoury types are that stopped her from collection the herbs, roll d20 = 19, d6 = 5, so ;Yes(and).

GM - Cooragh tells you she saw strange evil looking chaos creatures, with grim faces, warty leathery skin and several horns growing from their heads and she had never seen anything so frightning, not even in these parts of the mountains.

SANA - can Cooragh tell us how many of these chaos beasts she saw?

I roll on the oracle, d20 = 19, d6=2, so 'Yes(and)'

GM - Cooragh says she counted up to 10 and then she saw a huge one who she guessed was the leader/

DORANUS - Is Cooragh able to give us directions to the grove?

I roll on the oracle, d20 = 17, d6=5, so a 'Yes(so long as)'

GM- Cooragh says they should head north up the mountain for about a mile where they will come to the edge of a wood, they should easily be ablt to find a small mountain stream there and they should follow that for a further mile, that will lead them directly to the grove.

ALRIK - can Cooragh tell us or show us what the herbs look like, if we can we will bring some back for her.

Roll on oracle d20= 4, d6 = 5, so 'No(unless)'

GM - Cooragh says it is difficult to describe the herbs she needs, unless.  She goes to a cupboard and gets out a small box, she opens it up and inside is a small dried plant, she takes it out and gives it to Alrik, she tells him that this a dried piece of the herb, it should help them identify it, it will usually be found ay the edge of the grove.

ALRIK - I will take the dried herb and the box from Cooragh and as we leave on our quest I will put in my bag, hopefully we can find some for her. 

GM - As you make ready to leave, Martisha tells you that there is probably no more than two hours of day light left, she hands you a couple of torches and a tinder box, saying you may need these to get back but if you follow the stream all should be well.  

MARIANNE - do any of us have any idea what these chaos creatures are.

Roll on oracle, d20 =1, d6=1, a straight 'No'

SANA - do we make it the grove before dusk.

Roll on oracle, d20 = 15, d6 = 2, so 'Yes(in order to). 

GM - you head north, find the edge of the woods and pick up the stream, In order to find out how much time is left before dusk I roll 1d6 and multiply 10 to find out how many minutes of daylight are left.

roll on d6 = 5 so 50 minutes of daylight left.

You notice the grove in the near distance, there is still 50 minutes of daylight left but you will have to be quick to see off the Chaos creatures, find the herbs and get back to the inn, its unlikely it will still be light when you make it back.

ALRIK - can we sneak up on the creatures in the grove.

GM -  you can try, Doranus has the lowest Dex score, so you need to roll 10 or less to succeed.  As Marianne, Sama and Tilly all have the stealth skill, I will allow you +2, so roll 12 or less/

DORANUS - I roll d20 and get 4, so we easily sneak up on them.

GM - you sneak up on 10 Lawtes plus their leader.  They have build 3 rudimentary shacks in the grove and are currently all sitting around a fire in the middle of the grove, eating something that smells at best like its gone off. 

Hit Dice: 1d6 (4HP)
AC: 12
Attack: +0, Weapon and breath

Alignment: Chaotic

XP 15

Leader.

Hit Dice 2d6 (2HP)

AC14

Attack +1 weapon and breath (the leader will be armed with a battle axe. 1d8 damage)

XP 20

Notes:  Breath, the breath of the Lawtes is poisonous, anyone within 5 feet of a Lawte must make a save vrs Poison or suffer 1d4 hits.

For each Lawte, roll 1 d6 to see which weapon it uses.
1-3, spear 1d6 damage

4, Hand Axe 1d4 damage

5, Bow and 20 arrows, 1d6 damage

6 Battle Axe 1d8 damage.

note here, if the Lawtes leader is killed or 50% of the Lawtes are killed, there will be a chance the rest will run away. 

Tilly fires both her hand crossbows at the nearest (Lawte 1), she rolls 15 for one crossbow, 5 for the other, so inflicts 1d4 roll = 3hits.

MARIANNE - I will fire my crossbow at the next neares, roll to hit = 17, damage roll 4, thats a hit and a kill.

SANA - there is not much I can do this round I will just stay hidden and see what happens, I keep my eye on the big brute of a Lawte.

DORANUS - I touch Alriks shoulder and wisper 'aim true', I cast my blessing spell on him, that will give him +2 to hit with his bow.

ALRIK - I will aim at a different Lawte, roll to hit with my Eldrich Bow, 10, +2 as its my specialist weapon and +2 bonus for Doranus' cantrip = 14 a hit, roll d8 = 6 damage, another one hits the ground.

GM - with 2 of their own dead, the Lawtes jump up and look around to see where the attack is coming from.

I ask the oracle if they are able to notice the direction the shots were fired, roll d20 = 3, d6=2, so 'No(surprisingly)

GM - the Lowtes seem to be surprisingly unsure where you are attack from, you notice two of them load arrows into their bow strings but don't loose them.

Tilly has loaded her hads crossbows again and fires them at the same Lawte but rolls of 3 and 7 mean she misses with both.

MARIANNE - I will aim one more arrow at the wounded Lawte, see if I can finish him,  roll d20 =17, d6 =5 so a hit and it takes a further 5 hits, a third one is dead.

SANA - I ready my spear, if they work out where we are I will charge that big one, he must be the leader.

DORANUS - things are in our favour it seems, I will slowly draw my short sword, ready for any hand to hand combat.

ALRIK - I will aim for another one of them, roll to hit d20 +2 = 17 so a hit, d8 = 8 damage, a fourth is down.

I ask the oracle if  the Lawtes work out the direction of the attack and get d20=20, d6=2, so 'Yes(on the contrary).

GM - With four now down, the Lawtes seem to get themselves organised, you notice the leader pointing in your direction, they all draw weapons, two fire bows in your direction but to no affect the rest beging to advance towards you

Before anyone can stop her, Tilly draws Karloaks runesword which seems to get a blueish aura around it and jumps into the grove, striking out at the nearest Lawte, roll d20 = 13 +1, 14 a hit, d8= 7 +2, so 9 damage, a fifth one down.
Tilly rolls saving roll for poison, d20=20 so she passes.

MARIANNE - I will be little use with my dagger, so I will get another shot off with my crossbow, roll to hit 12 +1 = 13 a hit, damage 3, the one left with the bow takes 3 hits.

SANA - I charge the leader, poison saving roll 19, poisonous breath has no effect, roll to hit with my spear is 15, a hit, I do d6 = 5 points of damage.

ALRIK - I will try one more arrow, roll d 20= 5 a miss.

DORANUS - I charge another one, roll to hit 13, a hit, damage d6=5, a kill, a sixth down

GM - the leader strikes back at Sana, roll d20 =6, but he fails to inflict any damage.

With 6 Lawtes down I use Zathrum 2.2 to see if they stay fighting or flee.  I roll d20 on the probability table and get a 10, thats a 50/50 chance, so over 50 on d 100 they flee, 1 roll 93, the Lawtes don't hang around, the last 5 begin to run into the forest.
I ask the oracle  if Marianne and Alrik can get one final shot at them, roll d20 =17, d6 =6, so 'Yes' and +1 intervention  point 

MARIANNE - As they make a run for it I fire at their leader, roll d 20 = 9, I miss.

ALRIK - I do likewise, roll = 12 +2 so I hit for 5 points of damage, the leader is done for, that should see them off for good.

The fight is over, it proved a little one sided, they look for the herbs cooragh needs, an intelligence roll against Doranus is a 4 so they easily find the herb just as darkness begins to desend.  Before they go, the party set fire to the Lawtes shacks and burn the bodies of the dead ones.
They follow the river to the edge of the woods and with the light of their two torches for help, find their way back to the inn.

GM - the fight is over, no one injured, herbs found, mission complete.  Cooragh is made up that you have cleared the grove of the chaos creatures, Martisha too, indeed she puts you up for free for the evening and a free meal is thrown in as well.  In the morning before you depart, Martisha gives you 100 silvers as a reward, Till shares them out, 20 silvers each, she arranges to leave the horse and cart here at the inn, the going will be too difficult  to take the cart, the next leg of the journey will have to be on foot.

Next - Part 7, the last leg.