'Neath a Crimson Throne, Session XII

May 10th, 2022/Worms 10th, 749

•Beowulf, level 3 fighter, played by J

•Deckard, level 1 specialist, played by M

•Pendor, level 3 fighter, played by R

Their entourage:

•Hildaburga, level 1 fighter

•Joan, level 3 cleric, demoted to NPC

Pendor the Fighter found himself lost and alone on the Plane of Infinite Snakes, a dimension consisting entirely of snakes. Fortunately, it was winter on the Plane of Infinite Snakes, so the serpents were all asleep.

He wandered aimlessly until he found a dead human body. Searching the body, he found a potion of water-breathing and a train ticket. When he picked it up, a laser-beam shot out from it, and following this beam led him to a train station. After a minute, a giant snake-train arrived on the snake-rails. He stepped into the train's gooey interior and was enveloped in darkness. When the darkness lifted, he was in the basement of Castle Fenn with his companions.

They all went up a spiral staircase, which opened onto another basement area one sublevel up. There, Azaria used her spear to trigger a pressure plate concealed in front of a treasure chest. This caused bars to rise from the floor and would have trapped anyone who had been standing in front of the chest. But, there was no-one standing close enough to be trapped. Beowulf smashed the bars and Azaria slipped by to pillage sixty silver pieces worth of coinage and gems from the chest.

At that moment, six orc warriors burst into the room! The party fought and killed them, then moved out into the hallway whence came the orcs.

The hallway connected several rooms as well as stairs leading upward. Peeking into one room, the party saw a geyser within a circle of runes. They decided not to go in there, but Azaria noted it for later. In another room, they encountered a band of four Blue Men, tattooed warriors from the northern kingdom of Albrisivi. They were looting a storage area. Although the Blue Men did not attack immediately, Deckard started a fight with them anyway as he was prejudiced against their kind.

During the ensuing clash, Beowulf stepped into the storage room and was overwhelmed by the smell of cheese. This triggered the dark gift granted to him several days earlier by Muungifu, and he transformed into a wererat. Once all the Blue Men were dead, Rat-Beowulf gorged himself on the cheese he found in the storage room.

Then, the whole building shook. A wave of water splashed down the stairs into the hallway. Fearing that the castle was about to come down, the party ran upstairs to find Laura and her guard. On the way, they came across yet another group of orcs.

There were four orcs this time. Two looked like normal soldiers, but one was a grandly-armored warrior wielding a flaming greatsword. He was clearly Mucous Membrane, leader of the orcish army. The fourth orc was dressed as a nobleman and introduced himself as Desolator, formerly known as Elflord Celendril.

While the castle shook and crumbled around them, the heroes fought these orcs. Deckard decided to try out the wand he had pulled off the body of the orc-mage in the library, and it turned out to be a Wand of Magic Missiles. Desolator and the soldiers went down easily, but it soon became clear that Mucous Membrane was more than a match for any of the heroes. But, Pendor managed to make him read Talon's cursed spellbook, and thereby magicked him away.

The heroes rendezvoused with Laura and the surviving shieldmaidens. When they exited the keep and entered the castle courtyard, they found the ground was covered in lake-water and the towers had all been toppled. A huge fish – the Old God Big Mouth – leaped overhead. Big Mouth was seventy feet long and had been hurling himself into the castle's fortifications. Pendor inferred that the orcs must have destroyed his heart in the high tower.

Those orcs who still lived were fleeing over the bridge, but Big Mouth slammed down upon it, dragging them into a watery grave. Then, he leaped on top of the keep at the island's center, crushing it utterly. With his last gasping breaths, Big Mouth groaned that he had finally exacted his revenge on the mortals who had violated his lake.

Beowulf, who by now had reverted to human form, carved off a piece of fish-flesh. It turned out, he liked being a wererat, and wanted to see if eating the meat of a fish god would give him any new animal powers.

The party found a boat docked on the island's shore and rowed across the lake to Count Fenheah's camp. There, the count rewarded them with a chest full of gold and offered to make them members of his court as he rebuilt County Fenn. The party discussed the matter at length, and then agreed.

There was one more matter to settle: the old man who had challenged Beowulf to a duel emerged from the count's camp. The two of them had a sword-fight on the shore of Lake Fenn. The elder was a surprisingly formidable opponent, but Beowulf prevailed.