The players began in Ofsgoll (depicted below), the northernmost town in the kingdom of Sundria, which sits right on the edge of a vast tract of wilderness called the Wyldenlands ("Nerg Wehfdelank" in the native tongue). The Wyldenlands are known to be a den of monsters, dark magicks and ancient ruins, and as such Sundria and neighboring kingdom Alandia have constructed numerous border towns to monitor the spread of evil (another such town, Asjergoll, lies a few days to the west of Ofsgoll).
Ofsgoll, where Sundria borders the Wyldenlands
The players, as is custom, headed for the town's only inn, the Painted Dragon, so called for the large painting of a multicolored dragon that dominates one of its walls. Here, amidst candlesmoke and blueberry wine, the players found Nicolas, a fellow of some ill report, who is known for leading adventurers to reported ruins in the surrounding countryside (usually to no good end). He beckoned the players over, and they decided to give him some attention.
On the table before him sat a large object under a burlap sheet, and he questioned the party if they were curious as to what it was. Obliging him, they said they were. With an awkward flourish, he drew back the sheet, reviewing the horrible skull of a fish man. This, he claimed, he found near some ruins along the river Yspyr to the west. And, in case the fish head weren't enough, he tossed a round object onto the table, where it landed with a heavy sound: a piece of dark elf gold. This had the players intrigued, and they agreed to set off with Nicolas into the wilds the following morning. First, though, they asked Nicolas if he knew of any hired help, and he said he could lend them two of his bodyguards.
They returned to the tavern that evening to find a massive barbarian from South Gilderland, Hrothgar, and his swordbearer, Reynold. Hrothgar agreed to adventure with them for a 20% share of treasure (15 percent going to him, 5 to Reynold), to which the players agreed (this on top of the 10% they were paying to Nicolas as a finders fee). With terms ironed out, the party set out the following morning.
The trip was uneventful, Hrothgar and Borean (the party's fighter) rowing briskly up the river. Though they anticipated it, no fish men were seen during the journey.
Eventually they came to a stone bridge which crossed the river, hills rising on both sides. From their boat they could see the roof of the moon elven temple reported to lay in the valley, but they decided to explore the temple later and focus on the dungeon for now, the entrance to which lay beneath the bridge on the east side. The entrance to the dungeon was a heavy iron grate, which lay partially open. After prodding it with a branch from a nearby tree, Borean determined it to be safe and the party entered.
Silver River Ruins, Level 1 (Rooms 1 - 12)
The entry room (marked 1 on the map) was of white marble veined with blue, and the wall was ringed with a dark elf script near the floor. There was a clearly visible trapdoor exactly in the middle of the room, but the players couldn't find any means to open it so they left it alone, and after taking a quick peek down the hallway proceeded into room 2. This room was the inverse of room 1: a room of black marble with white dark elf script. The party's torches almost seemed diminished in this room, but a careful search revealed another trapdoor that they also couldn't open. Deciding to leave the trapdoors for later, they proceeded to room 3.
This room, likely ceremonial, had stone outcroppings on the northern and eastern walls, and dressing screens in the northeast and southeast corner. The party split up to investigate. The outcroppings both had bronze saucers on them, filled with murky water, and a few overturned saucers lay at the foot of the northern outrcropping. The only other thing of note to be found was the frame of a mirror behind one of the dressing screens.
Ignoring this, the party attempted the door to the east, which was of banded wood and locked. The thief failed to pick it, so the party decided to leave it be for now, and headed down the hallway to room 5. Here they found a large pool with giant frogs lazing in it. To the south was a stone door with no visible means of opening flanked by two statues. Each statue held a saucer in an outstretched hand, and one statue covered its eyes while the other covered its heart. In the saucer of the statue covering its heart was a bit of dried blood, and Borean decided to add some blood of his own to it. This elicited the turning of some mechanism in the wall, but as the players couldn't decide what to place in the other basin they decided to leave the room alone.
Room 7 was infested with roots, from one of which hung a fish man. A table beneath the fish man was covered with scattered playing cards, which Borean inspected, while Lithe the magic-user prodded the fish man. This revealed a stitched wound on his stomach, and when cut open his innards fell out onto the table, and the thud of metal was heard: a key (the players did not think to investigate the thick roots covering the southern wall, which concealed a stone door).
The party moved onward to room 11, where they found more locked doors with no visible means of opening. The statue in the middle of the room was of an elven woman with a moon on her back, gesturing to the west with one hand and holding the moon with the other. The party quickly discovered not only, 1. that the statute moved, but, 2. that there was a secret door to the north, and once two and two were put together they decided to turn the statue to the north. However, as it wasn't often turned this way, the mechanism jarred and made a horrible noise, drawing some fish men from another chamber. However, they couldn't get through the western door (which was now locked as the statue wasn't pointing at it), so the fish men camped outside the door while the PCs investigated the secret chamber.
Within was a statue holding a stone moon in outstretched arms. A groove ran around the moon, and the players pried it open to find a black glass sphere inside. Then, they found a matching groove on the statue in room 11, and with their combined strength they pried this one open as well. This moon was also hollow, and had an opening at the bottom clearly the same size as the sphere. Thus the sphere was inserted, and a secret compartment on the breast of the statue popped open revealing a silver dagger, a set of masterfully crafted panpipes (worth 450gp) and four silver vials (two of which contained liquid).
Now that the treasure was counted, the players had to decide what to do with the fish men. Rather than risking the mechanism jarring again, they decided to turn the statue to the west, opening the door. The ensuing combat went rather well, despite the fish men winning initiative every round. Only Hrothgar perished (Borean and Lithe were merely wounded), and the players got some gratuitously gory shots in: arrows to the eye, decapitations, the like.
Finally, with treasure in hand, and monsters slain, the party decided to return to town.
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All in all, it was an excellent first session, and it's always fun to see players that are new to old school D&D get into the rhythm of the dungeon crawl. I know these write-ups are probably not really entertaining to anyone outside of my party, but I thought I ought to do one anyway. I'll get back to some more useful posts here soon.
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