Chapter One is available here.
In short, our heroes have ascended the Slate tower; battling pig harpies and ape men all the way up. Yet they have scarcely ascertained the true nature of the tower, nor met any other friendly creature present. Now they are faced with a potential new ally - and the powers of the dark-pool room are still to be revealed…
Slate and Chalcedony is a module written by Daniel Sell and illustrated by Andrew Walter, both of the Melsonian Arts Council. It’s available here. Trust me; it’s quite a ride!
NEST OF THE WALL
Above you is a strange sight… a woman seemingly falling in reverse gravity; her back pressed against a ledge above the door, her hair blasted upwards continually - as if by an unseen wind. She snores.
This sleeping woman is Nest of the Wall, a mage cursed by the Slate wizard to constantly be in freefall, balanced on the underside of a staircase. Guilliam tentatively poked her foot, sheathed in a colourful knitted stocking.
Meanwhile, back in the dark-pool room (S6) Lance decided to poke the liquid’s surface with his sword, bringing up a single drop of the liquid to examine.
The sword makes contact with the surface, the black ripples sluggish and lazy in response. Most of the liquid slinks off, but a solitary drop remains; vacuous in its total darkness - like the single pupil to an unblinking eye.
The “ape” pointed at Perry, and then to the liquid. Perry squinted, white voids once again consuming his eyes as he peered into the arcanum…
Perry, looking at the liquid using Second Sight is jarring. Whereas in normal, mundane, vision you it is an impenetrable void, in Second Sight it glows and melds with impossible colours. You see a billion billion shapes and glimpses of times that Shall Be and times that Shall Never Be. Time folds in on itself as a knife-edge, a cyclical knife-edge…
The ape grins a despicable yellow smirk as Perry’s mind is wrenched open by myriad visions below.
Dizzied by the mash of colours, Perry was almost sent plummeting over the railing and into the depths; and yet, by a twist of fate, he steadied himself.
Back outside, Nest awakened.
“Heeeeeeeelp meeeeeeeeee” she mouths breathlessly, her voice scarcely a husk.
Guilliam tried to pull her down, to no avail. He inquired what supernatural force held her there.
“Theeee.... Sssssssshpellll… Thhheee SSSSSHPELLLL!! Ffffrom tthhhhee Wiiizarrd.” Her voice is worn, as rasping sandpaper a great distance away. She looks tired. She wriggles in the air, her body contorting into uncomfortable shapes as it continues to float; stuck to the ceiling…
As he asked what the spell was, the “ape captive” emerged from the door. Nest reacted immediately, a faint glow emanating from her pupils.
“FOOOOOOULLL CREAAAATUREEEEE!!! BAAACKK!!! GET BAAAAACKK!!” The hoarse voice rasps as she desperately tries to back away; coming dangerously close to the edge of the stair-ceiling she is currently below. A warm, reddish light begins to dance and spiral round her little finger.
Lance assured her all was well, and that the “ape” was their captive. Nest was not convinced, and warned them not to be fooled. Guilliam asked if the creature worked for the wizard…
The beady eyes squint again, whites invisible, pupils illuminated. “Yessss... that isss the... quesssssstion…”.
Suddenly, she swept upwards - between the hodgepodge staircases above.
LANCE TAKES THE REINS*
*Although play by post is a predominantly slow burn, we had agreed a time to meet up and play “live” via text. Unfortunately, due to external circumstances, Perry and Guilliam were both unable to attend; so I ran them as NPCs with Lance taking the initiative for this next segment of delving.
Lance, upon the woman’s departure, decided to take a few shots at the glass nub in the previous room (S6); attempting to activate it. He aimed well, and a fizz was heard - and then a tinkle…
…and then the same silence as before.
Taking out his lantern to examine the result more closely, a single drop of the black liquid landed on Lance’s nose. He wiped it away quickly, but not fast enough. He received a vision.
Almost instantly, the vision hits. A black cloth lies flat across an infinite plain. The ripples congeal and solidify into the face of a screaming pig; eyes glowing with deep orange fire. Then, the eyes elevate into two long, thin spires. The rightmost twists and writhes like a blackened, rotten limb.
They left the room swiftly, Lance clearly somewhat shaken, and ascended to the brass door (leading to S9) above them.
Lance placed his ear against the cold metal, attempting to hear anything, but the seal was airtight and no sound came through. He tried to open it, but, despite a great effort, it seemed largely impenetrable.
The party ascended again, up the tangle of staircases.
The stairs are long and winding, and, as below, are in some places broken entirely and replaced by rickety ladders or planks.
Guilliam and Perry manage the climb, yet Lance is not so lucky; one fragile ladder rung snapping under his fingers. He begins to fall…
…but is caught by the “ape”!
You feel the strong, leathery, grip of the ape creature. It grins at you, a grin as wide as a blade and twice as sharp. Slowly, one finger at a time, it performatively releases its grip…
Lance attempted to cling to the arm fur, but couldn’t get a decent grasp.
BETRAYAL’S AFTERMOUTH*
*This was still during the live game with Lance.
Lance, you feel a thud, and a sickening crunch, as you hit a platform four metres below. You find yourself back by the door leading to the amethyst cave room.
Dazed, Lance heard Guilliam berate the creature above him. He dusted himself off, flexed his joints, and resumed the climb. Sheepishly, the ape approaches…
Meeting you halfway down is the ape, the same smile still across his face. He offers an arm to help you over one particular stair, winking as he does so.
Lance accepted this arm, waiting for the creature to turn its back. Then he swung his great sword at its neck.
You feel the sword slice through the neck sinew and matted fur of the creature's stocky neck. A horrible hisssssss is heard as strange fluid splashes onto the tower's walls and the stairway, slick and clear and sour on the stone.
The ape's neck, now severed, re-joins itself - the flesh knitting together like two snakes entwining. It elongates, twists and knots, and stretches long and thin; up and up and up.
Deftly, Lance kicked the neck away, stopping it re-joining; his foot doing a roundhouse into the fresh spinal connection.
Floating, the head turns; the eyes running molten in their sockets, the tongue curled into a perfect loop-de-loop. You watch as the flesh melts away, revealing the head of a pig. The sockets a dull, lifeless, white. A last breath escapes, before it falls at your feet. Inert.
Pragmatically, Lance crushed the head beneath his foot. Then he prepared to move on. Guilliam offered him a cloth to wipe down his sword and he took it, the remnant ichor of Hurmin leaving the blade pure glinting steel.
THE LANDING* (S18)
*This was still during the live game with Lance.
The party emerged onto the landing from the stairs below.
Ascending to the next level, you are met with a long, flat corridor. A draught plays curiously with your hair, yet what strikes you most, however, surrounds where you entered from. Around the lip of the downwards stairs is a heap of sludgy, yellow-white guano. Hair and bones emerge at various angles; though the smell is mercifully light. To your left, you see one doorway, to your right another - plus a ladder beneath a trapdoor. Sticking out at an odd angle is some kind of fleshy growth, moist and pulsating gently.
They investigated the right doorway and found the balcony (S21)…
Opening the door, you are hit by a strong breeze. Your eyes water from the airflow, but you catch a glimpse of the overcast sky.
…yet they had no time to explore further, as the trapdoor above (to S46) began to slide back. Rushing to the leftmost door, they managed to hide and catch a glimpse of two more apemen descending.
Peeking around the door, you watch as two more ape creatures descend. One carries a feather duster, the other some kind of sack on the end of his spear… The ape with the feather duster squints at the floor, seeing the disturbed dust and guano. It tuts to itself, and approaches the door you hide behind - apparently dusting the lintel.
And that’s where we’ll leave it for now…
Running Play by Post has been fun, albeit a little challenging. Keeping players engaged is much trickier, and combat serves to slow down gameplay, not speed it up as in a normal game. I’m definitely still getting the hang of it a few months in, and if anyone out there has any tips I’d be immensely grateful.
But nonetheless I am very grateful to have had a chance to run this dungeon! This is the first module I’ve ever run “out-of-the-box” and I must say I’ve been really loving it so far.
Thanks for reading through all this and making it to the (current) ending!