Axeholm's Upper Level

 A Ser Killian Adventure

Spoiler Alert - The following adventure is based on the D&D adventure Dragon of Icespire Peak. You may not want to read this if you plan to play that adventure.

A Burial

After defeating the ghoul, the way is open to the upper level.

"Let's go," a grim but determined Killian commands.

"Wait!" Martin interjects. "If we leave Gruff's body, he will turn into a ghoul. We need to cremate him, quickly!"

The party finds a fireplace, and then sends their comrade off to the heavens.

The Upper Level

With that sad duty performed, the remaining party members head up the stairs.

The Chambers

They find themselves in a wing with a series of bedchambers. In one, the floor gives way, dropping Killian and Haiden to the floor below. Both are bruised, but Martin uses a rope to pull them back up.

The Gallery

The gallery looks down upon the great hall in the lower level. Fortunately, they have no encounters.

The Bastion

This area features arms and defensive works to protect the stronghold. Unfortunately, it was unable to protect the dwarves from a spy, an elven maiden working for the enemy. They killed her, but now she roams the halls as a banshee. And our heroes find her.

The banshee immediately shrieks, and Martin falls unconscious!

Killian and Haiden rush to the attack. This begins a long drawn out combat. They are unable to hit the banshee, but her attacks do not penetrate their armor.

Then Haiden has an idea! He rushes to Martin's body and dumps the contents of his pack. Phials of holy water spill out. Haiden flings it at the banshee. His aim is off, however, and it simply splashes at the banshee's feet.

The banshee attacks Haiden. She hits and he slumps to the ground. He is severely wounded.

Killian reacts. "Grab Martin and get out of here! I'll hold off the banshee!"

Haiden crawls over to Martin and begins pulling him towards the exit.

Meanwhile, Killian grabs a holy water phial. The banshee rushes him. At the last second, he splashes holy water in her face. She screams in pain and rage, then disappears.

"Is it dead?" Haiden gasps.

They hear ghostly wails and screams.

"I don't think so," Killian replies. "But she is hurt. We better get out of here before she comes back."

The Escape

Killian picks up Martin then helps Haiden hobble through the halls of Axeholm. Fortunately, they do not meet any resistance, and they escape from the haunted stronghold.

That night they make camp. Killian heals Martin, but the cleric is barely conscious. He will need rest to fully heal.

Ultimately, they make it back to Phandalin.

One day, Winston, Killian's confessor and former comrade in arms, sees Killian praying in the temple they've been building.

Winston approaches. "Do not blame yourself, my son."

Killian looks at him and wanly smiles. "I don't know if that's possible, Brother. But that's not what's on my mind. I am thinking of Axeholm. But not about what happened. I'm thinking about what will happen. You see, I have a clever plan..."

Stay tuned for more adventures of Ser Killian!

THOUGHTS

You might think that I would see this disaster as a negative, but I see it as a great success! Maybe not for Killian, but it was for MicroQuest.

I think my changes generally worked well.

• Mapping the dungeon, even in a simple manner, was more effective than just rolling for encounters.
• My character changes seem to work. I'll detail these in a later post.

Furthermore, despite my characters' failures, the session was suspenseful and exciting! That's hard to do in a solo RPG. When it happens, it's a great feeling.

I just can't wait to see how Killian responds to Axeholm!