#TBT Campaign - 2009 D&D 3.5 Ravenloft - Session 2

Ravenloft: Luminaire

This is a continuation of my Throwback Thursday feature covering the Ravenloft campaign that I ran online in 2009 using Skype and a few amazing friends from High School.  If you missed our first #TBT feature, and you'd like a little backstory before moving forward, here you go!

The Second Test, Part One

Characters

• Rahotep, Human Cleric played by Tom
• Garrett Jax, Gnome Rogue/Wizard played by Cone
• Nathaniel, Half-Elf Ranger played by Joe-Pat
• Barth, Caliban (Half-Orc) Barbarian played by Randy

Journal Date:  5th Days of Twelfth-Month, the year 754

The characters would remain locked in their coffins for hours.  They were in transit to some location for at least 5 hours, and upon their arrival, the halfling Tinker Steve told them not to even try getting out of the coffin for an hour and a half.  The characters tried their coffin lids at first, but found themselves unable to get free.  Eventually, there were three loud pops, the small charges blowing on each lock, thus giving the group an opportunity to escape.  Both Barth and Nathaniel lifted their lids, however Rahotep, not content with being conventional summoned a single woodchuck to appear outside of his coffin.  This was just in tome for Barth and Nate to see this, however the woodchuck spent a single round chewing on Rahotep’s coffin before disappearing.  

Unfortunately for the group, it looked as though poor Garrett Jax was still locked within his own coffin.  Unable to rouse him from potential slumber, and with the lock still remaining on his coffin (the charge did not go off), the remaining three adventurers decided to leave the gnome behind for now.  

It appeared that the party was inside of a log cabin in the woods.  There was snow on the ground outside, and it was evening.  Remembering that the goal of the second test was to survive the night, Nathaniel, Barth, and Rahotep quickly began to assess their situation.   In the living room that they were currently in with their coffins, they found that there was a small fireplace, with a weak stew (including a slightly cooked rat) hanging over the embers of the fire.  The group needed a light source but truly had very little to go by.  Nathaniel and Barth both looked to Rahotep’s sacred oil, which they could combine with cloth and some broken wood to make torches.  The priest, however, explained that his oil was only for heads.  Luckily for them, Barth’s strange fey-warped caliban eyes were capable of darkvision.  Barth armed himself with an iron poker (which he was able to make combat worthy with his Craft skill) and prepared to defend his fellow teammates.  

The group first investigated the kitchen, where the floor was covered in a weird, dirt-like material.  Barth was able to find a cleaver for Nathaniel to use as a weapon, and a large carving knife for Rahotep.  Also, Barth found some oil to use to make torches.  As soon as Nathaniel lit the room up, however, he found that the entire floor was covered in rat excrement.  Piles and piles of it.  The party moved on to the pantry and found the same thing.  Droppings, half-eaten food, dead rats.  It was while Rahotep was investigating the pantry that he heard some noises coming from above.  Apparently, there was either a second floor or an attic above.  The claw marks on the pantry door were also fairly large, showing that something bigger than the common rat could be making its home in the cabin.  Not wanting to have only a simple knife to face such horrors, Rahotep opted to take the well made shovel out of the pantry to use as a bashing weapon.  

Moving on the trio examined the master bedroom of the cabin.  The family that had abandoned this place must have been well off, because the furniture and clothing was somewhat luxurious.  Barth raided the shiny goods from this room, in true Barth fashion.  The party did find a pair of letters from two young children in the room, wishing their parents farewell, and inferring that the mother and father of the house had passed on.  A giant dead rat was found in the foyer of the home, apparently eaten from both the inside and the outside.  The rat was the size of a medium dog, and would have been a ferocious enemy if it were faced while still alive.  

Things got exciting when the trio found the room of the two children.  A well made set of furniture garnished this room, but on the floor the bedspreads, quilts, and sheets had been made into a nest of sorts.  The characters assumed that this was made by the previous owners’ children.  Barth stepped into the room, and yanked the blankets away only to be engulfed quickly in a rat swarm!  Trying to scrape the creatures off as fast as he could, Barth tried not to panic.  Rahotep entered the room quickly and prayed for a “doom” spell from Ra to affect the rats.  It must have worked, because the little bastards were spooked for a bit.  At that time Nathaniel yanked Barth out of the room, and Rahotep jumped out as well.  After the door was slammed, Nate quickly looked for other options to escape the rodent fury while Barth waved the torch along the bottom of the door to keep the rats at bay.


Nate found a closet with a misshapen wall just across from the kids bedroom.  Both he and Rahotep tried to open what appeared to be a secret door but were both unable to do so.  Barth started to get completely freaked as more and more rats started to cover his legs, and lower torso.  But Rahotep was not going to let this go down poorly for his fellow teammate, even if the cursed one was a caliban!  Rahotep charged forward, shovel in hands and crushed the remaining swarm, and those rats that survived the cleric’s onslaught dispersed quickly.