Murdicog's Manse Session 1: Dizzy Dungeon Dentata
Date: Dec. 9, 2025
Players: Zareth (Chaoclypse), Talvthus Alvyal (Oldhawkeyes), Bekhtar Kothar (Jay_zer0), Mingkar the Miserable (Black Citadel Games)
Summary
On a gloomy, rainy nightday during the waning weeks of A.D.M.1 25, four adventurers gathered in the village of Bar Udartophir (42-309) to venture into Murdicog's Manse (41-310) in search of the fabulous treasures therein.
In a patch of rugged foothills, they espied the silver nosecone of Murdicog's Manse looming out of the murk. At a fork in the trail, they opted to follow a stream that was flowing out of a cave in the cliff wherein the Manse was lodged.
An exploratory shout by Mingkar at the mouth of the cave precipitated an ominous splash. The party ventured inside & some kind of large dinosaur was glimpsed therein. A thrown rock sufficed only to enrage it, but the adventurers were able to distract it by throwing trail rations.
They found a small lake, two 10'x20' structures, & several exits inside the cavern. In the first structure, they were able to salvage some valuable silver gears & a garnet bearing from piles of broken gears & mechanical parts. The second contained a painter's studio, with dried pants, frames, & canvas. An unfinished painting of a lavishly-attired woman with a mechanical head was taken as loot.
Next, the explorers elected to explore the psouthern passage leading out of the cavern. There, they met a levitating Pnome named Ambrose, offering to sell secrets for 75 teeth apiece. Bekhtar willingly parted with one of his teeth, but it was a poor specimen & certainly inadequate for coaxing a secret out of Ambrose.
Passing the Pnome, they carefully probed the length of the hall. Talvthus' 9.1' pole chanced upon a trap door in the ceiling, & with Mingkar's ladder they ascended into a perpendicular passage passing over the one they were just in. A room to the oest contained stairs leading down to a deeper level & several marble caryatids with blended human & mechanical features. Bekhtar's pickaxe was used to hack a caryatid off the wall, then the adventurers chose to descend the stairs.
They entered a room filled with roiling blue smoke -- the exhalations of one Hannibal Brompp, Blue Enchanter, as he whiled away the time with a valuable-looking hookah. Four keys (one red, one blue, one yellow, & one orange) were mounted on columns in Brompp's chamber. After a brief negotiation, the mage agreed to hand over the keys in exchange for 75% of any treasure accessed thereby.
Proceeding eest, they found an intersection where 5 dizzy-looking Kobolds were arguing about which passage to take. Talvthus attempted to apply CPR to a Kobold that fainted, much to the consternation of everyone present. Despite successfully intimidating the creatures, Zareth chose to pursue & attack them. His blow didn't connect, but retaliatory spear thrusts from two Kobolds brought his nascent adventuring career to a prompt conclusion.
Thankfully, Bekhtar's Spell of Somnolence & Mingkar's Magic Missile were sufficient to neutralize the remaining Kobolds. I will spare readers from the grisly scene that ensued, save to say that shortly thereafter the party possessed more than enough teeth to patronize Ambrose the Pnome.
When attempting to retrace their steps, the adventurers accidentally stumbled into a concert hall in which a Wight was playing a complex baroque composition on a massive pipe organ. They withdrew (realizing that the intersection was a spinning room trap), & returned to Brompp's hookah lounge, handing back the keys.
On their way out, they visited Ambrose once again & purchased two secrets for 150 teeth (noted below).
Zareth's toothless body was used to distract the Dinicthys while the others escaped to safety.
Aftermath
Treasure Found: Caryatid (500gp), 5 kobold spears & leather armor suits (10gp total), painting of Chatelaine Malfundica (120gp), garnet bearing (100gp).
Entities Encountered: Dinicthys (evaded), 5 Kobolds (4 killed, one captured), Hannibal Brompp, Wight, Small Robot, Ambrose the Pnome.
Rumors:
- The keys open secret doors at the ends of dead ends in the level below.
- One can learn a spell from Odradek, god of dishevelment by following the stream deeper into the mountain and turning Knorth.
Deaths: Zareth was skewered by two kobolds.
XP Awarded: 301 each.
Notes
- This is the largest dungeon in my Antarctic Adventure Jam setting -- I ran it on a whim while Northern Strata is on winter hiatus, but I am hoping to launch a more regular Antarctic campaign in early 2026.
- Opening doors on 1-2 on a d6 works fine for in-person but is a huge hassle in online games. I'm inclined to either widen the range for less re-rolling or just say that opening a door takes one turn. Or maybe roll once, door opens immediately on 5-6 otherwise the lowest roll is the number of turns it takes to get it unstuck.
Aeon of the Dog-headed Maiden↩