Session 14
Polnogallum One-Shot
To ease back into the narrative after the Christmas break, we played a one-session adventure set in Polnogallum. Instead of their usual characters, the players took on the roles of the Sparrows—a group of local teenagers from Polnacrom and Polnogallum, led by Finn and North.
I usually stay very close to the material in Deep Carbon Observatory, but for this one-shot I took considerable liberties and essentially built an original dungeon around its themes.
Background - Mostly Unknown to the Players at the beginning of the game
Around fifty years ago, the children of Polnogallum attempted to kill a witch. They tried many methods and did not truly succeed, but they did manage to throw her down a well, where she remains to this day—alive, trapped, and dangerous.
About a week ago, Harrap, a magic-user from the same circle as Ruskin, Rem, and Tzani, arrived in Polnogallum while researching the ancient civilization of the dam builders. During her stay, she communed with the witch, gaining fragments of knowledge and a skeleton key. Harrap established a small base camp in the witch manor house, then continued north toward the dam. The day after the dam collapsed.
A few days ago—after the collapse—a group of the cannibal conspiracy sailed upriver from Polnacrom. They captured Ruskin (the corpulent magician from the Fool’s Duel) and brought him to Polnogallum. Their goal: to free the witch from the well.
Complicating matters, the well is choked with thick mud, and one of the dam’s guardian golems has settled nearby, attacking anyone who approaches. The cannibals have taken over the nearby manor, enslaved several villagers, and are forcing them to dig a tunnel from the basement toward the base of the well.
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What neither the players nor the cannibals know is that this tunnel will breach an underground structure before reaching the well—a sealed chamber containing something far worse. If the PCs do nothing, the cannibals will accidentally release this ancient monstrosity. Many of them will die, but enough will survive to finish the excavation and ultimately free the witch.
Session start
The Sparrows approached the manor and discovered a cannibal’s corpse trapped in the mud in the upper part of the well. One character circled around the building, entered through the rear, located Ruskin, and freed him after extracting crucial information.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group crept up to the kitchen window and silently subdued the cannibal cook before cutting his throat. Further exploration followed, but a pair of cannibals emerged from the basement. The group managed to deal with them—though not before they raised the alarm.
Another group of cannibals barricaded themselves in the parlour. Attempting to assist their comrades, they tried to escape through a window, where Ruskin expended his final spell to kill them. Unfortunately, this drew the attention of the golem, which promptly killed Ruskin as well.
The remaining cannibals attempted to rush upstairs but were driven back by a coordinated player action involving a pot of boiling human stew. They retreated into the basement, barricaded themselves in, and continued digging.
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With the golem distracted, the characters explored the rest of the manor. They accessed a hidden room—a sanctum containing alchemical supplies, a book of names documenting especially vile dead people selected by the witch “to be taken back”, and a stairway leading to a sealed underground chamber. From below came horrific, swine-like sounds. Wisely, the characters chose to leave it undisturbed.
They recovered several potions, freed an enslaved Polnogallum villager, and discovered a workshop containing a humanoid golem, similar to a small version of one of the dam guardians, complete with instruction tablets. They also found Harrap’s former base of operations and her notes, which filled in much of the missing background.
By the end of the session, the characters were unable to stop the cannibals from completing their dig. The sealed chamber was breached, and the ancient swine monstrosity was released. Several Polnogallum villagers died, but the Sparrows managed to avoid the creature and weakened the remaining cannibals enough to prevent them from freeing the witch.
All in all, it was a very good session.
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All the details about Deep Carbon Observatory belong to Patrick Stuart - Buy the module - His Blog - My Review - Video Review
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