Iron & Gold
Lost in the Borderlands is based on the module Borderlands of Adventure, by J (who I presume is Walter J. Jones Jr., the copyright holder) and published by New Realms Publishing as NRP 31001.
It was written for Labyrinth Lord and I have converted to Iron & Gold by Precis Intermedia Games. It follows a few other adventures with these characters.
Lost in the Borderlands
Previous Chapter 3. By The Bridge —][‐ Next Chapter 5. The Hobgoblin Lair
4. The Mound[1]
On this side of the bridge, the grass eventually turned into a kind of path: a swathe of beaten-down grass that indicated that creatures were going back and forth.
Felewin said, “The hobgoblins went north. It’s too late to head into their territory — their nest — and the path forks here. We don’t want to go east, but we can find a clearing to camp in, and then retrace it in the morning.”
“Makes sense,” said Uthrilir. “First place we find, we camp. We’ll set up watches.”
“With hobgoblins around? You bet we will,” said Ninefingers.
The going was easier here. Felewin stopped and looked at a broken twig. He said, “Keep your eyes open — something came out here today. Sap is still fresh. Might be hobgoblins but maybe not.”
“Will it be safe to camp tonight?”
Felewin shrugged. “We’ll keep a watch. None of the big hunting animals in this area are nocturnal; it’s just hobgoblins and their ilk we need to worry about,” said Felewin. “Not goblins, of course.”
Ninefingers rolled his eyes. “We don’t know any goblins in this area, and they probably haven’t heard the bounty’s canceled. So they might be pre-emptively nasty.”
Felewin looked slightly sobered by that.
They marched on for another span of time as the sun got closer to the horizon. Finally, they came to a clearing ringed by stunted trees. In its center was a mound of rocks, thirty paces across and more than three times taller than Felewin.[2]
Ninefingers swore. “Uthrilir, pray for protection. We’re going to have zombies or ghosts soon.”
Hrelgi asked, “Why?”
“Egrantile burial mound—built for magic users who transcend death with the Powers Below. The stunted trees are a dead giveaway[3].”
“It looks like a jumble of rocks,” said Hrelgi.
“It is a jumble of rocks, but it’s also a dome built by zombies. The insides are similar because it’s all in the spell that commands zombies to build and guard the mound. Don’t get too close to the trees; sometimes they grab.”
Uthrilir asked, “Former tomb robber, you said?”
“Former.” He scanned the area, turning fully around to scan the area. “There’s some zombies.”
There was a moan as two dead hobgoblins and one dead orc stumbled into view.
“There should be more…. Ah.” He readied the spear. “Ready, Uthrilir.”
“I see,” said the dwarf. He held his holy symbol high and began to chant in the dwarven tongue.[4] The zombies stopped, maybe twenty paces away.
Felewin looked around. There were nine gathered from three of the four cardinal directions. No zombies had come from the south (presumably because even zombies were smart enough to avoid the marsh).
“I can’t hold them at bay forever,” said Uthrilir.
“They’re bound to this spot, so we can’t chase them away,” said Ninefingers. “We can grant them the final death, by destroying the wight or lich inside.”
Felewin asked, “Are we equipped to do that?”
“Normally, I’d say no,” replied Ninefingers. “But going by the numbers, this isn’t a particularly puissant undead, and we still have a little daylight to help.”
Hrelgi pointed at one of the zombies and said a spell.[5] The zombie seemed unaffected. She said it again, and then a third time. The zombie fell down.
She said, “Any one of those would have crippled a regular person.”
“And it will re-animate by morning, so long as the sorcerer is still in the mound,” said Ninefingers.
Felewin shook his head. “Then we’d better get started. Where’s the entrance?”
“The top center,” said Ninefingers. “This kind of mound has a lock, a guardian, and a trapped sepulcher.”
“Sounds unpleasant.”
“The undead are vulnerable to silver and magic. Felewin, your new sword is magical. My spear has a silver tip. Magic”—he nodded at Hrelgi—“always works, but we’ll have to try the weapons.” He hoisted himself on a boulder.[6] Felewin pulled himself up nearby, and Hrelgi easily managed. Uthrilir did not.
Touching the boulders gave Felewin a sense of dread.
“Don’t worry, Uthie,” said Hrelgi. “Wait here and when we get to the top I’ll pull you up.”
“I hate traveling that way,” said Uthrilir. “However, if that’s the choice I have….”
Hrelgi got to the top first. “I don’t see a door here.”
“It’s hidden,” Ninefingers said. “We’ll have to find it. Local materials, so it could be anywhere up there.”
“Why do you say it’s in the top?” Uthrilir asked.
“They don’t want to put the doors on the sides. Too easy for people to get in, or for wandering zombies to accidentally open them.” He paused in his climb. “Also, it’s the spell. There are only six different secret doors but the hiding mechanism depends on local flora.”
“Lot of lichen up here,” said Hrelgi. “Some moss. Dirt has gathered in the crevices but not a lot of growth.”
“Malignant energies,” grunted Ninefingers.
“I don’t want to keep repeating this prayer. If you’re at the top, Hrelgi…?” Uthrilir said.
“Right.” Hrelgi flipped through the grimoire, and then spoke the words.[7] Uthrilir flew through the air to Hrelgi. She put her hands out to stop him, and Felewin stayed low, ready to catch him if he didn’t get his footing.[8] It was good that he did, because Uthrilir didn’t manage to connect at all as he tumbled, but Felewin managed to catch him.[9]
“Ooof!” exclaimed the dwarf.
“You’re okay,” said Felewin.
“Was I rough? I’m sorry if I was rough,” said Hrelgi.
Uthrilir tried to get his footing, failed, and then tried again.[10]
Ninefingers was skipping from rock to rock.[11] “There it is. Now, how to open it? It’s probably type 3A…”
More zombies had joined the others, so now there were over a dozen. They clawed at the rocks but weren’t coordinated enough to climb up.
Ninefingers[12] muttered, “Oh, you move this first and then that.” One rock slid down and along a track moving out of the way. Ninefingers smiled. “Still got it.”
Hrelgi moved to stick her head in and look, but Ninefingers stopped her. “These things usually have a guardian.”
Hrelgi stopped. “Like what?”
“Something that doesn’t die. Could be a manikin, a golem, a gargoyle, a homunculus, a captive demon. Varies.” He looked at the rocks. “Rocky terrain, so my guess is animated statue of some kind.”
“Another golem?”
“There are lots of kinds of animated statues. Anyway, going in will activate it.”
“Give me the spear,” Uthrilir said. Ninefingers looked at him. Uthrilir said patiently, “I have trained with a spear. Have you?”
Ninefingers sighed and handed it over.
Felewin asked, “Does the guardian go away if the undead monster is killed? And the zombies collapse?”
“It’s freed. They usually don’t stick around. The zombies die, but the mound stays.”
“Here’s a plan. We go in, the guardian is activated, and Hrelgi shoots it straight up through the door. You close the door, we’re alone with the undead monster. We purify it, the zombies collapse, the guardian leaves, and we have a place to camp.”
“We can do that,” said Uthrilir. “It’s a plan.”
“Better plan than just fight fight fight,” said Ninefingers. “I’ll need a moment to spot the closing mechanism. There’s a pull rope but it might have rotted through.”
Hrelgi said, “I have to be at the bottom right under the door for that to work.”
“Be quick,” Felewin said as he jumped down.[13] He landed on his feet, crouching low to absorb the fall, and held his shield above his head. If possible, the sense of dread inside the mound was worse.[14]
Uthrilir[15] landed beside him and fell.
On the other side of Felewin, Hrelgi[16] landed with cat-like grace.
“Keep an eye out,” called Ninefingers.[17] “Looks like the rope rotted through at about half-way; I’m going to have to get over there to pull it.”
Felewin asked, “Where’s this guardian?” The light from the lantern that Hrelgi held was good but it didn’t show him the guardian.
Something hit his shield, hard.[18] Uthrilir, who was still trying to get up, said, “Gargoyle!”
Hrelgi spoke a spell[19] and suddenly the gargoyle shot up out of the mound.
“Close it!” Felewin said.
Ninefingers, who was still trying to figure a path to the rope, said, “Not ready yet!”
Hrelgi asked, “Do these things learn? Can we do that again?”
“Sooner or later, you’ll miss. It’s coming back.”
This time it headed straight for Hrelgi.[20] Felewin[21] swung hard and hit it. Above them, Ninefingers[22] leapt over emptiness to get to the other end of the door and the rope, and made it. Hrelgi[23] said the words again, with more force and the gargoyle flew back and up, out of the mound.
Ninefingers tugged on the rope and the door slid shut again.
Uthrilir set the spear aside, and said, “You can drop, lad. I’ll catch you.”
Ninefingers had his doubts but willed himself to let go anyway. Uthrilir caught him.
“I think I wounded it,” Felewin gasped.
Ninefingers hastily pushed the sunglasses off his eyes so he could see properly. Sarcophagus, in the center, almost under the door. Two chests of stuff at the edge of the chamber, on opposite sides. The floor was littered with coins, rags, and bones.
The goblin said, “Sarcophagus is almost certainly trapped; give me a moment.”
Above them was a tremendous thud.
“It’s trying to get back in,” said Felewin. “Be ready. Hrelgi, new tricks. If it gets in, it knows how to work the door or has broken it.”
Hrelgi started flipping pages in the grimoire. Felewin couldn’t see because the lantern was focused on the grimoire.[24]
The whole place made Felewin twitch.
He wished he had another lantern.
Hrelgi said, “Got it.”
“Put your finger in the place you need to look for hurting wights, okay?”
There was another thump up above. Felewin said, to Ninefingers “Can I help at all?”
“I’ve re-secured the tripwire. You and Uthrilir move the lid off the sarcophagus. Don’t have to be gentle; it won’t break.”
Uthrilir and Felewin each took a side, and pushed it aside. It fell to the ground with a loud crash.
The wight sat up.
“Don’t let it grab you!” cried Ninefingers.
“I’ve heard the stories,” Uthrilir grunted as he sprinted for the spear.
“Hey! Guy who can see in the dark! I’m kind of stranded here!” Felewin shouted, backing up cautiously.
Rocks from the ceiling fell in, and the secret door was broken open. Several rocks fell onto the wight but seems to have no effect.
“My spell is for a gargoyle, not a wight!” said Hrelgi.
“Yeah, I got it.” Felewin swung through the twilight of the tomb, hoping to hit the wight.[25]. His sword bit into the leathery hide of the thing, solidly sinking into the monster. He pulled hard to free it.[26]
Felewin[27] swung again, and hit again, though the wight was getting out of the sarcophagus. Uthrilir,[28] who was under no penalty for darkness, stabbed it but part of the spear went right through the wight.
Hrelgi[29] waited until she could see the gargoyle and she[30] spoke a new spell; this one rendered it inert, and it fell almost (but not quite) on Hrelgi.[31]
Felewin lost sight of the wight[32] then, and suddenly it had grabbed him; he could feel his life ebbing away. Uthrilir,[33] however, still had the silver-tipped spear and rammed it into the thing’s shriveled heart.
The sense of dread in the room lifted.
“What is all this junk?” Hrelgi asked.
“Victims of the gargoyle, I’d guess. None of the bodies are intact, so I don’t know how many there are,” said Felewin.
Uthrilir said, “You say that the force animated corpses?” Ninefingers nodded, and then remembered that neither Felewin nor Hrelgi could see him. He agreed out loud. “Then I guess they became zombies, once killed.”
“And then the gargoyle tore them apart because they still moved.”
“When they stopped resurrecting,” said Hrelgi.
Ninefingers looked around, moving refuse with his foot.[34] “Coins. That hauberk of mail looks intact, but it’s the wrong size for me. Maybe Uthrilir could wear it.”
“Perhaps,” said the dwarf.
“Sword. This was humans, because that’s too long for any orc or hobgoblin. Crossbow…string’s gone, but the mechanism looks intact. Longbow, unstrung. Felewin?”
“I never trained with a longbow. Are there any bolts for the crossbow?”[35]
“I find five…no, six.”
“I’ll take them.” Felewin gathered them up, along with the two useful arrows he found.[36]
Hrelgi picked her way across to the sarcophagus and shone the lantern inside. “A wand, a scroll, a potion, and a brooch of some kind.”[37] She looked things up in her grimoire and then cast a spell. “And all of it is magical in some way.”
Uthrilir went over to the body of the wight. “We need to figure out how many people were killed here and give them proper burials.”
Felewin said, “We need to figure out if we’re going to sleep here. This place is now physically safe enough, but I have to admit it robs me of any appetite.”
“I might be able to help,” said Uthrilir[38]. “First, let’s arrange the dead.”
They found bones to indicate three people had died there, all humans. (“Makes sense: two swords, one mace,” said Ninefingers.) They arranged them beside the body of the wight, (Ninefingers found and removed a gold chain from the body of the wight; it held a bangle or symbol that he wanted to examine.) Uthrilir held a ceremony to let the dead pass on. Then he worked a second ritual to purify the mound.
At the end of it, the mood was much lighter.
“I can sleep here, now,” said Felewin. “My thanks.” He began preparing sleeping places. There was no wood to burn, so they must sleep together to keep from getting too chilled.
Ninefingers showed the others the bangle. “What do you make of this?”
“Nor is it divine, whether cursed or blessed,” said Uthrilir.
“I meant the image,” said Ninefingers[39]. It was the face of a dragon, but with more spikes than on other dragons they had seen elsewhere: seven.
“Never seen it before,” said Hrelgi.
“I’ve seen it,” said Uthrilir. He opened his tunic slightly and pulled out the chain with the cursed ring. “So have you,” he said to Hrelgi.
“It’s on your relic?”
“It is, indeed,” said Uthrilir. He undid the drawstring and peeled the bag away to reveal the ring. The signet or face of the ring was embossed with the face of a dragon.
It had the same number of spikes: seven.
Monsters
Gargoyles and zombies are in the main rulebook.
Wight
| Abilities | F5 A4 C5 R2 I3 |
|---|---|
| Skills | Brawling 4 (≤9), Stealth 5 (≤10), Composure 4 |
| Gimmicks | Hardened (ignore penalties from fatigue), Life Drain (1 inj/turn touch, healing same amount), Toughness (1 inj resistance), Resistant [all attacks but magical ones and silver ones], Undead (5 grades of fatigue doesn’t cause unconsciousness) |
| Arms | Brawling (2 fat), Life Drain (1 inj), Toughness (1) |
Game Mechanics
[1] Mythic suggested theme: Deceive Possessions (PC Positive)
[2] Ninefingers checks because he knows about burial mounds. He rolls a 3, so he knows exactly what it is.
[3] In this, the fifth story, Ninefingers gets to show off that yes, he was a tomb robber, and yes, he knows what they are about.
[4] He rolls a 2 on gospel (purity) so this works.
[5] She rolls a 3, so that works, but there’s no visible effect. (It loses 4 health levels, but it effectively has 10.)
[6] Ninefingers’ athletics: 5, margin 3. Felewin’s is 10, so he gets up but he’ll have to roll again. Hrelgi rolls 6, margin 1+2 for sure-footed. Uthrilir fails because he doesn’t have athletics and rolls 7.
[7] Hrelgi rolls a 9 on the spell…just makes it…and 7 on the Reasoning+Composure spell, making it easily.
[8] Uthrilir doesn’t, with a roll of 12. Felewin rolls a 9 to catch him, so manages.
[9] Because that was a 12, I’m giving two grades of Fatigue to Uthrilir.
[10] Rolled a 10, then an 8, which makes it.
[11] Ninefingers rolls a 3 to find it, and that makes his 5- roll on Subterfuge.
[12] Ninefingers rolls a 5 on finesse, for a margin of 4.
[13] Felewin rolls a 9 on his Athletics for a margin of 5; he lands very well. .
[14] This is flavour text; I’m not imposing a penalty for dread.
[15] Uthrilir rolls 10, so his margin is -1; he falls down. I’m going to say that’s 1 Fat injury. .
[16] Hrelgi rolls a 7, which would be a margin of 0 but she’s sure-footed, so she doesn’t fall down
[17] In the meantime, Ninefingers rolls Finesse but with Awareness to see where the mechanism is. He rolls an 8, which makes it but I’m going to make things difficult: the pull rope is in fact rotted through, and he’s going to have to climb over to it, pull it, then drop down
[18] The shield does nothing against the 4 Inj blow, but his chain mail does, subtracting 2 from it. Felewin is unhappy.
[19] Hrelgi rolls 8 on the motus spell, margin 1; she rolls 8 on the Reasoning+Composure, margin 1; she rolls 7 on the athletics task to hit the gargoyle, margin 0.
[20] Reactions: Felewin 12 Hrelgi 9 Uthrilir 8 Ninefingers 10 Gargoyle 9 Uthrilir is trying to get the spear up.
[21] Felewin is going to slice at the gargoyle and bat the gargoyle out of the way. He hopes. Felewin rolls an 8, margin 4 (it’s oversized). Gargoyle isn’t trying to stop it; it’s got a body of rock so that hits, and because it’s vulnerable to the sword, it takes 6 Inj. Natural armour stops 4 of it, but 2 gets through, and it’s at -1 now.
[22] Ninefingers rolls an 8 for the athletics to get there and just makes it (margin 0).
[23] The gargoyle just misses (margin -1) and Hrelgi rolls a 2 for magic, sending the gargoyle out of the mound again.
[24] Ninefingers rolls a 6 on Finesse, so next turn he will have disarmed the trap.
[25] Swing: Felewin rolls a 9, but it’s +2 difficulty for the light, and -2 difficulty for the fact that’s it’s sitting. making a 1 margin. The wight isn’t trying to get away; he wants to grab and he’s sitting in a sarcophagus. He wants Felewin closer. His brawling is 9-, he rolls 11 for margin -2 and Felewin’s defense with the sword is a 10, for margin 0. Wight is not resistant here, so only natural armor counts and none of that works. So wight takes 3 injury, out of 10.
[26] Reactions Felewin 13 Hrelgi 9 Ninefingers 11 Uthrilir 11 Gargoyle 9 Wight 12 (Plans: Ninefingers is pulling out the bag of silver to make a cosh. Uthrilir will stab with the spear. Wight will get out of the sarcophagus. Felewin we hope swings again.)
Ninefingers makes cosh.
[27] Felewin rolls a 4, margin 6-2 for the dimness. Wight rolls 7+2, or 9, margin -1. Toughness protects the wight from 1 of the 4 damage. Wight gets out of the sarcophagus.
[28] Uthrilir tries to stab; rolls a 7 (margin 3), silver works, so that’s a 2 Inj but 1 point of armour works. Still, 1 Inj is better than none.
[29] Reactions Felewin 11 Hrelgi 12 Ninefingers 10 Uthrilir 13 Wight 15
[30] Meanwhile, spells are ranged so they go off first. Hrelgi rolls an 8, so her spell works first gargoyle takes 4 levels…and doesn’t attack. Now it’s just of 3 (falling) to hit her: 7 (margin -4) vs her dodging (7 versus 8 athletics, margin 1). And she makes the reasoning+composure by rolling a 9.
[31] Hrelgi and the Gargoyle are tied again, but she’ll cast the opposite of salubrity; he’ll charge her.
[32] Wight grabs Felewin (margin 0) because Felewin can’t actually see him (rolled 4 on Stealth to move without Felewin seeing); He takes 1 health level from Felewin and gives it to himself.
[33] Uthrilir rolls a 3 (margin 7) to hit with the spear again, a triumph, so I’ll say double damage. Toughness stops 1 of the 4, so the wight gets 1 back and loses 2.
[34] Ninefingers rolls a 9 on investigation. He’ll find the biggest stuff, but not all of it.
[35] Sure, on this Felewin rolls a 2.
[36] Felewin, on the other hand, rolls 10, which makes none of his observational skills.
[37] Hrelgi rolls a 4 on Magica Sphaera, making a margin of 5.
[38] To do a sacraments task, the rules say there have to be a congregation of at least ten, but that’s not going to be true. So I claim it’s +2 difficulty, and +2 for the size of the building. Uthrilir has a sacraments of 6-, difficulty is 4, his skill level is high enough for this to be an automatic task. Subsequent consecration is also automatic (difficulty 2 for size, and +2 for opposing spirit still there, and -2 for holy symbol.)
[39] I’ve just made up a reason; does Hrelgi remember? Difficulty 4, her Reasoning is 3. She doesn’t make it as an automatic action. For Uthrilir, though, it’s -2 difficulty because, well, he deals with this a lot. He makes it.
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