Dwimmermount, Sessions 39-41

I've been terribly remiss in posting session reports from my ongoing Dwimmermount game, in part because a combination of holidays, business trips, family events, and illness has kept the game on a biweekly or triweekly basis since the beginning of May rather than the more typical weekly schedule. There's also the fact that I sometimes find my interest in writing up session reports isn't all that great, since, on some level, spouting off about your ongoing campaign is the referee's version of the infamous "let me tell you about my character." But I also feel it's important to let people know that much of what I write here stems from the demands of actual play rather than from "pure theory." I grow ever more convinced that far too many "gamers" only participate in their hobby by talking about it and that, as much as anything, has contributed to its deformation over the years. So, like it or not, I'm going to keep writing these posts, even though I frequently don't enjoy doing so.

Now, that said, I'm not going to try to detail three sessions spread out over the course of seven weeks or so. Instead, I'm just going to summarize the high points to catch everyone up and then write a "normal" entry next week after this coming weekend's session.

• Many of the PCs and their henchmen have gained new levels. Most of them are now in the levels 4-6 range, which is quite enjoyable. Given how long we've been playing, I'm happy with the pace we've been keeping.
• Thanks to a strange idol, Brother Candor lost 10 years from his physical age, making him a youth in his late teens or early 20s. Amusingly, his henchman, Gaztea, attempted to reproduce the effect but was unable to do so, leading her to retort, "It figures."
• The characters encountered a colony of ancient Thulians -- "ancient" being a relative word here, as they were probably 400-500 years old -- who'd managed to avoid death by resorting to cannibalism. They tried to make the PCs their next meal and suffered the very fate they wished to avoid as a result.
• An elevator leading to Levels 5 and 6 of Dwimmermount was discovered, enabling the party to begin exploration of Level 5, as Level 4's layout proved to be something of a conundrum (that is, they knew there had to be more to the level but couldn't quite figure out how to reach some of its other areas).
• Level 5, it turns out, is where the Termaxian cultists had set up their "command post" and were busy doing something, in league with werewolves. Now that the PCs have found a more controllable way to enter that level, they're considering options for dealing with the Termaxians -- a very wise move, given that the cultists seem to have a white dragon in their employ.
• While exploring, the party rescued two survivors of the Band of the Hawk, the rival adventuring party sent into Dwimmermount by the Despot of Adamas. One of these survivors, a human fighter named Sir Aelric, thanked the party for their help but warned them that the Despot was moving to make charters necessary for any group exploring Dwimmermount. Those without such a charter would be subject to fines and possibly imprisonment for flouting the new law.
• Sir Aelric's companion was a elf called Mordranar, who, while he nodded in acknowledgment of Dordagdonar, said nothing else. Aelric explained that this was simply "his way" and added that he was willing to put up with the elf's disdainful behavior towards "ephemerals" because he "knew much about Dwimmermount."
• The two survivors were escorted back to Muntburg and Sir Aelric promised to buy them all drinks in thanks should they ever meet again in Adamas.
• Dordagdonar continues to acquire "materials" needed to create a flesh golem, using the grimoire he acquired in the old Thulian bolthole.

Along the way, there were, of course, many battles with monsters and some treasure found, but the aforementioned are the most important events to have transpired. If I've missed anything truly noteworthy, I'm sure some of my players might chime in and remind me of them.