This is a writeup of Session 3 of Miranda Elkins’ Cuccagnat campaign, where we exploring and plundering the mysteriously abandoned manse of the famous wizard Prospero the Blue. It was hastily written up for record keeping purposes during play and may make for poor reading. If this campaign sounds like fun to you, there are still spots available. Consider joining in!

Legend

  • Bold text: NPC or monster
  • Italics: Location or feature
  • Underline: Treasure

Characters

Player Characters

PC Class and level Player
Prospero the Violet Magic-User 1 A.
Wren the Weird & Purple Changeling 1 M.
Kain Fighter 1 K.
Graciela the Good Cleric 1 B.
Petra Dwarf 1 KC

Hirelings

Hireling Class / Type Employer
Dame Losaneta Fighter Prospero the Violet
2 porters   I forget

What had happened was

We picked up in media res and check out a door to the south. Wren listens and hears nothing, so Petra attempts to open it. Beyond is a room with a large fountain depicting a fish vomiting up water into a basin around it. Petra deems it to be of human make. Graciela samples it. She is fortified, increasing her HP. Graciela fills a wineskin with water from the fountain and we move on.

We head further south and find a room with two charred thrones that appear to have been blasted with balls of fire. Wren notes that the destroyed throne looks like it belonged to the authority, whereas the less destroyed one seems to have belonged to a partner or spouse.

We poke around this room for a time but find nothing of value. Down southern corridor we spot shambling figures which we decide to have nothing to do with and explore elsewhere.

We explore a room to the north and find a room with 13 pug-headed little guys dining around a table, pouring ale into mugs and then from mugs into doggie bowls, an extremely affecting and powerful image. They are Dog-Heads, though we always heard them described as human sized. Also they have spears and little short swords.

We spend a while talking about the various ways animals do and don’t poop. Out of character. It goes on long enough that I start writing this down.

“It does not have a butthole until it needs a butthole.” - Miranda Elkins, not in reference to the dogs.

Anyway Graciela gives one a plum, which it eats up eagerly. The other Dog-Heads get jealous and pull weapons on each other, so we hand out our rations to placate them.

After calming them down we notice there are coins and zircon cabuchons laid out across their table and figure out they’re having a drinking contest. Petra asks if she can join and they let her. She WINS, earning us 10 zircon cabuchons.1

We explore further south, avoiding a room where we hear voices arguing in Common. We reconnect back with the tower!

We approach the room with the shambling figures from the west and see the shambling figures are giant mushrooms that appear to be consuming the room.

“They’re rather phallic in overall appearance, but mushrooms often are.” - Miranda

We leave immediately.

We head back north to check out some areas we skipped before. We find a room full of guys in red tunics, all similar-looking with one central leg and crutches: Monopods. They look like the red-tuniced man we saw go in through the secret door a couple sessions ago. They tell us they work for Prospero the Blue, and Prospero the Violet steps up to say he is also a Prospero before the entire party collectively places their hands over his mouth. They mention that Prospero the Violet “wears the colours of our master’s lover” – a woman called Prospera in violet. Prospero the Violet notes that there must be a misunderstanding, because he is Prospero the Violet and a man.

We ask the monopods what they’re guarding and they tell us they protect The Kingdom of the Monopods which by their description is basically a medium-sized apartment housing their fellow failed experiments, including The King of the Monopods.

Prospero the Violet: Why is he king?
Monopod: Because he’s very mean.

We also learn from them that Nessuno is a cyclops and not very nice. They are very forthcoming with information, and tell us that the statues in the gardens were people transformed by either a spell from Prospero the Blue or pecked by the cockatrice-head of the King of the Blemmyes.

We also learn:

  • The glass Vitruvian men are bad news and extremely dangerous
  • Caliban is the Master-Servant and may be the son of an “old god of Cuccagna”
  • Prospero the Blue has been missing for about a year. After being gone for a while he returned in a morose mood, built up some magic rooms to the East, and then was joined by his lover Prospera the Violet. They had a terrible fight in which his throne was destroyed and Prospero ran away.
  • The other Prosperos are on the mainland and haven’t been around. The nearest one is Prospero the Green, who lives in The Great Wen.
  • The Dog-Heads are here as pets of the master.
  • Without anyone to feed them the dogs and blemmyes have turned to eating people.
  • The King of the Monopods has a magic sword!

Graciela asks what kind of gift the King of the Monopods would like. They tell us he likes tokens of respect and obeisance. A monopod leans forward, grabs Graciela by the shirt, and pleads that we not bring any gift that might insult the king or reference their “limited capacity”.

Prospero the Violet: Is this the kind of situation where any gift we bring him he’s going to look for a reason to take insult?
Monopod: Honestly, yes?

We head East to check out another wing we hadn’t explored. Behind one door we hear hissing as if from some great serpent and opt not to open that door. Not far beyond we find a great stairwell going up. We poke our heads up the stairs against Prospero the Violet’s protestations. We don’t learn much and head back down, continuing southward.

We trigger a trap and everyone but Petra and the two porters falls asleep. As they try to drag their sleeping allies out of the room, a further mechanism trips and everyone but Petra is caught in nets! We end on a cliffhanger.

Summary

Deaths

  • None!

Treasure Acquired

  • 10 zircon cabuchons

Monsters Defeated

  • None

New friends and/or enemies

  • Dog-Heads c:
  • Monopods

Open Loops

  • Who was the guy in the red tunic we saw going in the secret door? ✅ A monopod!
  • Is there any way to safely deal with yellow mold?
  • Did Caliban’s notes include any instructions or command words for controlling the glass men?
  • Where does the staircase lead?
  • What can we learn about the mushrooms?

  1. MINI-GAMES FOREVER BAYBEEE ↩