Meandering

Next installment will be some insider information on Mormo and his followers. For now, I wanted to express smug satisfaction in watching a group of players sweat during a climactic encounter.

Did they catch Adun? Oh, yes, they killed him, but it wasn't easy. The canny dwarf spent time fortifying himself with magic while sending in successive waves of lackeys, and the party didn't see him at all until he blindsided the priest.... which hurt them, a lot. But eventually, they overcame the bandits, the corpse-men and the swarm-vomiting ghouls, and pulled Adun down.
It's always a wonderful thing to see the fire of accomplishment at the gaming table. My players left totally pumped up. They knew how close a fight it was, and they had some bad luck early on.

It is more than completion for this group, though. Having recently moved into level 11 (d20 3.5 DnD), the party is learning that they are no longer just local heroes, and that they are capable of making history instead of just living in it.

From a story standpoint, Adun's death represents the passage of the heroes into a new world. Adun was nasty, cunning and thoroughly evil, but he'd never be a threat on a grand scale. He was a terrible leader, relying entirely on fear and violence to get others to serve him, and he didn't have any vision beyond mere hurt, much like his patron. Next session, after they wrap up all the bloody loose ends Adun and his people left behind, they'll have completed a very long story arc, and can finally look forward without having to worry about what's behind them.

They have a lot to look forward to.

As a closing note, a good many people have asked me about 4th edition, and what I think about it. I'll let you know when it actually gets released, and I have a chance to take a good look. Until then, it isn't as if anyone is short on 3.5 material to use. I know I'm certainly not.

post scriptum: When the party rogue wants to crawl through ghoul burrows, don't let them do it. It's never a good idea.