Conquest of White Plume Mountain

I can’t remember the first group I ran through S2: White Plume Mountain, but one of ‘em got TPK’d, wiped out after failing to answer the sphinx’s riddle. That may have been the first group to every try.

I remember clearly that another expedition including Bombur and Bladehawk, two fighters of (respectively) dwarf and human cultures, made it as far as Whelm’s resting place before realizing that they had no chance in hell of defeating Ctenmiir the vampire without a cleric (their companion having perished slipping and falling into the lake of boiling mud. They did manage to make it out with their lives, but just barely.

A later sojourn, again including Bombur the dwarf, was the first fully successful venture into the Mountain (I know Bombur was there because I still have his character sheet and his weapon remained Whelm from that time thereafter). Whether or not (the later legendary) Bladehawk was present, I cannot recall; however, she never used Blackrazor herself, and was Chaotic Neutral in alignment, so I find it hard to believe she was there. The first successful completion of the module finished in spectacular fashion with the players first getting Whelm and Blackrazor, before being blown out of the volcano’s spout protected by Wave’s force shield.

I believe the party sold Blackrazor on the open market. Too dangerous to keep around, I suppose.

The first adventuring group to complete the adventure and attempt exiting through the front door consisted of three memorable (to me) characters: Alejandro the fighter, Isaiah of Hoquiam (a cleric), and Arioch (an evil magic-user), plus assorted henchmen and hirelings. The magic-user was an NPC created by myself…the irony of his name totally lost on me at the time.

Meeting Nix and Nox at the front door, they decided to accompany the efreet to the “Indocrination Center,” whereby I was forced to invent stats for the wizard Keraptis on the fly…I believe I made him a 16th level magic-user based on his description as a “mage” (the level title for a 16th level magic-user in the PHB). They slew him, took his spell book(!) and left the Mountain leaving the corpses of their fallen companions behind.

It was a precursor to what was to come. Alejandro would go on to wield Blackrazor in many future adventures. Isaiah would eventually die (and be replaced by “Moses of Sequim”). Arioch would continue to grow in power and evil. All would prove to be exceptionally villainous and destructive, in some ways echoing the tale of Kas and Vecna.

If you catch my drift.
: )