May 30th, 1084 Korlai Reckoning.
Recap written by Torgo
Characters:
Terragen as "Bea" [108]
Torgo as "The Archwizard Blileninane" [115]
Krusher as "Fleck" [91]
Arthur as "Lyons" [91]
Void as "Ofydd" [92]
Ethan as "Baker" [91]
After their short break in the dungeon mingling with the prisoners, the group set back forth. Having not found a pathway to the surface after their mishap with the teleportation dais, the party was forced to contend with their only paths ahead being filled with cultists, trolls, and undead. As usual, the first course of action was to vote on a plan of action.
The Archwizard Blileninane advocated for returning toward the troll chamber and thoroughly exploring the upper reaches of the floor before venturing any deeper. Instead, the party combined their extensive wisdom and voted to continue searching for an exit by pressing ever lower into the dungeon's depth.
Beyond the demon summoning chamber lay another trap, consisting of a series of bladed pendulums swinging from the ceiling. Fortunately, unlike many obstacles encountered thus far, this one possessed the decency to be vulnerable to a sufficiently large stone, which Blileninane was more than willing to provide in exchange for some time to rest and recuperate.
During this respite, the party was rudely interrupted, twice. A small group of skeletons wandered in and was promptly destroyed, followed not long later by several ghouls who suffered much the same fate. Bea continued to demonstrate that in the face of her god given powers, lesser undead were more of an occupational hazard than a true threat. Following this respite, the party immediately resumed arguing about where to go next. Once again the troll chamber was discussed, and once again was ignored, though hindsight would prove this to be a wiser decision than anybody could have known.
Proceeding beyond the ruined axe trap, the party entered a chamber containing a chest. Given the dungeon's history of hiding foul traps amidst its treasures, Bea wisely cast Sense Spirits before anyone laid hands upon it. Sure enough, the chest appeared to contain a spirit of some sort, one which the party would surely be ill equipped to battle.
While debating how best to deal with a haunted treasure chest, the party discovered a nearby burial chamber containing a sarcophagus and an imprisoned ghoul within. Bea turned the creature, and after panicking in its attempt to flee within a confined space, opening the sarcophagus revealed the ghoul had literally torn itself apart.
Having exhausted several less dangerous opportunities, the group at last decided to divide responsibilities on a vote. Bea would require quite a while to conduct a proper exorcism of the chest, giving the rest of the party time to explore other avenues. Bea and Fleck the freshly blinded remained behind to handle the exorcism while the rest of the party sought to take on the troll on the floor above. Lyons and Baker advanced into the chamber while Blileninane prepared a stone missile from concealment. For reasons unknown, the troll appeared to be completely unharmed by either the colossal stone missile or Lyons’ blade. Baker was beaten unconscious almost immediately, forcing Lyons to conduct a fighting retreat while Blileninane used the last of his strength to drag the holy warrior from the chamber.
The company withdrew in some disorder and returned to Bea's position rather desperate for healing, having been bruised both physically and psychologically. Considerable discussion followed regarding how best to kill a seemingly immortal troll, mostly fixating on the idea that it should be ignored. At long last, the party returned to exploration. Beyond the destroyed axe trap they discovered a flooded chamber with water reaching nearly to the knees. At the far end stood an altar. There was no obvious exit, no obvious treasure, and no obvious means of interacting with the room. After making a concerted effort to observe and theologically analyze the altar, no progress was made, leaving the party to explore their alternative options.
A staircase leading even deeper into the dungeon was briefly considered. Fortunately, everyone retained enough common sense to avoid descending further while already lost beneath the earth. Instead, the party searched the surrounding chambers and discovered what appeared to be cultist barracks. Several chests yielded robes, ritual knives, bottles of water, and various other belongings of questionable value. As expected, the cultists seemed to place a greater priority on demon summoning than their treasure hoarding.
Continuing onward, Blileninane listened carefully at several doors ahead. Hearing nothing, the party entered and found one of the more impressive chambers yet encountered. At the center stood an enormous statue of a wizard, nearly thirty feet tall. One hand held a magical orb. The other grasped a wand. Gemstones glittered from its eyes. Opposite the statue stood an altar bearing a bright blue rod. A healthy sense of caution and lessons learned at severe costs prevented the party from immediately touching all of these newfound artifacts.
The chambers beyond revealed a network of passages containing additional colored rods and corresponding slots set into the walls. Recalling similar devices seen elsewhere in the dungeon, the party attempted experimentation. Nobody could determine exactly what deities the rods corresponded to, or the expected order, and when Lyons inserted one of the rods into a matching slot, he was rewarded with a jet of flame powerful enough to nearly roast the entire company. The party thereafter adopted a far more sophisticated strategy, collecting every rod they could find and carrying them away so nobody else could make use of the puzzles before the party could tease out a solution.
Further exploration eventually led to the source of a distant moaning. Investigating the sound, the party discovered an elf chained to a wall and showing clear signs of torture. Upon questioning the prisoners rescued during the previous expedition, it was confirmed that the unfortunate fellow was known in town and had apparently been held captive below for some time. The captive was freed immediately and given what minimal aid the party could provide. Though somewhat battered, starved, and understandably miserable, he appeared likely to survive, and enthusiastic to take revenge on his captors.
As the group prepared to continue onward, a new sound echoed through the halls, the unmistakable sort of chanting associated with the demon worshiping cultists. The party debated its next course of action while cautiously advancing through the nearby chambers. In another barracks room they discovered yet more chests, robes, and cultist supplies, confirming that they had likely wandered deep into the heart of whatever cult was infesting the dungeon.
There, with cultists chanting somewhere ahead, prisoners in tow, a troll still alive behind them, and an increasing quantity of mysterious magical rods stuffed into backpacks, the party elected to take a break from exploration. Still, treasure had been recovered, prisoners rescued, and nobody had been permanently maimed or killed. By the standards of Bob's Berserkers, this was considered a reasonably successful delve so far.
Author's Notes
This was written using Archwizard Blileninane's in-world notes. No other notes were provided.
GM's Notes
The party has a knack for getting out of every situation that should kill them in this place just barely alive. That's a useful knack to play with, especially for the GM, as it means danger won't outright murder them. However, there are still some mysteries for them to solve.
They found the blue rod and almost immediately called it out to be similar to the ones previously found, and then went searching and found where they go. The group has no idea where they lead to. Also, my dungeon design choices have played out exactly how I wanted them to, especially with some of my more... "troll"-like monsters. (badumtss)
Character Advancement
+1pts from Loot
+1pts from Roleplay
+1pts from Exploration
+1pts from Freeing Prisoners
+0 Bonus Points
No Characters Died
Total: +5 (Ethan got 1pt for getting a share of treasure but not being present at the session)
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