After returning to Greyhawk, I tried carousing again. Of course, I failed to gain any experience. This time, instead of sporting a new tattoo, I instead blew my money earning a reputation as the life of the party. That's what happens when you buy a few rounds, you attract sycophantic friends who bleed your purse dry!. After restocking and carousing, I was broke again so that means another delve into the dungeon!
SESSION FIVE (05.10.10)
Moonday the 17th of Coldeven, CY 576
Galathos the Warrior (2nd level Fighting-Man)
Gloin the Dwarven Warrior (2nd level Fighting-Man)
Fen Sen the Seer (2nd level Magic-User)
“Frahnk” the hired lantern-bearer
Our heroes decided to return to a wide corridor running south that they had discovered earlier. On the way, Old Man Halgron bid the party farewell- choosing to return to the surface without providing any explanation other than muttering something about needing to find some purple paint. Luckily for the party, the cleric passed Gloin the carousing-loving dwarf on the way out. With the sturdy axe of the dwarven warrior aiding their fighting prowess, the party advanced down the double-wide corridor.
They eventually came to a T-intersection, with a door ahead to the south and a corridor running east and west. Heading west they inched along until they realized that the corridor was very long indeed. Not wishing to break out a fresh sheet of parchment to add to his map, Galathos talked the rest of the party into returning to the intersection and exploring east-wards.
After passing the intersection the party was greeted by a small swarm of ten giant rats. Rather than have the party waste precious time with a protracted fight against the vermin, Fen Sen stepped forward and cast the rats into a magical slumber. After exterminating the helpless creatures the party entered the room at the end of the corridor. The large room apparently served as the lair of the rat swarm, there were several scattered piles of small animal bones, with one large pile in a corner. Remembering Old Man Halgron’s recent discovery in the last pile of bones Fen Sen used his staff to sort through the piles, methodically starting in the near corner of the room and moving from one pile to another. Saving the large pile for last, Fen Sen unearthed a grimy, old blue robe. After noting that the pockets of the robe were empty the magic-user realized that the right half of the robe felt heavier. Drawing his dagger, he cut the seam of the robe and extracted a small emerald.
Leaving the soiled robe behind the party decided to return to the room with the mystery of the maze etched into the ground. From their map making and detection skills, weak though they are, the fighting-man and magic-user knew that there was something odd about that suite of rooms. Hoping that the dwarf and his strong knowledge of stonework would find the secret the party retraced their steps. Quickly noting that there did seem to be a hollow cavity hidden behind the walls Gloin went to work trying to find a mechanism or trigger to yield access. After some deliberation the adventurers decided to see if pouring some water into the grooves on the floor would have any effect. The bead of water followed the grooves in the maze-like pattern and came to pool up where one of the grooves met the wall. After a sufficient amount of water had pooled up they were rewarded with the sound of a click. Pushing the wall proved that there was a hidden pivot point unlocked by the water. Sliding the wall open with his ranseur Galathos slowly entered the room, prodding the floor as he went.
The interior of the room only deepened the mystery; the walls of the room were of smoothly polished granite with several hundred names engraved on the walls with small silver letters. Hoping that it would have some affect, the human warrior decided to read all of the names out loud. Struggling with some of the more foreign names he slowly read off every name engraved. Quite disappointed that there was no miraculous moment, Galathos hoarsely suggested that the party head back up north to where they thought the Old Guard kobolds had retreated too. Gloin, who had more than a little hatred of kobolds, agreed that it might prove to be a financially worthy venture. And with that the party wound their way through the twisting passages in search of the Old Guard.
Arriving back at the four-way intersection, the party took the east corridor- the one that they had marked on the map and left alone. Prodding the floor ahead of him Galathos stopped the party after thirty feet- he had come to a pit trap. A large section of the floor was hinged to swing open after sufficient weight, dropping the unwary victim down to an uncomfortable rest on a bed of spikes. With the rest discussing how best to circumnavigate the pit opening, Galathos carefully lowered him self down the bottom of the pit to search the skeletal remains he saw below. A small collection of coins laid spread out on the floor, with the remnants of the leather pouch rotting in pieces. Confused that the skeleton appeared to have had some coin despite also appearing to wear the remnants of manacles, the fighting-man climbed back out of the pit. Carefully treading to the end of the corridor where it turned north, Galathos peeked around the corner and spied a dense stack of piled furniture. Trying to move as quietly as possible in his plate mail, the fighting-man approached the blockade and leaned his head close to the pile and listened for any noises.
After not hearing any approaching noise and smelling the odor of oil on the furniture Galathos retreated back to the rest of the party. While pondering their next move the party heard the sound of footfalls coming down the corridor towards them from the far side of the blockade. After noting that the illumination had greatly increased in the corridor beyond the pile, Galathos sprinted to the pile and hooked his grapple deep into the pile. Again retreating, the human warrior began to pull at the furniture pile as it quickly erupted in flames. Yanking a large section of burning wood down the warrior waited for the smoke to clear then went back to the pile and began to try and push chunks of burnt wood aside to clear a passage. After much coughing, sweating, and exertion Galathos pushed aside enough of the pile to make out a wall of shields bristling with spears awaiting the party at the end of the corridor ahead. Quickly ducking, Galathos relayed what he saw to the rest of the group.
Hoping that their aim would be true Gloin and Galathos heaved flasks of flaming oil towards the massed kobolds. With Gloin’s oil exploding at the feet of the kobolds and doing naught else but scorching the shield-fronts, Galathos managed to hurl his against the wall behind the kobolds. After hearing some screaming Gloin threw a third flask and scored a hit high on the shield of the kobolds. Noting that the flask took a nice ricochet and being rewarded with more screams the two-some discussed a blazing charge.
Before the twain could push through the remnants of the blockade and storm the shield wall, the kobolds smoothly wheeled their wall back out of eyesight. After letting a little bit more smoke clear and letting the fire die down, Gloin and Galathos crept down the corridor with Franhk, Fen Sen, and Bill Harker following behind. Around the corner the corridor ended in an iron door. Gloin put his heightened hearing to the task and tried to listen for any noises through the door, but was confused by what sounded like the bleating of a goat. Realizing that the iron door was heavily fortified Galathos pulled out a piton and hammer and tried to work the spike into the doorjamb to force the door open. Galathos with the aid of the strong dwarf, the not-so-strong magic-user, Bill Harker, and Bill’s pet crow Ivan eventually managed to squeeze the door slightly open. Reaching the crowbar into the crack, the fighting-man dislodged a metal bar allowing the door to swing freely. Taking a quick inventory of the room Galathos leaned around the door just enough to spy another shield wall, this time in the southeast corner of the room. Judging the distance too great to cover in a short period of time the warrior relayed what he had seen to the others.
The next few moments proved to be a cacophony of rapid events: Fen Sen used more of his arcane talent to force just over half the massed kobolds into slumber, Gloin and Galathos charged across the empty center of the room, and the remaining kobolds loosed spears at the charging warriors. Galathos edged around the slumbering kobolds to try and attack the flank of the remaining soldiers while Gloin crashed into the center of the remaining shield wall and tried to occupy as many of the kobolds with the bashing of his axe. After trading blows with the well-trained, armed, and armored kobold soldiers the adventurers gradually turned the tide of battle in their favor. Although they each suffered some wounds at the hands of the scaly dog-like creatures, their developing skills at weapons-play eventually proved good enough to best the soldiers before them. Realizing that they were too wounded, and likely too encumbered to continue on much further they tried to seal the exits as best they could and took a closer look at the room they were in.
Three sets of stairs descended into the depths in the northern wall, two doors led to long corridors in the southern wall (one they secured with a length of rope, the other with a piton), one door led into another room in the eastern wall (they secured this door with another length of rope after noting three tables, six bowels of water, two goldfish, and another door leading out), and very strangely a three-eyed bleating goat was tied up in the northwest corner of the room. Leaving the mutated farm animal alone for now, they turned to the three stairs.
Despite Galathos’ suggestion that he lean out over the descending stairs, Bill Harker decided to send Ivan down to investigate. Not sure why the fighting-man seemed to dislike him so, the elderly man relayed his familiar’s findings: the first set of stairs descended into a pitch dark room, the second descended a greater distance to a cobwebbed chamber, and the third set descended into a room beyond a portcullis that contained a pair of huge apes and numerous creatures the crow had never seen before.
Cutting the three-eyed bleating goat free, Galathos prodded it down the first set of stairs, even going so far as to toss a torch down after it. The goat scampered away, bleating all the while. Retracing their steps out of the room the group carefully crossed the pit trap and was surprised by the bleating of the goat. The goat’s three eyes were blinking at them from around the corner leading back to the large chamber where they had fought the kobolds. The goat seemed to be following them. With the rest of the party continuing down the corridor, Galathos set a couple of traps and watched the goat stride down the corridor, stopping at the pit trap to stare and bleat at him. Muttering something about a retarded, mutated farm animal, the fighting-man caught back up to his compatriots.
Once they reached the main staircase that led back up to the surface Bill Harker announced that he and Ivan would remain behind in their search for the tunnel through the center of Oerth to Ch’in. As the party took to the stairs to climb back up to the dwarven entrance Bill announced that he had just remembered that there was a hidden, capped well about ½ mile to the west of the Castle that led down to the third level of the dungeons. With Ivan cawing on his shoulder, the befuddled man wandered off into the darkness as the party climbed the stairs on their way back to the surface and from there on back to the Free City of Greyhawk.
Experience: 219 each (657 total)
Treasure: 3 gp, 12 sp, 18 cp; small emerald
Treasure: 3 gp, 12 sp, 18 cp; small emerald
Encounters: 12 Old Guard Kobolds
Total Rooms Explored: 42
Total Rooms Explored: 42
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