SESSION TWELVE (08.23.10)
Starday the 1st of Flocktime, CY 576
“The Dungeons”
Level three of the dungeons below
The Castle of the Mad Archmage
Cast of Characters
Dantry the Elven Warrior/Seer (2nd level Fighting-Man, 2nd level Magic-User)
Fen Sen the Conjurer (3rd level Magic-User)
Galathos the Swordsman (3rd level Fighting-Man)
Old Man Halgron the Priest of St. Cuthbert (3rd level Cleric)
“Harolde” hired lantern-bearer/porter
“Karhle” hired lantern-bearer/porter
“Willim” hired lantern-bearer/porter
MIA: Gloin the Dwarven Warrior (2nd level Fighting-Man)
Turning to the prisoners the party… dispatched one and slapped the other awake.
Now that he had calmed down from the battle, Old Man Halgron realized that the creatures were hobgoblins and that he had some familiarity with their language. Informing the party of this they began questioning the creature. Deciding to take a slightly different tact with this prisoner than the last several they struck a deal: the party agreed to let the hobgoblin go after he escorted them out of the territory claimed by his tribe (the Flesh Renders) and directed them to the territory of the Bloody Axe orcs.
Dutifully, the hobgoblin led them through the winding passageways past a room he referred to as the Flesh Renders’ shrine and a second room that he said held more carnivorous apes. After showing the party a hidden leg-catching pit trap he opened the door onto a long corridor, instructed the party to follow it, and gave them the number of paces between turns. His end of the bargain completed the hobgoblin began moving back to his tribe’s territory.
At this Galathos became angry; he apparently had misunderstood the deal, quite possibly due to an error in the translation (handled by Old Man Halgron) from the Common tongue to the hobgoblin dialect of goblinoid. After some deliberation the party allowed the hobgoblin to depart. Once the creature was gone Galathos informed the party that he was headed back to the hobgoblin shrine to desecrate it. Arguing against him, Fen Sen was worried that angering the hobgoblin tribe would decrease their chance of leaving the Dungeons safely. Losing the argument the Conjurer began casting an enchantment on the Swordsman, who upon hearing Fen Sen’s chanting turned back and threw his club. Fen Sen managed to get his spell off first and Galathos’ club erringly hit the wall beside his head. The Fighting-Man dropped to the floor of the corridor in a loud metallic crash that echoed down the corridor and was fast asleep before his helmeted head hit the ground.
Apparently roused by the sound of a nearly seven foot tall muscle bound warrior in full plate armor dropping to the ground the party was surprised by another floating pearlescent bubble. Not knowing what else to do the party hugged the walls of the corridor and hoped that the bubble would pass them by as it bounced in the air down the corridor towards them at an incredibly slow pace. Declining to walk away from the bubble they held their ground as it approached. As the bubble neared the Magic-User and Halgron (the first pair) it changed trajectory and bounced towards Halgron’s head. Perhaps slowed by his fascination of the mystical object he did not manage to duck and throw his shield up in time and took the brunt of the explosion which also caught Fen Sen and one of the porters (the next pair). Halgron and Fen Sen were seriously wounded and the poor hireling’s scorched corpse dropped to the ground.
With the threat apparently over and the Fighting-Man still slumbering in his ensorcelled sleep, Fen Sen took Galathos’ maps and copied the corridors back to the surface down on a piece of his own parchment. Taking his remaining porter with him and barely speaking to the stunned party he departed off into the darkness. As the light from Fen Sen’s porter’s lamp retreated in the darkness the party collected their senses. Awakening Galathos, they followed Fen Sen’s path but he had already vanished. Deciding to rest up before progressing they holed themselves up in the secret rooms they had previously found and sealed the only entrance. With the Priest of St. Cuthbert sleeping, resting, and praying Dantry, Galathos, and his porter, Willim, took turns keeping watch. When the party was fully rested and one of the Cleric’s new spells cast to aid in their healing the party began pulling the stone blocking the secret entrance away. Hearing the crash of metal on stone immediately outside their resting place the Fighting-Man stopped. The sound of snarling and chest-thumping apes quickly began a chorus in the room outside.
As the party waited trying to figure out how they were going to get out of their predicament, a guttural voice called out in hobgoblin. Again handling the translation for the party, Halgron brokered a deal with the hobgoblin chief (a fine specimen of a hobgoblin named Klvdart). Two of the Flesh Renders would accompany the party and in exchange for battling their rivals, the Bloody Axes, they would be allowed free passage through the Flesh Render territory. Not in much of a position of arguing, and finding the deal agreeable the party accepted the chief’s terms.
The remaining members of the party followed the hobgoblin braves (for they soon learned that the two creatures were un-tested and un-bloodied youths) quickly and quietly through the winding passages. Spotting a set of double-doors halfway through their trip they were informed by their un-named hobgoblin guides (who would not be given names until after they were tested in battle) that beyond the doors was a staircase defended by dwarves that led to the surface. As the party progressed they were met up by Brother Samuel, another Cleric of St. Cuthbert. After exchanging pleasantries with Halgron, they continued on until they arrived at the trapped intersection before the orcish territory. As adventurers are wont to do, they did pause momentarily to inspect the pit traps. Thinking that two of the four traps seemed interesting, the party sent Brother Samuel down into the pit containing the skeletal remains of an adventurer. After claiming the coins and sword that the adventurer had left behind, the party pulled Brother Samuel back out. Climbing down into the pit with the orcish corpse and smoke the Cleric discovered that the smoke was noxious and had to cough off the sleepiness that was hitting him. Managing to stay awake he found that the orc was still alive, just deep in slumber. Clubbing the orc to death, Samuel claimed the orc’s possessions and was again pulled up out of the pit. Readying themselves for conflict the party stepped past the southernmost pit and…
Coin: 10 gold orbs, 20 silver nobles, 20 copper commons
KIA: 1 sleeping orc
Treasure: used, rusty sword
Experience: 8 each (32 total)
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