| Session 27: A Dragonless Dungeon | |
|---|---|
| [[|250px]] | |
| Real World Date | Feb 28th, 2015 |
| Game Date | Jun 18 - 19, Year 0 |
| Location | Zyne Vul |
| Enemies | an Illithid and a night hag |
| NPCs | none |
| previous Session 26: Resurrection Realized |
next Session 28: The Kobold Kerfuffle |
Synopsis[]
The Party attacks the Illithid from last session, and it flees, swearing vengeance. They discover another Elven Temple and begin to explore its depths.
Full Account[]
The Illithid offers to help The Party in exchange for its freedom. So Namfoodle shoots it. Frustrated, it attempts to keep things diplomatic. It offers to guide the party to their goal in exchange for its life. Nam’s not having it. He continues to attack. The Illithid flies away, although Emilie is able to wound it again as it is casting its spell. It vaguely threatens the party and tries to leave, but Namfoodle is still on the warpath, and he knocks the squid out of the sky with a fireball. For better or for worse, the Illithid manages to planeshift away. It’s gone. But at least now it can’t stab the heroes in the back deep inside the upcoming dungeon.
Isaac pulls out the Tome of Time and notes that it is warm and vibrating. Their quarry is nearby. Isaac begins talking to the Tome of Time as though it were a person. The DM and the other players and characters look at him strangely.
Namfoodle finds a pile of loosely packed stones. He moves them aside and finds an engraving in the ground. Emilie and Kal help him clear the area. Kal notes that there is unusual stonework here. The pillars; the tower in the distance… its purpose is unclear, as is its origin.
The engraving is revealed to be yet another animal crest. This one depicts an octopus. Like in some of the previously encountered Elven ruins, this crest appears to have a seal, as though it is removable. With further examination, Namfoodle is able to slide the crest aside, revealing a vertical shaft with no sign of safe entrance.
Emilie leads the party down Isaac’s rope about 15 feet. There are three open passages at the bottom. While the party debates whether or not to make camp before exploring the depths of this ruin, the seal begins to close again…
Isaac sends Namuffin up through the hole and casts a spell to switch places with him. No one is up there; it appears to be an automatic motor. Actually, that’s comforting. Less of a chance of being followed. Isaac grabs a twig and casts Light on it. He takes first watch in the ruin while the party shelters themselves in Nam’s magic illusion house. Isaac keeps seeing hands and faces on the windows out of the corner of his eyes, but when he goes outside to check, the ruins remain empty. Kal takes second watch and feels like there is always someone right behind him. Vic suffers a vivid nightmare that exhausts him to the point of damaging his Constitution score. That’s some nasty time magic.
Namfoodle tries to scry on the escaped Illithid, but to no avail. Vic casts Augury to determine which of the three winding passages the party should take first. From the results, the party concludes that it may be best to go right first.
As The Party creeps along, a rumbling sound is heard behind them. The left path has caved in. Thanks for the augury, Vic! The Party comes to a dilapidated prison-type room with no way out other than the way they’ve entered. Isaac examines the sundry partial skeletons and finds some gold and jewels. Emilie finds, objectively, the prettiest rock in the entire room. Vic expresses his wish to have the rock. Emilie gives it to him.
Turns out some of the treasures Isaac picked up have significant healing properties. Neat! Isaac gives them to Vic for safekeeping. The cleric probably has more use for them than the rest of the heroes.
The Party retraces their steps to the entrance chamber and takes a peak toward the left. Looks like the ceiling broke. The way is completely blocked. Namfoodle finds the prettiest rock in the cave-in.
The Party now moves down the only remaining path; the middle one. A second cave-in quickly follows, smashing into Emilie and Vic. The downward slope carries the rubble in front of the party’s path and into the unexplored darkness. That’s not a good sign. As the heroes continue down the slope, they come to another vertical drop off. And this one probably has sharp rocks at the bottom now. The walls of this shaft are covered in bioluminescent fungus. This one is more on the order of 30 feet. The eerie glow suggests that another passage further below terminates part-way down this shaft.
Isaac flies Namuffin out to the midway shaft and teleports the party one by one over to that farther location. The way further down will have to be explored another time.
A wailing can be heard from deep along this tunnel. Following the sprawling octopus carvings, the party comes into a large room. There is a crystal window at the end, outside of which can be seen – the ocean. Under it, to be exact. This room is old. The window is leaking. Vibrations should be avoided at all costs. This room is actually a tower, and a spiral staircase leads up around a pillar in the center. It does not seem to be tall enough to breach sea level, so it can’t be the tower the party saw from the outside. The wailing comes from beyond the staircase. Peeking around, the heroes see a rocking figure, huddled to herself.
Namfoodle, feeling that this is the time and place for altruism, approaches the woman cautiously and hails her. Emilie draws closer as well. Isaac protests this action, saying the only valid options are killing her or ignoring her. But Namfoodle can’t pass her up in good conscience. The woman falls to her elbows, and her long white hair spills onto the floor as the sobbing intensifies. Namfoodle is very close now. The sobbing finally begins to quiet down, and the figure tries to stand. Then it sinks its teeth into Namfoodle’s shoulder.
web is a window's greatest weakness
Isaac immediately casts Web, and Namfoodle breaks the grip and runs to safety. The Party’s got a night hag on their hands. The web adds tension on the aging glass, and the heroes (and players) quake at the thought of the window imploding under the pressure of the sea. Namfoodle notes that she is holding something in her hand. Not sure what it is.
The night hag was in Vic’s nightmare last night. Hmm.
Emilie tries and fails to knock the item out of the hag’s hand. Kal drops the hag almost immediately. CR 8? More like CR LATE… as in, the late night hag… because it is dead.
Isaac identifies the hag’s item as a heartstone that prevents diseases and buffs saving throws. After ten such charges are passively applied to the user, the gem shatters and it becomes useless. Into the bag of artificerness it goes!
The spiral staircase leads up to a loft, where a door leads to a new passage. On the loft itself is a pile of junk. Scraps, wood, rubble, and sea water. But there is also a magic belt there that Isaac determines to grant a +2 STR bonus to the wearer. Emilie accepts it graciously. Through the newly discovered hallway is a new spiral staircase – this one stone instead of iron – which leads downward once more. With only a small fraction of the dungeon discovered, the party presses onward.
Notes[]
- Kal was proxied by Isaac's player.
- Namfoodle's player took over control of Vic during Internet connectivity issues