Brognor's Hall Level 2

Level Two: The Working Area

Brognor’s Hall second level was a working area for the leaders of the Refuge and a place of meeting and planning.

Wandering Monsters and Strange Occurrences (1-2 on 1d6 every 3 turns)

(1). Brognor’s Ghost - the ghost of Brognor appears in a hall at a distance from the characters. He will again warn off intruders. “This is your final warning!”, “Leave Now!”.

(2). Rats, Giant (8): AC 7, HP 2 each, MV 40’, #AT 1 bite, DMG 1-3 + disease, SA F1, ML 8, AL Neutral. A swarm of giant rats.

(3). Shadows (2): AC 7, HD 2+1, HP 15, 14, MV 30”, #AT 1 touch, DMG 1-4 +special, SA F2, ML 12, AL Chaotic. Shadows are non-corporeal creatures but are not undead although they also are not affected by sleep and charm spells. They look like real shadows and in fact will attack by coming out of the characters actual shadows. They surprise on a 1-5 on 1d6. If it touches a character it does 1-4 damage and drains 1 point of strength. This lasts for 8 turns.

(4). Tarantella (1): AC 5, HD 4, HP 28, MV 40’, #AT 1 bite, DMG 1-8 + poison, SA F2, ML 8, AL Neutral. The bite of the tarantella is poisonous. If save vs poison is failed the victim is affected by a painful toxin that causes them to twitch (dance) uncontrollably for 2-12 turns. They are at -4 to hit during this time and attackers are at +4 to hit. The dance is magical and all those viewing it must save vs Spells are join the victim in the dance. Dancers collapse from exhaustion after 5 turns and are helpless.

(5). Groaning Noise - a deep, mournful groaning noise is heard in a discernible direction. It could be a monster or just the stones of the Hold shifting.

(6). Sudden Breeze - a sudden cold breeze is felt and lasts for 1 round. Unprotected lamps or candles are blown out, torches sputter but relight.

18. Communal Hall

This is a large chamber with four large pillars holding up the 15’ high ceiling. There is a raised (2 foot) dias at the south end. Two rows of wooden benches fill the room. The recently dead bodies of four giant rats lie on the floor.

There is also a party of adventurers in this room. Megrun the wizard and his bodyguards, Tur, Henrik, Victor and Dorzas. If the the players have come to this chamber quietly they will surprise the adventurers. Henrik, Victor and Dorzas will be resting sitting on a bench near the giant rats and Megrun will be bandaging Tur who is lying on his back. If the players were not quiet (or were fighting in a nearby room) the adventurers will be onguard. One bodyguard will be hidden behind each pillar and Megrun will be behind a partially open door to area 19. He will swing the door open and yell, “Now” and they will all attack with surprise on a 1-2 on 1d6.

Megrun (1): AC 8, HD 5, HP 16, MV 40’, #AT 1 spell, DMG varies, SA M5, ML 8, AL Chaotic. Spells: Charm Person, Continual Light, Fireball.

Megrun also has a dagger but he prefers not to engage in physical combat. He is a thoroughly despicable person willing to sacrifice his bodyguards but he is also concerned for his own skin and will surrender and plead for his life if reduced to less than half his hit points. Of course he will turn on characters as soon as he gets the chance. He has a backpack with a copy of the ritual used to open the door to the Refuge, rope, iron spikes, 4 x 1,200 gold gems and 450 gold coins.

Bodyguards (4): AC 7, HD 4, HP 22, 12, 24, 23, MV 40’, #AT 1 sword, DMG 1-8, SA F4, ML 9, AL Chaotic. Each is armed with a sword and wear leather armor. They each have a pouch with 200 gold coins in it (their payment from Megrun). They are not loyal to Megrun but are each out for themselves.

19. Elaborate Chamber

This chamber was well decorated at one time, a threadbare rug lies on the floor, there are six comfortable seats, two wooden wardrobes and two wooden tables. The room has been ransacked. The wardrobes are open, one has a door hanging by one hinge, the chairs have been slashed and the stuffing pulled out and the rug is flipped over to reveal the floor beneath. A scattering of papers are all of the chamber. There is nothing to find here. Megrun’s party recently ransacked this room.

20. Guardroom

This chamber was a guardroom, there are two tables surrounded by chairs, empty weapon racks against the north and west walls and a large number of human skeletons lying on the floor clutching shields and spears.

Skeletons (12): AC 7, HD 1, HP 6 each, MV 20’, #AT 1 sword, DMG 1-8, SA F1, ML 12, AL Chaotic. They are armed with swords and carry shields.

The skeletons will animate slowly once any living being enters the chamber. They will pursue adventurers relentlessly, not stopping until all are destroyed. Even if they lose sight of players due to their slow movement they will continue to follow.

21. Administrator's Chamber

This chamber has a sign on the door that says “Administrator”. In the chamber there is a desk, chair, bookshelf and a small bed with a chair near it. The bed no longer has sheets and the bookshelf no longer has any books. The desk has four unlocked drawers. In the drawers are some old pieces of blank parchment that are brittle with age.

Chamber of the Pool

22. Chamber of the Pool

This is a large chamber with a 16 foot high vaulted ceiling. Empty iron torch sconces line the walls. On the north wall an old tapestry is hanging. Several wooden planks are piled beneath the tapestry. Dominating this chamber is a 15 foot in diameter pool filled with inky blue liquid. The liquid puts out a low, magic aura. The tapestry depicts a battle between an army of humans and elves fighting goblinoids lead by ogres. The humans appear to be winning.

If players move close to the water and peer into it they cannot see past the surface. Strange ripples move across the surface from the center to the edges of the pool. Residing in the pool of water is a serpent which will erupt from the pool to attack with surprise on 1-2 on 1d6.

Serpent (1): AC 6, HD 5, HP 33, MV special, #AT 1 bite, DMG 2-12, SA F5, ML11, AL Chaotic. The serpent attacks by biting with its razor sharp teeth. The serpent’s bite is poisonous and victims must save vs poison or become ill for 2d4 days. While sick they have -2 to Attack rolls and their armor class has a +2 penalty. The serpent cannot leave the pool but it is 12 feet long and can attack characters up to ten feet from the pool. If all of the characters move off and make ranged attacks it will hide beneath the surface.

Once the serpent is dead the pool will slowly clear (1 turn) revealing clear, refreshing water. The pool is ten feet deep. At the bottom of the pool is a small, metal strongbox.  The box is locked and contains three potions and a dagger+2. The potions are healing, giant strength, and antidote.

23. Confluence

This chamber is plain and bare appearing to just be a confluence of three passages. However, there is a ten foot square area in the center of the room that triggers a trap if stepped on. The trap is barrage of darts fired from the east wall. Careful examination of the room before entering would reveal the small holes in the east wall. The barrage consists of 20 metal darts each doing 1d8 damage. Every character in the chamber when the trap is tripped must save vs Death ray of be hit by 1d4 darts.

24. Library

This chamber has two walls of bookshelves. Only a handful of books remain on the shelves. The floor of the chamber is covered with loose parchments and pages from books. If the papers on the floor are searched carefully one can be found to be a magic scroll with a fly spell.

25. Storage

This chamber has a pile of wooden crates against the east wall. In total there are twelve crates. Two of the crates have been smashed open revealing the remnant of rotten food. All of the crates held perishable food that has long since rotted away.

26. False Door

The door at the end of the hall is a false door that cannot be opened. Once the latch of the door is pulled it will come out from the door held only by a narrow metal bar. A trap will be triggered once the latch is pulled. Gas billows into the room and the far door locks. The gas is flammable and will explode in 1d4 rounds if it contacts an exposed flame. The explosion causes 2d6 points of damage to all within the hallway. The door remains closed until unlocked or smashed open.

27. Fuel Store

There are 14 barrels stacked in this chamber along the west wall, two barrels high. The barrels have leaked a dark viscous substance all over the floor of this room. The material is flammable pitch. Walking through the chamber is done at half speed and the players boots will become covered with sticky, flammable pitch.

28. Apprentices Forge

This chamber was the sleeping quarters for the apprentice smiths working in the forge (area 30). All that remains now are four wooden beds without sheets or blankets on them and four empty footlockers.

29. Smith’s Room

This chamber was the sleeping quarters of the master smith of the forge. There is a small bed, a table with three chairs and two large cabinets that are closed. In the cabinets there are a number of half finished weapons, 3 swords without pommels, and 12 ax heads. All are serviceable quality but none are special.

30. Foundry

There is a large stone forge in the center of this chamber. Above the forge is a stone vent that leads to outside the side of the rock. Around the forge are a number of anvils. Piles of metal lie about the room. But the piles are just mounds of rusty flakes. Hidden in one pile of rust is a rust monster.

Rust Monster (1): AC 2, HD 5, HP 28, MV 40’, #AT 1, DMG special, SA F3, ML 7, AL Neutral. If a character hits a rust monster or a rust monster hits a character with its antenna it will cause any metal armor or weapons to immediately rust so that they are unusable and worthless. Magic weapons or armor lose one plus per hit. This rust monster has become fat on the trove of metal that it has found.

31. Valued Stores

The door to this small 5 foot square room is locked. It is an old iron lock that is simple but rusty so it requires a normal lock pick attempt. Inside there are shelves on the three walls facing the door. Lying on these shelves are four wooden boxes. Two broken wooden boxes lie on the floor.

Box one contains four silver candlesticks worth 30 gold each.

Box two holds a finely made dagger. It is a cursed dagger-1.

Box three holds a plain looking sword but it is magic sword +1.

Box Four has an elaborate gold linked chain with a pendant. The pendant depicts a rock outcrop (that looks like the rock of the hold) with twin lightning bolts striking it. It is non-magical but worth 500 gold..

32. Storeroom

This room holds many wooden crates of various sizes. A total of 24 wooden crates, the largest is 2 feet square. The crates all hold bed sheets, blankets and towels.

33. Recreation Room

This room has three tables and a dozen chairs. A few of the chairs are knocked over. On the east wall there are two wooden bullseye. Each is chipped and cracked from apparently being repeatedly struck by daggers.

34. Meeting Room

There are four large, round tables in this room. Three chairs are stacked on each table. A trail of dark splatters leads through the room. The splatter is long-dried blood and it leads to area 35.

35. Meeting Room

There are two tables in this room and nine chairs. Two of the chairs are broken into bits and one table lies on its side. On the floor is a dismembered corpse of a long dead human man. Six horrible, bestial creatures clad in rags cluster about the corpse. One has the corpses arm in its mouth. The six creatures are ghouls who have found a long dead corpse.

Ghouls (6): AC 6, HD 2, HP 15, 14, 14, 12, 12, 12, MV 30’, #AT 2 claws/1 bite, 1-3 each +special, SA F2, ML 9, ALChaotic. The touch of a ghoul will paralyze unless a Save vs paralysis is made. The paralysis lasts 2-8 turns unless dispelled.

36. Guardroom

There are metal shields attached to the west wall of this room with crossed spears behind each shield. In the room are three wooden chairs in a rough circle. The shields are hooked on the wall but are serviceable. The spears are bolted to the wall and are not useable.

37. Hall of Contemplation

There is a large statue of a human man. The man wears simple clothes, is bald and has a stern expression. This is a statue of Nebus (god of judgement) carved to look like Brognor. Before the statue are two, low wooden benches. There is a tripwire at ankle height stretched across the room in front of the statue. It is nearly impossible to see. If the tripwire is broken a series of darts fire from the wall striking anyone in line with the tripwire. They do no damage but they are coated with poison. Victims must save vs poison or be paralyzed for 2d12 turns.

38. Temple Antechamber

This is an open area along the passage. Another passage enters from the south. A large puddle of grey, brackish water fills the center of the room. The puddle is about eight feet in diameter. It is actually a gray ooze.

Gray Ooze (1): AC 8, HD 3, HP 22, MV 3’, #AT 1, DMG 2-16, SA F2, ML12, AL Neutral. The ooze moves very slowly but attacks until destroyed. A hit from the ooze strikes clothing or armor first dissolving it in one round (magic armor takes a full turn to destroy) once it reaches skin it does 2d8 points of damage per round. The ooze is unharmed by cold or fire.

39. Vestments Chamber

The door to this room is locked. Inside is a room with wooden lined walls. The wood walls form closets with many woolen robes hanging in them. Most of the robes are dried out and crumble when handled. But one of the robes is an Elven Cloak (move silently, only seen on a 1 on 1d6).

40. Trapped Hall

The door here leads to a long passage. On the wall facing the door there is the carved face of a lion with its mouth open in a roar. Five feet from the door at the point at which the corridor turns there is a tripwire at the height of 3 feet. If it is tripped, a roar of fire will blast out of the mouth of the lion doing 2d4 damage to all creatures between the door and the lion head. The lion has enough fuel to roar twice, so it could be reset if the tripwire is set up again.

Dungeon Level 2

Once more into the Void Session 24

An Unpleasant Surprise 

Looking down the stair I could see only darkness. I opened up the shutters on my lantern a little further and pointed it to my left and my right. The beam of light illuminated a rough stone stair descending to a natural looking cave.

“Do we want to descend here? Or try somewhere else”, Mukah asked.

Talrek said, “I expect all of the stairs down lead to the same area. Let’s descend here.”

Mukah nodded and walking quickly down the steps motioning for the rest of us to stay back and give him a little bit of a lead. After a few steps, I could barely see Mukah. But he must have motioned us forward because he was soon followed by Talrek and Alcor. I glanced at Thyrell standing still in the hall with Tinda. The Drow waved me on. Stepping gingerly, I made my way down the stair. The walls of the cavern glistened with moisture. The cave did look natural with only a few signs that it was worked by hands.

To my left, the cave extended into darkness. To my right was a pile of rubble amongst stalagmites. A small passage wound around it. Mukah and Alcor were already picking their way through the rubble to the passage.  Talrek glanced at the stonework, seemed satisfied with something and moved to follow the other two. Looking at the passage I realized it would be a tight fit for me. It was probably a dead end anyway. Time for a snack. I reached into a pocket in my robe and withdrew some ham, cheese and dried out bread. Tearing off a piece of bread I jammed the bread meat and cheese in my mouth and chewed savoring the flavor. If only I still had some wine.

“Rats!” I heard Mukah yell. Immediately I assumed the half-orc had tripped another trap. But mere moments later I heard yelling and grunting from Alcor and Mukah and the sound of swords and spears striking squeaking rats.

“Just some rats, can you handle it?” I shouted.

I shifted my bulk and strained to hear the commotion. If it was just rats I was sure the three could handle it. I glanced at Thyrell. The Drow was beginning to move toward the passage. But then he stopped realizing that would leave me to protect our rear. Just then I heard the squeaking of a number of rats coming from the darkness to my left.

“Thyrell”, I hissed, motioning for him to wait.

I began thinking about the details of my sleep spell. Quickly, and silently a number of giant rats raced out of the darkness toward the stair. But then turned, seeing me and raced toward me. The details of my sleep spell vanished from my mind. Tinda let out a bloodcurdling growl and one of the rats coming toward me turned in a circle seemingly chasing its tail as if unsure of whether to attack or flee.

“Manibus stuppea Flamma!” I shouted and flames quickly burst from my fingers, engulfed my hands and then poured outward in a cone of flames. I swept my hands from left to right over the enormous rats bending the flames to my will so that they parted around Tinda and Thyrell. In a moment the magic was gone and the flames with it. But I could see that two of the rats were engulfed in flames and no longer moving. To my left, I heard Thyrell’s bowstring sang, an arrow flew past and sunk into a giant rat killing it. I could hear Thyrell drawing one of his swords as the rats drew closer to us. Three rats lunged at my waist, I twisted out of the way as best I could but I felt sharp teeth piercing my thigh. Looking down I could see blood staining a tear in my robe.

“Telum magicum ignis!”

As I spoke the magic words and finished the hand gestures, three bolts of magic flew from my hands striking two of the giant rats. The rats screeched but kept attacking. By now I started to edge back toward the stair. Thyrell and his wolf Tinda were drawing the giant rats off to my left, I could see blood streaming from Thyrell’s leg and Tinda’s mid-section. Talrek the dwarf appeared on my right swinging his hammer at the rats. A final giant rat turned to run toward the stair and I pulled out one of my daggers and hurled it at the fleeing rat. The dagger tumbled clumsily end over end and incredibly struck the rat sinking into its neck. The rat staggered a few feet and collapsed dead. Call me Rat Slayer I thought and silently laughed.  The first time I used that dagger since buying it months ago.

Mukah and Alcor came back into the chamber from the passage. Both sporting several bite marks and open wounds.

“Okay, everyone come together”, Talrek motioned us to the center of the cave. The dwarf got down on one knee and chanted a prayer to his god for a few minutes. A golden light began to emanate from his hands spreading outward. As it reached me I felt the exhaustion lift and the pain from my wounds recede. Looking down at my thigh I could see that the rat bite wound was completely healed. Mukah, who had taken the most bites, looked much better as well.

“Thanks, Talrek”, Alcor said. We all nodded in respect to the cleric. Thyrell still looked a little worse for wear. He reached into his pack and removed a clay jar that I realized was one of the healing salves we found in Winterdon. As Thyrell spread the salve on the rat bites on his leg, Mukah poked about in the rubble.

“See nuthin” Mukah grunted.

“Say, guys. Did it seem like those rats were running from something?” Thyrell asked. Talrek nodded. “Let’s keep alert for something worse.”

I wandered over to the piles of rubble to the south. I could see the rat tracks came through the rubble. Looking up I could see a path through the rubble.

“I think we go this way”, I said.

“Do we not want to continue to the west?” Talrek said.

“Let’s check here first”, I said. Mukah nodded and began climbing through the loose stones and debris. I followed. There was actually a path of sorts. Past the stone debris the cave opened up again with a passage to the left and a cave to the right. I played my lantern light around as Alcor, Talrek, Thyrell, and Tinda followed us into the cave.

Mukah advanced to the south, paused and then jumped back. Instantly I was on guard.

“What is it?” Talrek hissed.

“The ground is spongy here”, Mukah said loudly in a puzzled tone of voice. “Well don’t stand on it,” I said. “Take my staff”.

I handed my quarterstaff to the large half-orc. Mukah looked at it holding it in one hand like he did not know what to do with it. Then he began tapping the stone area of the floor south of us near the west wall of the cave. The staff strangely did not produce a tapping noise. It did not sink in but the cave floor gave slightly under its push.

Talrek moved up and looked intently at the stone floor. “I never…”, said the bemused dwarf. “I mean I don’t know what could cause this.” Talrek glanced up. “But I can see the outline of a door in the wall here”. Talrek pointed at the cave wall behind the door.

“Is there any way to open it”, said Thryell.

Talrek looked at the door some more. “There is a stone protruding here, I think it will open the door”.

“Can we get to the door without stepping on the spongy area?” I asked.

Talrek shook his head.

“Mukah uses the staff to strike the stone,” Talrek said.

Mukah took the staff, stretched over the suspicious are of stone floor and struck the protruding rock. The rock moved down, there was a clicking noise and the outline of a door became more visible. Then the half-orc pushed against the door with the staff. The stone wall slowly pivoted inward.

Suddenly, the opening flung open. Mukah dropped my quarter-staff in surprise. Blocking the entire doorway was a glistening mass of flesh, easily ten-foot-wide and six foot tall. As I watched in horror, I could see dozens of eyes and mouths on the surface of the mass of flesh. Protrusions waved about from the mass like tentacles, the eyes appeared to be aware and moved from side to side while the mouths were full of sharp teeth.

We all stepped back in horror and then the mouths began to sing, chatter, scream and shout filling the cave with noise but I felt like the voices were directly in my head. One protrusion shot out at Alcor and missed. A mouth opened and spit yellow liquid at me. I ducked to the side and the spittle passed over me and hit the cave wall.

The voices grew louder in my head, I could see Mukah and Thyrell fighting the same voices in their heads with less success. Mukah appeared frozen in horror, while Thyrell fired an arrow wildly, narrowing missing a yowling Tinda. As I watched Thyrell dropped his bow in horror.

Only Alcor managed to act. The tiefling monk struck at the mass with his spear and followed up with a kick. The mass of flesh, eyes, and teeth recoiled and a mouth came to the surface of the flesh opened and spit a spray of liquid in the faces of Mukah and Alcor.

“I’m blinded,” Alcor cried out.

“Manibus stuppea Flamma!”, I cried out and flames roared from my hands engulfing the horrifying blob. The flesh blackened, and flaked off, eyes exploded and mouths screamed in agony. Talrek also broke free of the horror and chanted out to his god. A bolt of blazing light crashed down into the creature. Still blinded Mukah swung widely at the creature and missed.

Alcor slashed at the creature with his spear. A long gash opened up in the creature’s mass. Stepping forward, Alcor reached into the gash, yanked and came out with some sort of organ that he held up and crushed in his hand with a sickening squelch. The creature’s mouths cried out in unison. The mass slowly fell to the cave floor and as I watched it began to dissolve and disappear before my eyes.

Thyrell cried out in relief, followed by Mukah and myself, while Talrek handed Alcor a rag to wipe the slime off of his hand.

Thyrell moved over to pick up his bow and Talrek checked into the room the creature was guarding. Sighing I leaned over and looked at the dissolving remains on the floor. Clearly a creature of magic and now it was returning to the aether. Interesting and horrifying.

I stepped over the remains and joined Talrek in a small cave. There was a bowl-shaped depression in the cave floor, presumably where the creature was resting. Near the wall, I just made out an area of earth that was disturbed. Stepping over I could see an area about 2 feet square that had been dug up at some point in the past.

“There might be something here!” I said excitedly and waved the rest over.

The Gibbering Mouther

Mukah picked up my quarterstaff and prodded at the dirt. There was a distinct thudding noise of wood on metal. Bending over, Mukah brushed the dirt away to reveal a metal strongbox, corroded and old looking. The half-orc grasped the box tightly and pulled it from the earth.

We all took a step back and looked it over. Talrek bent down and looked it over carefully. “It does not look like there are locks or traps”. “Oto?”

I examined the box from a safe distance and then nodded that it looked safe. Talrek steeled himself and tentatively flipped the lid open. Inside I could see a half dozen small stone figures. They looked finely crafted.

“These are worth a fair bit in the right market”, Talrek said as he picked up one of the figures. “Don’t know what they are, or how old they are.”

I barely heard him. Nestled in the bottom of the box was a long, slender, scroll tube. Could it be? Talrek glanced at me, smiled, then picked up the scroll tube and handed it to me. “This is probably best for you.”

Eagerly I turned the tube over in my hands. I could see ancient yellowed parchment rolled up inside. Slipping it out I could see arcane symbols and letters on the parchment. But it was incredibly old, I could barely make out recognizable symbols.

“It's ancient. And it's a magic spell!” I said. “A powerful one!” I carefully returned the parchment to the scroll case. This was going to require some study.

“And look, there is a potion in the box as well!” Talrek held up a glass vial full of red liquid. He peered at it intently opened it and sniffed it. “I believe this is a potion of healing.”

I looked about at the ragged crew. I was almost out of magic. Mukah was covered in small bites, Thyrell and Alcor looked exhausted.

Talrek spoke before I could, “Time for a rest I think”.

__________________________________________________________

This week we had almost a full crew, just down one. Strangely that one character was the key person in our fight with the Gibbering Mouther. Things might have gone very badly if Alcor Fenn had not passed all his saving throws.

The giant rats actually took as long to fight as the gibbering mouther and did more damage. Their group tactics were quite formidable.

Raven's Roost Inn

I got an idea to create some Fantasy town scenes in Blender by using the templates and textures from one of the "print your own dungeon" tiles products.  I purchased a basic town pack of five buildings from Fat Dragon Games on RPG Now and went to work.

I figured I could use them to create images for a town in my Stillwater setting. Pirn to be specific.

The Raven's Roost Inn in Pirn

The first trial I used cubes and thinned them down to give the walls thickness but really that is not necessary and causes problems when folding. So after making one building, I dropped that idea.

The first attempt did look like its cardboard/paper origins

Then I went with plains in blender. Imported the pdf as an image. Cut the plain to the shapes on the template. Imported that same image as a texture and added it to the shapes. Matching it up was not hard. Then I “folded” the plains in blender just as you would do with paper or cardboard. I merged the pieces together so there was no cracks.

As an added touch I extruded areas that should be thick, like the roof of the building. Inset doors and windows, and extruded shutters. Finally, I changed the window textures to translucent and put some light in the buildings. I even put one character mesh inside the building in front of the window to limited success.

Using thinner surfaces to make folding easier

It works out pretty well. I still believe a more traditional approach to the buildings would likely look more realistic. But this was pretty quick. Once buildings are complete it is quite easy to copy them and add balconies or upper stories that are different to provide more variety.

A sneak thief I created to put on a rooftop

Once more into the Void Session 23

Once More into the Void Session 23

We had a short session this week. Two players were missing and it felt right to stop after one encounter. It took us 5 rounds and about an hour of real time to dispatch 3 goblins and a pair of giant lizards. Not our greatest hour but a few of the characters did level up to 4.

My character Otrivush Oto was in the background for much of the action so I will summarize the events for the players that were not able to make it before I relate things from Oto’s point of view.

Fumbles and stumbles

Last time, the delvers descended into the dungeon beneath a lonely keep in the mountains searching for the necromancer. Announcing themselves far and wide by loudly battering down a door they had a pitched battle with a number of goblins and an orog.

When this session began the players were “safely” resting behind a locked door in the torture chamber they had found. Oto and Alcor went to sleep while Thyrell, Muah, and Talrek kept watch. Talrek heard whispering outside the door and the latch moved but whoever it was moved on.

The delvers went down the hallway open now because of the smashed doors. Beyond they passed through a few rooms and halls that showed the signs of recent inhabitants. In a pile of broken weapons, Oto found two usable daggers.

In a chamber with a curtained off area, a cleaner bed is discovered. Oto searches and finds a secret door. Beyond the door is a stair down. A “tink, tink” noise of metal on rock can be heard in the distance. Mukah snuck forward keeping to the shadows and entered an enormous rough hewn room. Apparently a recent excavation. The entrance and some ledges at a higher elevation (10 feet above the cave floor) that are connected by rickety planks.

Mukah spots three goblin archers on a far ledge and two giant lizards on the cavern floor. As he examines the area the goblins open fire and one arrow hits Mukah. Mukah and Alcor run down a ramp into the lower level, Talrek, Oto and Thyrell keep to the higher area. One goblin drops down into the lower area and climbs on a giant lizard. Thyrell reduces the number of archers by one by killing one with an arrow. The giant lizard running about lose without a rider climbs up above Alcor and swipes at him.

Alcor moves on across the cavern floor toward the remaining archer. The giant lizard swings at Alcor and misses. Talrek is badly mauled by the giant lizard, he tries to attack but misses and falls off the side of the ledge to the floor below (rolled a 1 to hit then a 1 on his Dexterity save). Thyrell moves up near the lizard after deftly running across the unstable plank. But he promptly loses his footing and swings wide (rolled a 1 to hit).

Oto casts magic missile on that lizard badly hurting it. The next round Tinda races up and rips out the throat of the lizard killing it. Oto cast firebolt at the goblin lizard rider but badly misses and almost hits Mukah who has to dive out of the way (Oto rolled a 1 to hit).

Alcor tries to climb up the slope to attack the goblin archer. But he stumbles and falls back down (rolled a 1). Mukah cleaves the goblin riding the giant lizard completely in half at the waist. Thyrell gets his balance fires an arrow at the goblin archer and it misses completely.

The giant lizard that still has half a goblin on its back flees the chamber down the corrider running into a surprsied Oto. Oto hits the lizard with shocking grasp but only does 1 point of damage. The lizard bites Oto who cries out for help. Thyrell turns and fires an arrow through the lizard’s eye killing it.

The last goblin tries to sneak further into the chamber but Talrek casts sacred flame setting it on fire. Then Alcor finally climbs up on the ledge, tosses a dart hitting the goblin in the head and killing it.

Wrapping up Thyrell did a quick search of the bodies and found 23 silver coins. The delvers moved to a nearby corrider and another stair leading down.

A few goblins should be easy to get past

Goblins and Lizards

Oto stood before the headmaster attempting not to sway. His stomach rumbled a warning. The headmaster continued to write notes in his book but Oto could see Headmaster Toven scowl.

Finally, Toven put down his quill and looked up at Oto with a cold look in his eyes.

“Drunk again, I see,” he said shaking his head.

“Well, Weaponmaster Marcus can work that out of you!”

Oto groaned under his breath. Not the weaponmaster. He hated the drills with staves. Marcus always made a point of making sure Oto left the practice beaten, covered in welts.

“You object to the punishment?” Toven asked raising an angry eyebrow.

Oops, maybe that groan was not in my head afterall.

“Oto get up, get up!”

I groaned and rolled over on the hard, stone floor. I was not back at the Academy in Candlekeep. I was in this stinking, cold dungeon off on a foolhardy adventure. At least my head was clear. Although I could really use a nip of something. I checked my wineskin. Unfortunately, it was dry. Emptied days okay. I groaned aloud this time.

“You rested, Oto?” Talrek asked looking over at Oto. I waved him off. “Yes, I got enough sleep, I was just dreaming of someplace else”.

“Well, while you were dreaming something tried the door to this chamber last night”, Talrek said.

“What did”

“I do not know. I let it be and stayed quiet and it moved on”, replied Talrek.

I nodded, stood and gathered my belongings, taking a swig of flat, unpleasant water.

Thyrell, Mukah and Alcor were already packed and ready to go. Apparently, they had let me sleep in. Even Thyrell’s pet wolf Tinda looked at me in askance. I waved them on and took up my customary position in the middle of the group. Where it was safest.

“Let’s go”

In the hallway beyond the bodies left behind by the previous days, melee were strewn about the floor. Apparently unmoved. The large double door to another hall lay on the floor where they had fallen. I glanced at Mukah who grinned in satisfaction at his handiwork. Motioning to follow him, Mukah moved off briskly down the hall, stepping over the doors.

I paused to unshutter my ever-burning magic lamp. A dim glow filled the hallway. Beyond was an area that looked to be a sleeping area for goblins. Only goblins would sleep in such filth. Straw pallets covered in rags lay on the floor. The smell of urine and feces filled the air. Placing a sleeve before my face I grimly followed Mukah into the hall. Glancing at a table along the wall I could see an interrupted meal of some kind of meat, possibly a rat. Grimacing I rubbed my empty tummy. Defintely something that puts off the appetite.

Mukah waved, “C’mon”. Following Mukah we headed down the hall and into two rooms but there was little to investigate. In what appeared to be a primitive smithy, complete with a forge I found two daggers that looked at least usable. I added them to my pack after offering them to Thyrell who showed little interest in them.

At the end of the hall was another pair of double doors. Exercising caution Mukah listened at the door. Then stood up and loudly said, “Can’t hear nothin!” I grimaced at the noise. But we had already made such a loud statement on entering the dungeon I was certain whatever we encountered would be ready for us. Mukah tried the door but could not open it.

“Should I go get the door opener” Mukah grinned and waved back to down the hall. Presumbedly he meant the wooden battering ram he had fashioned. I remembered the key I had found on the body of the orog the previous day. Reaching into my pouch I pulled out the key and handed it to Mukah.

“Try this first!”

Mukah held the iron key in his hand disdainfully and placed it in the lock. There was a loud click and the  doors swung open. In the next room, there were a pair of cleaner beds and a large, dirty curtain blocking off one corner of the room. Mukah moved cautiously forward and peered behind the curtain. Then his shoulders relaxed and he signaled the all clear. Mukah pulled the curtain back to reveal a bed and table. Looking at the bed I was surprised to see it actually appeared to have reasonably clean sheets on it. As the rest of the group milled about, I walked forward and looked intently at the bed. Something was off. Scratching the stubble on my chin I walked around the bed. There were marks on the floor like the bed had been recently moved.

“Mukah, can you pull back that curtain to give me some room?”

Mukah grunted and grabbed a handful of curtain yanking the entire curtain down and throwing it on the floor.

“Talrek, see the marks on the floor? I think there is a door here”

I turned my attention to the wall behind the bed. Spotting the outline of a door I felt along the stone wall until my hands came upon a small, loose stone. Pushing against the stone to see if it moved I heard a click. Then the door slowly swung open with a low groaning noise. I turned to smile at the rest of the group. Talrek seemed taken aback.

“Beginner’s luck is what it is,” Talrek said.

“After you,” I replied.

Mukah lead the way followed by Talrek, Thyrell and Tinda with Alcor bringing up the rear. To the right was a stone stair leading up into darkness. To the left was a hallway that seemed to lead into a larger chamber. From the left came the sound of metal striking stone.

“Tink, tink, tink.”

Three hits followed by a pause and then three hits again.

We paused for a minute listening. Then Mukah hand motioned that he would sneak forward to investigate. The half-orc moved to the shadows along the wall and advanced into darkness until he disappeared from my vision. After what seemed like a long wait, there was the sound of several arrows being fired, followed by a grunt of pain from Mukah.

“Goblins!”

The clink of arrows hitting stone could be heard in the direction Mukah disappeared. Alcor and Talrek rapidly raced to Mukah’s aid. Thyrell glanced at back at me, hand motioning caution then he to jogged into the darkness followed by his wolf Tinda.

I crept forward cautiously. After about twenty feet I entered a large, rough hewn cavern. I was standing on a stone platform ten or twelve feet above the cavern floor. Some other platforms could be seen in the chamber. They appeared to be connected by a series of makeshift wooden plank bridges. In front of me, I could see Alcor and Mukah had descended to the cavern floor down a wooden ramp. Talrek, Thyrell and Tinda still stood on the platform. Thyrell loosened an arrow into the darkness across the cavern. More arrows flew out of the darkness toward Thyrell but missed.

“Where are they, I can’t see!” I shouted to Thyrell who seemed to be shooting at something.

Talrek pointed into the distance. “There!”

I strained my poor human sight but could only see darkness. An arrow flew out of that darkness and narrowly missed my head. Scrambling back to the corridor I ducked out of range of the unseen archers. Peering around the corner I could see Thyrell release another arrow. A moment later a horrible scream could be heard in the distance.

“Got one,” said Thyrell.

There was the thud of heavy clawed feet from toward the cavern and I saw an enormous lizard the size of a bear climb up on a nearby platform. Its teeth snapping and one front claw swinging at someone below. Thyrell cursed and ran quickly across the thin wooden plank toward the lizard drawing his swords.

To my left in the darkness I could now hear Mukah crying out in furious rage. It sounded like the half-orc had found something to kill. Suddenly, the giant lizard came racing over the wooden plank and bit deeply into Talrek’s side shaking him from side to side. Talrek cried out in pain.

“Telum magicum ignis!” I cried out as three bursts of magic raced from my hand and struck the lizard in the mid-section. It dropped Talrek and reared back eyeing me. I started to edge back further into the corrider. Up the ramp, Tinda’s white form raced like a bolt of lightning and tackled the lizard. Tinda leaped away and the lizard fell lifeless to the floor, its throat torn out, blood spilling in a pool around it. Tinda then ran across the thin plank to follow Thyrell.

Seeing no dangers in my range of sight I moved forward onto the platform again to Talrek's side. Talrek stumbled to his feet, placed one hand on the bloody wound on his side and spoke some words in dwarvish. His hand glowed blue and the wound seemed to seal itself, the blood stopped flowing.

Looking about I could only see Mukah, Thyrell, and Alcor having moved out of my range of sight. To my right, I could see Mukah swinging his longsword widely, like it was a tiny dagger, at a goblin on the back of another giant lizard.

“Ignis Infundere!”

A bolt of fire flew out of my hand. But once I cast the spell I realized I had miscalculated the direction of the goblin. The bolt of fire missed the goblin and also just barely missing Mukah.

Mukah, yelled in anger. But he swung again at the goblin cutting the creature in half. I stared incredulously as the top half of the goblin toppled forward over the head of the lizard and fell to the cavern floor. The lizard went wild racing out of Mukah’s reach and right up to the platform toward me. I turned and ran back into the corrider. I could hear the lizard's steps pounding behind me. Turning I braced against the wall as the giant lizard bared down on me. Its eyes wild with terror. Just as the lizard swung by me I reached out with one hand grabbing a scaly leg.

“Fulgar Manus”, I yelled. Electricity arced from my hand blazing into the lizard. It reared back in pain. But then stopped running and turned snapping its huge jaws at me. I ducked out of its reach.

“Help!”

An arrow flew out of nowhere sinking into the eye of the giant lizard, the lizard stumbled and fell to the ground at my feet its legs still twitching. Looking into the chamber I could see Thyrell giving me a sardonic salute before turning and firing more arrows into the darkness. There was another cry of pain from the chamber that sounded to have come from a goblin.

“All clear”, Talrek shouted. Probably mainly for my benefit.

I walked stiffly back into the large chamber. Adjusting the lamp for the maximum brightness I could see three dead goblins and the dead giant lizard. Only my companions still moved about. Thyrell was busy cutting open a pouch on a dead goblin.

“Hey, we have a few silver coins here” he said with satisfication.

I reached down for my wineskin on my belt. The forlorn, empty bag mocked me for the second time this day.

“Damn”