The Mud Pit

As I mentioned before, I wanted to keep a few of the rooms from the original White Plume Mountain adventure. The one I especially wanted to keep was the Boiling Mud pit room and last week the players got to experience it. I did not run it exactly as written in the original module. One character fell into the boiling mud and was not instantly killed. Because I rolled low on the dice - the players had 1 round to rescue the hapless adventurer who fell.

Session 92: Perilous Pits

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Domago (human fighter), Flora (elven thief), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Aashdoshan (necromancer NPC).

The heroes take a moment while Flora and Fenris empty the small chest they found in the Manticore nest. With four tunnels leading from the large cavern, they search the rock floor for tracks. Manticore tracks lead back and forth down one tunnel so they decide to follow them. The tracks lead past a cavern where thick spider webbing drapes from the ceiling and stretches between pillars and stalagmites. They decide to go around the spider cave.

Fenris takes the lead following the tracks. The tracks lead into a maze of passages but they ignore side tunnels and follow the tracks up a gradual rise. Soon they can smell fresh, cool air and then the sound of the wind. The tunnel emerges into the sunshine on a narrow ledge on the side of the mountain. A sheer cliff drops 100 feet down from the ledge. Alrix decides to take flight and launches himself off of the ledge. He flies about near the ledge looking for more entrances into the mountain. He finds none but he does see a flying reptilian shape well above him circling the mountain. Alrix decides to return to the ledge where the others are waiting.

Alrix suggests that they climb down and look for more cave entrances but the rest of the group looks warily at the sheer drop and counters that they return and explore the tunnels more. The group returns and descends back into the mountain. They are soon back into the maze of tunnels. After a short period of time, they realize that they have no idea where they are. Lakima takes out a charcoal stick and some parchment and starts drawing a map of the area.

A tribe of trolls is alerted by the light from the continual light spell Lakima is holding (cast on a silver coin by Domago) and three trolls ambush the party as they pass a side tunnel. One troll attacks Lakima and another attacks Aashdoshan. Eathwund, Lantosh, and Domago quickly move in to allow the mages to retreat. Eathwund draws his mace and uses his ring to light it on fire. One of the trolls is killed but soon regenerates and attacks again. Lakima yells for Eathwund and Alrix to stand back and he casts Lightning Bolt striking the three trolls and two more further down the tunnel. None of the trolls are killed but all of them are gravely injured.

While they are fighting, three trolls appear at the front of the party of adventurers and attack Domago and Aashdoshan. Domago blows the Silver Horn of Valhalla and four berserk warriors are summoned behind the trolls. They immediately begin slashing away at the trolls. Alrix bites and poisons one of the trolls and the creature collapses. Lakima tells Alrix to go help Domago and he casts Aztazibar’s Acrid Finger to begin burning up the dead trolls to keep them from regenerating. Two more trolls attack from another side tunnel, this time surprising Flora and Fenris. Alrix slithers over to help them and poisons another troll. After an extended fight, all of the trolls have been dealt with. One tries to flee but is hacked down by the berserkers. With the battle over, the berserkers vanish back to where they came from. Fenris and Aashdoshan light torches and use them to burn up the corpses of the trolls to prevent them from regenerating.

The group forms back up. Lakima drinks a Potion of Extra Healing to cure the wounds he received when he was struck by a Troll. They head out and soon find a trail of old, dried blood leading to the dead body of an armored warrior wearing the surcoat of a Lawbringer of St. Cuthbert. Eathwund uses the detect magic ability of his sword to discover that the mace and helm of the warrior are magical. Domago claims the items.

While Lakima tries to make sense of his map, the group encounters a malformed giant. The creature tries to crush Eathwund with a large club but Eathwund manages to dodge. Eathwund and Alrix are able to kill the giant. Eathwund searches the body and finds some gems. He also discovers that the giant has an eye embedded in the back of its head. It is some sort of aberrant creature. Lakima suggests the group rest in the giant's cave. The cave is fairly clean but the furniture is far too large for the adventurers. The group makes themselves as comfortable as they can manage on the hard rock floor. Domago prays and heals some of the more seriously injured adventurers.

During the rest, while Lakima and Fenris are on watch, the group is attacked by two stone gargoyles, possibly attracted by the dead body of the giant which still rests just outside the cave where they have taken shelter. All of the adventurers are quickly up and fighting and the gargoyles are smashed into piles of rocks.

Once everyone has rested they set off again. Flora tells Lakima that she is sure they have been this way before. Soon they find they are outside one of the entrances to the spider cave encountered earlier. Domago and Eathwund suggest avoiding the cave again but Lakima tells them he wants to deal with the spiders. They move up to the cave and see some enormous man-sized spiders moving about in the webs. Lakima tells Alrix to ready his Fireball. Lakima casts fireball followed a short time later by Alrix. The explosion of flame kills a half dozen spiders in the cave and burns away all of the webbings.

They soon find that they have made their way back to the cave where they fought the manticores earlier in the day. The group decides to take the one tunnel from the chamber that they have not previously taken. They soon end up in familiar-looking tunnels. Alrix spots the passage that leads to the lava river they found the day before. Lakima suggests they go that way. He has a new spell he wants to try. He also asks Aashdoshan if he memorized Clairvoyance which he confirms he has. The tunnel leads to a ledge overlooking a chasm. At the bottom of the chasm is a river of lava. On the other side of the chasm, there is a stone platform and wall made of large stone blocks. The statue of a mage glares down at them. Lakima asks Alrix if he could fly Aashdoshan over the chasm. Alrix tells them that he has no way to hold a passenger. But he does let Aashdoshan grab hold of his body as he slithers over the chasm. Once on the other side, Aashdoshan tells everyone that there is a passage on the other side of the stone wall. He still does not see any way to pass through it. Lakima casts Luminous Bridge across the chasm and everyone walks over the chasm to stand by the statue of the mage. Laima casts his Passwall spell and an opening appears in the stone wall revealing the passage beyond. The group passes through the wall.

The tunnel goes a short distance and ends on a ledge looking out over a long cavern filled with boiling mud. A series of wooden platforms hang from the cavern's ceiling. As they look out over the scene, a geyser of boiling mud erupts and sprays the ceiling and walls of the cavern.

Lakima casts Levitate and takes a fifty-foot rope with him as he floats out into the cavern. He soon comes to the end of the rope but Eathwund ties another rope to the end he is holding. Lakima continues on and finds another ledge 100 feet from the entrance. A tunnel leads off into the darkness. Lakima tugs on the rope to let the other adventurers know to follow him. Another geyser erupts, this time closer to the far end of the cave. Alrix takes flight and tells the group that he will fly nearby in case someone falls. Lantosh is the first to start leaping from platform to platform using the rope to keep himself steady. Behind him comes Flora, Fenris, and Eathwund. Aashdoshan, his two remaining zombie servitors, and the captive hobgoblin remain behind. A mud geyser eruption sprays Fenris with boiling mud, but he is able to take some cover on a wooden platform. As the group nears the far side of the cavern, they find the platforms veer away from the rope. Now they will just have to use their skill to try and jump to each platform one person at a time. Lantosh mistimes a jump and falls 30 feet down into the boiling mud. He starts to sink into the mud, screaming in pain. Alrix flies down and wraps his tail around Lantosh pulling the badly burnt and unconscious fighter from the mud. Alrix flies Lantosh over to the ledge where Lakima awaits. The rest of the group makes it okay. Finally, it is Aashdoshan's turn - the weakest of the adventurers. he draws his dagger and looks at the captive hobgoblin but then decides to let the creature live. Aashdoshan slowly begins jumping his way across the chamber from platform to platform. Too slowly, a geyser erupts and sprays him with boiling mud burning him. Lakima asks Alrix to go back and help Aashdoshan. Alrix flies over constricts about Aashdoshan. He then picks up the frail necromancer and flies back to the ledge.

The adventurers turn their backs on the boiling mud pit and head off. They travel down the tunnel for a long time before arriving in another large cavern. The extent of the cavern is far outside the light from their torches and magical lights. The cavern has a pool of boiling water about 30 feet below the level of the tunnel. At the edge of the ledge is a stone obelisk with a crystal globe set atop it. The heroes pause to try and figure out a way across.