Post by Scott on Jun 29, 2019 23:43:50 GMT -5
The Party:
Plāsolder: 8th level human fighter
Corbek: 8th level human cleric of St. Cuthbert (Order of the Billets)
Ember: 6th level human cleric of Pelor
Jastra: 5th/7th level gray elf fighter/magic-user
Mironin: 5th level human magic-user (Corbek's henchman)
The original party of seven is now down to five. After resting and healing the surviving party members decided to continue exploring the caverns. They were able to piece their map fragments together and noticed the doors and passages all leading to a central location. They remembered a bit of the disappearing poem:
"Randomly sent to find a way
Back to a different iron door
A seventh time and you may stay
and seek the glowing prize no more"
The didn't remember that much detail, just the 'randomly sent', 'iron door', and 'seventh time' parts, but they guessed there were six or seven doors they needed to open, and decided to find them all before opening any more. They had found three, and opened two so far. So they made there way to the center and started moving counterclockwise around the area they guessed was the center. A good plan, but unfortunately they found the "Glowing Grotto", a great read, but terrible to run. After a moment of hesitation they entered. Ember and Jastra were teleported to the Dark Labyrinth and were immediately attacked by the minotaurs and bulls. Ember took heavy damage, but they were able to kill the bulls and the minotaurs before they could escape into the labyrinth. They made some lucky guesses in the labyrinth and found the exit (but not the treasure) quickly.
Unfortunately, the lightly armored Mironin found himself alone facing the Armored Automatons. He didn't stand a chance. He did destroy one of them before being hacked to pieces.
Plāsolder found himself in the Canyon of Centaurs. He didn't attack and they explained their predicament and asked him for help getting out. He was able to make it out of the canyon easily and told the centaurs he was going to look for help and would be back. He started to wander around the wilderness, but before going too far he thought that the way back to the Caverns must be close to the canyon. On his way back he realized that the tree stump and boulder pile he ignored before could be used to help the centaurs escape the canyon. With some rope and help from the trapped centaurs he was able to start a rock slide that created a ramp the centaurs could use to escape. As he was helping them out he noticed they all wore silver horseshoe medallion necklaces. His very meta response (he had already sat through Corbek and the Hall of Pentacles described below) was to touch one of the horseshoes. Nothing happened, but the centaur rolled a good reaction roll and said, 'Oh, do you like that? As a gift for your help you may have it'. He then bowed his head to allow the fighter to take the necklace. He untied it and was teleported back to the Caverns.
Last, but not least, was Corbek, trapped in a pentacle in the Hall of Pentacles. This was a lot easier than it could have been. Corbek wears Boots of Levitation and after realizing he was trapped in a pentacle he levitated up to the ceiling. There he saw the five smaller pentacles set in the ceiling. He touched one of them, and was teleported to the Dark Labyrinth, He also managed to find his way out without finding the treasure.
Once back together again, and with the meta knowledge that Mironin had been killed, the party continued. At this point Corbek started raising concerns about the size of the party: four out of the original seven, and he had lost his efreeti. But they decided to keep exploring. They successfully located all six doors to the center area. They discussed trying to mp out the whole level before opening any more doors, but decided to just open the closest set. Bamf! another new cave. After a few twists and turns they ended up in a smallish cave with shriekers shrieking. Before they could quiet them a mighty hill giant and his pet giant rhinoceros beetle entered. The beetle charged while the giant hung back throwing boulders. After several rounds the beetle was dead and the giant was rushing in to melee. With some big damage spells and good hit/damage rolls the giant was killed quickly. After the battle the party decided to stop and heal, and this is where we called it for the night.
Plāsolder: 8th level human fighter
Corbek: 8th level human cleric of St. Cuthbert (Order of the Billets)
Ember: 6th level human cleric of Pelor
Jastra: 5th/7th level gray elf fighter/magic-user
Mironin: 5th level human magic-user (Corbek's henchman)
The original party of seven is now down to five. After resting and healing the surviving party members decided to continue exploring the caverns. They were able to piece their map fragments together and noticed the doors and passages all leading to a central location. They remembered a bit of the disappearing poem:
"Randomly sent to find a way
Back to a different iron door
A seventh time and you may stay
and seek the glowing prize no more"
The didn't remember that much detail, just the 'randomly sent', 'iron door', and 'seventh time' parts, but they guessed there were six or seven doors they needed to open, and decided to find them all before opening any more. They had found three, and opened two so far. So they made there way to the center and started moving counterclockwise around the area they guessed was the center. A good plan, but unfortunately they found the "Glowing Grotto", a great read, but terrible to run. After a moment of hesitation they entered. Ember and Jastra were teleported to the Dark Labyrinth and were immediately attacked by the minotaurs and bulls. Ember took heavy damage, but they were able to kill the bulls and the minotaurs before they could escape into the labyrinth. They made some lucky guesses in the labyrinth and found the exit (but not the treasure) quickly.
Unfortunately, the lightly armored Mironin found himself alone facing the Armored Automatons. He didn't stand a chance. He did destroy one of them before being hacked to pieces.
Plāsolder found himself in the Canyon of Centaurs. He didn't attack and they explained their predicament and asked him for help getting out. He was able to make it out of the canyon easily and told the centaurs he was going to look for help and would be back. He started to wander around the wilderness, but before going too far he thought that the way back to the Caverns must be close to the canyon. On his way back he realized that the tree stump and boulder pile he ignored before could be used to help the centaurs escape the canyon. With some rope and help from the trapped centaurs he was able to start a rock slide that created a ramp the centaurs could use to escape. As he was helping them out he noticed they all wore silver horseshoe medallion necklaces. His very meta response (he had already sat through Corbek and the Hall of Pentacles described below) was to touch one of the horseshoes. Nothing happened, but the centaur rolled a good reaction roll and said, 'Oh, do you like that? As a gift for your help you may have it'. He then bowed his head to allow the fighter to take the necklace. He untied it and was teleported back to the Caverns.
Last, but not least, was Corbek, trapped in a pentacle in the Hall of Pentacles. This was a lot easier than it could have been. Corbek wears Boots of Levitation and after realizing he was trapped in a pentacle he levitated up to the ceiling. There he saw the five smaller pentacles set in the ceiling. He touched one of them, and was teleported to the Dark Labyrinth, He also managed to find his way out without finding the treasure.
Once back together again, and with the meta knowledge that Mironin had been killed, the party continued. At this point Corbek started raising concerns about the size of the party: four out of the original seven, and he had lost his efreeti. But they decided to keep exploring. They successfully located all six doors to the center area. They discussed trying to mp out the whole level before opening any more doors, but decided to just open the closest set. Bamf! another new cave. After a few twists and turns they ended up in a smallish cave with shriekers shrieking. Before they could quiet them a mighty hill giant and his pet giant rhinoceros beetle entered. The beetle charged while the giant hung back throwing boulders. After several rounds the beetle was dead and the giant was rushing in to melee. With some big damage spells and good hit/damage rolls the giant was killed quickly. After the battle the party decided to stop and heal, and this is where we called it for the night.