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| Montporte Dungeon: 1 square = 5 feet |
Adzeer Mattiu, Hunter of the First Circle (Half Orc, 1 Lvl Hunter): Tim
Dante Rathburn (Human, 1 Lvl Warlock): Bard
Duncan Kern (Gnome 1 lvl Wizard/Thief): Dan
Spensol (Human, Soldier 1 Lvl Fighter): NPC
Ian (Human, Soldier 1 Lvl Fighter): NPC
Diana (Human, Torch Bearer, Goat Driver): NPC
Larramore “Little Larry” (Kobold, 1 lvl Marksman): NPC
The Session
The party decided to move some of the rocks to bring the goats and the boat through. Once past the rocks, they debated the next course of action. Should they go north-then-west or straight west. Little Larry’s map showed the orcs lying to the southwest, so they decided to head straight west and headed towards the room where they had killed a sleeping orc earlier (Area 2 on the map).
The party carefully entered Area 2 to avoided a possible ambush. The room was empty, save for the dead orc on a cot. The adventurers realized that they had left a door unopened when they passed this way previously. Duncan checked for traps, found one, and carefully disarmed it (a weighed swinging arm with some knives and a dagger strapped to it). Behind the door was yet another potty room (Area 3 on the map). The trap was protecting a small cache of 2 gold bars (50 g.p. each) and a vial, contained in two small sacks. Using the Lens of Melnar, Dante determined that the vial was a healing draught.
The party moved from Area 2 to Area 4 and came upon two live orcs inspecting the bodies of two dead orcs (killed by the party in Session 1). Little Larry and Adzeer Mattiu quickly dispatched the orcs before they had a chance to runaway, which was their likely intent. Dante did a quick Detect Magic and discovered that one of the weapons wielded by the orcs, a spear, was magic.
From Area 4, the adventurers moved into the entry room of the dungeon (Area 5 on the map). There were still two dead orcs lying on the floor. There was a quick discussion of whether it would be best to head out of the room via the single door to the west or go north through the double doors. Without much information to go on, the party opted for the double doors, which turned out to be the better option for finding the remaining orcs and their human captives.
Duncan checked for traps on the door and discovered an crude alarm system tied to the other side of the door, using tin pots and scrap metal for noisemakers. Duncan was unable to disarm it but cast an Audible Glamor as they opened the door to mask the clanking of the metal.
The party cautiously moved into Area 6, not knowing if they had warned anyone of their arrival. The room was empty. The party again had to decide which way to go—east, north, or west. They opted to open the door on the east wall.
The door was locked but Duncan was able to pick the lock. The door didn’t appear to be trapped. When the party opened the door, they found a 20’ by 20’ room with table against the south wall, a few simple sturdy chairs next to the table, and bookshelves against the east and north walls. Little was left in the way of books or scrolls. There were three giant slugs in the room, one on the table and two on the floor, each about 3 feet long with bright orange slimy skin covered in purple spots. [It was at this point that Dan asked, “Do we have to roll for initiative against slugs?” The answer, after the laughter died down, was “no.”]
Little Larry, Duncan and Dante each killed a slug. Duncan and Dante were horrified at the destruction to the books and scrolls. Nothing remained except a small pulpy pile and lots of slug droppings. The table had a small drawer, which contained some ink wells (dried ink), a strange feather quill, and a perfectly preserved piece of paper. The paper had writing on it, in a very archaic form of Common.
The paper turned out to be a journal describing the happenings of some sort of religious community…daily trade and gossipy sorts of things. The adventurers were shocked that the dates on the journal entries indicated that this sheet of paper was over 2,000 years old, yet it was perfectly preserved.
The answer to this riddle came when they moistened the ink and tested the quill. It turned out to be magic: The Magic Quill of Oncoris. The pen can take verbal dictation for up to an hour each day, understanding Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, and Common (and able to translate from one to another). The quill creates a minor magic shield that eternally preserves both paper and ink.
As they moved into Room 8, they were shouted at by orcs who were off to the west, beyond the party’s vision range. The orcs rushed the party, weapons drawn, only to be knocked unconscious by Duncan’s Color Spray. Two orcs were killed and two orcs were tied up to be questioned when they regained consciousness.The orcs revealed that they were following a new god..the black god (which the players believed they killed at the end of Session 1). They also told the party that the rest of humans were being held beyond the door just to the west. These two orcs were then killed.
When the party reached Area 9, they heard a cry for help through the door on the north wall of the corridor. They entered the door into a room filled with cots (Area 10 on the map). The room also contained 4 humans, bound with ropes and gagged, but very alive (2 adult males, 2 adult females). One of the human males had been able to work himself free of the gag in his mouth. More surprisingly, there was also a kobold in the room, bound and gagged. Little Larry immediately identified him as Ardaemmore, Larry’s cousin and the son of chief of the kobold clan, a valuable captive who could be ransomed later on.
The adventurers untied the humans and inquired as to the disposition of the remaining orcs. They learned that there were more orcs beyond the north and east doors. The captives told the adventurers that orcs were able to go out the east door and quickly come back through the north door and vice versa. The captives thought that maybe there was a half dozen orcs remaining.
The party decided to move out of the room through the door in the north wall, which led into another corridor (Area 11 on the map). There were another four orcs right outside the door. A melee ensued, with Adzeer Mattui and Spensol fighting two orcs in the corridor. Dante, Duncan and Little Larry took on the orcs that moved into the room.
It was a short, but hard-fought battle. Little Larry used the furniture to his advantage, dodging a short sword, rolling under a cot, popping up the other side and putting an arrow through eye of the orc. The rest of the party mowed through the orcs, leaving a trailing of corpses in their wake.
Having rescued the human captives, which was the party’s goal at the start commencement of Session 1, the party checked the nearby corridors for orcs and prepared to head out of the dungeon. As they checked passageways, they noticed a body lying on the floor to the east. They moved towards it, which took them into a large room (Area 12 on the map). As they entered the room, there was sudden illumination from four chandeliers handing from the ceiling. The light revealed the dead body to be Angus, who had fled the battle at the end of Session 1. The party secured his body onto a cave goat. Duncan tried to figure out how to cut down the chandeliers, but the ceiling was over 20’ high and the chandeliers were suspended about 12’ above the floors. Someone suggested gnome tossing, but Duncan was not interested.
This is where Session 4 ended.