Montporte Dungeon Campaign Session 9 Notes

Tim (Gothridge Manor) and Chris, the Blogger-Formerly-Known-As-Bard (The Clash of Spear on Shield), each wrote up a post about the session. Tim's is here and Chris's is here.

Map A: Level 1 (1 square = 5 feet)

The Cast
Adzeer Mattiu, Hunter of the First Circle (Half Orc, 2 Lvl Hunter): Tim (Gothridge Manor)
Duncan Kern (Gnome, 2 Lvl Wizard/Thief): Dan
Dante Rathburn (Human, 2 Lvl Warlock): Chris (The Clash of Spear on Shield)
Larramore “Little Larry” (Kobold, 1 lvl Marksman): NPC
Diana (Human, Torch Bearer, Goat Driver): NPC
3 cave goats 

The Session: Part 1
Session 9 began where Session 8 had left off (Area 1 on Map A above), in a large cavern surrounded by some giant ant carcasses and neatly stacked piles of cube mushroom (about 1' on a side). The characters had quick discussion of their options and decided that they should leave the dungeon to head back to town of Montporte to stock up on supplies. The group was running low on healing draughts and potions.

On the way out of the dungeon, the characters ran into another group of adventurers (in Room 2 on Map A above). Spensol and Ian, their former henchmen, were part of the group, along with three dwarves. After exchanging pleasantries, the party left the dungeon and rode off for the town of Montporte.

Map B: The Montporte Area

The Session: Part 2
The characters arrived back in Montporte with bags of gold and silver, ready to do some shopping. They hit Nevin's Notions first and bought up every healing draught and potion Nevin had. Nevin is a gnome and also supplies some gnome-crafted devices that miners and their ilk find handy. Duncan bought a magnifier glass and a finder's glass, which has some simple magical properties and can be used for finding things like secret doors.

Weird "Pane of Glass" Item

Adzeer asked Nevin if he recognized the weird "pane of glass" object that the party had found during Session 6. Nevin found the item fascinating and puzzling. He was not able to identify what it was made of, except to say that it was like nothing he had ever seen.

The party then went to Pavel, one of the senior mages in town. He, too, found the item fascinating and was unable to identify the material from which is was made. The three discs, when look at straight on, had a three dimension look to them, as one was looking down three long parallel tubes. The party had already figured that out. Pavel noticed a pattern of a sort and demonstrated this pattern to the party by opening up a book, laying his cheek on a page, and looking at the writing. They tried it. When they looked at the book in this manner, they could see the pattern of the letters but couldn't necessarily read the words. He saw a similar pattern by looking into the discs. When they tried it, they could see repeating patterns, as if it were a language or symbols. But this was all they and Pavel could glean from the item.

Map C: Level 1 (1 square = 5 feet)

The Session: Part 3
The adventurers left Montporte, made it back to the dungeon entrance without incident, and headed back to where they had left off (Room 3 on Map C above). This was the beginning of their third foray into the Montporte Dungeon. They moved into Area 4 and saw two giant ants (workers), each carrying a cubed mushroom. The ants seemingly ignored the party, but the party did not ignore the ants. Duncan pounced on the back of the lead ant and plunged his dagger into its thorax. The rest of the party spread out and attacked both ants, with Duncan and Little Larry landing the telling blows on both creatures.

The party then moved south into Area 5, which turned out to be a dead end and a storage place for more cubed mushrooms. The party's cave goats started to dine on the mushroom cubes and Duncan decided to have a go. It was really chewy, but surprisingly flavorful (and non-poisonous). They grabbed some cubes to take with them for the cave goats.

As the party turned around and went back north, Duncan used his finder's glass on the mushroom piles, the floor and the walls. This turned out to be Duncan's day, as he found a secret door at Area 6 on Map C above. He checked for traps and, finding none, had Adzeer open the secret door. The door opened into a narrow passage, heading west. It ended in a room with a spiral staircase (Room 7 on Map C above). There was writing on the north wall of the room, next to the stairs. It was in the elven language and Dante was able to read it. It said: Elves, ants, and mushrooms only. All others stay away.

Map D: Level 2 (1 square = 5 feet)

The party took this as an invitation and descended the stairs. The stairs descended about 75' and the party found themselves on a small island with the wooden bridge leading off east into the darkness (Area 8 on Map D above). Duncan started to walk east across the bridge while Adzeer peered into the darkness to the west. They could hear the sound of feet shuffling all around them.

As Duncan and Adzeer were able to see more of the room, they could see giant mushrooms growing in neat beds all around the edge of the room, being tended by about a dozen mushroom men. Each mushroom man had a farming implement of some kind, but each also had a nasty looking weapon nearby. The shuffling sound was them arming themselves.

Duncan met three of the mushroom men at the end of the bridge (Area 9 on Map D above). They were armed with halberds and swords, creating an imposing barrier, as each mushroom man was about 7' tall. Duncan is a gnome.

One of the mushroom men spoke...in elvish. This took the party off guard, but Dante struck up a conversation that went like this:
Mushroom Man: Who are you and what do you want here?
Dante: We are travelers, and explorers
Mushroom Man: We know of no such things here. Are you an elf? Or a flesh eater?
Dante: I am a friend of elves. We come seeking the dark ones who were imprisoning others up above.
Mushroom Man: I will get our friend and master. Please wait here and be of peace.

The mushroom man left through an opening in the southwest part of the cavern. He returned about ten minutes later with an elf. The elf, speaking the common tongue, explained that he was a mushroom farmer. He invited them to have a chat and some refreshments. They followed him into Area 10 on Map D above. This is where the session ended.

Explored So Far
The following maps show Montporte Dungeon. I didn't include a map of the small sub-level the party discovered during Session 6.

Level 1, So Far

The newly discovered Level 2