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)
Luven Lightfinger (Human, 1 Lvl Thief): Rob (Bat in the Attic)
Larramore “Little Larry” (Kobold, 2 Lvl Marksman): NPC
Ansarkhan ("Mushroom Man"): NPC
Diana (Human, Torch Bearer, Goat Driver): NPC
3 cave goats
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| Map A (1 square = 5 feet) |
The last session ended with the party exploring the eastern end of the first level. Allindrihil the elf had told them of a treasure hidden in a secret room beyond the dwarven temple. They would find it to the east on Level 1 of the dungeon.
The characters started off the session in Room 1 (Map A above), which appeared to be a dwarven bunk room. The door on the northernmost section of the east wall was a highly polished and well-preserved oak door. It had dwarven writing on it, which Duncan was able to translate: Let us lift pure hearts to the gods of our fathers. Duncan also discovered a magic trap in the door and disarmed it...the door was set to discourage exploration beyond it by shooting out flames (Burning Hands).
The party examined the basin and sconces, seeking secret compartments, a trigger for a secret door, or some other hidden feature that might give them access to the treasure they were seeking. Duncan decided to check out the walls. Using the finder's glass, he was able to locate a secret door in the southeast corner of Room 3 that allowed access to Room 4 via a narrow corridor.
The adventurers were thrilled to see an unguarded chest lying in the middle of the floor in Room 4. Their excitement waned upon discovering their way to the chest blocked by a shimmering transparent barrier at the entrance of the room. The shimmering was barely visible, but it did have a blue hue. This barrier defied all manner of pushing, poking, probing and even a few hurled weapons. While all of this was going on, Luven was still in Room 3 and he decided to pour water into the marble basin. As he did so, the barrier took on a bit of a reddish tint. Thus encouraged, Luven placed a torch in each of the two sconces and lit them. The barrier turned blood red.
Luven took the color change as a hint to drip some blood into the water-filled basin. The barrier dissipated as soon as the first drop of Luven's blood fell into the water. With the barrier gone, Adzeer and Duncan charged forward into Room 4. Their path to the chest was blocked by a dwarf made of stone, who suddenly appeared.
Adzeer was forced to engage the stone dwarf in melee combat while Duncan, Little Larry, and Luven made some wild attempts to use ranged weapons over, under, and around Adzeer. Duncan did a diving roll past Adzeer and the stone dwarf. The stone dwarf, heavy and slow of foot, was unable to impede Duncan as the gnome tumbled past him. The next round, Duncan attacked from behind with Ommar's Dancing Dagger. Duncan was struck by an errant arrow from Little Larry and he decided to hunker down and open the chest while the dancing dagger did the attacking on its own.
Despite accidentally tossing his magic mace to the other end of the corridor, Adzeer was able to destroy the stone dwarf. A few lucky tossed daggers from Luven, who removed both of the dwarf's ears, helped the process. As the battle was winding down, Duncan opened the chest.He paid for his success by taking a magic missile in the chest. So there was a trap in the chest after all.
The chest was bigger on the inside than on the outside. It turned out to be a chest of holding. It contained gold bars, silver bars, gems, a magic battle axe, magic armor, a magic shield, a magic cloak, a bandolier of magic throwing knives, and a magic lantern. It also contained two small spellbooks and a scroll. The party had a party, as they gleefully divided up their booty.
The scroll was written in the dwarven tongue. Duncan was able to translate and it turned out to be a letter requesting help. A civil war had erupted between the humans living in the dungeon complex. The dwarves and gnomes living with them were caught in the crossfire and feared for their safety. The gnomes and dwarves who could fight prepared to make their last stand. The rest of the dwarves--the very young and very old--hid to the north, among the land of the dwarven dead. They took with them the most precious heirlooms of the dwarves. The non-combatant gnomes fled to the east, into their subterranean gardens and maybe beyond.
Armed with new weapons and new information, the adventurers decided to go north, spurred on by the thought of more dwarven treasure.
The party moved back to Room 5 (Map A above) then through Room 6 to Room 7. As they went, they noticed that the corridors had more rock dust and there were wheel ruts worn into the thick dust. Room 7 contained a narrow spiral staircase heading down. Luven looked down the steps and, at the edge of his vision, saw the stairwell blocked by a thick mass of webs. The party opted to move north through door rather than down via the stairs.
Duncan checked for traps at the door leading north out of Room 7. No traps, at least none he could find. When he listened at the door, he hear the light pattering of feet running away.
The party cautiously moved into Room 8 (Map A above). Adzeer could see fresh kobold footprints in the thick rock dust, heading due north out of the room. The party moved cautiously and started to explore the narrow corridors beyond Room 8. As they began to look around, it was clear to the party that this area had been a mine. It was not clear as to what was being mined, however.
They continued to move north and the mine opened up into a large irregular space. Two small black kobold arrows whizzed past them, just as they were moving through Area 9 (Map A above). They quickly moved towards Area 10, but saw nothing and decided to retreat, lest they get ambushed.
They continued north until they arrived in Room 11 (Map A above). They decided to set up camp, rest, and recover. This is where our session ended.
Level 1 So Far
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| Map B (1 square = 5 feet) |