Adzeer Mattiu, Hunter of the Second Circle (Half Orc, Hunter): Tim (Gothridge Manor)
Duncan Kern (Gnome, Wizard/Thief): Dan
Dante Rathburn (Human, Warlock): Chris (The Clash of Spear on Shield)
Larramore “Little Larry” (Kobold, Marksman): NPC
Ansarkhan ("Mushroom Man", Fighter): NPC
Diana (Human, Torch Bearer, Goat Driver): NPC
Crystal Golem (Crystal Golem)
5 cave goats
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| Map A (1 square = 5 feet) |
The brave adventurers finished the last session (Session 23) in Room 1 (Map A above). Not seeing any other avenues to explore except north, the party moved north and into Room 2. There they found a secret door leading into Room 3. Like the other rooms in this area, the room was so well crafted by the dwarves that the door hermetically sealed the room.
The room contained a bookshelf with 20 well-preserved volumes. Adzeer, now equipped with the Belt of Dwarvenkind, sensed the ancient nature of the books and the powerful magic used to preserve them. The first ten books were entitled, The Chronicles of Dwarven Construction (volumes 1 through 10). The other ten books were entitled, The Chronicles of Dwarven Construction (supplements 1 through 10).
The party decided to pack up the books into one of their portable holes. When they did so, they noticed that a section of pages had been carefully removed from from Supplement 9. Adzeer opened the book to see if there was a reason that the pages might be missing. From the Table of Contents, Adzeer determined that the missing section was entitled Chapter 15: Construction Notes from the Elementalist Monastery.
A careful examination of the book with the finder's lens and the Lens of Melnar turned up two human hairs, long and blonde, with the faint auras of an invisibility spell and pass without trace spell. Duncan determined that, while the spells were not recent (as in a few hours or days), the spells had been cast within the last year.
The party suspected that the hair might belong to Daria. The party first encountered her as Alleena, a novice of the breeders (Session 13). They later learned from Allindrihl the elven mushroom farmer that Alleena was really Daria, leader of the rebellion against the breeders (Session 16). The possibility that Daria had taken part of the dwarven book reminded the party that they were asked by Allindrihl to deliver a map of level 1 to Daria (Session 16). They had not completed this task yet.
Armed with new knowledge and maybe a bit regretful at their neglect of a simple request from Allindrihl, the party headed back into Room 4 (Map A above). Here they had fought two demons (Session 22) but there was no trace of the demon remains, despite the short passage of time.
The party moved to the east out of Room 4, into previously unexplored territory. They found a cluster of small rooms (Area 5 on Map A). The rooms exhibited the same excellent construction that they had seen in other rooms in this part of the Montporte Dungeon.
From Area 5, the party moved south and found a secret door in the ceiling of the passage (Area 6 on Map A above). The secret door led them into a sarcophagus, just like they had experienced in Session 20. Climbing out of the sarcophagus, they entered into Room 7.
The battle was a tough one. There were two more crabmen and four kobold archers who joined the fray from Room 8. Dante took out all of the kobolds and two of the crabmen with a sleep spell, which gave the party the upper hand. Adzeer took considerable abuse from the black blob, who shot some sort of black beam at him every round.
The black blob affected everyone in the room in a mysterious way, forcing everyone to make a will saving throw each round. Those who failed lost a point of wisdom. Adzeer and Duncan knew from previous experience (Session 1) that they would eventually recover their lost wisdom. However, Ansarkhan, with a low wisdom and a higher saving throw target, proved to be particularly vulnerable. He eventually lost his focus, stood in a catatonic state, and then collapsed the next round into a babbling inert mass.
The party prevailed, but were unable to revive Ansarkhan. He was loaded onto a cave goat. The party then searched the sarcophagi in Rooms 7, 8, and 9 (Map A above). This yielded considerable gold and silver bars, along with lots of dwarven bones (which were left as they were found).
The party then moved north and Duncan sensed power emanating from the east (Area 10 on Map A above). However, Adzeer was determined to explore further north and west. The party went into Room 11 and then into the corridor beyond it to the west. Finding nothing, they went back to Area 10. There was a wooden door there with a very small symbol of a tree and pond, not visible unless one was very close to the door.
Duncan entered and found a pool in Room 12, fashioned in a stylized way to mimic nature. Duncan recognized this as gnomish and jumped in. He felt a sense of well-being permeate his body (he gained a point of constitution). His crystal golem, made by gnomes, was repaired by the water. The non-gnomes in the party received no benefit from the water.
The party continued east into Room 13. Duncan recognized this space as sacred to his people. Written on the east wall in the gnome language were these words:
Herbs and leeks
Flowers and thorns
Seeds of the field
Fruit of the tree
Magical earth,
Drawn to the sky
Living and dying
The path goes down
The enlightened heart
Will live beyond,
To the treasure we go
Duncan did not recognize the words but he recognized the meter and was able to sing the words. He realized that the above words fit the tune of The Garden Song, the most popular folk song sung by gnome children. The modern version of The Garden Song goes like this:
Potatoes and leeks
Herbs and corn
Barley and rice
Garlic and thorn
Carrots and more
Roses and daisies
Poseys and boxes
Hollies and pines
Maple and oak
The treasure of the earth
The party puzzled over the lyrics, wondering why the modern words were different from the ancient lyrics. No answer struck them, so they continued to explore. They checked out the room, paying attention to the living tree and the soil at the southern end of the room. Finding nothing, they entered Room 14 (Map A above). This room contained a blackened slab of stone (about 6' x 6" and 2' tall). Duncan recognized this as another sacred space, where the gnomes cremated their dead (the custom of their people). After searching the room, the party retired to Room 13.
The party decided to bed down for the night in Room 13. This is where the session ended for the night.
The Dungeon So Far
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| Level 1 |
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| Level 2 |
