12/3/14

Montporte Dungeon Campaign Sessions 38 & 39 Notes

The Cast
Adzeer Mattiu, Hunter of the Second Circle (Half Orc, Hunter): Tim (Gothridge Manor)
Dante Rathburn (Human, Warlock): Chris (The Clash of Spear on Shield)
Luven Lightfinger (Human, Thief): Rob (Bat in the Attic)
Duncan Kern (Gnome, Wizard/Thief): Dan
Lief (Half Elf, Wizard/Cleric/Trickster): Josh
Larramore “Little Larry” (Kobold, Marksman): NPC
Diana (Human, Torch Bearer, Goat Driver): NPC
Marcus Aurelius (Magic Sword): NPC
Daria (Human, Rebel Leader): NPC
Silvaria (Human, Rebel): NPC
Muh ("Gaunt," Rebel): NPC
Zot ("Gaunt," Rebel): NPC
Mechlor (Thuragian, Rebel): NPC
Dwemmon (Gnome): NPC
6 Naked Dwarfs
7 Rescued Gnomes
5 Cave Goats

Summary of Sessions 38 & 39
A few sessions previous, the brave adventurers had used a portable teleport pad (attached to the surface of a small carpet) to teleport to an unknown part of the underdark. They assumed that they they were still in the same dungeon complex and, as their current goal was to return a group of rescued gnomes to their homeland, they decided to continue the mission. The only thing that the brave adventurers knew was that they needed to descend further into the dungeon to find the gnomes' homeland.
Map A (1 square = 5 feet)
The party had begun exploring an area during the last session that included a dead underground forest and garden area (Map A and Map B). In Area 1 (Map A above) above, the party encountered a nasty band of hybrid demon gnomes at the beginning of Session 38. They telepathically attempted to seduce Duncan to their side. During the conversation, the demon gnomes unwittingly confirmed that there were gnomes living somewhere below this area.

To no one's surprise, a battle ensued. The demon gnomes turned out to be tough foes, but Duncan and Daria managed to kill the majority of them and the rest of the party took out the remainders.

The party found one living tree in Area 2 (Map A above). The party used their Finder's Lens and discovered a magic crown embedded with the tree. It turned out to be a gnome crown, which Duncan immediately placed on his own head. The crown imbued Duncan with increased intelligence and an experience point bonus. Duncan found that he could not remove the crown. Dismayed at having a shiny crown on his head, he covered his scalp bling with his magic beanie.

Having completely explored the area, the party moved back to the elevator pad (Area 3 on Map A) and descended to the next lower level (Map B below).
Map B (1 square = 5 feet)
Once the elevator pad had descended (Area 4 on Map B above), the party moved west and discovered a stairway in Area 5, heading down. The stairs descended 21 miles vertically, which was two days worth of travel. At the bottom of the stairs (Area 6 on Map C below), the party found a deep narrow chasm (Area 8 on Map C).
Map C (1 square = 5 feet)
The party was unable to determine the depth of the chasm, nor could they discover a safe way to descend. They could see the remnants of a bridge (Area 7 on Map C), with a corresponding structure in the tunnel mouth on the opposite side of the chasm to the west.

They decided to tie a rope to Duncan, have himself levitate himself, and then give him a firm shove out into the chasm towards the tunnel mouth opposite them. He missed.

Duncan hit the chasm wall and was able to grab hold of the rock surface and pull himself towards the tunnel mouth. He then secured his end of the rope to the the bridge structure while the rest of the party did the same with the other end of the rope on the east side of the chasm. Using plenty of safety line and a fair bit of luck, the party managed to make it safely to the other side. Rather than bring everyone across, Diana stayed with the cave goats on the east side of the chasm. She was joined by Daria and her small band, plus the dwarves.

The party then moved into Room 9. They was a small pink bubbling pool in the middle of the room. The party searched the walls of the room and found three secret doors--one each in the middle of the north, west and south walls. Despite their best efforts, they were not able to any of the doors. In the process, they discovered that (a) the pool and the doors were connected and (b) the pool and doors were, in fact, a sentient creature.

They "fed" the creature a silver bar and the north door opened. A long corridor led them to a door (Area 10 on Map C), which opened into a weird area much like the obelisk rooms they had found in Session 33.

They found a group of large vertical tanks in Room 11. The tanks had clear walls and contained glowing green liquid. In the liquid were large birdlike humanoids, floating peacefully.

The peacefulness was interrupt by the party smashing the side of one of the tanks. The nasty green liquid splashed all over the room and the creature within came out in a foul (fowl?) mood. The party managed to kill it, but not before it did a significant amount of damage, including Adzeer getting his head swallowed. Given the nastiness of the fight, the party opted to leave the rest of the tanks intact.

The party moved into Area 12 and found 4 boxes, each with a small 3D geometric object (each object was about 4" across). Using the Lens of Melnar, the party determined that each of these objects was a key. Moving into Area 13, the party found four larger horizontal tanks. Each tank had a depression shaped like one of the 3D shapes found in Area 12. The tanks also contained the same green fluid found in the tanks in Area 11. The tanks also contained a birdlike humanoid, only these were larger and nastier looking than the ones found in Room 11.

The party decided that (a) these creatures were somehow responsible for many of the most bizarre and ancient features of the Montporte Dungeon, including the obelisks (Session 33) and the magical mysterious panes of glass (Session 6 and subsequent sessions); and (b) these creatures were too tough for the party to deal with at present.

The Dungeon So Far
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Mystery Level A
Mystery Level B
"21 Miles Below"