The Dungeon of Graves - Session 5
Bringing you the report of the fifth session of our open table campaign.
The Story So Far
October 3rd 2021
- Radish, Druid 1
- Grudge, Fighter 2
- Ray, Fighter 3
- Ewly, Cleric 2
- Marius, Elf 1
- Pumba, Young Boar, pet
After few days of drinking, fishing and proselytizing, the party was ready to head out into the dungeon again. Making their way down to the common room at the Bristleback's Inn, they saw a newly arrived elven adventurer being accosted by a pet meerkat. Radish tried to get the meerkats attention but it was swatted away by the elf before he could do much.
Party sat a table and discussed their option. The way to the second level was barred by iron constructs in shape of insect-snake hybrids. Not liking they chances with mundane weapons, they decided to see Old Ulman and ask him for some potent acid. He had two bottles at hand and agreed to prepare two more for them in two days. He also offered them coin should they bring him glands from fire or oil spewing giant beetles.
Since they had some time before the acid was ready, party decided to follow another lead in the meantime. Mortimer, a local farmer went missing some days ago and his cart was found toppled over near the Old Road. They ventured out there and indeed found undeniable signs of robbery. Radish located a nearby falcon and cast a ritual which enabled him to communicate with the bird in its screeching language.
Radish's first idea, to barter food with the falcon, unfortunately failed since it was recently sated but it seem keen on Radish promising to return with food later. It spoke of legged creatures swarming the cart. Small and hairy. It also agreed to take them to their nest but would not come too close for the fear of the great winged one, residing there as well. For this Radish promised to return with food offerings once the great fire in the sun sets and then sets again and then sets again.
Following the falcon, which gave no regard for how fast it flew or what obstacles they had to pass through on foot, they came across a crumbling statue of a burly demon overgrown with bramble. There wasn't time to inspect it more closely but they noted the way its facing. Falcon eventually lead them to a castle fallen to disrepair. Marius noted its of elven origin. From what the party members heard from the local villagers, they deduced this can only be the ruin of Calaelen Castle. Leery of approaching a well positioned castle across an open field, party decided to wait till the nightfall. They headed for the cover of a nearby forest, planning to prepare improvised ladders to scale the walls.
Approaching the edge of the forest they noticed a distinct vinegary acidic smell. Following it deeper into the forest the party came upon a small cavern entrance. There was some deliberation about laying a trap in front of the entrance. In the end they settled on a manually activated snare trap. Marius, as the only person able to see in the dark, volunteered to take a peek inside.
There he saw a group of dog sized squid apparently freely levitating in the air. They noticed him and turned to watch but didn't approach. He headed back to the group and they discussed their options. While they were talking, one of the squids poke their head out of the cavern entrance and Ray, lying in wait, promptly stabbed it. Combat ensued. Wounded squid was pierced by a thrown spear but more were coming. Ray spread a net over the cavern entrance but the squids were able to chew through it incredibly quickly, helped by their acidic spittle. Despite the dire odds the party managed to quickly overwhelm the squids after that and they emerged from the encounter completely unscathed.
Inside the cave lair they found a veritable horde of coins. Mostly copper but still something. Rest of the afternoon passed without an incident and the party headed for the castle. Approaching it they realized the northern side of the castle is built against a sixty foot tall cliff and by rappelling down they can entirely skip using the ladders. They landed straight on the shingled roof of the central keep and used crowbar to carefully open a hole in the dilapidated roofing material.
Landing on the second floor, they decided to kick down the first door they could see and, rather loudly, made their way into a large bedroom of sorts. Heavy iron chest sitting next to a bed, caught their eye but but their investigation was interrupted by a sound of opening door. Deciding there is no point in hiding, they rushed into the hallway and met the incoming threat head on.
The thread appeared to be three four feet tall albino humanoids with chimp-like features. They wore an eccentric mix of boiled leather armor and oversized elven noble clothing. Radish threw a torch at them but managed to hit Ray in the back of the neck, causing him some light burns. One of the monkey-folk managed to stab Grudge in the thigh but ultimately they were not match against the party's frontline fighters.
When only one of the monkey-folk was left standing, Marius cast beguiling elven charm on them. Suddenly remembering Marius as a trusted friend, monkey-person tried to drag Marius away to safety. Sadly none of the party members spoke the archaic language the monkey-person was speaking. Pantomiming his intentions, Marius was eventually able to convince him to take a drink out of his wineskin. Whilst confusing the poor creature they managed to get it drunk enough where it didn't resist being taken away with the.
Since the end of the session was nearing they returned to the bedroom, took the iron chest with them and headed back for the Zelkor's Ferry. They came back early in the morning and had to spend most of the day catching some sleep. Rest of it they dedicated to hacking the iron chest open. Inside the party found a leather-bound journal written in elvish, describing expeditions into the Mouth of Doom carried out by certain Maybeth Calaelen. They also found some coins, a silver necklace and two golden bars hidden in a secret compartment.
Treasure acquired: 333gp, 125sp, 3 small gems (50gp each), silver necklace (120gp), two golden bars (200gp each)
Monsters defeated/dealt with: 5 floating squids, 3 monkey-folk
Deaths: none
DM Thoughts
I'm starting to figure out five players might be the critical mass necessary for a caller. There were at least two times when I wasn't quite sure what the party was planning to do.
Impenetrability of Rappan Athuk's room descriptions reared its ugly head again. I didn't have the whole castle memorized. Especially not the second level which the party decided to skip into. Were I better prepared, I think the castle would feel more appropriately alive/asleep.
Pro-tip: Don't make your roll20 "global" lights invisible, if you want to be able to change them on the fly. You can put them on the illumination layer and they won't be visible to your players but still provide light.
Comments
Post a Comment