Game Session Six

Session Six: Sunday, April 8th, 2001

Link to last session:
Players map of Session Six:

The game opened in the early morning of Starday, Wealsun 1, 3080 YE. The party has not had a chance to rest or heal up yet. Despite this they decided to go down the vine covered shaft to the level below. They decided to leave the bard Flairian up top in the Hall of the Goblin Chief to stand guard. After spiking the doors shut the rest of the party descended below.

Climbing down the thick, sickly white and gray vines they slowly made their way down the 80 deep shaft. The chamber below was lit by gobs of luminescent fungus that clung to the walls and ceiling. This fungus gave off a pale violet light, allowing them to see into the room. The shaft lead to the center of a large 60' square chamber, the floor of which was covered with a layer of earth mixed with rotting vegetation and what looked like the remains of cave creatures. The air was damp, chilly, and full of the odor of loam and decay. In the southwest corner was a large mound of dirt covered with fungus, mushrooms and a couple saplings. There were two gaunt, cloaked figures using shovels to shovel the well turned earth into rusted wheelbarrows. As the party gathered on the floor these two figures turned toward them and they could see that they were skeletons. As the skeletons advanced the two saplings also started moving toward them. Rhino called upon the power of Kord and managed to turn the skeletons who cowered in fear of Rhino's Holy Symbol. With Rhino keeping the undead at bay, the fighters managed to make short work of the twig blights and also the skeletons. As they were congratulating themselves of dispatching these creatures there was a huge roar from a tunnel that lead off the north wall. With all but the fighters surprised they turned to see a huge seven foot tall bugbear wearing a set of large stag antlers on his head. Holding a morningstar and two leashed dire rats the large creature bellowed in goblin "Get ready to meet the cookpot!" and released the two dire rats.

Quickly seizing the initiative Cebo, Moss, Roth and Ulfgar moved toward the bugbear. Quickly taking care of the two dire rats they concentrated on the creature. The bugbear concentrated his attacks on Cebo. As the four warriors managed to move up before the rest could act no one was able to fire missiles effectively at the creature. The halfling Eldon did manage to rush behind the creature to deliver attacks from behind. With no one but Cebo taking too much damage from the bugbears morningstar they finally brought him down.

After looting his body they went to look at where he had come from. The natural passage lead to a large cavern, the floor of which was stained as if regularly drenched in blood. More of the luminescent fungus showed a matted hair-and-fur pallet in one niche and two large nests made of fur and refuse. In the niche with the pallet was a wide wooden board from which hung a variety of crude but deadly weapons along with a greatcoat of patchy black fur. Searching through the nests and beds they found some silver and gold pieces. This was in addition to the really nice looking morningstar and potion vial that the bugbear had. Rhino did a detect magic spell and they found the morningstar and the potion to both be magical. Moss took the morningstar to hold and the potion went into the group booty.

The bugbear cavern had a passageway in the north that lead downward. The party went down this natural passage, which continued sloping downward for a half-hour before turning around and going back to the worked stone rooms above. Once again in the large chamber where the shaft was they checked out the two doors there. At the eastern door they heard the sounds of goblins, leaving that for now they went to check out the southern door. Behind this door was a corridor that lead south until it was interrupted where a rift had been created by some past earthquake or movement of the earth.

Going to the eastern door Eldon carefully opened the door and looked in. Eldon saw a room similar to the columned halls they saw in the upper floor of the citadel. This 20 x 60 hall had two rows of dragon-carved marble columns the length of the hall, though most were worn smooth and all covered in luminescent fungus. The floor seemed stained and cracked with use, and the hall contained a bunch of small wooden tables. On the tables were things like motors and pestles, bowls filled with crushed leaves, chopped fungus stalks, and other plant specimens. There were many doors leading off from the hall, all partially opened. Sounds could be heard coming from beyond these doors.

Eldon carefully sneaked down the hallway to the first door on the north wall. Snores could be heard coming from this room, taking a quick look in Eldon saw a large number of rough pallets and two sleeping goblins. Sneaking to the next he looked in and saw two more goblins working on repairing leather armor and cussing at each other in goblin. The third room he checked was a storage room for spare weapons and had a door leading east. Crossing the hall to the southern doors, he checked out the first one that was empty except for a caved-in back wall with a tunnel that lead to the southwest. The center door on the south wall contained a wooden bench with a dire rat strapped spread-eagle upon it. Two goblins were carefully watching the dire rat, who looked to suffering some sort of horrible disease. Large tumors that looked vaguely woody and fruit-like were growing on it's body. The last unchecked room contained a large wooden tun containing two goblins who were mashing something up barefooted in it. Along the back wall were stacked 10 small casks of something.

Eldon taking a chance, sneaked back into the room with the sleeping goblins, and using his dagger killed both goblins in their sleep. After reporting back to the rest of the party, they decided to slowly infiltrate the room and attack all the goblins at once. Putting Eldon at the far back of the columned hall, they split off, a couple going to each door. On the same signal they all attacked the goblins in the rooms. Their plan worked great and they managed to kill all the goblins in only a couple rounds of combat. Checking out the rooms they found little of value, a few silver and gold pieces on the dead goblins, some casks of what tasted like really strong goblin liqueur apparently made from some potato-like root, and a fancy crystal vial that contained a woody-tasting liquid (as tested out by Roth).

Also in checking out the rooms they saw that the room with the caved in back wall most probably met up with the rift they had found earlier, though they didn't check it out. The door from the goblin weapon store to the east lead to a small empty room with another door to the east. Carefully checking out this door they open it and saw that it lead to a large gallery that stretched to the south. The room was hung with nodules of luminescent fungus an clumps grew from the floor. By this sickly light they could make out bas-relief carvings on the stone walls of dragons, ridden by dark elves, in various stages of raining down fire upon terrified humans, dwarves and other people. Soil and compost covered over half of the gallery's floor. They could not see any signs of goblins.

The party, low on spells and down hit points and in desperate need of rest, decided to come up with the cunning plan of resting in the goblin weapon storage room. Spiking shut the doors to the east. After settling down, in less than an hours time there was a sound of someone trying to open the door. Cebo was taking the first watch and he heard the sound of goblins trying to open the door. Cebo, in his best goblin voice called out cleverly "The door's stuck, you can't come through this way". The goblins on the other side of the door responded with "Don't worry, we will get Bathgar to open the door" and Cebo could hear the sound of a goblin running in the distance shouting "Bathgar! Bathgar!". Deciding this might be a good time to wake everyone up, they quickly came up with the pan to unspike the door and wait for whoever Bathgar was to force open the door, and then kill him. Waiting, crowded in the small room, they soon heard a banging on the door and then it was pushed open, revealing a seven foot tall bugbear holding a scythe in two hands, behind the bugbear could be seen a small bunch of goblins. Quickly attacking the bugbear the fighters managed to take it down easily. They were unable to stop the goblins from running off though. As soon as the Bathgar the bugbear dropped the goblins ran screaming off through a door in the north wall of the gallery. The group elected not to follow them, but instead retreat back to the upper level and rest there.

Climbing back up to the Hall of the Goblin Chief where they had left Flairian, they found the bard a bit worried. It seems that for some time there had been a lot of noise coming from the large room where they had slaughtered the goblins in their living quarters. Listening they could hear lots of kobold voices coming from beyond the doors. They decided it wasn't any of their business, and checking the spikes in the doors, started to get some rest after Rhino had exhausted his days healing on fixing up the party. After a couple of hours the sounds of kobolds died down in the outer room. After getting a good night's rest the party felt much refreshed, the spellcasters had re-spelled, and Rhino had a full slate of spells from Kord. Deciding that it was time to go back down into the lower levels again. Before they left though they unspiked one of the doors leading to the goblin living areas and took a look inside. They could see where the kobolds had come in and apparently looted the entire room, in addition to cutting off the heads of every dead goblin, male, female and children. Deciding that this was the kobolds business and didn't concern them, they respiked the door and went back down, again leaving Flairian back up top.

Once they had climbed back down they decided to check out the corridor that had the rift in it. Going own the corridor they came to where the rift had shifted the hallway. They could see where it joined up to the empty room in the goblin commons. Cebo, alone, jumped down into the rift and went to check out the southern end. Cebo noticed that the walls were riddled with small one foot diameter holes that were smooth and went back as far as he could see. From up ahead he could see light shining out of one of the holes. Looking to check it out, he was surprised when a strange worm-like creature came shooting out of the hole and slammed into him. The creature was about 4 to 5 feet long and had a hard segmented body. It's body was glowing with a orange-white heat and it's tapered nose was hot enough to melt rock. It's first blow had struck Cebo doing considerable damage. After it's first attack though Cebo managed to get the upper hand and struck it with mighty blows from his greataxe until it died. Cutting open the body of the creature they found two sapphires. Besides a small cavern filled with more holes, there was nothing else to be found in the rift. The corridor that the rift had bisected jogged to the southeast, ending in a stone door. Pulling open the heavy stone door to this room the party saw a large chamber, obviously a shrine of some sort, that seemed long abandoned and dust filed. There were faded mosaic tiles on parts of the wall, most looked to have fallen and shattered by whatever caused the rift. In the center of the chamber stood a slim pedestal of rusted iron shaped like an upright dragon. In the dragon's mouth rested an empty iron tray. No tracks disturbed the dust on the floor. They checked the room for secret doors and looked for secret passageways around the dragon pedestal but could find none. Discouraged they decided to check out the rooms where the goblins were before, after Cebo drank one of the few potions of cure moderate wounds the party had..

Coming back to the Goblin Commons the first thing they noticed was that all the doors were now closed. They carefully check out the rooms finding them all empty. They then check out the large gallery they looked at before. The gallery being empty they noticed a door to the north (closed, where the goblins ran through before), a door to the east and one to the south. The party checked out the southern door, which led to a large octagon shaped room containing various types of fungus growing in it, and little else. Checking out the eastern door, the party looked in on a similar room. In this room some of the fungus appeared to be scorched and dead. Roth entered the room to check it out and was attacked by another of the glowing worm-like creatures that burrow though rock by melting it. The monster can shooting out a wall, narrowly missing Roth. In return the barbarian Roth managed to score a critical hit on the creature with his first blow and cut it in half. Inside the carcass they found another sapphire.

Going to the north door, the one the goblins ran through the day before, they listened and could hear goblin voices on the other side of the door. So they lined up behind the door and Cebo opened the door going through first with the rest following. On the other side was four goblins with javelins waiting for them. The goblins only managed to get off one throw before the first of the party was upon them. By the time the last party member was through the door, all four goblins was dead. Alerted by the noise a bugbear wielding a large scythe came rushing from a door in the north wall of the room. The poor bugbear never stood a chance as the party cut him down.

Looking around the room they realized it was a gallery similar to the one to the south, there was a door in the east wall and one in the north, that the bugbear came through. The checked out the door to the east, finding it led to another octagon shaped room. This one contained a large compost pile tended by three skeletons which attacked the party. With the help of Rhino, the party made little piles of bones from the skeletons. Going to the north door, the party was not surprised to find another octagonal room. This room also contained fungus scorched and burnt. It looked as if the bugbear was in the process of clearing away the dead fungus from the walls. There was a single door in the southwest section of the room.

Listening and checking the door, the party looked down a short, narrow hallway that opened out into a large chamber. The party agreed on sending the halfling Eldon down the hallway to check out the room. Going to the end of the corridor he peered around the corner and looked on a large shrine with dragon-carved granite blocks tiling the walls and ceiling, many of which were crumbled and littering the floor with a stony debris. At the western end, the chamber curved to a semi-circle, in the middle of which was a huge marble statue of a rearing red dragon. The eye sockets looked to have once held gems, but now stood empty except for a red glow that lingered and provided a reddish light throughout the chamber. In front of the statue was a crumbling 5-foot-diameter circle of redstone tile. Eldon could just make out that there were runes carved around the circular tile's inner edge. An obviously well-used path could be seen running from the corridor, along the northern edge of the chamber, to a doorway leading north.

Avoiding the statue for the moment, some members of the party, led by Cebo, went to check out the room to the north. The unlocked door led to an old library of leaning and fallen stone bookshelves, which filled the room, except for a clear path leading to a wooden door on the opposite wall. The litter of torn and burnt pages, bindings, and scrolls were piled up in the dusty corners of the room. A quick search of the room by Ulfgar and Corian found two scrolls with Arcane spells on them along with a mostly unscathed tome of dragon lore written in Draconic. Believing to have found everything of value, they turned their attention to the shrine and the statue.

With half the party in the old library, led by Cebo, and the other half in the corridor, led by Moss, Eldon approached the statue carefully, looking for traps. As he approached the tiled ring on the floor a shadowy man-shaped creature came flying over the statue and attacked him. Eldon quickly fired his crossbow but the bolt went right through the creature. The creature's first attack hit Eldon, draining his strength in the process. The rest of the party started heading in to the attack. A couple of the fighters tried to hit it, but their weapons went right through it. Moss, dropping his shortsword, pulled out the magic morningstar taken from the large bugbear and started attacking with that. Corian also fired magic missiles into the creature. All the while Rhino tried, unsuccessfully, to turn the undead creature. The combination of the magic morningstar and magic missiles worked to put the shadow monster down for good.

Looking at the rune inscribed tile circle, they could see that the runes were written in Draconic and read, Ea serpenta rau kaluva nyawisti (translated means: Let the sorcerous power illuminate my mind). Since Corian was the only sorcerer present he volunteered to stand inside the rune-scribed ring and recite aloud the runes. When he did a puff of flame harmlessly enveloped him and he could feel the increase to his Charisma. After this effect, Eldon stared checking out the room around the statue, eventually finding a loose stone in the wall where found a small pile of gold coins, two flasks of alchemist's fire and two Divine scrolls of speak with dead.

The party next went back to the room containing the ruined library.

The game ended at this point. The time is late afternoon of Sunday, Wealsun 2, 3080 YE. The next game will start right where this one left off.
Link to next Session:

Unanswered Questions:

• Poor Eldon is down Consititution and Strength points, how are you ever going to fix him up?
• What did the kobolds want with all the goblins heads?
• Is this the deepest level? If not, where is the way down?

Unanswered Questions from previous sessions:

• You still owe Corkie, the cleric of Pelor a favor. What do you suppose it will be?
• What is the story behind that carved metal scroll tube with the dwarven writing? What is the "Glitterhame" and who is Durgeddin the Black?
• What else is own in this dungeon, besides the evil Druid (Belak the Outcast) and something called the Gulthias Tree?
• You still have a few unidentified magic potions, wonder what they are?
• You have one of the two missing signet rings, now where is the second one? And is the owner of this one still alive?

Page Last Updated Monday, April 29, 2002