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There was no skull on the floor of the dungeon. Don't even ask about it.
A long corridor faced the party. Two alcoves were on the left hand wall. A body lay near the end of the hall, just short of a large chest. Each alcove was floored with a pressure plate. Two areas on the floor were covered by large metal gratings, set flush into the stone floor. An electricity trap, in Ander's estimation. He jammed it as best he could.
The party ventured over the zapping zones, and Boreas reached out to check the body. A small spark jumped between him and the body, and it jerked. The man, as they could see now, breathed in sharply, but lay still for a moment, blinking his eyes. He wore slick leather armor, several daggers, and a triangular amulet with three softly glowing points at the corners. Soon he sat up and started answering the questions that were asked of him.
His name was John Oldhamshire, and he said that he had infiltrated this place to discern the source of the goblinoids. He did not believe that renewed habitation was caused merely by reproduction, though he allowed that some of that was happening as well.
He politely declined to give any information about his origins or employers, but he asked if he could continue his mission with the party. His initial plan was to sneak in. But considering that he had run afoul of traps already and the party was making better progress through the use of concentrated force, John figured his mission would be better served by tagging along. Without much discussion, it was agreed that John could join them.
The chest had no traps, and the lock gave way easily. Five magic items were in the chest, which were then distributed amongst the party.
They returned to the large room with the tentacled bugbear corpses and explored one of the corridors that led out of the room. This led to a set of rooms with several pressure plates scattered here and there, as well as some recessed metal poles that appeared to be able to act as bars to a cage. Ander was able to disarm the traps for the duration of the exploration, and nothing bad happened.
Other bones were found in a corner, however, and they appeared to be from a large four-legged animal of some kind. No further encounters or treasure were found in this room.
So the party went back to the large room and tried the other exit through which the single hobgoblin had escaped. There was yet another trap in this winding corridor, a scything horizontal blade about two and a half feet off the ground. It was discovered that the blade only deployed when a weight equivalent to a humanoid creature was standing on a pressure plate in an alcove just before the trap. One of the hobgoblin bodies was dragged over to perform this guard service, and the party settled in for an extended rest in the large room.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
May Cause Blindness - 4/9 session recap
Despite last week's decision to charge forward, the party decided to take a 5-minute breather on the stairs of the temple. Healing surges were spent, and encounter powers regained. Then they traipsed back to the fight.
The hobgoblins were arrayed in a line formation, shields interlocked. Kylian ran in and proceeded to duel a single hobgoblin for the entire battle. Thoric blasted his enemies with beauty and granted Kylian some spare hit points. Ander ran in and blinded several of them with a barrage of shuriken, and Xakoraki followed in order to take up a defensive position in the corner. Boreas used his new Spectral Ram spell to blast an enemy out of formation. Then things got serious.
Two bugbears joined the fray from behind pillars in the room, but something was not right about them. Each wielded a mace in one arm. The other arm was a mass of long tentacles. One grappled Ander from a distance, and the other failed to grab Boreas. Boreas retreated to a safe firing distance at that point, but everyone else remained locked in melee combat.
Ander was able to break free from the tentacle, but later Xakoraki was squeezed by a successful grabbing attack. Combat continued for a few rounds, and blows were exchanged. As the first hobgoblin fell, the rest became more determined. They used more powerful moves, which brought Kylian almost to his knees. Thoric healed him fully with the radiance of Linitheriva, however.
Xakoraki was not as lucky. She stepped forward to finish off a hobgoblin, and the two at her back bludgeoned her into unconsciousness. Ander knocked one of her attackers unconscious with the hilt of his short sword, but its tentacles continued to writhe. Boreas blasted it with spell, and it expired.
Kylian was victorious in his duel, and the other bugbear was brought down by Thoric's warhammer. The remaining hobgoblin fled deeper into the dungeon while Thoric stabilized Xakoraki. Kylian then healed her by laying on hands.
The party then backtracked to one of two side corridors that they had passed on the way. It was a short hallway with a small room at the end. Upon seeing chests in the room, Xakoraki, Ander, and Boreas moved into the room to check for traps while Kylian and Thoric stood in the hallway. Unfortunately, the trap was triggered by the floor surrounding the chests. There was a click, and a low rumbling sound that ran along the ceiling of the hallway. Thoric and Kylian looked up reflexively, and caught a dusting of fine powder on their upturned faces. Their eyes and noses started to burn, but after a while it subsided to a dull sting and ache. The chests were not trapped, and contained 2500 gold pieces plus two healing potions.
Thoric performed some medical diagnosis, and determined that he and Kylian were diseased. If they were unable to shake off the infection, they would become permanently blinded, perhaps only in a few days.
The hobgoblins were arrayed in a line formation, shields interlocked. Kylian ran in and proceeded to duel a single hobgoblin for the entire battle. Thoric blasted his enemies with beauty and granted Kylian some spare hit points. Ander ran in and blinded several of them with a barrage of shuriken, and Xakoraki followed in order to take up a defensive position in the corner. Boreas used his new Spectral Ram spell to blast an enemy out of formation. Then things got serious.
Two bugbears joined the fray from behind pillars in the room, but something was not right about them. Each wielded a mace in one arm. The other arm was a mass of long tentacles. One grappled Ander from a distance, and the other failed to grab Boreas. Boreas retreated to a safe firing distance at that point, but everyone else remained locked in melee combat.
Ander was able to break free from the tentacle, but later Xakoraki was squeezed by a successful grabbing attack. Combat continued for a few rounds, and blows were exchanged. As the first hobgoblin fell, the rest became more determined. They used more powerful moves, which brought Kylian almost to his knees. Thoric healed him fully with the radiance of Linitheriva, however.
Xakoraki was not as lucky. She stepped forward to finish off a hobgoblin, and the two at her back bludgeoned her into unconsciousness. Ander knocked one of her attackers unconscious with the hilt of his short sword, but its tentacles continued to writhe. Boreas blasted it with spell, and it expired.
Kylian was victorious in his duel, and the other bugbear was brought down by Thoric's warhammer. The remaining hobgoblin fled deeper into the dungeon while Thoric stabilized Xakoraki. Kylian then healed her by laying on hands.
The party then backtracked to one of two side corridors that they had passed on the way. It was a short hallway with a small room at the end. Upon seeing chests in the room, Xakoraki, Ander, and Boreas moved into the room to check for traps while Kylian and Thoric stood in the hallway. Unfortunately, the trap was triggered by the floor surrounding the chests. There was a click, and a low rumbling sound that ran along the ceiling of the hallway. Thoric and Kylian looked up reflexively, and caught a dusting of fine powder on their upturned faces. Their eyes and noses started to burn, but after a while it subsided to a dull sting and ache. The chests were not trapped, and contained 2500 gold pieces plus two healing potions.
Thoric performed some medical diagnosis, and determined that he and Kylian were diseased. If they were unable to shake off the infection, they would become permanently blinded, perhaps only in a few days.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
A Paladin and a Cleric Walk Into A Dungeon... 3/2 session recap
The party continued on to the other side of the temple of Yama. Boreas discovered a pressure plate on the floor, and Ander noticed the nozzles facing him on the opposite wall. Ander took a javelin and prodded the plate from around the corner, and the resulting blast of flame caught his arm on fire. After putting out the flames, he proceeded to carefully jam up the pressure plate with dirt and small rocks. As he was doing so, Boreas noticed a hobgoblin peer around from an alcove down the long hallway. Before he could get a spell off, the hobgoblin fled down the hall away from the party.
Several rounds of nothing then occurred. No one was willing to move past the trap with someone still standing on it, and the player in front was unwilling to move forward to open up room.
Boreas blasted down the corridor to try and catch the hobgoblin, who he suspected was at the end, just around the corner. He heard a yelp and a curse, indicating a successful hit.
The party finally got moving, and despite Kylian and Ander's best attempts, they failed to find the next trap. Kylian was engulfed in flame, but Ander was able to dodge it. Kylian then continued forward to battle with a hobgoblin in a second alcove. He was still on fire as he fought.
Ander charged to the end of the hall and around the corner to attack the first hobgoblin. Xakoraki followed him. They pushed the enemy past two other side passageways, and engaged him with precision teamwork. Ander eventually knocked him unconscious and then returned to help his other three companions in their ongoing battle against a single, cornered hobgoblin. Xakoraki took the opportunity to finish off the unconscious one at her feet.
Kylian stood, on fire, in a protracted duel with the other hobgoblin. Thoric kept him healed up, but it was taking forever to whittle down the opponent. Boreas kept hammering his foe with spells, and all but one were turned aside by the hobgoblin's shield. After several rounds, the fire finally burned out on Kylian, and he was able to deliver a fatal blow.
What Ander had seen while separated from his party was a well-organized phalanx of hobgoblins in a large room. He reported this to the rest of the party while Xakoraki hid in one of the two side passages. The other group did not attack the party immediately, so they decided to attempt a short rest. After a few minutes of this, a hobgoblin poked it's head around the corner. Boreas attempted to blast it, but failed. It retreated. The party had to restart their rest since it was interrupted. A few minutes later, the hobgoblin took another peek, and Boreas started to cast a spell. It retreated again. The short rest was once again interrupted.
The DM finally explained that they could not rest this close to a known enemy force. After some discussion, the party decided to go ahead and push through to the next encounter. Since it was running late, we went ahead and called it a night. Next week we'll start that encounter.
Several rounds of nothing then occurred. No one was willing to move past the trap with someone still standing on it, and the player in front was unwilling to move forward to open up room.
Boreas blasted down the corridor to try and catch the hobgoblin, who he suspected was at the end, just around the corner. He heard a yelp and a curse, indicating a successful hit.
The party finally got moving, and despite Kylian and Ander's best attempts, they failed to find the next trap. Kylian was engulfed in flame, but Ander was able to dodge it. Kylian then continued forward to battle with a hobgoblin in a second alcove. He was still on fire as he fought.
Ander charged to the end of the hall and around the corner to attack the first hobgoblin. Xakoraki followed him. They pushed the enemy past two other side passageways, and engaged him with precision teamwork. Ander eventually knocked him unconscious and then returned to help his other three companions in their ongoing battle against a single, cornered hobgoblin. Xakoraki took the opportunity to finish off the unconscious one at her feet.
Kylian stood, on fire, in a protracted duel with the other hobgoblin. Thoric kept him healed up, but it was taking forever to whittle down the opponent. Boreas kept hammering his foe with spells, and all but one were turned aside by the hobgoblin's shield. After several rounds, the fire finally burned out on Kylian, and he was able to deliver a fatal blow.
What Ander had seen while separated from his party was a well-organized phalanx of hobgoblins in a large room. He reported this to the rest of the party while Xakoraki hid in one of the two side passages. The other group did not attack the party immediately, so they decided to attempt a short rest. After a few minutes of this, a hobgoblin poked it's head around the corner. Boreas attempted to blast it, but failed. It retreated. The party had to restart their rest since it was interrupted. A few minutes later, the hobgoblin took another peek, and Boreas started to cast a spell. It retreated again. The short rest was once again interrupted.
The DM finally explained that they could not rest this close to a known enemy force. After some discussion, the party decided to go ahead and push through to the next encounter. Since it was running late, we went ahead and called it a night. Next week we'll start that encounter.
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