On the 2nd day of the 5th month, Elgar and Riffle recruited a fighter named Floppa and a dwarf thief named Chris. They set out on their own to track down Tienarth the the rest of the party. Elgar had gained valuable experience over the past months and felt confident in leading the small party. They walked all day towards Slateholm. As the neared the Dancing Frog, six wolves pounced.
Owing to the surprise, the wolves were upon them and biting before they could draw weapons. The battle was brief and deadly. The first to succumb was Riffle. His gut was torn open. The wolf that slew him gorged on his innards. The next to fall was Floppa. One of the two wolves he faced latched on tightly to his left thigh, bringing him down to the dusty road. Immediately after, a wolf leaped on the back of the dwarf named Chris, cracking this neck.
Now Elgar faced five ferocious wolves alone while this three companions lay bleeding, soon to die. He produced a potion of heroism which he quickly quaffed. Though the odds were against him, even with the aid of magic, Elgar steeled himself to fight to the death. As sharp teeth pulled at him from all angles, he was able to kill two more wolves, their fierce resolve won the day. The mighty Elgar made this last stand.
Grubbycheek and the Gate
Two days later, Grubbycheek had the notion to install an iron gate at the mine entrance. He found four sturdy newcomers in Hammerstone and offered 1 gold coin apiece to help carry the iron gate. They were Eugene the paladin, Ollie the dwarf warrior, Saul the druid and Zad the dwarf thief. They each took a part of the iron gate and lugged it down the trade road to where the hidden cavern led to the mine. Grubbycheek warned them against disturbing the molemen who lived near the mine, and he promised a rare delicacy once they arrived. He also explained how his partners were somewhere near the mine.
They met no foes alone the series of caverns and arrived at the mine near the end of the day. Grubbycheek got to work assembling the gate, but first he brought them to the room filled with worms of various giant sizes. A giant crystal there pulsated with energy. None of them chose to eat any worms, even after Grubbycheek demonstrated the eating of a fist-sized specimen. Ollie, however, grabbed two worms and wrapped them in his blanket.
Tienarth Finds More Holes
Earlier that day, Tienarth and Florida examined all four columns on the platform, finding that they each had secret doors. Roddy, the newly-arrived bounty hunter, recognized a trap and with some amazing luck understood how to disarm it. When they opened the door, they stared at a mosaic showing a gargoyle spitting fire, which they surmised was the effect of the trap. Tienarth stepped into the hollow column and promptly fell through a trap door that opened. He tumbled down 40′ into a pile of bones.
After he dusted himself off and applied some healing magic, he poked around the bones. Among the ruined effects of several unfortunate vault-robbers, he found a number of coins, a nice shield and a statuette of a rot grub. This last he momentarily mistook for a living rot grub. He also spotted a peridot. Gathering these things, he used his magic rope to ascend.
The secret door in the third column was in fact an illusion placed before a simple opening. Tienarth leaned through the illusion to see another vertical shaft, this one with slimy handholds going town to 10′ of water over a steel door in the floor. He and Florida puzzled over what surely was another trap.
Fresh Meat
Presently, the four recent hires of Grubbycheek climbed out of the canyon to wander the streets of Doukreg, soon arriving at the vault. They greeted Tienarth and explained who they were. The old elf wondered if any of them was brave enough to climb down the slimy pit. The dwarf named Ollie volunteered. They tied a rope around this waist for safety, and he slowly descended. Though slimy, the handholds were not particularly slippery. He soon found himself just above the water.
Through the water, he could see the steel plate. There was little to do but submerge, and though he had no skill in swimming, the dwarf clamped his mouth shut and jumped in, sinking to the bottom. There, he began feeling the edges of the steel plate. It was flush with the stone floor. He looked carefully for a seam or handle with no luck. As he hauled himself up out of the water by the rungs, he felt an intense burning, which inspired him to climb all the way out of the shaft. The burning ceased, though he did feel less than fully healthy.
After finding his courage again, he went back down. This time he was startled to see the surface of the water rippled from no obvious source. Once again, he hurriedly ascended.
Saul lit a lantern and dropped it down the shaft, expecting it to light afire. The lantern merely glooped into the water and was extinguished.
The Fourth Column
The last column was found to have a hidden knob surrounded by four keyholes. Roddy declared the lock beyond his comprehension, but also noted that the door was unlocked. He pulled it open, and Jerker set a heavy stone against it to prevent closing. Beyond the door was a deep shaft the immediately began drawing air down into it.
Newcomer Zad descended down the shaft by their chain, stopping just above the floor. He looked carefully around and noticed innumerable pressures plates that surely triggered some sort of trap. Still hanging from the chain, he noticed a locked door which he attempted to pick with no success. He climbed back out of the shaft.
Another worm was fetched and tossed down the shaft. It splatted at the bottom and triggered the trap. Smoky vapor filled the bottom portion of the shaft. It swirled around under the rush of air from above.
With night falling, they retreated from the vault all the way back to the mine. Grubbycheek was snoring in a corner. They brought out cold rations and made ready to sleep for the night.
End Notes
- Treasure
- Statuette of a rot grub
- Nice shield
- 309 cp
- 54 sp
- 125 gp
- 38 pp
- peridot (500 gp)
- Combat – no xp since everyone died
- 6 wolves
- Characters
- Chris (deceased)
- Elgar (deceases)
- Eugene
- Floppa (deceased)
- Florida
- Ollie
- Riffle (deceased)
- Saul
- Tienarth
- Zad