It was early in the eleventh month, the one they call Cricket when the days are short and the crickets sing loudest. After travelling home on the 4th, the adventurers rested for several days (11/5 – 11/9) during which time they were visited once more with dreams of the beautiful lady trapped in the glass tube. Over the course of those days, dreams were shared.
Ollie’s Dream
You are standing in a vast desert, under a blood-red sun, sand dunes stretching to the horizon in every direction. You are alone. Presently, you see the figure of a woman in the distance dressed in a strange white garment. She stands on a glass pedestal, high above the desert floor. She turns to look at you, aiming deep blue eyes, her long hair flowing. Her smile is like a ray of sunshine in the darkness. As you approach, the sound of lutes get louder, then a whirlwind sucks you up into the sky.
Ferris’ Dream
You walk through a dark forest where trees are twisted and gnarled. The air is thick with the smell of decay. Strange noises bubbled up all around you unseen. Suddenly, you arrive at a clearing, in the center of which is a glass tube holding a beautiful woman. She sleeps, her face is serene. You reach out to touch the glass tube, but it is too hot. You pull back your hand in pain. You look up and see glowing green orb above her.
Saul’s Dream
You are soaring on the back of a giant eagle, flying over mountains, valleys, rivers and lakes. You spot a glass tube in the sky floating on a cloud like a giant soap bubble. You land the eagle on the cloud and approach the glass tube. Inside is a sleeping woman. Her eyes flutter open.
Tienarth’s Dream
You stand before a great castle made of black stone, its towers piercing the clouds. You draw a sword and enter the castle. You fight your way through hordes of goblins and orcs, until you reach the highest tower. At the top, you find a room, in the center of which is a glass tube holding the same woman with the golden locks.
Jerker’s Dream
You site in a cave by a flickering fire. You are alone, but you do not feel lonely. You close your eyes and meditate, focusing on your breathing and clearing your mind. A vision comes of the woman you’ve dreamed of for months. She is stands in a field of flowers, smiling at you. Opening your eyes, you know you must find the woman. She is the one who will save the world.
Ollie experienced a second dream.
Ollie’s Other Dream
You stand in the heart of a mountain before a great anvil made of gold and inscribed with ancient runes. You pick up a hammer and begin forging a sword. As you hammer, you sing a song in a language unknown to you. Before long, the sword glows with a white light. You drop the hammer and step back in awe. The sword floats into the air and begins to spin. It spins faster and faster, until it is nothing more than a blur of light. Suddenly, the sword stops spinning and falls to the ground. You rush to pick it up, and as you hold it, you feel a surge of power course through you. You know this sword is special, that it will save the world. You look up to see a vision of the woman in the glass tube. She smiles at you. You know what must be done: find the woman and give her the sword.
Nothing was certain about what these dreams meant, although some obvious themes were evident. Regardless, they all agreed they must push on to find this lady, and so they made for the ruined tower (11/10) and then on to the river camp the following day. Along the way, they met an adventurer alone. After an awkward conversation, they parted. On the twelfth, they reached Doukreg again and descended.
Tienarth advocated a thorough an meticulous search of each level, starting with the first level of which there remained a few unseen rooms. The first they explored (Room 6) was filled with chilly water with various deeper areas, though mostly only waist-deep. Numerous coins were scattered all over, which were gathered into Ollies pack. They totaled 1,800 cp, 200 sp, and 400ep. They also found an aluminum tube holding a scroll of Protection from Elementals.
In an adjacent room (Room 8), also flooded but only to 12 inches deep, swam many fire beetles. Half of them were killed until Saul used a druid spell to disperse the rest. A leather package floated in the water. Inside were some coins (700 cp, 200 sp, 200 gp) and a suit of chainmail as light as silk. It was later found to be magical, and Jerker took it as sleeping gown. Ollie, using his ring, identified it as being made of a unique metal which he dubbed Jerkonium.
They also noted a hole in the ceiling, ten feet above.
The last unexplored room in the level (Room 9) held a humanoid figure floating face down over a deep pool. It wore a blue, rubbery suit. Tienarth in dragon form was able to grasp the figure and pull it close for examination. At the bottom of the pool, a tunnel jutted off. Ollie dove down, tethered with a rope. He found the tunnel soon turned up and reached air. He returned to examine the body. The suit was peeled away from the deceased human who wore an ivory ring. Later, when analyzed, this ring was seen to bear the motto “living well by alchemy” engraved inside. It was also found to provide immunity to natural acid and a bit of wisdom, but only to those skilled in the thieving arts. Ferris traded the x-ray ring back to Jerker for the ivory ring.
After checking out the room with the pool on the eastern side (Room 5), the party climbed up the hole in the ceiling on the back of the dragon who pulled himself up last. They trudged for two miles in a narrow tunnel before arriving at a hole down into another room. Water dripped from the hole into a brazier squished into the soft salt of the floor. Filled with a yellow substance, it gave off a sulfurous odor with each drop of water. They carefully climbed down to explore this new level.
Presently, Ollie stumbled upon two giant black widow spiders which were quickly killed. From their nest, they took 13 fancy stones (100 gp/each) and another Protection from Elementals Scroll. Copper coins seen there were left as they were.
In the next room, Ollie grabbed a corked bottle and put it in his bag. They moved on. After passing through a few more rooms, Ollie came face to face with a gargantuan worm which immediately swallowed him. The rest of the party rushed forward to hack at the worm. A moment later, Ollie stepped out of the worm through a large gash cut by Jerker. He then dove right back in to search for treasure in the worm’s belly. He emerged with silver ring.
Having completed the exploration of this level, they retraced their steps all the way back out of the tunnels and to Grubbycheek’s mine. Tienarth spent four days analyzing treasure. He identified the aspects of the ivory ring and the chainmail. He found the chalice that used to contain salty water to be non-magical. Finally, he identified the silver ring found in the worm to convey the power of Speak with Dead once a day.
Ollie wore the silver ring, and over the course of a few days, he found himself never feeling hungry. He seemed to still require water, but he had no need for food.
End Notes
- Days
- 11/10 – Travel to ruined tower
- 11/11 – Travel to river camp
- 11/12 – Travel to Doukreg and enter tunnels
- 11/13 – 11/16 Analyzing magic items
- Treasure
- Scroll of Protection from Elementals.
- 1,800 cp
- 200 sp
- 400 ep
- 700 cp
- 200 sp
- 200 gp
- Chain Mail +1
- Ivory ring with immunity to natural acid and +1 WIS bonus, only for thieves
- 13 fancy stones (100 gp/each)
- Another Protection from Elementals Scroll
- Silver ring allows Speak with Dead once per day
- Combat 3,325 xp
- 2 Giant Black Widow Spiders 175 xp each
- Purple Worm 2,975 xp
- Characters 369 xp each
- Ferris 406 xp
- Hocuspo 406 xp
- Jerker (fight) 410 xp
- Nate (fight) 410 xp)
- Ollie (underground, lead) 376 xp
- Saul and Lions 406 xp
- Tienarth (words) 373 xp