“Well you can just call me Vuzu,” the foul-mouthed smoke mephit announced, its voice softened a tad from the first sips of Jadearch’s whiskey. “Of course that’s not my real name.”
This meager sign of goodwill was
not unwelcome. But the weary adventuring troupe had not returned to the
mephit’s abode in hopes of learning its name. “We were actually hoping to
inquire about the glitter shade,” the enchanter Tristan Pureheart replied. “Can
you tell us anything about that?”
“The glitter shade?” the mephit
replied. “Is that one of those invisible beings that flings things around the
room?”
“Close,” the enchanter responded.
“In the same cave.” Tristan proceeded to relate a description of the glitter
shade, but the mephit denied knowledge of the being—stating only that the mage
who formerly resided herein was responsible for the poltergeists. The precise
nature of the glitter shade, and its origins, would remain a mystery.
Bidding farewell to the
increasingly intoxicated mephit, the company stepped outside the ruined house
stone house and canvassed the remainder of the domed cavern it occupied.
Several puddles of green acidic liquid lingered along the edges, eating into the
very rock itself and corroding the occasional cooking tin or hand tool that
somehow made its way here from inside the mage’s abandoned house. There was
nothing of value or particular interest, and after a quick glance into the
giant lizards’ tunnels, the party chose to move on.
Climbing back to the surface of
the Rock Marsh’s greatest island, the company found the sun dipping low on the horizon
and felt the first pangs of exhaustion zinging through their bones. A rest was
needed, and the nearby overlook promised a safe and defensible redoubt. The
decision to ascend and make camp there was an easy one, and soon taken.
The evening passed uneventfully,
and as dawn broke the reinvigorated adventuring crew readied themselves for a
day of furious battle. The final martenewere cave lie dead ahead—where the
company expected to find no fewer than three of the beasts, including its snake
cultist leader, and a good number of the vicious giant mustelids they had
previously battled on numerous occasions.
But first they had to cross the
island, and this proved difficult as the poorly hewn path was choked with
fauna. Each footfall seemed to sink incrementally deeper into the muck, and
impassable, mangrove-like pickets of swamp trees began to wall the company in.
Just when the ground finally seemed to solidify, a high tuft of bright green
moss and musty old leaves blocked their way. Scampering over it, suddenly the
martial artist Ailier Solenight sank deeply into the mound.
Only then did the company
realize, this was no mere pile of leaves and soil. A giant maw revealed itself
in the middle of the fust heap. It was alive!
And threatening to devour the
martial artist whole. Luckily cleric Brodrath was quick to react, turning and
grasping his comrade below the shoulders and yanking him forcefully to safety.
Already, the monster’s rows of teeth and digestive fluids had shredded and
dissolved much of Ailier’s clothing and claimed his pack and weapons. But he
was alive, and relatively unscathed.
Before the gas could spread far,
the spellsword Vagar would raise his hands in the now-familiar fan pattern,
touch his thumbs together, and call forth raging jets of flames from his
fingertips. The ordinarily mild incantation struck with uncommon intensity this
day. The burning hands not only consumed the spreading gas cloud above
the fust heap but even ignited the dead leaves and vegetation atop the mound.
Left to burn long enough, the fire alone might have destroyed the being. But
the dwarven warrior Jadearch took no chance—thrusting his spear deeply into the
fust heap and stilling the monster at last.
There was nothing to do now but
continue on. The final black crag stood even closer now, and as the company
finally drew near the familiar face of Sione Bari would emerge from behind a
nearby thicket. “All the rest are inside,” he said, without so much as a
greeting. “The cultist. The two others. And surely a good number of the giant
weasels.”
Holding his silver-tipped spear
like a walking stick, Bari pointed to a narrow hole that dove steeply into the
ground, just at the base of the rock tower. “We can muffle our sounds,” he
said. “But we cannot mask our scent. Be on your guard.”
Bari produced a cloth-wrapped
torch, deftly ignited it, and took the first step into the underground. The
opening was irregular, with edges eroding and copious animal tracks leading
both into the hole and out of it. Without a moment’s hesitation, the company
followed Bari into the darkness below.
The company proceeded single-file
along a narrow, steep passage. The sunlight slowly disappeared behind as the
tunnel plunged deeper and deeper into the black earth, before finally leveling
off and branching out in numerous directions. An old iron gate that once
blocked one particular tunnel of those tunnels now lay derelict on the cavern
floor—having apparently fallen or been knocked off its hinges. Naturally, the
party opted to continue in that direction.
Before long, the company began
hearing strange squeaks and chips before them, and the tight tunnel emptied
into a large, jagged chamber where the party spotted a pair of digesting white,
tentacled worms, which Sione called “carrion crawlers,” gnawing on some
unidentifiable animal carcass. The two crawlers ignored the party as they
walked past—but further in the darkness the party walked straight into a third
crawler that immediately lunged at Tristan with its flailing tentacles.
The enchanter managed to dodge
the first strike, but a second tentacle raked across the mage’s back. It
produced a strange numbness. But luckily the crawler’s vile tentacle slid
harmlessly off Tristan’s robe without delivering its paralyzing toxin. The
party battled frantically, unleashing a volley of withering missile attacks
that weakened the worm before Jadearch once again struck the killing blow with
his spear. But it was not long before the previous two crawlers wandered over
to the area, forcing the party to resume the battle. This time, fortune would
not smile so favorably upon them.
As the battle began, the dwarven
cleric Brodrath charged the first of the crawlers and smashed it with his runed
cudgel while Vagar loosed arrows at the other. The cleric’s strike hit home—but
the damage was slight. The wound served only to anger the beast, which lanced
back at Brodrath with the first of its tentacles and dropped the dwarf,
helplessly paralyzed, to the ground. The crawler then continued its rampage,
charging Jadearch and forcing him to parry multiple successive attacks.
Meanwhile the other remaining
crawler flung its own tentacles at the enchanter, Tristan, and the martial
artist, Ailier Solenight—stinging and paralyzing them both. With half their
comrades already defenseless and incapacitated and still both angry crawlers
bearing down, the stakes could not be higher for the party members still
standing.
But Vigar’s arrow struck true. And final worm’s tentacles flailed wildly just as Jadearch arrived from behind and plunged his spear. The crawler’s body sizzled and gave a final shiver, and the dark cavern fell silent once again.
Three of the party’s numbers
remain motionless on the floor, having nearly become snacks for the foul worms.
Yet already the numbness had begun receding, and there was no time to think
about what might have been. All the company had nonetheless survived. And
somewhere down in these filthy depths, the martenweres remained to be found.
Adventure Notes
Fust Heap. Long have you heard tell of the terrible “shamblers,” dismal swamp beasts constituted of rotting plants and organic matter, impervious to many forms of attack, that lie in ambush for travelers. Luckily the variant you encountered, the fust heap, was far less fearsome than you might have expected. It offered no resistance to Vagar’s flames or Jadearch’s spear, and ultimately proved more a nuisance than a genuine threat.
Carrion Crawler (lesser). The carrion crawler is a hideous subterranean scavenger that paralyzes prey with its poisonous tentacles, before fiercely devouring it. Thick scales cover its long body, though leaving many gaps and articulations (AC 7)—while a tough shell protects its head (AC 3). Though crawlers in more nutrient-rich environments have reportedly grown to lengths well over nine feet and strike with as many as eight tentacles, luckily this lesser variant was not longer than six feet and carried only four tentacles each. These crawlers’ paralysis wore off after just 5-8 rounds as well—much shorter than the larger varieties are able to inflict.
Safe rest. Though
safe resting spots are uncommon in the wilderness, the company was able to
complete a safe rest atop the Rock Marsh’s tall central crag. Even in a
chaotic and dangerous location, a long rest will restore 2d4 HP per
level (plus constitution modifier) and a character’s spell slots. But a safe
rest (which generally requires “a safe, tranquil, and comfortable environment”)
restores 100% of hit points and enables spellcasters to adjust their active
repertoires. [See pg. 83 of the rules & technical manual, version 1.5, for
more details].
·
The company defeated the fust heap (175 XP) and
three lesser carrion crawlers (270 XP each) in battle this session. 985 XP
total.
·
The company continued its exploration of the
Rock Marsh, locating the second exit from the Lizard Cave (25 XP), then reaching
and entering the final Rock Marsh cavern (75 XP). 100 XP total.
·
The company learned from Vuzu the smoke mephit
that the mage who formerly occupied the ruined house was “responsible for” the
poltergeists in the Cave of Horrors. 35 XP.
·
The company wisely elected not to enter the lair
of the acid-breathing giant lizards, which portended great peril and promised
little if any reward. Though no XP can be awarded for this decision, the dwarf
Jadearch and the spellsword Vagar are each granted one inspiration point for
channeling the great tradition of classic tabletop RPGs.
Session 7 totals: 1,125 XP
The total 1,125 XP award from the
session will be divided into eight shares of 141 XP each. The shares are
distributed as follows:
- Jadearch (2 shares)
- Brodrath (1 share)
- Tristan Pureheart (2 shares)
- Vagar (2 shares)
- Ailier Solenight (1 shares)
Accordingly, Jadearch, Tristan
Pureheart, and Vagar each gain 282 XP for this session. Brodrath and Ailier
Solenight each gain 141 XP. Jadearch and
Vagar also each gain one inspiration point.
Note: though the party did
receive assistance on some of these tasks from an NPC (Sione Bari), the degree
of assistance was not sufficient in this case to warrant an additional share of
the XP award.
