Session 2: The Beast in the Pit

Ser Thaddeus stepped over two mutilated corpses as he descended the wide, well-worked staircase into darkness. To his right, just inside his peripheral vision, the body of a third beastman hovered ominously in the air along the wall, impaled on some insidious trap. Thaddeus moved slowly and cautiously, hoping to safely trigger the trap using a long, wooden pole. A sharp metallic twang signaled that the pole a hit a tripwire, and Thaddeus instinctively threw himself backwards onto the stairs. The bed of spikes, rotting corpse still attached, swung out from the wall. "By the tree's smoldering roots!" Thaddeus shouted, as the trap passed mere inches from his head.

Jeff Easley

Session #2

This is the 3rd campaign diary for my Valakis campaign (including one pre-campaign test dungeon). 

In Session #1, our heroes went to investigate a series of attacks on hamlets south of the village of Romworth, at the edge of the Hartwood. This session begins only moments after the deadly combat which concluded the previous game's events.

A Momentary Retreat

Stunned by the sudden, brutal end of Kram Swifthorn, the party allowed Thaddeus a moment to provide the dwarf with last rites as best he could, not knowing dwarven custom. The party debated whether it was proper to divide up his gear, and concluded that it would be a waste not to. Dwarves are utilitarian creatures, after all.

While this was occurring, Osiris the elven magician examined the body of the huge beastman that Barry had just cut down. Barry gathered up its head as a trophy to bring back to town and discovered that the head was unexpectedly heavy, weighing in at 240 coins (around 30lbs). Osiris took a keen interest in the creature's massive scorpion-like tail and decided he would attempt to extract some venom from it for his own purposes. Unfortunately, the magic-user was unsuccessful in his attempts to extract the venom, and poisoned himself in the process. The group was relieved to learn that the venom was only a potent paralytic, though Osiris was unable to continue through the cavern on his own.

Given their mage's condition, and the serfs they had just freed from their captivity in the grotto, the group decided to return to Romworth. Gathering up the paralyzed Osiris (who would return to normal about an hour later), the party backtracked through the cavern and made the 2 hour trek back to the village. They returned to the bailey and presented the beastman's head to Reeve Warik.

The reeve was impressed with the party's initiative, and their success in slaying such a large, aggressive monster. Having received a chest of coin from the treasury to pay for the posted bounty, the reeve presented the party with the 25 gp owed to them for their service to the barony. When the group inquired about the nature of the creature, Warik professed his ignorance as to the nature of the creature, but was displeased that such a beast had been stalking the borders of the Hartwood.

Satisfied, and promising to return with more heads, the group headed back into town to rest, resupply and head back into the grotto on the morrow. As they left the bailey, Kormak, squire to Ser Torwald, informed the party that he would meet them in the morning to search for his liege after he had a chance to rearm himself. The rest of the group rented rooms in the Lakeside Inn and visited the local trading post to purchase basic supplies. In the morning, the group reconvened and set off for the grotto.

Vladislav Grechko

The Failed Ambush

Descending once again into the grotto, the group quickly discovered that the hounds which previously guarded the entrance were missing. Proceeding slowly, the group made out the whispering of several creatures which were apparently lying in wait to ambush them in the first chamber. Ser Thaddeus, never one for subtlety, declared that the creatures should show themselves. After a short debate about attacking vs retreating, the creatures rushed around the corner, weapons raised.

Swinging wildly with their short blades, one of the creatures managed to strike a grazing blow against Chucho, the crossbow wielding man-at-arms who was marching in the front alongside Barry. In response he released the bolt from his crossbow, but was unable to connect. Barry, letting his battle lust drive him, unleased a devastating blow against the beastman that had stabbed his companion. He struck the creature across the chest with his bastard sword, felling it in a single stroke and then continued his swing into the beastman in front of him, driving the blade deep into the creature's midsection.

The two remaining creatures, shocked at this display of savage power, turned to flee. Venali rushed past Chucho and rammed her longsword through the neck of one of the remaining beastmen, but the group could not stop the fourth attacker from fleeing deeper into the caves. Barry quickly went about beheading the creatures, throwing one of the heads to Thaddeus to carry.

The group followed the lone survivor of their encounter deeper into the grotto, and discovered what they surmised were retched sleeping quarters. A foul stench, discarded bone and soiled piles of straw littered the room but there was no sign of their fleeing foe. The roaring sound of running water grew louder with each step towards the east and the group followed a tunnel further in that direction to investigate.

Joshu

The Underground Lake

Heading deeper into the cave, the party discovered the passage led to a modest underground pool of water fed by the stream they had seen outside. The sound of running water echoed off the walls, making it hard to hear anything. Beams of light from the surface broke through hanging vines, obscuring details below the waterline. In the center of the lake there was a small, rocky island with five standing stones, each roughly 2 meters tall.

After a debate on who would investigate the stones, Barry dove into the water and swam over. He realized that the stones contained some manner of writing, but due to his inability to read or write, he had no idea what he was looking at. Osiris then made his way across the water, noting that the pool emptied down an underwater channel in the southwest, and hazarded a guess that it might suck someone in if they got too close.

While the group rested, Osiris spent the next 30 minutes deciphering the standing stones, and realized the symbols were written in another language, but roughly translated to the letters "A", "G", "R", "O" and "W". Unsure of the meaning, or even the proper order of the stones, the group decided to proceed back into the previous room and follow another unexplored passageway.

The Pit

Heading south from the room with the soiled bedding, the group entered a chamber with rusty hooks and chains dangling from the ceiling. A small, cold hearth lay along the eastern wall, illuminated by light from a 6-inch hole in the ceiling which had been used as a natural chimney. To the south, a large, ominous pit descended into darkness. A sizable slime trail lead from the northwest to the edge of the chasm. Investigating the northwest passage, the group realized it connected to the room where they had found the prisoners the previous day, and more concerningly, that the body of Kram was now missing; only the trail of blood left to mark where his body had been.

After a brief discussion, Venali attempted to move as quietly as possible to the edge of the pit and peer into the darkness below. Using her ability to see into the infrared spectrum, the elf was able to make out a large creature far below. It had a long, thin body lined with numerous small legs, too many for her to count. She could see it had two small stalks coming off its head and a number of writhing appendages protruding from its face. Suitably concerned, she retreated from the edge of the pit and informed the group.

Unsure what this creature was, or if they even needed to confront it, the group moved on swiftly to the other passage they had not explored, heading southwest. They quickly realized that this was likely the bedchamber of the beast which had killed Kram yesterday. While Venali and Osiris search for secret  doors, Barry searched the chamber, discovering four small gemstones and a forgotten shield. With no sign of secret doors in the room, the group headed back up the winding stairs and headed to the final passage they had not yet explored.

William McAusland

A Parley, a Chest and a Trapped Stairwell

Retracing their steps, the group headed to the southern tunnel they had not explored. Following its winding path, they began to hear the sound of hushed conversation from beyond the passageway. Several beastmen were discussing whether they should fight or flee. Before they could make a decision, Barry marched into the chamber, sword drawn. He demanded their surrender, and offered to challenge their strongest fighter if the monsters wished. All three beastmen quickly declared that they were easily the weakest of the group and therefore could not possibly face the barbarian in single combat.

Ser Thaddeus offered to let the beastmen go, so long as they provide with some valuable information and any treasure on their person or in the room, which appeared to be some manner of old armory or storage space. The monsters quickly agreed to this offer, answering 3 of the group's questions before handing over a large wooden chest and departing from the grotto.

The beastmen informed the players of the following:

• They did not worship the creature in the pit. Instead, the herd simply kept it at bay by feeding it the dead bodies of peasants that they did not finish. At one point the beastmen had decided to attack the monster, but it quickly paralyzed several of them and dragged them into the pit to be devoured.

• The standing stones were a tribute to their champion, which the players had slain the previous day. The champion's had been called "Rowag".

• The beastmen informed the group that they had come from the large forest to the northeast, which they called the Oakenblight, home to the great and terrible tree. When Barry warned them not to return or he would come to their home, kill them and burn their great tree, the beastmen scoffed, declaring that "you could never match the power of the Oakenmaw."

After the monsters had fled, the players searched the space, discovering a small cache of useful weapons. Venali was able to pick the lock on the chest, revealing a large sum of silver coins, as well as a few pieces of jewelry. While the coins were counted, Ser Thaddeus and Venali began to investigate the strange staircase that existed this room to the south. Unlike the rest of the grotto, this stairwell was made of well worked stone and masonry. 

Of the greatest concern though, were the bodies of 3 beastmen which occupied the stairwell. Two of the corpses were lying in a bloody heap on the stairs, while the third corpse was suspended two feet in the air along the western wall. The pair immediately assumed the space was trapped, and the group debated how to proceed. Eventually, it was decided that Ser Thaddeus would attempt to trip the trap from a distance with a 10' pole, as Venali was no confident in disarming the device.

Ser Thaddeus descended the stairs, and his pole eventually struck the tripwire located roughly half way down. The paladin narrowly avoided being impaled on the spikes. As the group watched, the trap slowly reset itself, ready to spring itself again.

Carefully avoiding the tripwire, the group descended the stairs to a set of stone double doors roughly 40' down. Venali took point once again, and peered into the dark, eerie hallway beyond the doors. She first picked up the strange sound of chirping, groaning and the occasional roar, then in the darkness just beyond the torchlight, she was able to make out the movement of several scaly creatures in the shadows, which quickly headed further into the dungeon.

Stefan Poag

The First Spell

After a quick discussion, the party decided they were suitably pleased with their spoils from the delve and concerned by the nefarious creatures that might reside in the lower levels of this dungeon. The group headed back up the stone stairway and made their way towards the cavern entrance. As they approached the central antechamber (where they had originally encountered the guard dogs) the players first smelled, and then were able to spot a scouting party of five pale, slimy humanoids with scaly skin. Even at a distance, the party could smell the noxious odor emanating from these monstrous humanoids.

The creatures, caught off guard by the party's approach, stopped and lowered their spears towards the adventurers. One of the creatures, seemingly the leader of the scouts, spoke in broken common towards the characters, inquiring if it was they who killed or drove off the beastmen. The party, not looking for a fight against five of these creatures, announced that they had indeed rid the grotto of the beastmen.

The creatures, pleased by this new, declared that the players could leave, so long as they recognized that now the whole of the cavern was now the "domain of the Troggs." The players, having no reason to think otherwise, agreed to this declaration.

At this point, a discussion broke out, as the party's magic-user, Osiris, still had not cast his prepared spell for the day, Sleep. As the players discussed the possibility of putting the them to sleep, the troggs grew agitated, sensing that the adventurers were up to something. Before they could attack, however, Osiris cast Sleep (rolling a 14 on his HD roll) and put all five troggs to sleep instantly.

Seizing the opportunity, Barry immediately pulled out his bastard sword and beheaded the entire scouting party. This ensured that the troggs could not report any information about the party, or maybe the slaughter was just to collect more heads for the bounty. Brutal and cold blooded, but certainly effective.

Trogg patrol dispatched, the group decided to let Osiris gather his caltrops from the pit room and threw the bodies of the patrol into the pit to hide any evidence from future patrols. While doing this, their torchlight revealed that the creature was actually nesting on a huge pile of bone, refuse and remains. It noticed the group, but made no attempt to approach them, as they provided it with several new bodies to feed upon.

Another Night in Romworth

With that taken care of, the group made a hasty exit into the Hartwood and returned to the village without incident. Upon their arrival, they headed straight to the bailey and presented the reeve with another 8 heads. The party then inquired about where they might find further information on the creatures they had encountered, where they might purchase one or more horses, and who might be capable of training their mage in the use of bows. 

Impressed by their continued efforts, the reeve thanked them and offered to write a letter of commendation which they could present to Ser Rolf Whytton, the lord of Darthollow Castle, a small fort overlooking the southern edge of the Cairn Moorlands. The party agreed and was told to come collect the letter in the morning, as the reeve had other business to attend to this evening.

The party took a few minutes to discuss next steps, which included the possibility of buying a barrel of lantern oil which they tentatively planned to dump into the dark pit and ignite in order to avoid fighting the foul, corpse eating creature (which the party dubbed the Slug-apede) that dwelt within!

At this point, with their adventuring day complete, and a sizable amount of treasure (and experience) gained, the party headed to the inn to rest for the evening. It was at this point that two of their hirelings, Beatriz and Maynord, informed the party that they no longer wished to accompany them further as the things they had seen in the grotto were too much for them. Such is the life of an adventurer, always on the lookout for good help.

As it was getting late, we ended the session here with the party ready to head off to meet with Ser Rolf the next day.

Artist Unknown

Final Thoughts

There was a lot to digest in this session! The party was able to map the entire first floor of the grotto and started to head into the 2nd level before deciding to not push their luck. Aside from a single grazing wound on Chucho, they were at nearly full resources, so I did find myself a bit surprised by their trepidation. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.

Barry managed to turn the initial fight against the beastman ambush in a single swing of his sword, which totally changed the rest of the encounters on the first floor. Osiris started low and ended on a high. From paralyzing himself for an hour on man-beast venom to ending an encounter instantly by putting five trogg scouts to sleep. With the realization that Ser Thaddeus is the face of the party, I'm interested to see how interactions go given his... unique brand of positivity and encouragement.

I have loved the results I have gotten from following the advice in the Referee's Tome to always describe, but never mention creatures names. The reaction to the monster in the pit (seasoned players might harbor a well educated guess) was one of deep concern and dread. The group's immediate desire to avoid the monster and find a clever solution for its existence was a joy to watch.

Next week our brave heroes set out for Darthollow Keep, and then possibly a return to the Roaring Grotto to uncover what other mysteries it might hold within. Until next time...

Onward to Adventure!