Barrowmaze Campaign Diary, Session 14 - Connecting the Dots

 This is part of my on-going diary series for my Doom of Barrowmaze campaign run using Old-School Essentials.

Session 14 - Connecting the Dots

This week the Bastards of Bogtown consisted of...

	Barry, Barbarian 4. Duvari polymath and would-be warlord. Played by Zi.
	Esme, Slayer 1. A strange "old" mutant. Played by Todd.
	Kazrik, Dwarf 3. Dwarven shipwright of Clan Boatstone. Played by Ryan.
	Psteve, Cleric 4. Enigmatic prophet haunted by eldritch whispers. Played by Andy.

Retainers

	Katlin, Necromancer 1. Thaddeus' retainer.
	Dollan, Thief 1. Thaddeus' retainer.
	Iren, Fighter 2. Psteve's acolyte.

Downtime

Following the death of Thaddeus, the Bastards of Bogtown decided to take a hiatus to consider their next course of action. Esme, a Slayer and a former member of the Buff Bastards (Barry & Thaddeus' old adventuring group) was recruited. Kazrik and Barry both did some training, with Kazrik completing his course on dwarven trap detection. Narion opted to stay at his workshop, and Psteve did some research regarding who or what Vermingetrix was in life.

Psteve's research found that Vermingetrix was a member of an ancient people known only as the "Barrow Men", who were a culture distantly related to the Duvari (Barry's people). A grand warlord, Vermingetrix raided south beyond the Skyspire Mountains and carved out a petty kingdom before his death, laying waste to many small realms in the process.

Western exploration

After a week, the adventurers returned to the Barrow Fields and took the very first entrance they discovered, dubbed the "Skeleton Entrance". The group decided they wanted to map portions of the western Barrowmaze. Following a circuitous route, they opened up several unexplored rooms, greatly expanding their understanding of the dungeon.

Eventually, after doing battle with a small group of orcs, the group found what they discovered was the most prominent entrance of the dungeon, which included a semi-permanent block and tackle installation that other adventuring groups used to climb down into the maze. They were annoyed to find that the dungeon wall even contained an advertisement: "Trouble reading this? Visit the Silver Standard Merchant company for all your torch and lantern needs."

Looking to explore further, Barry and Kazrik became trapped in a room, but were able to easy dispatch the skeletons without issue. They noted that it would have been far more dangerous had they taken this entrance as less experienced adventurers. They also encountered the spectral remains of a warrior that the group realized was Thaddeus, who warned them that Vermingetrix the Reaver now roamed the halls of the Barrowmaze.

The group turned south and explored numerous chambers, including a series of halls hidden behind multiple secret doors. Eventually, they found a chamber with a small group of mutants who recognized the group and were surprised to see them, since it had been so long since the group had been around that the mutants had assumed them all dead.

The current state of the group's map

Turning South

Completing a large, connected section of their map, the group ventured west and then down a south-leading passage. To the north, they found a bricked up wall, which they decided to break down. Within was a hallway and three doors. The first door held little, but the second door contained a room full of skeletons that animated and attacked. At the same time, a small group of robed, "plague skeletons" approached from the group's escape route, and a desperate battle broke out.

The party split up to face off against both groups, trying to avoid losing any retainers. A necromancy spell and tactical positioning prevented any losses among the party. In the skeleton room, the group found one of the stone tablets of the maze, and Psteve decided to read it. As he read it, the cleric realized his eyes had gone dark, as the tablet cursed him with blindness!

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Final Thoughts

This session was primarily focused on exploring the western halls, which were obviously meant for less seasoned adventurers. The group made quick work of the few encounters they had, but were more than happy to gain valuable map information in the process.

The only events of any real note were a random event that I had to ad lib regarding the spirit of Thaddeus and Vermingetrix, and the final fight of the session. Everything else was pretty mellow, but that makes sense given where in the dungeon the group is. I will be interested to see if they decide to continue in this area of the dungeon or if they choose to extricate themselves to an area that presents more lucrative treasures.