Doggerland Session 8:42 (Back to Castleford)

Rewards and Rest (6^th August 2014)

The Adventurers

Bow – Ranger

Cormac – Fighter

Johan – Cleric

Maximillian – Thief

Tarquin - Fighter

Theoderic – Fighter

Vox – Magic User

Return to Castleford - Wodensday 24^th Hextember (day 85) – mid-morning

After an uneventful night the adventurers woke up to the smell of freshly brewed tea. Johan completed his morning prayers and used all of the divinely granted Healing dweomers on everyone who had suffered an injury over the previous day’s adventures. Vox found he had little energy and sweated more than he ordinarily would have done upon the effort required to prepare breakfast, and he mentioned to the others that he felt like he had when he last suffered an infection of the Grey Ooze. He thought back over the last day or so to figure out when this infection might have occurred and realised that when he was in wolf form he had bitten one of the Temple servants. Johan rummaged through his back pack and gave the rapidly weakening mage one of his remaining pots of Keoghtom’s Ointment, which, when applied to his other minor scratches, got into his blood stream and removed all traces of the pathogen.

Prince Thrommel watched all of this with interest but said nothing. He stood up, stretched and then made his way outside of the barn to make his water. After a few minutes, the rest of the party heard a loud whistle from outside the barn, so they grabbed their weapons and hurried to join the prince outside. A few moments later the sound of hoof beats were heard and a heavy war horse arrived in the clearing outside the dilapidated barn doors. It snickered a greeting to Thrommel and the prince patted its snout before feeding a handful of oats to his mount.

Johan approached Thrommel whilst he reacquainted himself with his war horse and asked if he could cast a magical spell upon him to Detect Evil intent. Thrommel refused permission and responded to the cleric that he saw it as an affront to his honour, and that trust should have built up over night. Johan kept pestering him and arguing his case which annoyed the warrior, so Thrommel Commanded him to Silence and explained that if he persisted in pursuing this theme then he would be forced to take firmer action. Whilst the members of the party discussed this, Thrommel mounted his warhorse and requested that everyone else did the same. Some mounted their riding horses that had been left in the stables whilst those that did not have a mount prepared for the forthcoming jog back to Castleford.

The adventurers rode into Nulb around lunch time and grabbed something to eat from their saddlebags whilst they stretched their legs and looked about the rapidly changing village. The new stone church dedicated to Sol Invictus had been worked on the most and was beginning to take shape. The ditch for the moat of the new stone castle tower was almost completed and the two razed inns were being rebuilt in Thuringian fashion.

Whilst the adventurers took all of this in, Thrommel had trotted up to the blacksmith’s forge. He leapt from his warhorse at the sight of the grizzled ex-mercenary veteran and the party noticed that they greeted each other as if they were long-lost friends.

Bow realised that he would have a little time to himself whilst Thrommel and the smith got reacquainted so he walked up the road to see Mother Screng in her herb shop. She was as miserable as ever but she answered his questions about the Skull, Sword and amulets. She also gave him a little insight into the history of Prince Thrommel and the timeline of him going missing; he was involved in the fight against the Temple the last time it arose in the area, but went missing about 12 years ago just before the final raid on the Temple itself.

She recalled the story of the five great mages who had sealed up the Temple behind four huge bronze valves and thus imprisoned the demon queen within its confines whilst they sought for a way to destroy or banish her for good. Unfortunately most of those mages had either died or gone missing in the interim, so could not be relied upon to help out this time round. She also told the ranger that the amulets were created by the Temple followers to destroy the doors but they had been taken from them by the Sol Invictus followers in order to stop the release of their demon queen. Unfortunately they had been re-found by the Temple but work was underway to reclaim them again. Bow showed her the three that he had about his person and he saw her smile for the first time. A muttered praise from Mother Screng’s daughter who hovered in the background was heard by the intrepid forester.

The wizened old crone then went on to mention that the small skull idol had also been fashioned to help the demoness and her followers but it too had gone missing; it was assumed to be located within a small enclave on the third level of the Temple underground complex. In the meantime, she continued, whilst these devices were created by the temple’s followers, the priests of Sol Invictus had studied ancient manuscripts and found a way to banish the demoness for a very long time. The way all of the magic items inter-reacted meant that if the amulets were attached to the skull and then it was sundered by the Sword of Solitude, that was forged especially for that purpose, in Zuggtmoy’s presence she would be sucked back into the Void from whence she came. Bow thanked her for the story and said that he and his fellow band of adventurers were going to try to return Zuggtmoy to her own realms. Mother Screng smiled again and thanked him for his enthusiasm. She wished him well on his ventures and ushered him back to the street outside.

Thrommel finished his impromptu chat with the smith and remounted his warhorse. He called for the rest of the party to follow him and spurred his charger along the road to Castleford.

The party’s arrival at the Southern Gate of the town was greeted with shock and then jubilation by the guards. After a few moments passed, the captain of the guard appeared with a score of well-turned-out men-at-arms and formed an honour guard to escort the prince towards the castle after which the town got its name. Word of his miraculous arrival spread like wildfire and the streets were very quickly thrumming with crowds to get a closer view of their future ruler. Thrommel turned to his fellow travellers and said that there would be a feast up at the castle great hall later that evening where the party would be rewarded for their part in his rescue.

Theoderic, Tarquin and Johan decided to continue to accompany the prince up to the castle whilst Bow, Cormac, Maximillian and Vox booked the party’s rooms in the Talehangers’ Inn. They were greeted warmly by the innkeeper and their usual rooms were made ready, occasionally to the chagrin of their current occupants.

The members of the party that went up to the castle were allowed entry but were then left to their own devices whilst preparations for that evening’s feast went on around them. They quickly got bored and returned to the Inn to get ready for the festivities.

Bow managed to arrange for a hot bath in which to soak away the strains of the last few days, whilst the innkeeper and his servants cleaned his weapons and armour. He then sent out orders to the finest tailors for some new clothes in the latest town fashion for that night’s celebrations.

Cormac and Maximillian wandered into the Artisans’ Quarter and visited upon Vox’s magical contacts. They got several of the magical items the party had picked up in the dungeon complex below the Temple Identified and then took their more mundane treasures to smiths and jewellers to be evaluated.

Vox meanwhile headed down to the docks in order to look for a boat on which to retire after his adventures were over. He was becoming jaded with the whole adventuring lark and decided that he wanted to spend more time in his own company with a personal laboratory or library than down a deep, dark, dank dungeon. Still, he had to just finish this mission to save the world before he could put down some roots and show his father that he was somebody after all. He wandered along the dockside wharfs and asked everyone he encountered if they knew of any boats for sale. He managed to find out that there were indeed four vessels available; a large merchantman, a slave galley, a long boat and a small raft – two were out of his current price range and the other two were not suitable. He would need to finish the adventures with his small band of companions to find enough treasure to enable him to purchase what he required. If he kept out of trouble, threw in a few mighty spells from time-to-time, and generally stayed alert, he thought he should be able to see things through to accomplish his wishes.

Rewards and Celebrations – late evening

The party readied themselves in their greatest finery (no armour allowed) and left the inn at the allotted time. Vox made his excuses and said that he would not be joining them this evening; he had too much to do.

A huge crowd had gathered in Market Street, the main thoroughfare that led up to the castle, and a long line of benches and trestle tables were laden with victuals and ale as preparations for the street party were finalised. The adventurers made their way through the teeming crowds and arrived at the castle gates on time.

The captain of the guard tied their weapons into their scabbards and then presented them with a guard of honour. They were shown to the tables closest to the lord’s dais, but much to their consternation they were given benches at the farthest end (lowest ranked). However, they were positioned above the majority of invitees on the lower ranked tables, so they accepted their lot.

The great hall was very busy; troops of tumblers and jugglers vied for space with musicians to provide entertainment for the throng, and serving girls and pot boys circulated in abundance to pander to the guests’ every whim for food and drink.

Just as the tenth bell sounded, silence was called for by the castle crier. The previous cacophony fell to a barely audible hushed mutter and then finally to silence as the party’s deeds were uttered and their names called. The party was invited one-at-a-time up to the main dais upon which Prince Thrommel held the seat of honour, closely surrounded by the Baron Tancred, Lady Mathilde and the lord Ralph, High Priest of Sol Invictus in Castleford, as well as other high ranking nobles and dignitaries from the immediate vicinity around Castleford.

Bow was called first and he was asked to kneel before the prince. The prince raised his holy sword and then knighted the ranger, who then had the Silver Star of Vannin and the Gold Crown of Veluna pinned to his chest in recognition of the deeds he had carried out. These honours granted him freedom to bear arms in each of the town’s environs in the presence of all others. The bindings on his weapons were ceremonially slashed and he was then given his monetary rewards; a magical shield, a Potion of Extra Healing, a magical Ring of Protection and a bag containing around 2000 gold coins worth of treasure.

Tarquin was called onto the dais next. He too was knighted and given a similar potion, ring and bag of treasure, as were Theoderic, Cormac, Maximillian and then finally a reluctant Johan; the non-fighters were dubbed Elders of the Land rather than Knights.

The prince noticed that one of the party’s members was missing, so he enquired after Vox. Bow made his excuses for him and Thrommel said he would summon him on the morrow to collect his rewards. The adventurers were then hailed as heroes and told about their new honours and responsibilities, and then returned to their seats in a higher position among the throng.

Meanwhile, outside, the townsfolk were treated to street entertainers, never ending rivers of wine and ale, and mountains of food, followed by a display of fireworks the likes of which none had seen before. Vox stayed sober throughout the night’s celebrations and when the fireworks were over he returned to his room deep in his own thoughts.

The Following Day – Thunorsday 25^th Hextember (day 86)

Bow rose as early as his hangover would allow him and he headed back to the inn to find Vox. The ranger argued the prince’s position and finally convinced the sceptical magic user to return to the castle with him to collect his reward. Vox reluctantly went with his companion but refused any ceremony or positions of favour when the awards were offered to him. He did, however, reluctantly accept some monetary rewards for his part in the rescue of the prince; a bag of coins and his choice of the excellent riding horses, with full training, from the baron’s stables.

The rest of the party returned to the inn whilst Vox was up at the castle but then split up to find mentors with whom to test their new found fighting and thaumaturgical skills in order to piece together new techniques to aid them in their forthoming adventures.

The events of the last few days had Tarquin’s mind in a spin. He saw the attraction of the new church and held the prince up as a warrior of truest virtue. He had had an epiphany and was converted to the worship of Sol Invictus much to the disgust of Johan and Vox.

Theoderic noticed Tarquin’s and Johan’s religious impulses, and decided to seek solace with his goddess. He sought out the largest brothel in The Wynde dedicated to Frig, the goddess of fertility in people, and said that he would become its protector and benefactor when he completed his mission to vanquish the demoness Zuggtmoy. His large donation was gladly accepted by the maître d’hotel.

The remainder of the day was spent restocking their expendable weaponry and supplies from around the town and they then retired early in preparation for the next few days. 

Doggerland Session 8:41 (Dungeon Level 3)

The Fourth Amulet (30^th July 2014)

The Adventurers

Bow – Ranger

Cormac – Fighter

Johan – Cleric

Maximillian – Thief

Tarquin - Fighter

Theoderic – Fighter

Vox – Magic User

Roper - Tirsday 23rd Hextember (day 84) – late evening

Dungeon Level 3 (part) - amended from the module map copyright TSR/WotC 

The exhausted party of adventurers began to find comfortable places to settle down to rest for the night when a scream rent the air. A large grey-green shape began to flow from below one of the wardrobes and formed up in front of Vox’s eyes. The plucky mage pulled back and began to prepare for battle whilst Johan jumped forward to aid him.

Unfortunately for the cleric of Balder he was struck unconscious by a long sticky pseudopod that had shot out from the now quite large mass of grey-green goo and was slowly drawn towards the beast’s slavering maw.

The rest of the party closed in rapidly and began to fight the noisome creature. They released the sorely injured cleric from the clutches of the unshapen mass from the Abyss, but as his limp form was removed Tarquin too was struck and injured and drawn towards the beast.

Bow removed one of the small jars of Keoghtom’s Ointment from his pack and applied its contents to the welts that had rapidly formed on the cleric’s flesh where the tentacles had grabbed hold of him. Johan’s eyelids flickered as he regained consciousness, but the beast was now dead; dispatched quickly by the remainder of the fighters in the group of hardy explorers.

Just as the party began to clean their weapons of whatever the beast used for vital fluids there came a heavy pounding upon the door and an order to open up or face the consequences. The adventurers decided not to comply and jeered back through the door that whoever was outside would have to come in to take them.

Moments later the door was rent asunder by the second of two almighty blows. An ogre stepped through the debris and then leapt at the party, swiftly followed by several bugbears. In the midst of the bugbears the party spotted a human but before they could do anything to harm him, he cast a Silence spell that rendered the party’s spell-casters dumb within its confines.

The fighters met the ogre’s challenge and took the melee to the enemy whilst Maximillian hid beyond one of the corners of the separating wall ready to back-stab any enemy unfortunate enough to pass his way. Vox, oblivious to all of this used the time to search the benches, tables and cupboards for any more useful items.

The ogre was rapidly felled by Bow and his fellow fighters whilst Johan searched for and found a spot where the Silence spell no longer affected him. Unfortunately, by the time he got there, the enemy cleric had escaped; a blow from Cormac through the ranks of the bugbears had put him to flight. As the pressure of the fight was borne by Bow, Cormac and Theoderic, the fourth warrior, Tarquin, took to looting the fallen bodies. The narrow confines of the doorway precluded his presence, but the rest of the fighters cut a swathe of destruction through the ranks of the bugbears, which showed that the party was more than a match for almost anything that the Temple could throw at them.

After just a few moments of searching, Tarquin’s strength began to fail him. He dropped his guard and found that he could no longer wield his weapons effectively. He leaned against the nearest wall, his strength sapped by the roper’s poison coursing through his veins. Luckily Johan spotted his injured comrade’s dilemma, so he approached him and applied the contents of one of his jars of Keoghtom’s Ointment to replenish him and cure him of the poisons. Tarquin’s strength slowly flowed back into his limbs and he breathed his thanks to the cleric.

The Cleric and the Altar

Bow quickly managed to cut his way through the final few bugbears between him and the rapidly retreating cleric and gave chase.

Vox, his curiosity at last piqued by the lack of noise around him, finally decided to investigate the silence. He turned the corner of the interior wall and spotted the scene of carnage just inside the doorway. He could see no combat nearby, so he motioned for Max to join him from the shadows.

Everyone except for Cormac had followed the ranger down the side corridor. Maximillian decided that he wanted to be a part of the action now, so he followed on their tail rapidly. Vox shrugged his shoulders at his companions’ impetuosity and returned to the laboratory to carry on reading the parchments and vellum lying around. He lit a small fire and began to brew some tea. Cormac decided that the rest of the party could look after themselves, so he hung back to guard the door to the laboratory in which the magic user was working.

Bow, meanwhile, had raced along a couple of short corridors and around a final corner into a small oddly shaped room, but his grin of triumph turned to a howl of pain as he set off a Glyph of Warding. The lightning strike caused him to duck swiftly back to avoid further harm. In the oddly-shaped room beyond he could hear the mumbling of a cleric in prayer.

The ranger returned to the room, correctly thinking that the ward would only fire once. The black-granite floored odd-shaped room was decorated with floor to ceiling white banners with the symbol of Sol Invictus proudly displayed upon them. The rear of the room contained a large altar with another white cloth draped over it, again with the holy symbol of Sol Invictus proudly displayed. The holy items on the altar were ignored by Bow as his attention was firmly fixed upon the cleric behind it.

The cleric stopped his chanting and then calmly walked past the ranger who found himself unable to strike at him due to the magical Sanctuary the evil cleric had cast upon.

The rest of the party arrived just as the cleric waltzed past the ranger and they all gave chase. They were mostly prevented from striking the cleric by the dweomer but eventually their persistence paid off and they managed to get a few sword strokes through his defences and struck him down in the corridor just past a bewildered looking Cormac who was still standing guard.

The Secret Tomb

Max was the first to return to the odd-shaped altar room and he began to search all over for secret doors and traps. The rest of the party eventually joined him and helped in the search but eventually it is the thief who found the secret door in the wall.

Max popped open the door and it squealed on its unused hinges. The dark, dusty, cobweb strewn hexagonal room beyond contained the dried husk of a corpse lying beside the door, a dark iron sarcophagus with its lid lying beside it and a small scroll case next to that.

Bow made a bee-line for the sarcophagus and its lid. The silver Sol Invictus symbol inscribed upon the lid caught his eye whilst he picked up the scroll case beside it. He handed the scroll case to Johan who was directly behind him and then peeked inside the coffin. Inside he spotted a withered, dusty corpse with a stake through its chest.

Despite the fervent warnings of Johan, Bow wrenched the stake from the corpse’s heart and discarded it upon the floor. Johan shrieked in disbelief at such an act but before he could react, a cadaverous hand grabbed hold of the edge of the sarcophagus and a long, heavy dry breath was heard from within.

The dry corpse raised itself and asked through shrunken lips who had awoken him – he was blind and could not see who was in the room. The years of decay then seemed to fall away from the corpse as the moments passed and a person who was the total opposite to the withered corpse they had disturbed stood up; the thickly muscled, handsome warrior wore a white tabard with a Sol Invictus emblem upon it over a suit of mail, a thick gold chain hung round his neck with an amulet of some kind hidden beneath the tabard, an empty scabbard and a dagger in its sheath on the hip opposite the sword sheath hung from a thick gold belt.

He introduced himself as Prince Thrommel, and asked who his rescuers were. Bow responded with his name and said that he had removed the stake from his heart and was at his service. Thrommel removed the gold chain from around his neck and offered it to Bow for saving him. From the end of the chain hung the fourth amulet!

The party then questioned the newly risen warrior and managed to piece together some of his background story which corroborated with what they knew of him – he went missing about 12 years ago, he was a Prince of Veluna, a Thuringian by birth, a well-renowned swordsman and defender of the Faith. He had fought the Temple before in the past but had been defeated by powerful magic and imprisoned.

Meanwhile, back in the laboratory, Vox had finally cottoned onto the fact that his comrades were no longer around and decided to bring the tea he had brewed and some sweetmeats into the tomb. He offered the drinks and refreshments all round and, upon seeing the mail-clad warrior, greeted the prince in a friendly manner. He is treated with a ring from Prince Thrommel’s hand for his efforts.

The Sword

After a little further discussion, both sides realised that the prince must be returned to Castleford if they were to gain a promised large reward. The prince then discovered that his sword was missing from its scabbard and was concerned by its loss.

Whilst these discussions were happening Johan, not able to read the arcane script on the scrolls, handed them to Vox, who realised instantly what they were; two spells he already knew how to use – Dispel Magic and Strength.

As the discussion went on, the fighters thought that the sword might be hidden beneath the heavy black stone altar in the odd-shaped room outside, so Vox used the Strength spell on Theoderic to see if he could lift it out of the way of a possible hidey-hole beneath. Unfortunately, even his magically enhanced Strength was not enough to shift the heavy stone.

Not to be defeated, Bow put his observation skills to the test and remembered that the lid of the sarcophagus bore an image, albeit a Sol Invictus one, that showed a slight resemblance to a sword.

Vox thought quickly and then ushered everyone out of the tomb. He then cast the remaining spell on the scroll to dispel any magic within the chamber. The sword clattered from the lid as Bow suspected.

Rest and Recuperation

Thrommel’s sight had slowly returned whilst the party had been talking and he said that they had no time to waste in getting out of the Temple and back to his realm.

The party retraced their steps out of the dungeon back to the surface and then through the thick of the night out of the Temple grounds to the stable where they had hobbled their horses. All had been eerily quiet on the way back, but thinking of the carnage that they had wrought on the way in, that was probably why.

They decided to hole up for the night in the stable to recover their spells and cleanse their wounds. Vox swiftly fell asleep whilst the rest of the adventurers set up a watch. Johan and Thrommel began to pray to their appropriate gods when all had settled down and everyone had eaten.

The snores from those who were not on watch or praying were loud in the dark of the night. Johan’s suspicions were still aroused and he watched the lord knight closely in his preparations. He bore a sword yet prayed for divine aid. He could not shake the lingering suspicion that Thrommel was not who he said he was.

Doggerland Session 8:40 (Dungeon Level 3)

…and into the Fire (23^rd July 2014)

The Adventurers

Bow – Ranger

Cormac – Fighter

Johan – Cleric

Maximillian – Thief

Tarquin - Fighter

Theoderic – Fighter (NPC)

Vox – Magic User

Temple Dungeon Level 2 (part) - Courtesy of TSR/WotC

The Last Stand - Tirsday 23rd Hextember (day 84) – late evening

The din of battle assaulted the ears of all those confined within the corridors of the second level of the dungeon complex. The doughty adventurers fought hard against their underworld foes. The front line, however, proved too much for the last remaining goblin, so he ducked back behind the hulking gnolls and slipped quietly into the junk-filled side room. Johan, however, noticed his escape and wanted to give chase but he was hampered by the bulk of the gnolls that filled the corridor.

Cormac and Tarquin pushed forward and the gnolls gave way, which gave Johan the opportunity he was looking for. He followed the goblin into the room, swiftly followed by Maximillian. The two adventurers took a quick look around the room, but the little goblin seemed to have disappeared. As the pair of adventurers advanced into the room, two dark, stealthy shapes emerged from the shadows. The one nearest to Johan was able to strike him from the rear before he could react, but the superior reflexes of Maximillian managed to save him from harm that came from the other direction.

Despite his great wound and subsequent shock, Johan was able to fend off another strike from his attacker and Hold Maximillian’s foe. Whilst the fighting continued to rage outside the room, Vox and Cormac were able to enter the chamber and aid their comrades. Tarquin and Theoderic held their own outside the chamber; they cut down an enemy warrior every few moments, inexorably pushing them back towards Bow who fought their rear guard.

Johan was incensed at being attacked in such an unchivalrous manner and began to beat out his anger on his attacker. Cormac ran to his aid whilst Vox and Maximillian attempted to dispatch the Held ambusher before the spell wore off. Somehow this simple task eluded the rogue and mage, even when Vox used the waning power of his Polymorph potion and changed into the guise of a wolf.

The goblin emerged from his hiding place behind the curtain to seek a way to escape whilst the party were engaged in combat, but Cormac hacked him down with his sword momentarily after dispatching Johan’s attacker. Vox, in wolf form, sank his teeth into the remaining guard’s leg whilst Max continued to plunge his dagger into their foe, but it required Cormac’s aid to finish off the very hard to put down Temple minion.

Meanwhile, in the corridor outside, Bow and the other fighters rapidly whittled down the Temple guards, gnolls and the remaining leaders until the last half-dozen turned and fled for their lives. Bow gave chase followed by Tarquin and Theoderic a short distance behind. The Temple guards retreated pell-mell through the large audience chamber with the fountain but two were quickly cut down by the ranger. The Temple guard sergeant managed to escape through the far door with one of his cohorts by ordering the remaining two guards to hold and bar the door.

The guard left in the room was cornered by Theoderic and Vox who had arrived on the scene in the guise of a small bird, whilst Bow and Tarquin hammered at the barred door. The Temple guard was subdued quickly and subsequently questioned. He proved to be very scared and as a result of his weakened state-of-mind he gave the two adventurers details of the other Temple minions he knew about on the second level as well as directions on how to get to the locked door room the party were initially ambushed in and the southern corridor. He also gave them directions for a variety of routes down to the third level. They let him go on the proviso that he left the dungeon. The guard did not need convincing and fled up the stairwell.

Bow and Tarquin smashed the door down very quickly and captured the other Temple guard beyond. They spotted, just in time, the last two Temple guards as they escaped through a door at the end of the very long corridor beyond the fountain room door. The captured second guard proved to be more recalcitrant than the other one.

Exploring the Dungeon

Whilst the rest of the party assembled in the fountain room, Bow and Tarquin questioned the Temple guard, but he proved very stubborn and resisted them as much as he could. Bow wanted to follow his quarry without delay, so he forced his Potion of Diminution between the lips of the guard and shrank him down to a more manageable size. He then frog marched the shrunken, and thus more pliable, guard down the corridor and forced him to show where the rest of the guards could be found and how the dungeon was laid out.

He returned to the rest of the party after struggling through a few rooms towards a large, wide corridor. The rest of the party had by now searched the room and explored the plinth but had found nothing of interest whilst they awaited the return of the ranger. They agreed to follow Bow’s lead and headed towards the prison block that both the guards had told them about when questioned.

They advanced cautiously through a few deserted rooms that were obviously guard rooms for the various human and otherworldly humanoids that they had encountered during the course of their foray down in the dungeon. They by-passed several side corridors in their trek towards the prison area but also found that the guard was extremely reluctant to go anywhere near the set of main steps down to the next level. The party picked up on his fear and decided to avoid the stairwell too.

When they did finally get to the prison sector they found that all of the prisoners had been slaughtered and their gaolers had fled. The Temple at this level felt empty now that the party had fought so many groups of men-at-arms and other minions, and had passed through so many empty guard rooms. They asked their prisoner about the rest of the dungeon both on this level and above and below but he could only reply that the complex was vast and he was only privy to certain areas of it. They forced the guard to show them the way down to the next level from the prison complex and then let him go too; he would only have been a burden on the rest of their mission.

Temple Dungeon Level 3 (part) - Coutesy TSR/WotC

 

The party found the small stairway down to the next level as described by the guard and opened the door at the bottom of the flight onto a corridor that branched in two directions. They advanced cautiously along the main corridor that ran westwards whilst Bow quickly scouted out the room that they had by-passed to the east; it proved to be a store room devoid of life. Bow grabbed a few handfuls of supplies and handed out the trail rations to his comrades who were now all injured to some degree, very tired and very hungry. They needed to find somewhere soon to rest up and allow the magic casters to regain their spells.

They approached a small junction and decided to continue to head westwards as they surmised that the bulk of the dungeon would be in that direction.

A Quiet Room

Along the west leading corridor they eventually found a door beyond which they hoped to hole up. They slipped through the door that Maximillian assured them was trap free and entered a long wide corridor with an archway at each end. Along the north wall was a long table covered with writing implements and sheets of vellum, parchment and papyrus, with several stools close to it. This was obviously some kind of scriptorium. Vox helped himself to a few items on the table and stuffed them into his pack.

The party stalked through the alcoves at either end and into the main laboratory beyond. The four large tables they discovered in the main room were covered in magical paraphernalia which Vox made a bee-line for. The rest of the room was a jumble of urns, cupboards, shelves and boxes.

Whilst Vox was otherwise occupied with looking through the assembled items, the rest of the party explored the rest of the chamber. A flowing fountain of water was found in the south-west corner of the room from which the party refilled their flasks. To the east end of the laboratory were two alcoves behind wooden doors. In the alcove beyond the southernmost door the adventurers spotted a large table on top of which they found a huge construct; an ogre’s head and body, a bugbear’s legs and a bear’s arms and claws proved too much for them to consider disturbing it, so they re-covered the corpse with its shroud and decided to leave it well alone. They backed slowly out of the room and then blocked egress from the room with a heavy table.

The second alcove proved to be full of more experimental equipment, but was otherwise empty of any potential threats. They sensed that this would make for a safe place to hole up, so Maximillian spiked the main chamber’s door. Vox used the time that the rest of the party explored the two alcoves to replenish his spell components from the materials that were contained within the vials and urns upon the main workbenches and he also picked up a handful of items that he thought might come in useful at a later date as was his wont.

However, the noise from Max’s hammering and the rustling of the mage must have disturbed something within the detritus under the benches and a slew of tentacles emerged that groped for something to fasten onto.