The heroes wait for Mudgol to return from Floivin Keep, which he does quite early in the morning, before they press on to the rest of the Tun Vuul caverns. Using Hnarsh and Gruulsh as scouts, they scope out the next area, an abandoned cairn-forge where the abused corpse of a young Tretcher woman has been left. Luz wonders why Polk, the linkboy/courier on the expedition, has not come inside the caves. He calls for the boy, and follows his voice back on. Roughly, the half-orc tries to grab Polk and shove him in to rejoin the group, but he is surprised when his gauntlets are not able to register purchase on the boy. 'Polk' seems to waver in and out of existence, his precise location difficult to lock onto, and before Luz can retaliate the child has withdrawn a hidden blade, stabbed and poisoned the half-orc, draining him of Strength. Luz cries out to the party within, but by the time they can help, the 'boy' has already fled the valley, moving too quickly for Luz himself to follow. He does notice, as he's running, that for a split second, the boy shifts forms and looks a lot like Monch Gnarlbottom, so the PCs decide it might be an assassin sent for Luz by the dwarf noble.
Next, the two scouts proceed to a room where a cloud of acid fog sears their flesh, apparently an unfinished, but magically trapped chamber. After rejoining the rest of the party, they explore a room where a simple tomb lies covered in snowdrift that have fallen from an opening up into the hillside. Turns out, these are some sort of cold-based slime creatures, four of which are mating in the chamber, and a melee breaks out...
The PCs turn back south, and find a catacombs area still full of wiry, petrified corpses, some of which continue to shamble around...another great combat ensues, and this time the enemy seems capable of magic, as if they were a cadre of ghoulish ancient sorcerers. Despite the rays and clouds of ice the creatures emit, they too are dispatched without much difficulty, though coming close to felling a few of the PCs in the process. Like the tomb of 'Shuuva', spoils remain hidden about the area, including a high count of antique silver coins, and some magical arrows, another ring (sustenance), a potion, a bag of dust (tracelessness) and a suit of hide armor which was on one of the animated undead.
Afterwards, while deciding whether to rest or press on, the heroes scout out the remainder of what they can find in the caverns: a dead end corridor, another circular corridor in which Hnarsh spies a falling ceiling trap (and thus the PCs avoid), and lastly, a corridor of defaced idols in which a shivering, frightened young girl is hiding out. Gruulsh recognizes her as Miola Ossted, the other daughter of Hagel, and the decision is made to trek back straight to Tretcher and hopefully avoid random monsters or berserkers on the Frogmarch. They leave the Weaponscrest and the mysterious Shann ruins behind, and are fortunate to have an uneventful trek back to the village, where they arrive at night, hailed by Sgt. Stuckle.
The dwarves that were left behind earlier have been busy, building minor fortifications to the surviving structures within Tretcher; the townsfolk treat the PCs to a warm room to rest, and some hot meals and cocoa drinks. Odd Jon beseeches them to leave behind more helping hands, and Langston decides it might be best (for his own safety) to leave the last surviving NPC of the original expedition roster: Longjohns. The group then decides they'd best rest up, heal the following morning, and prepare themselves to press on towards Vettlar where they can seek out further news of the Fourth and Last Eidolorn army that marched weeks earlier to Wintersbreath to help repel the berserkers.
PCs: Baro, Ginkwrench, Gruulsh, Langston, Luz, Mudgol
NPCs
Miola Ossted (human female): The elder of Hagel Ossted's daughters, a dirty blonde adolescent. She was ID'd by Gruulsh, and recovered from the ruins at Tun Vuul by the PCs, found cowering in fear deep inside the old crypt. The PCs later returned her to Tretcher and a reunion with her father.
No comments:
Post a Comment