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| Wall of Fire, level 5 Druid spell |
Introduction
This session is a study in limitations, the food supplies in the dervish cave cannot last forever, but it was the charges left in Sheamus' invisibility bracer the brought about a change in tactics.
Timekeeping
This session began on November 13th, with the player characters adventuring in Brovenloft until the end of the day. Downtime for these characters begins on the 14th.
Player Characters Present
Fluid the Druid (Level 9 Druid, "Scourge of Trollopulous", former wearer of the Ring of Kings)Giuseppe (Level 8 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of the Dragonslayer and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher) with henchmen Bishoy (F6) and Tawadros (F6)Sheamus (Level 8 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade)Gurt the Green (Level 6 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Liberator, bearer of the Fabled Ice Jewel of Frigia, rider of Artax) with henchman Cedric (C4)Oblate (Level 3 Illusionist)
Downtime
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| It's a work in progress |
Session Report
Happy with the spotlight on his Druidic abilities, Fluid started off by casting Speak with Animals and opened the secret door from the dervish supply sietch leading into the cave—that led out into the swamp beyond. One of the giant Toads there stood ready to talk, while the others looked ready to make a meal of him. At once the druid seized the initiative and began talking. Among more mundane toad matters, he learned that the toads until recently used to occupy another cave not far away "five big hops"; but ther had been found by the huge frog army, pressed into service, and moved to this location to help with the siege. The creatures missed their previous cave, and described how it was quite similar to this one, except that water flowed into the middle of it from the swamp, then through an opening in the wall—a wall much like the one Fluid had just stepped through—and into unknown depths beyond. This latter point—eventually—was recognised as a reference to the alternative exit to the supply caves, the access tunnel to which was previously discovered to be underwater. Maybe the adventurers could slip out that way, and thereby avoid a direct conflict with the frogman army?
It was worth checking out, so the heroes travelled through to the other side of the cave system—to where the corridor was filled with water. Fluid changed into an otter and dived in to investigate: in a few minutes he had returned to report that the way—although clear—was risky, at one point the in rushing water plunged into a deep underground chasm in which he saw a river (he got a close look as he was nearly dragged down into it). Knowing it was there, they might be able to navigate past the waterfall and out into the cave beyond—if they cared to take the risk.
They did not, and so it was back to plan A—toad wrestling. Did I not mention that while using Speak with Animals Fluid had somehow convinced the toads to put up a bit of sham resistance to the party leaving—just a bit of "wrastling"? In return the adventurers would make it worth the toad's while, somehow.
Combat #1: 5 Giant Poisonous Toads
Rounds: 2 segments of surprise.
Result: Party evadedHighlights: Having taken such a long to time to come out, I rolled for surprise and they got it. Having agreed to "wrastle" the party obliged with mixed results—two toads stunned and two with humans desperately grasping on to their slippery legs. But Sheamus was having none of the plan, he slashed at the nearest toad, giving it a bloody gash. As soon as the other toads saw this they were overcome with a blood frenzy and dived on their fellow, and the party got free.
At the edge of the cave's exit, trying not to notice the slurping and crunching sounds behind him, Fluid now "fired off" his Wall of Fire spell, and the group moved forward under the presumed protection within its 60' radius.
Combat #2: Grothak ArmyRounds: 9
Result: Party won, I guess.Highlights: The frogmen army had no idea what was going on, but they soon decided the ring of fire was related to the dervish—perhaps an attempt to break the siege, and they attacked en masse. I came up with a hasty system for how many of them could either jump over, or swim under, the wall of fire each round. The danger was great as the Frogmen plunged from the sky with their long speers, but thankfully this time their weapons were not poisoned. In contrast, the giant frogs, having no weapons, could be attacked as they were landing, and the party concentrated their own attacks on the monsters before they could bring their huge maws to bear on them. The enemy got smarter after this and began ducking into the water to evade the wall of fire and pop up once the edge passes over their heads. This threatened to go out of hand, but in the end they did not arrive in sufficient numbers to overwhelm the adventurers. After about 5 rounds of this there was a sudden end to the reinforcements and the remainder ducked under the water to escape.
On the 10th round the Wall of Fire winked out, and the party took stock; somehow Oblate had survived going down to 1 hit point, and the rest had escaped with scratches and bruises. There was no sign of pursuit.
In another 2 hours they once more reached the "ambush zone" at the entrance to the Skalrath. Not wanted to use an invisibility charge, and feeling that they had no more subtle means of getting in, they marched up and hoped for the best; and that is what they got, no attack was forthcoming. Gratefully, they plunged down into the tombs.
Quite a bit of cautious exploring ate up the time and allowed the players to work on their map, not easily in the oddly shaped and oriented Skalrath. The main finding was a water covered stone stair, that led into the bottom of the huge cavern—one they had caught a glimpse of from the top of a waterfall last session. Tempted by the sight of bronze doors in the southern wall of the of cavern, they left the water and explored further, discovering an annex and a long corridor before finding another large stone wheel-like rock—an indication of a possible tomb beyond. Between Sheamus and Gurt, they soon had the stone rolled away to reveal a sealed room.
Combat #3: 2 Mummies
Rounds: 4
Result: Party victoryHighlights: Shrugging of the supernatural fear of their enemy, the front rank of heroes moved in and took the brunt of the mummies' attacks. One of the mummies had fangs like a viper, and these nearly did for Gurt; but the party prevailed in the end without losses.
They searched around and finally found loose stone which lead to a really good haul underneath the sarcophagus. I had some fun allocating hieroglyphics to hint at what the items were. After distributing the loot for carrying, they decided that they had made a sufficient score to head home, hopefully with enough time to make a detour to find the other cave entrance the giant toads had mentioned before night fell.
The other cave wasn't a long way out of the way "Just five hops or so," the toad had said. The detour also had the advantage of, perhaps, making their return less likely to be expected from that direction. But something else was out there, glowing provocatively at them.
Rounds: N/A
Result: Party refused to take the bait.Highlights: None really, though there was some fun reminiscing of the time Sheamus did follow these creatures and the party ended up with a huge haul out of it.
The detour in the return trip allowed them to confirm that the other cave looked much like the one they were familiar with, only this one was mostly filled with water—to the extent that the secret door at the back had been forced open, and the water allowed to flood into the corridor beyond. That wasn't particularly actionable intelligence, but the detour had only cost them and extra turn or two. Turning for home, they got as close as they dared and then charged towards the entrance cave—in the hopes of getting in before the army spotted them. By a tremendous piece of good fortuned they did so and, even more, then managed to surprise the remaining toads there again.
Combat #4: 4 Giant Toads
Rounds: 2 segments of surprise
Result: Party victoryHighlights: The toads didn't know what hit them.
With a relatively successful delve behind them, they settled in to rest and make plans for the next one.
Session Statistics:
Combats: 4
Rooms mapped: 4
Combat rounds: 14
Losses: None
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