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Story Hour
The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #135 Sorry For The (Attempted) Genocide.
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<blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 8091527" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dark Squad in the Forge of Fury</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Session #016 Harryhausen’s Wet Dream aka Vinnie’s Day.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).</strong></p><p><strong>Buggles (played by Stu) Male Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 1/Rogue Lvl 3</strong></p><p><strong>New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 4</strong></p><p><strong>Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 4</strong></p><p><strong>Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 4</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>NPCs</strong></p><p><strong>Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 4</strong></p><p></p><p>This is session 16, and yet another bloody cracker, we seem to have found our groove.</p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad rise and shine to a new day, and they’re Level 4 now- the other thing of note is it’s the Feast of the Moon, the solstice- I tell you this because it becomes important, later.</p><p></p><p>This fact, maybe, prevents a (semi) TPK later on- see now you’re interested, but we’ll get to that.</p><p></p><p>The evening begins with much chatter, mainly just to re-orientate ourselves- just to be clear we had a week off last week as I had to have a little operation. I am now the proud possessor of a hole in my leg slightly larger than a golf ball- nice. It smarts!</p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad are trying to figure out what they need to do next, the rescued prisoners- Courana and the “inconceivable” Geradil are also quizzed and later invited to have their say, as is Spandwick- although, he just wants his wife (Bel) back.</p><p></p><p>The two ex-prisoners are very unhappy at the thought of being left behind by the PCs, they fear orc patrols returning to the lair, or else other wandering terrors. In short the pair have decided they are coming with the adventurers, wherever the Dark Squad go- they go too.</p><p></p><p>Which is hardly ideal, and annoying for the PCs (and players)- Courana screams a lot, and Geradil says “inconceivable” all of the bloody time.</p><p></p><p>Oddly this session it’s Vinnie who is the most pissed off about this.</p><p></p><p>While Spandwick constantly asks “have you found Bel yet?”</p><p></p><p>[Chatter with the ex-prisoners 120 XP]</p><p></p><p>The decision eventually is Vincenzo is going to use a locate object spell to try to find Bel’s wedding ring- this after the object is described to the druid in great detail by the forlorn gnome. It’s a long shot, and… it doesn’t work.</p><p></p><p>Either the object is too far away, or else… well, the spell fails for some other reason.</p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad suck it up and head back down the grand stair, back into the deep dark below, and eventually into a high-ceilinged chamber with several exiting cavern passages, and a shallow but fast-running river rushing through it.</p><p></p><p>The rogues go for a sneak about, there are no threats to be found here- they confidently state, there are of course but the stirges are high up on the ceiling- the rogues don’t look up there. Vinnie however finds tracks left by the fleeing orc eye of Gruumsh, the only known survivor of the earlier massacre of the Mountain Door’s defenders.</p><p></p><p>[Sneaking and searching 75 XP]</p><p></p><p>However, it’s at this point that the stirges make themselves known- the first of the little bastard’s swoops down and stabs its proboscis into Courana, she’s screaming again- and down to 1 HP in an instant.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]126433[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>STIRGES! They all hate stirges.</strong></p><p></p><p>It gets messy very quickly as my stealth checks for the stirges are collectively pretty bloody great- seconds later and Newt is also stabbed and partially exsanguinated by one of the little buggers, and then by a second- and with a crit. The tabaxi is very quickly meowing furiously and beyond bloodied.</p><p></p><p>Ram stabs one of the attached stirge’s dead.</p><p></p><p>Then Buggles gets stabbed and drained too- the wood elf grabs his stirge attacker in his hands and pulls it free of him, and then dashes it against a nearby wall- remarkably the little creature survives, later it even gets back into the air.</p><p></p><p>Garumn meantime skewers the second stirge attached to Newt- the warlock is now free of the winged vermin.</p><p></p><p>Courana saves herself- the feisty ex-prisoner follows Buggles’ lead, grabs the stirge draining her blood and wrings its bloody neck (it only had 2 hp).</p><p></p><p>Ram stabs another stirge dead- there are only a pair of the little blighters left- Garumn flings a hand axe and accounts for another, the last (having just escaped Buggles) manages to flutter off and out of sight.</p><p></p><p>Garumn gets to Newt with a bit of lay on hands, the warlock is less than happy… although all of the PCs are a bit grouchy- they REALLY hate stirges.</p><p></p><p>Vinnie heals Courana- the druid has ‘such gentle hands’, according to the now slightly smitten ex-prisoner.</p><p></p><p>[Stirges 150 XP]</p><p></p><p>There follows lots more chatter- this after Buggles raises the following point- “Why, exactly, are we tracking down the surviving orc eye of Gruumsh, to what end?”</p><p></p><p>The discussion rumbles on particularly after Ram re-reads the ancient dwarven scroll they found back in the Sunless Citadel-</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Seek the stone tooth</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Climb to the mountain door</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Descend the grand stair</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Pass the tombs of the ancients</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>To the glory of the glitterhame</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Wary of the sinkhole</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>There you find the door</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Within… the foundry of Durgeddin the Black</strong></p><p></p><p>So, they’re looking for the ‘tombs of the ancients’, there’s much much more chatter- but no decisions getting made, and so Ram- itching to explore, decides to check out where the river south goes. Answer, it passes through a low tunnel into yet another large cavern.</p><p></p><p>The daring rogue scurries off to see, wading through the river and into another large stinking cavern- the place smells of death, and close by are the remains of a pair of orcs, a cursory check reveals that the closest body is that of the missing eye of Gruumsh- mystery solved.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]126434[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Some chat... others do- Ram, making a bee-line for danger.</strong></p><p></p><p>Just to note that while Ram is doing his thing the dastardly DM has two sneaky (and camouflaged) troglodytes moving quickly towards him, at which point (of course) Kev playing Ram calls for an active perception check and rolls a ‘20’ (total ‘27’), my trogs have stealth ‘23’.</p><p></p><p>Ram spots the threat and scarpers just in time- rushing back into the river and through the low watery cavern and to his friends. The gasping rogue gets the rest of the Dark Squad up to date with events, he also identifies his would-be attackers with a successful monster knowledge check (available as a free action- remember to use this fellers).</p><p></p><p>[Ram explores 100 XP]</p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad cluster around the river passage and soon after spot a heavily camouflaged trog heading towards them, alas the creature retreats as soon as the PCs close in.</p><p></p><p>Ram thinks quickly, and then with help manages to dump a flask or two of burning lamp oil into the stream, there’s no danger to the trogs- waiting on the other side of the opening, but it’s enough to make the pair scurry back a way- leaving the opening free for a swift Dark Squad excursion.</p><p></p><p>Nice plan, and good roll.</p><p></p><p>[Ram clears the trogs away from the river passage exit 50 XP]</p><p></p><p>Buggles scrambles through the low watery passage, he spots a retreating trog and cuts it in half (almost) with a scimitar crit- dead. Garumn follows the wood elf through and repeats the feat (nearly)- with another crit, although just not enough damage to kill the second enemy.</p><p></p><p>Newt is next to the action and into the new cavern- the warlock ends the fleeing trog with an eldritch blast.</p><p></p><p>[Trog guards dead 100 XP]</p><p></p><p>The two troglodyte guards are despatched, the rest of the Dark Squad (and company) come through the river passage while Garumn guards the way. Buggles meantime searches through the rotting remains of the two dead orcs- finding a flask of alchemist’s fire on the eye of Gruumsh.</p><p></p><p>Here’s the thing- there were three trogs in the large cavern chamber, the last enemy (camouflaged and stealthy) has in the meantime crept back to the tribe’s lair to tell his friends. As the adventurers congregate and continue their investigations, the tribe are creeping forward to meet them.</p><p></p><p>But the DM is foiled again- Ram decides to keep a close watch on the far end of the chamber, the rogue therefore is the first to spot the trogs slowly, stealthily advancing- or at least a few of them, there are actually more than half-a-dozen of the nasty creatures approaching.</p><p></p><p>What follows is a difficult fight for many of the PCs, simply because the trogs with their natural camouflage and stealth are for some of the Dark Squad almost impossible to spot (certainly using their passive perceptions). It’s not until they get to attacking that they become visible to many of the PCs.</p><p></p><p>And so...</p><p></p><p>Ram screams a warning and cuts the nearest trog down dead, Buggles ends another- the rogues have sharp eyes and senses. This fact however doesn’t stop the wood elf from getting surprised by another pair of the beasts, he’s bitten and clawed repeatedly. The trogs are in the fight- and the wood elf is quickly well beyond bloodied.</p><p></p><p>Vincenzo burns another trog with his produce flame, Newt finishes it off with an eldritch blast.</p><p></p><p>Ram scurries forward and with his magical rapier kills another- that’s four down already.</p><p></p><p>Garumn badly injures yet another, Buggles finishes it off and then gets his second wind, the Dark Squad are a killing machine.</p><p></p><p>At which point a ten foot long giant lizard skitters forward to join the fight, the PCs are a little freaked to see the new enemy.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]126435[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>The terrifying GIANT LIZARD! It was actually the weakest monster in the encounter.</strong></p><p></p><p>They panic a little- truth be told the giant lizard is hardly any threat at all.</p><p></p><p>Vincenzo drops a faerie fire onto the new attacker, and a close-by trog- to cheers from his comrades.</p><p></p><p>Too soon!</p><p></p><p>Kaarghaz, the trog chief, suddenly makes himself known- this after shooting three scorching rays at Garumn- two of them hits, and the dwarf paladin is bloodied in an instant. The trog boss, scuttles back and away, chirruping and clicking his battle orders.</p><p></p><p>Newt hits the giant lizard with a hex enhanced eldritch blast, meantime the remaining trogs concentrate their efforts on clawing and biting Garumn.</p><p></p><p>Ram, poisoned by the troglodyte’s stench, rolls and crit-cuts another (faerie fire bathed) trog down, and then for good measure also stabs the giant lizard.</p><p></p><p>Garumn badly wounds yet another trog, while Buggles leaves the giant lizard critically wounded, alas Vinnie’s produce flame is still not enough to end the jaw-snapping over-sized reptile.</p><p></p><p>There are only two trog warriors left in the fight- both still trying to tear Garumn apart, the dwarf is on maybe 15 HP.</p><p></p><p>Buggles is all action however, he spots a gap and races forward to get in the trog chief’s grill, alas Kaarghaz’s shield spell keeps the wood elf at bay. Seconds later the trog chief scurries away from his attacker. He gets some space to work his magic, and then hits Buggles with two out of three of his scorching rays, the wood elf is left critically wounded (on 7 HP).</p><p></p><p>Newt blasts the giant lizard with another hex-enhanced eldritch blast, and at last- it’s dead. It had a lot of HP (30+) but a very low AC, and a very weak attack- it never hit once.</p><p></p><p>Giant lizards are very underpowered- maybe?</p><p></p><p>We’ll see…</p><p></p><p>Ram and Buggles rush after the trog chief, they’re hunting the nasty fellow down, the wood elf necks a potion of greater healing en route to the task- Kaarghaz’s shield spell however keeps the pair at bay once more.</p><p></p><p>Garumn cuts the last but one troglodyte warrior in two- with a massive crit.</p><p></p><p>At which point the co-star of the show (you’ll meet the other star of the show in a short while) makes his appearance- Vincen G. Octopod aka the return of Vinnie’s wildshape giant octopus option.</p><p></p><p>This after Vinnie (on purpose, so he says) fails to wade through the fast running stream here and ends up sliding down the water-course on his backside.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]126436[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Vinnie goes "WIBBLE! WIBBLE!"</strong></p><p></p><p>The last trog warrior is tentacle-grabbed and battered almost into unconsciousness.</p><p></p><p>Keep in mind that Vincen G. Octopod cannot speak, save to say he shouts “WIBBLE WIBBLE” every time he swings into action- it’s amazing how much information you can communicate with a “WIBBLE WIBBLE”. James, playing Vinnnie/Vincen G. explores the full gamut of the expression.</p><p></p><p>Kaarghaz employs a little more magic- a sleep spell, hoping to put one of the rogues double-teaming him down- alas they both have at least a soupcon of elven blood in them. Newt, a little behind the rogues, therefore suddenly flops to the floor and gets in a much needed cat nap.</p><p></p><p>Garumn decapitates the last trog, which is being held before him- grappled and restrained, by Vincen G. Octopod. The dwarf then scurries forward to help out the rogues- who have still not managed to land a hit on the trog chief, Kaarghaz.</p><p></p><p>Vincen G. joins in the fun- but still no hits.</p><p></p><p>Kaarghaz claws and bites Buggles, repeatedly- and the wood elf is back to critically wounded (8 HP).</p><p></p><p>But then the tide turns, the still poisoned Ram manages to cut the trog chief deep, and then Garumn finds the sweet spot with a divine smite, Kaarghaz is hurt bad- the trog chief is bloodied and worse. Buggles forgets his wounds and joins in the take-down, and now the trog is critically wounded (down to 6 HP).</p><p></p><p>Time to depart.</p><p></p><p>Kaarghaz… vanishes.</p><p></p><p>Which causes more than a small amount of upset.</p><p></p><p>Moments later a desperate Buggles spots the trog’s escape route, a splash and surge of water from a nearby deep looking pool of water, at the very end of the cavern.</p><p></p><p>The rest of the Dark Squad scurry over to see what’s going on, directed to the spot by the yelling wood elf.</p><p></p><p>The adventurers note that there’s a cavern passage exiting on the far side of the pool- the river continues on this way. Several of the PCs attempt to creep around the edge of the water- Newt desperately trying not to get wet (he’s a cat- he hates water). He fails and has to wade and yowl through the wet.</p><p></p><p>That is until Vincen G. Octopod catches up with the action and spladooshes into the pool, and then drags himself out the other side again- following the river on to see where the critically wounded trog chief has gone. They’re as certain as they can be that the trog’s no longer in the water.</p><p></p><p>Note, Vincen G. Octopod has almost 60 HP, James is feeling very confident.</p><p></p><p>At which point the giant subterranean lizard (a huge creature with nearly 80 HP, and over twenty feet long snout to tail) darts around the corner hissing, and then whips its tail hard into the giant cephalopod. Seconds later- as the other members of the Dark Squad watch on- open mouthed in horror, the octo-druid is grabbed up by the huge reptile and crushed and chewed in the massive reptile’s jaws.</p><p></p><p>Here’s a giant (huge) lizard with attitude- and the other star of the show.</p><p></p><p>Vincen G. Octopod is beyond bloodied- and also restrained, and grappled… oh, and somehow prone- his tentacles flailing in the air.</p><p></p><p>“WIBBLE WIBBLE!!!!!!”</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]126437[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Giant Octopus! Giant Octopus! HA! I naughty word 'em!</strong></p><p></p><p>Buggles sinks an arrow into the huge lizard’s snout- and a crit, for 25 damage, that hurt- the giant reptile remembers this slight for later.</p><p></p><p>Vincen G. Octopod somehow fights back, he manages to grapple and restrain the huge reptile in his tentacles.</p><p></p><p>It’s at this point with the two giant monsters locked in a death grapple that Stu (playing Buggles) reminds us of the great works of Ray Harryhausen, the fight continues to be described in a stop-motion/clay-mation style.</p><p></p><p>Newt, having being woken up by Courana, who is/was staying close to Vinnie- although she can’t seem to spot the ‘lovely man’ at the moment.</p><p></p><p>“WIBBLE WIBBLE?”</p><p></p><p>Followed by…</p><p></p><p>“WIBBLE WIB…”</p><p></p><p>The giant (huge) subterranean lizards opens its jaws wide and… GULP! Swallows Vincen G. Octopod- that got nasty very quickly. The great lizard then slithers into the cavern pool and brings its tail up and over- smashing the appendage into Buggles, the wood elf is down and dying.</p><p></p><p>Just to recap- Garumn is on maybe 12 HP, Buggles is dying, Vincen G. Octopod is almost dead (and at present being digested), while Ram and Newt are bloodied.</p><p></p><p>A second later and Buggles fails his first death save.</p><p></p><p>There’s a lot of groaning and moaning going on around the VTT.</p><p></p><p>Meantime the acid stomach of the huge reptile is burning Vincen G’s tentacles to tent-a-nubs, the cephalopod is now critically wounded.</p><p></p><p>Newt fires another eldritch blast into the great reptile (and then rolls minimum damage), the players are screaming and shouting.</p><p></p><p>There’s also a fair bit of swearing coming from the VTT.</p><p></p><p>Even Spandwick tries his luck with a firebolt, and that’s a ‘1’.</p><p></p><p>Ram dares again, the rogue races in to face the huge reptile down, and then misses the thing with his magical rapier, only stabs the beast with his off-hand and much-more mundane dagger. Alas now Garumn can’t get close enough to attack the beast with his equally magic sword- the only spot left in range of the enemy is in the pool- not advisable in his heavy armour. The dwarf paladin therefore flings his hand axe into the reptile’s snout, and now the lizard is critically wounded (and with just 8 HP left).</p><p></p><p>There’s a lot of cheering when I announce this.</p><p></p><p>Note I don’t tell the players how many hit points the creature has left, just that the beast is critically wounded.</p><p></p><p>But my super-lizard is not done for yet, it swipes Ram with its massive tail- knocking the rogue prone and into the deeper part of the pool, and then snatches up the flailing half-elf- crushing him in its jaws.</p><p></p><p>And now Ram is unconscious and dying.</p><p></p><p>Buggles fails his second death save in a row, one more and he’s gone.</p><p></p><p>At which point Vincen G. Octopod deep within the giant subterranean lizard’s gut also expires, and with enough damage transferred over to just about bloody Vincenzo the druid. Who suddenly finds himself immersed in stomach acid, in very cramped dark place, and being crushed, while restrained and blinded.</p><p></p><p>But Vinnie has an idea- it’s the Feast of the Moon today, remember I let you know about this earlier on.</p><p></p><p>Well, Vincenzo is a druid of the Moon.</p><p></p><p>This is his special day.</p><p></p><p>The druid also has an inspiration point to spend- can he please cast a Moonbeam spell down onto the giant subterranean lizard, please Mr. Kindly DM-sir?</p><p></p><p>The benevolent DM is happy for Vinnie to try it.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly a burst of moonlight spears down from the highest point in the cavern, the shaft of golden glory spotlights the scaly back of the huge snapping reptile- and it radiant burns. The giant beast however is contentedly crunching and crushing Ram in its salivating maw.</p><p></p><p>It makes its save.</p><p></p><p>Cue lots more swearing, shouting and groaning from the VTT (actually discord).</p><p></p><p>Half damage only- 2d10, and… ‘8’ and ‘10’- half of that’s 9.</p><p></p><p>But, that can’t be- my wonderful lizard friend has only got 8 HP left.</p><p></p><p>The giant subterranean lizard suddenly looks up from its rogue-feast and sniffs the air, cranes its neck around to see the source of the smell- the moonbeam is cooking its flesh.</p><p></p><p>“Urp!” The creature announces and suddenly, simply, collapses.</p><p></p><p>Dead.</p><p></p><p>There is screaming and cheering as Vinnie pops his head out of the newly radiant burnt hole in the great creature, the druid scramble-crawls out of the beast’s belly, and then slithers into the pool- to wash the burning gut-acid away.</p><p></p><p>Seconds later Newt gets to Buggles with his healer’s kit and manages to stabilise the wood elf.</p><p></p><p>A moment later and Garumn grabs the now drowning and dying Ram from the pool and lays on hands, the rogue blinks- chokes, and with help from his dwarven friend scrambles away from the water and lizard mess.</p><p></p><p>Still floundering in the pool Vinnie manages somehow to maintain his concentration on the radiant burn of the moonbeam.</p><p></p><p>The druid spots that the DM still hasn’t dropped the action out of initiative.</p><p></p><p>At which point Kaarghaz, the trog chief, appears in the river passage just beyond the moonbeam’s radiant haze- grunts once or twice at the sprawled and gasping members of the Dark Squad, and then scurries off to fight another day.</p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad get the (collective) feeling they’ll be seeing Kaarghaz again.</p><p></p><p>Then the scramble to grab out healing potions et al, as the adventurers (and company) back away quickly from the water’s edge.</p><p></p><p>And we’re out of initiative- at last.</p><p></p><p>[Troglodytes, a giant lizard, and a giant (huge) subterranean lizard 1500 XP]</p><p></p><p>[Titanic fight with great action 200 XP]</p><p></p><p>And that’s about that- the Dark Squad (and company) are swiftly in retreat- they can see where the entrance to the trog’s lair is but… they’re not heading in there, they’re partially broken. They head all the way back to the grand stair, halfway up the rise they make camp, or at least settle down for a short rest, and to spend a few healing HD and glug down a few more potions.</p><p></p><p>Careful fellers- a healing potion may be all that stands between you and death in future sessions, keep a few in hand.</p><p></p><p>For now however they’re spent.</p><p></p><p>It’s very likely there’ll be more of this kind of thing next time.</p><p></p><p>Stay safe and well.</p><p></p><p>Cheers goonalan and the Dark Squad.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Goonalan, post: 8091527, member: 16069"] [CENTER][B]Dark Squad in the Forge of Fury[/B][/CENTER] [B]Session #016 Harryhausen’s Wet Dream aka Vinnie’s Day. Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here). Buggles (played by Stu) Male Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 1/Rogue Lvl 3 New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 4 Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 4 Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 4 NPCs Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 4[/B] This is session 16, and yet another bloody cracker, we seem to have found our groove. The Dark Squad rise and shine to a new day, and they’re Level 4 now- the other thing of note is it’s the Feast of the Moon, the solstice- I tell you this because it becomes important, later. This fact, maybe, prevents a (semi) TPK later on- see now you’re interested, but we’ll get to that. The evening begins with much chatter, mainly just to re-orientate ourselves- just to be clear we had a week off last week as I had to have a little operation. I am now the proud possessor of a hole in my leg slightly larger than a golf ball- nice. It smarts! The Dark Squad are trying to figure out what they need to do next, the rescued prisoners- Courana and the “inconceivable” Geradil are also quizzed and later invited to have their say, as is Spandwick- although, he just wants his wife (Bel) back. The two ex-prisoners are very unhappy at the thought of being left behind by the PCs, they fear orc patrols returning to the lair, or else other wandering terrors. In short the pair have decided they are coming with the adventurers, wherever the Dark Squad go- they go too. Which is hardly ideal, and annoying for the PCs (and players)- Courana screams a lot, and Geradil says “inconceivable” all of the bloody time. Oddly this session it’s Vinnie who is the most pissed off about this. While Spandwick constantly asks “have you found Bel yet?” [Chatter with the ex-prisoners 120 XP] The decision eventually is Vincenzo is going to use a locate object spell to try to find Bel’s wedding ring- this after the object is described to the druid in great detail by the forlorn gnome. It’s a long shot, and… it doesn’t work. Either the object is too far away, or else… well, the spell fails for some other reason. The Dark Squad suck it up and head back down the grand stair, back into the deep dark below, and eventually into a high-ceilinged chamber with several exiting cavern passages, and a shallow but fast-running river rushing through it. The rogues go for a sneak about, there are no threats to be found here- they confidently state, there are of course but the stirges are high up on the ceiling- the rogues don’t look up there. Vinnie however finds tracks left by the fleeing orc eye of Gruumsh, the only known survivor of the earlier massacre of the Mountain Door’s defenders. [Sneaking and searching 75 XP] However, it’s at this point that the stirges make themselves known- the first of the little bastard’s swoops down and stabs its proboscis into Courana, she’s screaming again- and down to 1 HP in an instant. [ATTACH type="full" alt="16.1.jpg"]126433[/ATTACH] [B]STIRGES! They all hate stirges.[/B] It gets messy very quickly as my stealth checks for the stirges are collectively pretty bloody great- seconds later and Newt is also stabbed and partially exsanguinated by one of the little buggers, and then by a second- and with a crit. The tabaxi is very quickly meowing furiously and beyond bloodied. Ram stabs one of the attached stirge’s dead. Then Buggles gets stabbed and drained too- the wood elf grabs his stirge attacker in his hands and pulls it free of him, and then dashes it against a nearby wall- remarkably the little creature survives, later it even gets back into the air. Garumn meantime skewers the second stirge attached to Newt- the warlock is now free of the winged vermin. Courana saves herself- the feisty ex-prisoner follows Buggles’ lead, grabs the stirge draining her blood and wrings its bloody neck (it only had 2 hp). Ram stabs another stirge dead- there are only a pair of the little blighters left- Garumn flings a hand axe and accounts for another, the last (having just escaped Buggles) manages to flutter off and out of sight. Garumn gets to Newt with a bit of lay on hands, the warlock is less than happy… although all of the PCs are a bit grouchy- they REALLY hate stirges. Vinnie heals Courana- the druid has ‘such gentle hands’, according to the now slightly smitten ex-prisoner. [Stirges 150 XP] There follows lots more chatter- this after Buggles raises the following point- “Why, exactly, are we tracking down the surviving orc eye of Gruumsh, to what end?” The discussion rumbles on particularly after Ram re-reads the ancient dwarven scroll they found back in the Sunless Citadel- [CENTER][B]Seek the stone tooth Climb to the mountain door Descend the grand stair Pass the tombs of the ancients To the glory of the glitterhame Wary of the sinkhole There you find the door Within… the foundry of Durgeddin the Black[/B][/CENTER] So, they’re looking for the ‘tombs of the ancients’, there’s much much more chatter- but no decisions getting made, and so Ram- itching to explore, decides to check out where the river south goes. Answer, it passes through a low tunnel into yet another large cavern. The daring rogue scurries off to see, wading through the river and into another large stinking cavern- the place smells of death, and close by are the remains of a pair of orcs, a cursory check reveals that the closest body is that of the missing eye of Gruumsh- mystery solved. [ATTACH type="full" alt="16.2.jpg"]126434[/ATTACH] [B]Some chat... others do- Ram, making a bee-line for danger.[/B] Just to note that while Ram is doing his thing the dastardly DM has two sneaky (and camouflaged) troglodytes moving quickly towards him, at which point (of course) Kev playing Ram calls for an active perception check and rolls a ‘20’ (total ‘27’), my trogs have stealth ‘23’. Ram spots the threat and scarpers just in time- rushing back into the river and through the low watery cavern and to his friends. The gasping rogue gets the rest of the Dark Squad up to date with events, he also identifies his would-be attackers with a successful monster knowledge check (available as a free action- remember to use this fellers). [Ram explores 100 XP] The Dark Squad cluster around the river passage and soon after spot a heavily camouflaged trog heading towards them, alas the creature retreats as soon as the PCs close in. Ram thinks quickly, and then with help manages to dump a flask or two of burning lamp oil into the stream, there’s no danger to the trogs- waiting on the other side of the opening, but it’s enough to make the pair scurry back a way- leaving the opening free for a swift Dark Squad excursion. Nice plan, and good roll. [Ram clears the trogs away from the river passage exit 50 XP] Buggles scrambles through the low watery passage, he spots a retreating trog and cuts it in half (almost) with a scimitar crit- dead. Garumn follows the wood elf through and repeats the feat (nearly)- with another crit, although just not enough damage to kill the second enemy. Newt is next to the action and into the new cavern- the warlock ends the fleeing trog with an eldritch blast. [Trog guards dead 100 XP] The two troglodyte guards are despatched, the rest of the Dark Squad (and company) come through the river passage while Garumn guards the way. Buggles meantime searches through the rotting remains of the two dead orcs- finding a flask of alchemist’s fire on the eye of Gruumsh. Here’s the thing- there were three trogs in the large cavern chamber, the last enemy (camouflaged and stealthy) has in the meantime crept back to the tribe’s lair to tell his friends. As the adventurers congregate and continue their investigations, the tribe are creeping forward to meet them. But the DM is foiled again- Ram decides to keep a close watch on the far end of the chamber, the rogue therefore is the first to spot the trogs slowly, stealthily advancing- or at least a few of them, there are actually more than half-a-dozen of the nasty creatures approaching. What follows is a difficult fight for many of the PCs, simply because the trogs with their natural camouflage and stealth are for some of the Dark Squad almost impossible to spot (certainly using their passive perceptions). It’s not until they get to attacking that they become visible to many of the PCs. And so... Ram screams a warning and cuts the nearest trog down dead, Buggles ends another- the rogues have sharp eyes and senses. This fact however doesn’t stop the wood elf from getting surprised by another pair of the beasts, he’s bitten and clawed repeatedly. The trogs are in the fight- and the wood elf is quickly well beyond bloodied. Vincenzo burns another trog with his produce flame, Newt finishes it off with an eldritch blast. Ram scurries forward and with his magical rapier kills another- that’s four down already. Garumn badly injures yet another, Buggles finishes it off and then gets his second wind, the Dark Squad are a killing machine. At which point a ten foot long giant lizard skitters forward to join the fight, the PCs are a little freaked to see the new enemy. [ATTACH type="full" alt="16.3.jpg"]126435[/ATTACH] [B]The terrifying GIANT LIZARD! It was actually the weakest monster in the encounter.[/B] They panic a little- truth be told the giant lizard is hardly any threat at all. Vincenzo drops a faerie fire onto the new attacker, and a close-by trog- to cheers from his comrades. Too soon! Kaarghaz, the trog chief, suddenly makes himself known- this after shooting three scorching rays at Garumn- two of them hits, and the dwarf paladin is bloodied in an instant. The trog boss, scuttles back and away, chirruping and clicking his battle orders. Newt hits the giant lizard with a hex enhanced eldritch blast, meantime the remaining trogs concentrate their efforts on clawing and biting Garumn. Ram, poisoned by the troglodyte’s stench, rolls and crit-cuts another (faerie fire bathed) trog down, and then for good measure also stabs the giant lizard. Garumn badly wounds yet another trog, while Buggles leaves the giant lizard critically wounded, alas Vinnie’s produce flame is still not enough to end the jaw-snapping over-sized reptile. There are only two trog warriors left in the fight- both still trying to tear Garumn apart, the dwarf is on maybe 15 HP. Buggles is all action however, he spots a gap and races forward to get in the trog chief’s grill, alas Kaarghaz’s shield spell keeps the wood elf at bay. Seconds later the trog chief scurries away from his attacker. He gets some space to work his magic, and then hits Buggles with two out of three of his scorching rays, the wood elf is left critically wounded (on 7 HP). Newt blasts the giant lizard with another hex-enhanced eldritch blast, and at last- it’s dead. It had a lot of HP (30+) but a very low AC, and a very weak attack- it never hit once. Giant lizards are very underpowered- maybe? We’ll see… Ram and Buggles rush after the trog chief, they’re hunting the nasty fellow down, the wood elf necks a potion of greater healing en route to the task- Kaarghaz’s shield spell however keeps the pair at bay once more. Garumn cuts the last but one troglodyte warrior in two- with a massive crit. At which point the co-star of the show (you’ll meet the other star of the show in a short while) makes his appearance- Vincen G. Octopod aka the return of Vinnie’s wildshape giant octopus option. This after Vinnie (on purpose, so he says) fails to wade through the fast running stream here and ends up sliding down the water-course on his backside. [ATTACH type="full" alt="16.4.jpg"]126436[/ATTACH] [B]Vinnie goes "WIBBLE! WIBBLE!"[/B] The last trog warrior is tentacle-grabbed and battered almost into unconsciousness. Keep in mind that Vincen G. Octopod cannot speak, save to say he shouts “WIBBLE WIBBLE” every time he swings into action- it’s amazing how much information you can communicate with a “WIBBLE WIBBLE”. James, playing Vinnnie/Vincen G. explores the full gamut of the expression. Kaarghaz employs a little more magic- a sleep spell, hoping to put one of the rogues double-teaming him down- alas they both have at least a soupcon of elven blood in them. Newt, a little behind the rogues, therefore suddenly flops to the floor and gets in a much needed cat nap. Garumn decapitates the last trog, which is being held before him- grappled and restrained, by Vincen G. Octopod. The dwarf then scurries forward to help out the rogues- who have still not managed to land a hit on the trog chief, Kaarghaz. Vincen G. joins in the fun- but still no hits. Kaarghaz claws and bites Buggles, repeatedly- and the wood elf is back to critically wounded (8 HP). But then the tide turns, the still poisoned Ram manages to cut the trog chief deep, and then Garumn finds the sweet spot with a divine smite, Kaarghaz is hurt bad- the trog chief is bloodied and worse. Buggles forgets his wounds and joins in the take-down, and now the trog is critically wounded (down to 6 HP). Time to depart. Kaarghaz… vanishes. Which causes more than a small amount of upset. Moments later a desperate Buggles spots the trog’s escape route, a splash and surge of water from a nearby deep looking pool of water, at the very end of the cavern. The rest of the Dark Squad scurry over to see what’s going on, directed to the spot by the yelling wood elf. The adventurers note that there’s a cavern passage exiting on the far side of the pool- the river continues on this way. Several of the PCs attempt to creep around the edge of the water- Newt desperately trying not to get wet (he’s a cat- he hates water). He fails and has to wade and yowl through the wet. That is until Vincen G. Octopod catches up with the action and spladooshes into the pool, and then drags himself out the other side again- following the river on to see where the critically wounded trog chief has gone. They’re as certain as they can be that the trog’s no longer in the water. Note, Vincen G. Octopod has almost 60 HP, James is feeling very confident. At which point the giant subterranean lizard (a huge creature with nearly 80 HP, and over twenty feet long snout to tail) darts around the corner hissing, and then whips its tail hard into the giant cephalopod. Seconds later- as the other members of the Dark Squad watch on- open mouthed in horror, the octo-druid is grabbed up by the huge reptile and crushed and chewed in the massive reptile’s jaws. Here’s a giant (huge) lizard with attitude- and the other star of the show. Vincen G. Octopod is beyond bloodied- and also restrained, and grappled… oh, and somehow prone- his tentacles flailing in the air. “WIBBLE WIBBLE!!!!!!” [ATTACH type="full" alt="16.5.jpg"]126437[/ATTACH] [B]Giant Octopus! Giant Octopus! HA! I naughty word 'em![/B] Buggles sinks an arrow into the huge lizard’s snout- and a crit, for 25 damage, that hurt- the giant reptile remembers this slight for later. Vincen G. Octopod somehow fights back, he manages to grapple and restrain the huge reptile in his tentacles. It’s at this point with the two giant monsters locked in a death grapple that Stu (playing Buggles) reminds us of the great works of Ray Harryhausen, the fight continues to be described in a stop-motion/clay-mation style. Newt, having being woken up by Courana, who is/was staying close to Vinnie- although she can’t seem to spot the ‘lovely man’ at the moment. “WIBBLE WIBBLE?” Followed by… “WIBBLE WIB…” The giant (huge) subterranean lizards opens its jaws wide and… GULP! Swallows Vincen G. Octopod- that got nasty very quickly. The great lizard then slithers into the cavern pool and brings its tail up and over- smashing the appendage into Buggles, the wood elf is down and dying. Just to recap- Garumn is on maybe 12 HP, Buggles is dying, Vincen G. Octopod is almost dead (and at present being digested), while Ram and Newt are bloodied. A second later and Buggles fails his first death save. There’s a lot of groaning and moaning going on around the VTT. Meantime the acid stomach of the huge reptile is burning Vincen G’s tentacles to tent-a-nubs, the cephalopod is now critically wounded. Newt fires another eldritch blast into the great reptile (and then rolls minimum damage), the players are screaming and shouting. There’s also a fair bit of swearing coming from the VTT. Even Spandwick tries his luck with a firebolt, and that’s a ‘1’. Ram dares again, the rogue races in to face the huge reptile down, and then misses the thing with his magical rapier, only stabs the beast with his off-hand and much-more mundane dagger. Alas now Garumn can’t get close enough to attack the beast with his equally magic sword- the only spot left in range of the enemy is in the pool- not advisable in his heavy armour. The dwarf paladin therefore flings his hand axe into the reptile’s snout, and now the lizard is critically wounded (and with just 8 HP left). There’s a lot of cheering when I announce this. Note I don’t tell the players how many hit points the creature has left, just that the beast is critically wounded. But my super-lizard is not done for yet, it swipes Ram with its massive tail- knocking the rogue prone and into the deeper part of the pool, and then snatches up the flailing half-elf- crushing him in its jaws. And now Ram is unconscious and dying. Buggles fails his second death save in a row, one more and he’s gone. At which point Vincen G. Octopod deep within the giant subterranean lizard’s gut also expires, and with enough damage transferred over to just about bloody Vincenzo the druid. Who suddenly finds himself immersed in stomach acid, in very cramped dark place, and being crushed, while restrained and blinded. But Vinnie has an idea- it’s the Feast of the Moon today, remember I let you know about this earlier on. Well, Vincenzo is a druid of the Moon. This is his special day. The druid also has an inspiration point to spend- can he please cast a Moonbeam spell down onto the giant subterranean lizard, please Mr. Kindly DM-sir? The benevolent DM is happy for Vinnie to try it. Suddenly a burst of moonlight spears down from the highest point in the cavern, the shaft of golden glory spotlights the scaly back of the huge snapping reptile- and it radiant burns. The giant beast however is contentedly crunching and crushing Ram in its salivating maw. It makes its save. Cue lots more swearing, shouting and groaning from the VTT (actually discord). Half damage only- 2d10, and… ‘8’ and ‘10’- half of that’s 9. But, that can’t be- my wonderful lizard friend has only got 8 HP left. The giant subterranean lizard suddenly looks up from its rogue-feast and sniffs the air, cranes its neck around to see the source of the smell- the moonbeam is cooking its flesh. “Urp!” The creature announces and suddenly, simply, collapses. Dead. There is screaming and cheering as Vinnie pops his head out of the newly radiant burnt hole in the great creature, the druid scramble-crawls out of the beast’s belly, and then slithers into the pool- to wash the burning gut-acid away. Seconds later Newt gets to Buggles with his healer’s kit and manages to stabilise the wood elf. A moment later and Garumn grabs the now drowning and dying Ram from the pool and lays on hands, the rogue blinks- chokes, and with help from his dwarven friend scrambles away from the water and lizard mess. Still floundering in the pool Vinnie manages somehow to maintain his concentration on the radiant burn of the moonbeam. The druid spots that the DM still hasn’t dropped the action out of initiative. At which point Kaarghaz, the trog chief, appears in the river passage just beyond the moonbeam’s radiant haze- grunts once or twice at the sprawled and gasping members of the Dark Squad, and then scurries off to fight another day. The Dark Squad get the (collective) feeling they’ll be seeing Kaarghaz again. Then the scramble to grab out healing potions et al, as the adventurers (and company) back away quickly from the water’s edge. And we’re out of initiative- at last. [Troglodytes, a giant lizard, and a giant (huge) subterranean lizard 1500 XP] [Titanic fight with great action 200 XP] And that’s about that- the Dark Squad (and company) are swiftly in retreat- they can see where the entrance to the trog’s lair is but… they’re not heading in there, they’re partially broken. They head all the way back to the grand stair, halfway up the rise they make camp, or at least settle down for a short rest, and to spend a few healing HD and glug down a few more potions. Careful fellers- a healing potion may be all that stands between you and death in future sessions, keep a few in hand. For now however they’re spent. It’s very likely there’ll be more of this kind of thing next time. Stay safe and well. Cheers goonalan and the Dark Squad. [/QUOTE]
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