Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh
Session #067: “Are You Trying To Kill Us?”
Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).
Daktari (played by Haggis) Male Human Uthgardt Sky Pony Barbarian Lvl 7
New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 7
Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 7
Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 7
NPCs
Inverna Nightbreeze (played by Goonalan) Female Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 7 (Sidekick)
*Trapped in the Land of the Bad Dead Ancestors.
Servants/Familiars
Gerald (Bat/Giant Bat) servant/mount of New Tricks
Owly (Owl) Vinnie’s familiar
This is session 67, and tee-hee, a bit of squeaky bum time for the players.
The title of this session is simply the question that Bear asked of me about an hour or so into this one. I am happy to report that in the later stages this question, or else a variant of it, got asked several more times, and by all of the players in turn.
So, I really enjoyed this one.
Do you remember the chatter at the start of the last session, the players held up the game a while to talk tactics for their level eight PC builds.
I said nothing at the time, but I took umbrage.
So, back to it.
The Dark Squad are far below Squabblepot and Arty's Labs, at present in an ancient ruined dwarven redoubt. They're in pursuit of Ian with one I, the nothic. Who, they believe, has warped the murdering Arty's brain, they're trying to save their friend.
They have 72 hours to gather evidence before the trial starts back in Squabblepot, actually they're down to about 61 hours atm. That said the Dark Squad, in their infinite wisdom (hubris), are attempting to get this case wrapped up in just 24 hours, they therefore have just 13 hours left to meet this self-imposed deadline.
So, at the end of the last session a bunch of low level undead were put to the sword- easy, but the chamber here has more of the strange stone drying stations, and on them- well, metal sheets that must have come from the mould that was discovered by the adventurers earlier.
What is it?
Inverna grabs and then, miraculously, lifts one of the sheets of ancient metal, the thing is over ten feet long by five feet wide, and incredibly thin (2.5mm). It's as light as a feather, so light that the elf soon discovers that she can balance it easily on one finger, and when she gives it a bump it floats up a few inches, and then takes an absolute age to incredibly slowly float back down into her hand.
It really is as light as a feather, but also incredibly strong/resistant- Ram can't scratch it at all with his dagger.
“What iz eat? Quelle fromage? What wur ze sneek-e dwarves may-kin down ere?”
The DM informs the PCs/players, who are not at all skilled in metallurgy, that a suitable skill employed followed by a natural '20' and he'll let them know what the substance is.
Ram, Vinnie, Daktari and Inverna all fail their checks to find out.
Newt spends an inspiration point, to roll with advantage, and... '20'.
The bugger!
The sheet of metal that Inverna is holding in her hand is adamantine, it is therefore incredibly valuable... and much sort after, the dwarves of Farhill Mine would be very interested.
There are four sheets here, but again- they're ten feet by five, very light, but obviously not very portable.
[Adamantine sheets 200 XP]
Then we move on, Ram is sent ahead- the stairs up lead in to a pillared chamber, with stairs heading down into long wide corridors to the north and the south. There are more stairways leading off both of these passages, staggered in pairs. There are also more of the shambling undead standing statue in both directions- more dwarven zombies and skeletons.
But here's the thing, the passage to the north is also home to a puddle of swirling black mist, all low level- obscuring the floor and the legs of the undead in the fog there.
Ram heads back to tell his friends.
The consensus is- more low level undead, more easy kills- two PCs block the passage north and hold the line, two more- same plan, to the south.
The action begins, and it's easy...
To the south there are only three or four of the shambling undead, and it's Vinnie, Ram and Newt in action here, the bad guys really don't last very long, maybe a turn.
Daktari & Inverna, it's a formidable pairing.
But to the north, well... Inverna and Daktari, who have been really getting on lately, press forward down the stairs into the passage- cutting the undead down as they go. But, there are plenty more zombies and skeletons in this direction. Therefore Newt comes over and drops the bomb- a Fireball, and that's cleared the way a little.
Apres the Fireball, it happens a lot.
However at this point a raging Daktari, and a calm and collected Inverna, have had to wade into the freezing fog here, and the pair are taking necrotic damage, then... a cowled hunched figure appears from the first staired opening to the west.
The figure stares intently at the Sky Pony barbarian- it says nothing, just stares, Daktari is left nonplussed.
“There is strange little man with bad face!” The barbarian yells and points.
Seconds later Inverna scatters down the stairs and into the western chamber to which Daktari was pointing, she too spies the odd hooded creature and... the sight stops her heart. Inverna drops prone and straight to zero hit points.
There's a lot of swearing around the VTT.
Actually the swearing is all just one word, but oft repeated, and at times with fervour.
Who's the guy in the hoodie? Note the Zombie just standing there, when the Bodak appeared then this guy just plain dropped off the PCs radar, he got ignored.
There's a rush as the Dark Squad bustle into the chamber, and there they too take it in turns to meet the gaze of the creepy bodak, they were given the option of looking away, more fool them. There follows quite a lot of saving throws, and following these the spending of inspiration points to try those saves again.
Just to say, each PC can have up to two inspiration points- five of these get spent in the next two turns.
Vinnie, after suffering in the bodak's stare (a bunch of necrotic damage, or worse), wildshapes into... the Moonboar!
Keep in mind he can also speak and cast spells in this god-given wildshape, er... shape.
However, the terrifying undead creature continues to caper away from the Dark Squad, although it also manages to punch Daktari once or twice, and it hurts, with lots of necrotic damage. Then it disappears through a crack in the northern wall of the chamber here, making its way to another parallel running ruined room.
Ram is in hot pursuit, alas that doesn't last long, seconds later and the rogue too is sprawling, down to zero hit points and making death saves (but see below).
Ram Down! Ram Down! Note, Newt is hiding in the corner.
But here's the thing, the bodak's necrotic aura is also inflicting damage to the unconscious PCs, the Moonboar (Vinnie) therefore scrambles to heal the pair, although Ram's Periapt of Wound Closure makes things much safer for the rogue.
Note, It's Newt that gets to Ram with his last Potion of Greater Healing (his last healing of any kind), the tabaxi also has a little pep talk for the rogue once he has blinked open his eyes.
“Get up and get 'im. You're the only one of these naughty word pathetic bastards (he means the other members of the Dark Squad) that is of any use. Go get 'em tiger!”
And what surprised the rest of us around the VTT at the time was the vehemence of the above, it was like he had been wanting to say it for some time.
Oh, and all five PCs have attempted to use monster knowledge checks to identify the undead horror, all low rolls except for Vinnie, although the druid only remembers the creature's name, but nothing else.
Newt, getting desperate, drops a second Fireball into the next chamber over, the blast however also encompasses the tabaxi, but he's still got a Potion of Fire Resistance running.
The Bodak is looking mighty fine. Mutual destruction via Fireball, but both the tabaxi and the Bodak are just slightly singed. Note Daktari has taken a beating, and the zombie... still standing, still being ignored.
Note, at this point the bodak is not yet bloodied- it's only taken a couple of hits, and is resistant to fire, which is Newt and Vinnie's element of choice, and as just made crystal clear when the Fireball hits. Newt takes as much damage as the bodak.
But still the bodak gets away, it scampers back into the long northern passage, to which Inverna- still very badly wounded, has retreated.
Note, there's no pictures of this bit because, I think, the players were having a bit of a panic- the bodak was quite definitely about to get away again.
However, the sidekick fighter uses her action surge to send a trio of arrows into the retreating horror's back, and seconds later a screaming Daktari chases the creature down and stabs it repeatedly, and eventually, dead (again).
Note Daktari was down to around ten hit points by the end of it all, it was an odd thing to see- Ram and Inverna down and dying, Vinnie trying to revive the pair, and Newt and the barbarian attempting to chase the bodak down.
[Zombies, Skeletons and a Bodak 2800 XP]
Then... the Dark Squad scurry back to the centre of things here, Newt gets his Tiny Hut up and running and the battered and broken PCs quickly dive inside. There follows plenty of chatter, and a whole heap of healing.
And relax... Say hello to the Moonboar, again.
At the end of this short rest Vinnie, I think, is the only PC still with HD healing to spend, they're all also very low on healing potions, and on spells for the druid.
But the chatter here is more about what do we do next? How much do we keep pushing it? Do we try to get an extended rest in now, and then push on with the chase?
As I say, much chatter.
But this is the first time that we have heard the Moonboar speak. So, Vinnie sounds continental, or else French, but the Moonboar.
Imagine if you can a slight French accent, but in a gruff voice interspersed with grunts and snorts.
Remember, as gruff as you can go-
“I fink SN-SN-GUR zat we shud GURGUR go on after ze SN-SN leetul bas-turd GURGUR!”
It's funny and odd at the same time.
[The Moonboar speaks 100 XP]
But the decision is made, it's too soon to rest, the Dark Squad press on, and the way forward is very close to hand. Daktari and the Moonboar quickly rediscover Ian's tracks here- and they lead to a section of blank stone wall straight ahead. Soon after Ram locates the secret door, and with help from Daktari wrenches it open.
Down some more...
Note, the PCs are not exploring anywhere (so far) that isn't on Ian's route.
Beyond the secret door spiral stairs descend further into the dark.
The rogue leads the way, however the stairs soon after turn to nothing, Ram finds himself squatting on the last step, peering down thirty or forty feet from an opening in the centre of the roof of a large cavern. The rest of the spiral stairs are heaped in a pile of broken rubble below. The ruin here, the rogue quickly determines, is ancient.
The rogue therefore secures a rope and then when his colleagues arrive, he descends into the newly revealed space, the rest of the Dark Squad follow after, although the Moonboar chooses to walk around on the ceiling for a while.
[Down, down, deeper and down 200 XP]
What's the duration on your wildshape Vinnie?
Two passages and a pile of rubble, what's left of the lower section of the spiral stairs.
There are two passages exiting the cavern, both lead to smaller chambers which overlook a much larger (massive) cave chamber. The first passage enters the space through an opening thirty feet above a pool of bubbling hot mud. While the second opens out only twenty or so feet above a solid looking stone shelf, with the same mud pool as spotted earlier just to the north.
The view from the first passage opening, a bubbling mud pool.
Ram leads his colleagues down, cautiously, because on the shore of the mud pool here are the skeletal remains of several large creatures, they look to be the remains of half-a-dozen or so huge snakes.
The view from the second passage opening, WTF are they?
And sure enough...
When the rogue gets close the first of the undead creatures rears up, soon after all of the Dark Squad are down into the chamber, and into action.
They're just big skeletons.
Note, these guys are skeleton versions of giant (huge) constrictor snakes- there are two of them. Daktari gets bitten and then caught in the coils by one of the undead foes, and then crushed and pierced by its needle-sharp bones.
But, they're just big skeletons, hardly a match for the Dark Squad.
[Two huge Skeletal Snakes 900 XP]
But that's what the snakes are there for, to distract the PCs, because for the last few rounds the grinning DM (that's me) has been moving his latest big bad guy into position.
Suddenly the Moonboar has to tumble to the side, as a ten foot wide and five foot deep divot is eked out of the formerly solid stone, in the spot that the wildshaped druid was formerly standing.
The Zombie Beholder keeps on rolling '4'.
At which point the Dark Squad spot their new attacker.
Immediately after the players start shouting again, further enquiring as to whether the DM has grown bored with this campaign and is trying to end it as soon as possible.
But... Players, man! They tend to exaggerate, have you noticed that?
Note, the zombie beholder was quickly identified by the Dark Squad, although there was a moment at the start when they thought that it was the real thing, a beholder.
Also note, when targetted I made the player roll (1d4) to see which eye ray the zombie beholder used on their PC, with the caveat- don't roll a '4'. Four being the disintegrate ray, in the course of this encounter I only managed to get off two attacks with my big bad dead eye-guy- both of them '4's.
So, the Dark Squad unleash everything they've got left, they also remember to spread out, but there's very little cover here.
Daktari takes to throwing javelins and insults, at disadvantage for the former- his trash talk is really coming on strong.
“Come down and fight me you big-giant-eye-ball-bag!”
That sort of thing.
It's edifying every time Daktari speaks.
My zombie beholder then randomly targets Ram with its second disintegration ray, but that's no fun- the evasive rogue's dexterity save bonus is sky high, he avoids the blast in style, and then the Dark Squad missile salvo continues, and...
That's enough for the eye monster. My zombie beholder had 125 hit points (I beefed him up a little), the PCs put him down in two turns- although keep in mind that Ram was using a mixture of magical and walloping arrows. Point of fact, its the rogue with his sneak attack that finally does for the zombie beholder.
Dead again!
The very former eye tyrant crash lands half in and half out of the bubbling mud close by.
And then breath.
There's a lot of this, is the consensus.
The Moonboar's Moonbeam torch.
Vinnie uses his Moonbeam, which he conjured earlier to burn the beholder, to illuminate as much as he can of the massive cavern. Newt, meantime, sends Gerald his bat servitor for a look around. There's a rocky ledge to east that has a pool of bubbling lava welled there, but of more interest is a stone shelf to the north which has a stone door in the cavern wall. The door is open...
Then a short break for a little more discussion, this while Newt fills a variety of bags and pouches with viscera and parts taken from the undead beholder.
Then, the Dark Squad make their way across the mud.
Note, that's a really simple sentence to write.
It all got very complicated very quickly, the rope depicted here is being held aloft by the two Immovable Rods that the PCs possess. The Acrobatics DC to shimmy across hanging from the rope = 12. To jump across (Athletics) DC 10. It took a good 10-15 minutes to come up with and then implement the rope idea, and then everyone except Newt jumped across.
But, to do.
On the final jump, only six feet (DC 6), the Moonboar has to spend a moment with his arms quickly spiralling, balanced on the very lip of the far ledge, attempting desperately not to fall backwards into the bubbling mire. He succeeds.
Newt, the tabaxi (cat man), just plain falls in.
Newt relaxes in mud. He was spitting feathers.
He has to be rescued, although that doesn't go too well either, Daktari only narrowly avoids joining the warlock in the mud with his attempt to rescue Newt.
Meantime Newt also fails to struggle his way out and sinks a little further into the gloop, so that only the top eighteen inches of his being are clear of the bubbling mud.
Note the mud itself is only inflicting 1d4 fire damage/turn, but it is also quicksand.
Then, at last, Inverna grabs hold of Newt and drags the cat man out of the mud.
[Newt falls in 200 XP]
[But the Dark Squad get across the mud cavern 200 XP]
However, at this point, another clutch of staggering zombie dwarves have exited the door ahead here, and shambled forward to attack the Dark Squad, this while Newt attempts to Prestidigitate himself clean.
It's a bit of a shambles really.
However, and again, they're just a bunch of zombies, the Dark Squad beat them down, and then after a tiny bit more healing, they head on through the door- Ram first.
Into a small crypt.
A dwarven crypt, and with a door across the far side.
A small dwarven crypt.
The door is slightly ajar, and if the Dark Squad want to check for muddy footprints next session, well- I'll save them the time, Ian with one I went this way.
But back to the crypt, there are three dwarves interred in the floor of the chamber, their tombstones showing there- Vinnie reads the names of the dead dwarves.
Moments later the spirits of the dead incumbents float up through their tombstones, moaning and caterwauling, and lashing out at the adventurers.
With advantage, guaranteeing several nice hits.
A small inhabited dwarven crypt.
As one of the players said earlier- there's a lot of this...
But that's where we got up to this session.
I rather enjoyed it.
The Dark Squad have now spent thirteen-and-a-half hours at the mystery, and they reckon (after a chat with the very helpful DM) that it is definitely going to take an hour, at best, to get back to the surface from where they stand.
So, in reality the Dark Squad have only got nine-and-a-half hours left to go, and keep in mind guys that there are going to be Constitution checks coming for exhaustion, and particularly if you are going to attempt to do the 24 hours straight through.
The Dark Squad’s to-do list reads a little like this-
- Find Ian with one 'I'. The elusive bastard.
- Save (the bastard) Arty Swell (maybe).
- To the Moon Pool.
- Goblins in the Dreadwood.
- Nightshade in the Dreadwood.
- To Blackedge, find the Goblin Stair.
- Return to Fallowstone Holy for answers- the Witch’s Tor & the Pact of the Flame.
Stay safe and well you lovely people.
Cheers the Dark Squad and goonalan.
