Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cinerarium" data-source="post: 850496" data-attributes="member: 9349">Hammer 3, Happy Harlan’s Dear journal, what another busy day has befallen, and it is not over yet!As decided, we traveled at first light (well, perhaps somewhat after first light, as we had a few drinks as a nightcap) to the alley near Mort’s Potatoes and Ale.  Cautiously descending into the stench of the sewers, we entered a large oval room with passages leading out that corresponded with the north-central oval on the map Marigold had given us.  Kazir struck a sunrod, bringing illumination to the dank, humid chamber, allowing us to see the exact cause of the horrible odor that was slowly seeping into every article of clothing on us. Guessing our location on the map to be correct, we decided to head generally south, while avoiding the guardhouse we surmised to be where marked on the map.  Grotesque, rotting excrement and waste floated in the foul still water, and hundreds of rats scurried everywhere, avoiding the light from our sunrod.  As we journeyed, we found our guess with the map to be correct, as passages branched off from the main tunnel as predicted.  We encountered an area where the water suddenly deepened, but fortunately Fineon was in the lead, prodding with a staff, and we negotiated the pit without much incident.  Kazir’s familiar, Zazu (I must ask him how the owl’s name is spelled!) spotted a rope floating in the water.  Pulling up the rope, Kazir uncovered a case containing some small treasure.  Apparently the rumors of the sewers being the low road of thieves are true, and we had stumbled upon some of their ill-gotten booty.  As we neared the area marked on the map as the dying place of those who had come before us, our trepidation grew.  Soon enough, Fineon’s staff encountered another pit in the passage, and the far side was too far to reach easily.  I was the first to spot them: hideous, foul undead, their claw-like hands reaching up out of the water to grab at Fineon.  I shouted a warning, and Fineon and Gunn were able to fend off the first pair.  As more approached out of the water, I called upon the knowledge of Deneir to help me put an end to the undead’s existence.  Perhaps my absence from His temple after being in the Sevencity for a few days angered Him; perhaps my powers are too new, or I misinterpreted my knowledge of his religion.  More likely, the mere sight of the undead, with the memory of Riley’s ghastly end still so fresh in my mind, weakened my resolve when I needed it most, and the ghouls were unaffected by my prayer....Fortunately Fineon and Gunn were stout, and they easily dispatched the ghouls as they showed their heads above the water line.With one challenge down, we again faced the problem of crossing the pit in the water.  Kazir ingeniously tossed a piece of brick across the gap, and was able to see that indeed it landed in shallow water not far out of reach on the other side of the pit.  We began to bicker about how to cross the pit.  I doubted my ability to swim across the pit, weighed down by my armor and weapons.  I also, vainly, did not want to get so deep in the rotting feces of the Sevencity’s cloacae.  Besides, the thought of ghoulish hands drawing me deeper into that muck, and drowning in the waste products of a city, filled me with utter dread.Fortunately for us, while occupied in our bickering, the smallest of our group again proved the most heroic.  With a running leap, Pell, our stout gnome, cleared an amazing distance and landed on the far side.  He turned, beaming with pride, and Gunn quickly tossed a rope across to him.  While gaping at this pint-sized man, whose heart must be the size of a lion, I overheard the guttural cry of a humanoid down the passage to the south, on Pell’s side of the pit!  I yelled a warning to Pell, and he leapt from a standing position across the pit, as Gunn yanked on his rope to help the gnome across.  After a dunk in the ooze, Pell scrambled up onto the close side of the pit as we readied out weapons and spells for the attack.  Soon enough, a large goblinoid of some kind turned the corner, pulling his mighty bow in anticipation.  He was joined moments later by two smaller goblinoids that attacked with missiles as well.  I remember little of the fight that ensued, save that we managed to defeat the goblinoids, with a combination of spells and missile weapons.  I was even able to call upon my faith to command another large goblinoid to swim in the pit, whereupon he promptly sank like a stone into the murky waters.Having cleared another obstacle, we finally gave in and swam across the pit.  I can only offer a quick prayer to Sune that the taint will someday leave my nostrils.Again on more solid ground, we followed the map further, eventually finding another exit from the sewers.  We decided to head briefly aboveground, if only to find how much time we had spent below.  Emerging briefly into a back alley, we healed our wounds and took stock.  We had seen no sign of Opulio, but at the same time had missed a large portion of the sewers.  I knew that I would rather get the entire noxious affair over with in one go, and persuaded my reluctant comrades to go once again into the sewers.Following a path generally south and east, we encountered little more resistance than a moving slime, as indicated on the map.  Kazir’s owl companion again spotted a treasure, this time a silver scrollcase sealed from the water.  Inside was a note in Halfling, which none of us could read.  We finally entered a small chamber in the southeast of the map, where water dripped into a shed built against the wall.  The shed contained some rudimentary tools: a crowbar, a pick, a bricklayer’s knife.  Searching the shed further revealed a hidden trapdoor leading down to a second level.  The note referred not to water dripping into a pool, but into a toolshed!  We had found the entrance to the second level!  To be continued...</blockquote>

Verification