Dean (Jared), Matt (Splinter Paw), Jeff (Ford), Coby (Kyros), Chris (Creeper), and James (Kraygen) are returning cast members.
We left the party having rested again at the entrance to the cave. Ragash remained unconscious, the stress of having her face eaten by an ochre jelly having delayed her recovery from the ghoul poison. The rest of the group decided to continue to explore the Wave Echo Cave, returning to the large cavern where they had already fought and defeated both ghouls (in the west) and zombies (east). To the south of that room, they found an unexplored corridor containing a storeroom. All the stores were destroyed by age, rot, and at least one rat.
They continued north and then east, locating a room which showed clear signs of battle. Skeletons covered the floor, and the human-sized doors to a medium-sized building were heavily damaged, even being melted in places. Walls were scorched and stained with smoke. Creeper set up with his bow trained on the larger double doors, while Kraygen and Ford investigated the single door to the north side. The northern door proved more difficult to open, at least without tools. The moment Kraygen touched the door, however, he heard a strange voice in his head. Hello!
On the other set of doors, Splinter Paw was able to nudge them open, noting as he did so a strange green glow from within. Seeing movement behind the flames, he threw the doors wide even as he head a voice inside his head. Hello! With his bow already aimed and an arrow knocked, Creeper took the shot, putting two arrows into a vaguely spherical shape that seemed to float inside the room, eyestalks waving. The mental voice turned hostile. You’re in for it now!
Jared quick-drew his hand crossbow and took a shot, but he tangled the bolt with rope from his pack. The combination of rope, bolt, and hand crossbow became an impromptu grappling hook gun, lodging the rope into the ceiling. Jared swung from the rope, too surprised to let go, and landed right next to the strange creature. The glare of the single eye focused on his direction struck terror into his soul. Shifting position, the sphere took visual aim at Creeper, still outside the building. Creeper froze in place, paralyzed, and strange wounds opened up on his flesh as the creature applied its mysterious and magical powers.
A second barrage of arrows was enough to deflate the monster, although Creeper and Jared took a few minutes to recover.
Further to the south, down a small staircase, was another human-proportioned building.Listening at the door, strange quiet shuffling sounds could be heard. Ford opened the door, seeing two sets of zombies standing in silent ranks to either side of the door, and a ghostly figure rising from a bed at the far end of the room. “Who dares disturb my slumber?”
After some initial confusion and death threats, it turned out the wraith was really just looking for some new reading material. He asked Ford to place a book into his treasure chest and carry the chest with him out of the cave until a suitable replacement book could be procured. The wraith then dissolved into mist and slipped into the treasure chest as well, which Ford locked. However, even as he did so, the zombies turned to look at him with sudden hunger for brains…
Ford managed to escape the building, leaving the lockbox behind. It rattled ominously. The zombies took a few swings as he ran by, but only inflicted a few bruises before he made it out of the building. However, the zombies moved to follow, forcing the party into a fighting retreat. Kyros was surrounded and barely escaped with his life, using his power to turn the undead. Kraygen and Splinter Paw both used Thunderwave and Shatter effects, damaging the zombie hordes and keeping each other alive, but also likely alerting anyone else in the cave to their presence.
We leave the party with most of the zombies dead, a few still fleeing from Kyros’ Turn Undead, a rattling treasure chest still inside the building, and a few surviving zombies still pursuing the characters.
To be continued…
Experience and Treasure
For reference: 200 cp = 20 sp = 2 ep = 1 gp = 1/5 pp
- 233xp each for those present
Roleplaying moments and quotables
Dangling Threads of Fate
- A necromancer is excavating Old Owl Well
- The party has found a new entrance to Wave Echo Cave
