August 20th, 2017

Continuing the Exploration Under the Dwarven Quarry

From my left:
Paige playing Keeva the 4th level halfling infiltrator
Matt playing Mirin the 4th (just now 5th) level human spellsword
Belle* playing Ydee the 6th level half-elf thief for the absent Catherine
Sarai playing Desorna the 6th level elven axe-maiden
Michael playing Ivan Lok'tar the 2nd level (Viking) dwarven fighter
Zack playing LaVeya the 6th level human druid
Hunter playing Flever Graveltoes the (still) 1st (2nd) level gnome ranger
and Chris playing Deckard the 3rd/6th level human ex-fighter/thief

While the DM Patrick was busy doing other stuff, Nick was DM for his D&D 3.5 campaign. It was amusing, what I saw of it when I came in. But within a month or two he'll post his summary of the adventure elsewhere. Anyway, once he had to leave for his 8 p.m.bedtime, I took over.

The Lloringhold adventure began where it had ended last session, in the natural cave tunnels that the quarry had broached. The spindly creature that was skin stretched tight over bones had been vanquished along with its shadowy attendants, and the party decided not to try to open the iron doors that seemed to have been welded shut from the inside. Instead they left the room and continued along the original tunnel.
Traveling down this tunnel they were taken by surprise when four of the shadowy figures seemed to ooze out of the rough cave walls to attack. The battle was not too difficult, though some minor damage was taken and some saves against the touch of the creatures were failed. Finally these foes were vanquished and the battered party could continue on.
After traveling another eighty or so feet total they came to another branching offshoot, this one to the right again. Proceeding down it led the party to another iron door, this one showed all the signs of having been welded shut like the others. The weld had been placed on the other side of the door which was curious and raised some rather ominous questions among some of the party members. It was decided to leave this door unmolested for the moment and to return to the original hallway to continue along it.
As they continued down this hall they saw a movement in the distance ahead of them. Two shadowy forms stood further down the hall and, as the party came closer, the shadows moved to close with them. Only LaVeya happened to glance behind them and saw the spindly blackened creature that had moved up behind the party. Her warning came too late as the creature tore into Flever, damaging him badly. With enemies before and behind them, the party moved to attack in both directions, with the weaker adventurers in the back taking the brunt of the attacks from the spindly creature which attacked Flever again and dropped him to -3 hit points. He collapsed forward onto Elvira, his chicken child, mashing her somewhat. LaVeya moved to heal him so he could stay alive as Keeva the chicken mother attempted to destroy the creature. Several rounds of battle and another failed save or two passed before the creatures were vanquished, first the shadowy creatures in the front and finally the spindly creature behind. The party began to consider finding a place to rest, heal, and regain spell points, but they continued to explore.
The next hallway to the right led to yet another sealed iron door, and so the party returned to the original hallway that still continued onward. After another eighty or so feet yet another tunnel branched off to the right and the party once again followed it. As they began to near the inevitable iron door at the end of the hallway, Mirin thought that she saw a indistinct shape before them. Warning the party meant they were as prepared as they could be when a creature of nightmares appeared before them.
Where previously the party had encountered the shadowy creatures and the spindly ones, this one resembled a musclebound version of the spindly skeletal creature from before. The parchment-brittle skin was stretched over still massive muscles and the face was enough to inspire night terrors for all. It tore into the elven fighter and Desorna failed both her saves, feeling herself withering from within. Several attacked it before it shimmered into nonexistence before them. Ivan, hoping to find some sort of sanctuary from the creature, performed a charging shield bash against the sealed door ahead and managed to hit it hard enough at just the right place so it swung open with an eerie creaking noise. Easily half a dozen shadowy forms could be seen within the room beyond and the party, having had more than they wanted of this adventure, decided to leave as quickly as possible. But as they turned to go the creature shimmered into existence again behind the party and between them and the original hall and safety. LaVeya moved up bravely to face it and to protect the feeble chicken father from absolute death. The creature tore into the druid hurting her badly and then shimmered out again before it could be counterattacked by the party. Faced with this kind of situation the party chose to flee at top speed.
The flight started off badly as Desorna slowed to pick up and carry the feeble gnome. As she and Ivan who were last in line started to speed up to catch up with their fellows, the creature shimmered into existence again before them and attacked each of them once, hurting them both. Desorna failed another save and felt the withering sensation within her again. Those of the party who heard the dwarf curse turned and tried to attack the creature. Silver arrows and holy water did serious damage to it and the holy water caused it to make a keening screech that those near could feel vibrating in their bones. The creature shimmered out of existence again and the party continued to run.**
As they continued back the way they came the party bypassed the previous two hallways before an error in judgment caused most of the party to veer the wrong way at the next intersection with only the dwarf and Deckard staying true and appearing out into the light of the late afternoon. As the others continued running the wrong way they realized their error when they saw the first iron door at the end of the hall ahead of them. Making an abrupt about face they turned and fled back down the side hall into the original one, this time taking the correct turn and exiting into the outside world.
They emerged into the fading daylight to find Deckard and Ivan waiting for them. Free of the dim light of the underground tunnels the effects of the muscular creature's attacks were obvious. LaVeya looked old enough to be Merrick's mother, and Desorna was possibly even older looking than that. Their hair was shot through with gray and their skin and bodies had aged. LaVeya concluded that these powerful aging attacks were no temporary nightmare and that a greater curing spell, which is a 7th level spell, would likely be required to reverse this unnatural aging.

After this brief session Matt and Belle had to go, as did Paige, so we ended for the evening.

Experience points for the party:

Keeva – 413
Mirin – 413
Ydee - 413
Desorna - 413
Ivan Lok'tar – 413
LaVeya – 413
Flever Graveltoes – 413
Deckard - 413
and for DMing for a while so I could take care of stuff
Merrick - 250

Footnotes:

* - Belle being Matt's girlfriend from college who was able to join us for tonight's game. We hope she enjoyed herself as we enjoyed her company. She is welcome back any time she is able to join us. :-)

**- It is possible that the DM, in his desire to give a challenge, may have made this creature a tad too powerful for the group. And by a tad I mean a lot. Live (and they all did) and learn (which may be asking too much. Just kidding!)


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