The date is Friday, 30th June
The time is 7:00 PM
We decided to investigate the area where the brown mould was growing. As we approached the corner it got colder and colder. Sigmund decided to take the approach of trying to batter it with his staff. It did seem to scrape some of it off but would take a long time to get rid of it. Sellis joined him and tried to blast it with cold. That seemed to be very effective.
4 doors led off the corridor here. To the south, through the open door, you can see a small empty room, the floor is littered with small debris, and a collapsed set of shelves lies against the far wall.
Sigmund entered the east room but the ceiling fell on him! It turned out to be another large ooze which was trying to engulf him. Sigmund fought it off with his staff, very effectively. Idris rushed in and blasted it with magical fire. Sellis followed up with magical cold. Fyren moved up and frazzled it with fire and it was no more.
Beyond is a large bare room with a spotless floor and faded frescos on the walls. Just around the corner, a strange white mineral deposit protrudes from the flagstones.
Sigmund went to investigate. He guessed it was a large Grimlock skeleton that was dissolved by the ochre jelly. Meanwhile, Sellis looked into the room opposite. This room has some smelly bedding in a corner, but otherwise, the floor is surprisingly clean.
Tinnan opened the door to the north into what looked like a library. The floor of this room is strewn with parchment fragments, wrecked shelves line two walls. In the centre of the room are a table and toppled chair. Chi went in and started searching it, whilst Idris began a ritual to detect magic. There was nothing of any magical nature in the four rooms. The papers contained orders for weapons and armour. In a locked desk drawer, we found a diary written in dwarfish. The last few pages of it read:
With the recent battle against the surface dwellers, production has fallen below expectations, and the smiths are too busy with repairs. The surface dwellers are ferocious, but no match for us underground, I expect things to return to normal soon. At least orders for new axes will be up!
Vishnah is moving us toward the surface, I thought the battle was going well, why do they need reinforcements? My customers are going to be very unhappy with delays.
We are fleeing with only what we can carry. It seems to avoid panic we were not told that we are fighting on two fronts. The slaves of the mind flayers have taken the lower level, and our best warriors have fallen in the defence. A broken contract is preferable to falling into the hands of a mind flayer, but it will be hard to recover the business.
We moved off to another area. This wide thoroughfare is punctuated with tall alcoves, each containing the statue of a distinguished-looking dwarf, some holding weapons, others musical instruments, others a beer mug. The dust of years has settled on them, diminishing their glory. At the end are heavy stone doors that are partially open. The statues appear to be of potentially famous dwarves.
At the end of the corridor, the double doors were partially open. The air is heavy with the now familiar stench of Grimlock, there is whispered chanting coming from the south. Chi summoned the shadows and he and Fyren moved in to scout. An impressive hall is held open by twelve enormous jade stone pillars that soar forty feet into the gloom. Scenes on the walls depict fierce-looking armoured dwarves. The weight of the open space dampens sound. We rushed in, enveloped in shadows and silence.
Idris rushed in and blew a dozen or so into pieces with a ball of fire. Sellis followed up and destroyed many as she made the earth erupt. Sigmund advanced and cast spells at a few. Chi rushed deep into the chamber all alone in the direction of the one who was leading the chanting. Tinnan did the same, going in the opposite direction. Fyren followed in and lit up the north of the room ahead of Tinnan, leaving none standing. The grimlocks probably knew we were there now.
Idris moved in and killed one with fire. Sellis lit up the witch doctor with faerie fire and Sigmund blasted another. Chi pummelled the witch doctor but it stayed standing just. Tinnan smashed another one into the ground and stalked down some more grimlocks. The dwarf was then swarmed by grimlocks but was never going to fall. He responded with threats and insults as more came in. One came in to help the witch doctor fight Chi. Fyren blasted the wall inexplicably. Then the witch doctor, glowing slightly green, tried to paralyse Chi but the resolute monk shrugged it off. He then called out and a huge
Otyugh rose from the pile of refuse behind Chi.
Idris moved towards the swarm around Tinnan and called upon the ancestors of our village. Radiant light flashed out from him blasting the grimlocks with a terrible burning. A few near Tinnan survived though. Sellis went into melee with one lone Grimlock. Sigmund blasted a further one to death. Chi round-housed the witch doctor, finishing it off. He then impaled another Grimlock and moved off away from the Otyugh. It followed him but detected Sigmund and moved his way, it hit him with a tentacle which grabbed him. Tinnan demolished a few more minnows and moved towards another. Sellis was battered by the one she faced. Fyren moved in and blasted the Otyugh with fiery rays.
Idris copied Fyren, blasting and killing grimlocks fighting Tinnan and Chi. He also scorched the one fighting Sellis and she quickly finished off with her staff. Sigmund teleported out of the otyugh's grasp and blasted it with eldritch magic. Chi moved back to the group and blasted the otyugh with his wand. The otyugh followed Sigmund and tried to grapple him but the warrior was too agile and dodged. Tinnan moved in, hurling an axe right over the otyugh along the way. Fyren hit it with a bolt of fire.
Idris dropped sacred flames upon it but it shrugged them off. Sellis then tried to freeze it unsuccessfully. Sigmund cursed the creature and then ran in and wallopped it with his staff. This distracted it so that Chi could run in and stun it. We all then piled in and finished it off.
All fell quiet. Chi knelt down in the middle of the room and began to meditate. Tinnan bragged about his prowess. Idris scanned for magical items. Sigmund searched. Sellis and Idris searched through the muck that the otyugh came out of but there was nothing of interest or value in there. There was nothing magical in the room. Old weapon racks dotted the room but they were all broken. In the north were two heavy iron gates. Sigmund went through one which was broken down to discover a hexagonal room beyond. A heavy iron gate stands ajar, and the remains of a lock lie nearby on the floor. The passage is littered with large blocks of pottery and shards of wood. The floor, walls and ceiling are cracked and cratered. There was no magic in there.
Moving to the other iron gate, this one was locked. Idris detected magic coming from a terracotta statue in the room beyond. Sigmund took his magical maul to the lock and soon destroyed it. Sigmund headed in and the
Clay Golem animated.
Fyren moved in to help but his firebolt went wide. The thing ignored Sellis' frost spell and then Sigmund moved past it to free up space for others to help. Idris danced in, blasted it with flames which it ignored. Chi leapt to his feet from his meditation and ran to the group. Tinnan rushed in and attacked next to Sigmund. The creature tried to hit Tinnan and Sigmund without any luck.
Fyren then unleashed a more effective spell and fried it a bit. Sellis blasted it with cold but it seemed to be resistant to her magic. Sigmund laid into it and chipped bits off. Idris blasted with more success. Chi skirmished in and poked at it with his spear but his fists were less effective. Tinnan smashed lumps off it with his axe and ducked under another couple of big swings from the golem.
Fyren scorched it with a firebolt and Sellis tried similar to no avail. Sigmund continued to wail on it with his staff and Idris was less successful. Chi poked it a bit and then Tinnan smashed it.
Left in the midst of the shattered statue was a red stone a ruby. On the weapons rack was a magical shield.
We rested up in the hexagonal room for a bit.
Next, we explored deeper to the north. We came across a chasm.
The passageway abruptly opens out into a chasm. The path continues over the span of a bridge and disappears into an opening on the far side. In the darkness, it is not possible to make out the depths or the heights of the chasm, but a warm updraft blows past your face.
We crossed the bridge carefully, in single-file. As we crossed the bridge a swarm of bat-like creatures descended upon us from the darkness. These were
Stirges and flew in as a big group. The stirges swooped in and many stuck into us. We bashed and swatted them aside killing a few before Idris called upon the powers of our ancestors and obliterated every last one of them, apart from one who was slightly further away. Impressive stuff. Sigmund finished it off with an eldritch blast.
We continued onwards. The passage suddenly opens out into a wide, narrow ravine. The path continues over with only a small kerb at its edge. Your footsteps echo back from the inky blackness. Sigmund headed off into the natural cave entrance and the others followed. This natural cavern contains a large amber stalagmite that reaches almost to the ceiling. The dwarves have constructed a dais and a finely carved stone railing around it. There is a plaque with runes on it.
The runes read:
Sharur, smasher of thousands. Legend states that Surtur buried Ninurta's maul deep within the earth as punishment for his cowardice against the Aesir. Only at the final battle, Ragnarok, will he be able to take it up again.
As you progress down this passage it becomes increasingly hot and humid, condensation drips off the ceiling. You enter a large cavern filled with a slowly bubbling mud pool. Towards the back of the room are a couple of raised crater rims, elsewhere mounds of mud protrude from the surface.
As Sigmund goes deep into the room to explore,
Mud Mephits burst forth from the mud.
The melee was sticky with the creatures throwing mud at us and getting us stuck. It was quite a drawn-out battle but we prevailed eventually.
We searched the mud room but found nothing of interest. Idris cast a ritual of detect magic and noted that the huge amber stalactite was massively radiating
Transmutation and
Evocation magics.
