Session 11
General Summary
Two cave entrances faced each other. Nex Pervenio selected the right hand one. They slowly
moved down a winding, natural tunnel with Argus at the fore. A glimmer of light ahead turned out
to be a gnoll campfire in a small cave. Crates and barrels were piled in the centre and a small
underground pool was in the far corner. Five gnolls of various shapes and sizes scrambled to
attack the invaders. Nex Pervenio hunkered down in the doorway, penned in by two larger gnolls.
A gnoll priest cursed his foes while archers fired a hail of arrows. Argus and Shinobi bore the
brunt of the attacks and required much attention from Valun. Eventually the front gnolls were
whittled down at which point Nex Pervenio burst into the cave and quickly isolated the others,
pinning them into corners. The fight ended swiftly thereafter though the gnolls fought tenaciously
to the last.
A tunnel headed deeper underground. It led to a huge cavern, with shadowy recesses between rock
pillars and areas of loose rocks fallen from above. A campfire illuminated more gnolls along with
a human, assumed to be a bandit or cultist or both. The human seemed to be negotiating with the
gnoll leader. Just noticeable in a distant alcove was the bound figure of Rutu, leader of the
Primitives. Shinobi and Dash moved ahead, sneaking into cover behind a rock pillar. Then Argus
strode boldy out. He captured the attention of the gnolls sure enough, three brutes dashing
forward. The bandit disappeared, no doubt intending to sneakily ambush someone. The gnoll
witch hurled bone darts and kept her distance. From the back of the cave appeared a giant
scorpion.
Argus was doing a great job handling the brutes, using his skills to push them back into the loose
rubble and dropping them prone. Dash then went on a killing spree, his fierce shots taking out the
hapless gnolls. But still the scorpion came forward, spitting pools of sticky poison on the floor and
yanked Valun right next to it. The bandit suddenly appeared behind Shinobi but even with the
advantage of surprise was no match for him. He tried to escape but was quickly chased down. He
was knocked out for later questioning. Meanwhile the witch caused Mika to flee in terror, then
caught Argus and Valun in a frosty blast. All the while Valun was doing an able job of healing his
comrades. The giant scorpion was dropped, though not killed, as it was intended for sport in the
gladiator arena. This left only the witch who tried to escape but likewise was knocked out for later
questioning.
Rutu was let loose from his bonds. He explained that the Primitives were sent to this area by Sister
Valerius, following reports of bandits seeking alliances with humanoid tribes. They found some
bandits and were trailing them at night when the bandits walked into a planned ambush by a group
of drow in a canyon. All the bandits were killed except the one in this gnoll cave. The Primitives
somehow avoided the drow but then ran into a load of gnolls. Looking round the big cavern, the
remains of the other Primitives were found right in the back corner in a giant scorpion nest.
The bandit was brought round for questioning. Like Xavier before him, he started ranting and
raving when brought round. These cultists seem pretty fanatical. He provided a few tidbits of
information amongst his frothings. Lareth's base is an abandoned moathouse near the Rodinian
frontier settlement of Hommlet. He is gathering various disparate forces together, including
bandits, gnolls, bugbears and undead. He also has task forces at the fallen Temple of Elemental
Evil excavating in various spots.
The gnoll leader was brought round for questioning. Her tribe's name, translated into the crude
Rodinian language, means "of the scorpions". She was offended at pesky Rodinians entering her
domain and defeating her holy giant scorpion. She threatens that the "scorpion herder" will avenge
this outrage, it's inferred that they're found elsewhere in this cave complex.
Report Date
10 Apr 2024
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