Botch Happens

Officer’s Quarters

After holding up in a secure room to gather their wits following their battle with the harpies and take count of their resources, our fearless heroes decide to venture forth into the dungeon once more. Heading back to the west, they round a corner and the light spell on Castor’s sword fades. Jimini whips out a torch with which to illuminate the way giving the party a bright twenty-foot radius of light surrounded by a further 20 feet of shadowy light. Brother Thimble, the gnome, and Thorgrim, the dwarf, can both see a little farther. The two of them see a doorway at the end of the hallway to the west, but opt to take the hallway to the south instead.

Making their way through a thick puddle of mudd they pass a fish filled pool of clear water that was revealed by the mudslide, the fish appear to be blind. Farther down the hallway, there is a doorway to the south and the hallway turns back to the west. The group approaches the door and they listen but do not hear anything, so Jimini tries to pick the lock on the door, unfortunately his attempt was unsuccessful. Even though he could not pick the lock, he checks for traps and determines that there are none. With that, Thorgrim, the fighter, goes one foot first into the door and the door flies off of its hinges into the room. As this happens a very large amount of dirt and rocks fall from the ceiling. Everyone in the group takes a small amount of damage from the falling debris.

The heroes walk into the ten by twenty room and find kegs of dark beer and casts of fine wine stacked on shelves. The only other thing of interest in the room is a barrel with seven torches in it. Those who needed torches picked up a few as needed to help light the way and place them in their bag of holding for use later on. The heroes then decide to make their way to the west down the hallway past the dark pool south of the entrance they had found much earlier that morning to the south. They then came to a corner where the hall turned north and Jimini notices that the wall to the south doesn’t look normal. Thorgrim looks to the north at thirty feet he and sees a hallway opening towards the west, but it also continues north into darkness at around forty feet where the light stops. Thorgrim, the dwarf, can see further into the dark, and in black and white he spots another doorway ten feet further into the darkness at the end of the hallway to the north. Jimini searches the wall which he spotted something wrong, and he pulls on a release and a wooden section of the wall opens in and another hallway continues to the south.

This hallway goes to about fifteen feet and then dips into the water where a boat is sitting. The row boat looks like it could easily seat about eight people comfortably and sits in water that appears about four feet deep. Although the boat ride looks tempting, our heroes decide to head up the hallway leading to the north and then west at the first intersection. This leads to another three way intersection to the north and south. Thorgrim informs the group that the hallway to the north should lead them back to the room they fought the carrion crawlers in earlier that morning, and south leads to a viscous almost quicksand like mud pit, so the heroes decide to head back to the east and north to check the door the dwarf had seen earlier. As our heroes approach the door they begin to move quietly and listen for what they might hear. They don’t hear any sounds on the other side of the door so they try to open it, but it doesn’t budge. Jimini notices there doesn’t appear to be a lock on the door, but instead it appears to be heavily barred from the opposite side. Castor attempts to batter the door open, and again it doesn’t budge. Thorgrim takes a shot at the door and again the door proves to be a match for them.

With that our heroes abandon the door and head back south towards the boat discussing their next course of action.  As a result they fail to notice the door swing silently open behind them. When the party passes the intersection, one dagger is seen flying down the center of the group as a second dagger buries itself into Jimini’s back and the rogue falls to the ground unconscious and bleeding.

As the battle begins the entire party turns to face what is behind them and they see a fighter charging out of that door at them and two shadowy figures following behind him. Thorgrim advances and takes a ready action for his turn standing ready for any threatening move. Nadia makes her move charging the fighter with a flying kick dealing twelve points of damage. The first assassin sees his fighter companion take the blows from the monk, and throws another dagger embedding it into Thorgrim’s right shoulder. The second assassin throws a dagger at Nadia and it misses flying right over her head and clatters down the hallway.

Brother Thimble scrambles over to Jimini laying on the ground, withdraws the dagger and casts cure moderate wounds on him bringing him back to consciousness and stanching the blood-flow. With that, Castor flies into a rage as he advances on the fighter and lays into him with his monstrous great sword, the fighter tries to put up his shield, but is unable to move fast enough to deflect the blow and screams in pain as it bites through his scale armor and into his shoulder. Castor tears free his hulking great sword as a fountain of blood sprays onto the floor. The fighter is bloodied, but he is still standing. In a fury he lashes out catching both Nadia and Castor in retaliation then takes a five foot step back for tactical positioning.

Zarkon takes a look at the battle situation and decides to cast spider climb on Jimini. Then Jimini takes a move action to stand up from the ground, takes a five foot step and flings a dart that misses its target and sails past the first assassin. Thorgrim dodges past Castor and takes a swing at the fighter, but the fighter throws his shield to the side and a huge “clang” resounds through the hallway as Thorgrim’s great axe rebounds off the fighters shield. Nadia attacks with a flurry of blows and the fighter ducks the first fist, but is unable to sidestep her follow up kick to his knee dealing more damage to the already bloodied fighter. At this point Thorgrim sees a glint of sickly green flash off the blade as the first assassin lunges forward and nicks him with his short sword. Thorgrim suddenly aware of the poison coursing through his veins as he feels his usual hardy dwarven constitution dwindling. The second assassin throws a dart which sails wide going down the hallway, then takes a few steps back into the dark room out of sight.

Brother Thimble utters a prayer of thanks to Pelor for the fortunate opportunity to have purchased these strange devices earlier as he rushes over to Nadia fast as he can sliding one of the discs from the dispenser and breaking it on the monk, Nadia immediately feels revitalized as the psionic powers of the disk heal her. As this is going on Castor, continuing his rage bullrushes the first assassin, ignoring the minor inconvenience of what will inevitably be another scar as the fighter slices him when he rushes past. Thorgrim yells out in pain “They have poisoned their blades”. This comes out as the assassin retaliates against Castor rush, but he avoids the stab and drives the assassin backward into the door frame with enough force that it would knock most men senseless. Immediately the fighter advances and swings at Castor who simply steps to the side as if he anticipated the blow while the fighter’s sword slams down into the muddy ground.

Zarkon decides to take a tactical position at the back and holds his ground while Jimini takes cover behind the corner of the wall, peaking out to aim a dart at the second rogue which sails wide past the rogue’s head into the dark room behind him. Thorgrim uses his own med dispenser providing himself with some respite to the burning of the poison in is veins . Nadia steps forward and attempts multiple strikes at the fighter and sees nothing connect as hands and feet pass by his head and torso to no avail. At this, the second assassin turns and attempts to retreat out of combat into the darkness of the other room. Seeing this opportunity Castor lashes out burying his oversized great sword into the rogue’s back tearing out chunks of flesh as the rogue slinks away like a cockroach, a trail of blood leading away from the pool forming at castors feet.

A dart comes out of the shadows hitting Castor and doing substantial damage but thankfully not critical off the sneak attack. Brother Thimble rushes to Castor utilizing another disk from the dispenser to bolster the barbarians health.  Castor Troy takes a humongous swing at the fighter with furious anger in his eyes and his sword slices through the fighter from shoulder to hip. While looking at Castor, as the fighter’s upper torso slides into two separate body parts. Zarkon looks around, then gives a thumbs up to the barbarian and decides to pull out his pipe for a smoke as he hangs back showing support for his crew. At that very moment, Zarkon’s familiar Drexal (a raven) gives out a loud “caw” and sniffs in some second hand smoke from Zarkon’s exhale. Then Jimini scoops up his torch and enters the room.

Thorgrim advances into the room undaunted by the dark due to his dark vision and spots one of the assassins crouching in the corner but is not quite able to engage with villain. The assassin flings a dart at Thorgrim and misses as it flies right past his left shoulder. Nadia then takes a torch and lights it. Brother Thimble holds his action as he takes in the scene within the room. Then Castor moves into the room towards Thorgrim, but trips over a chair, and he is now prone in the corner. Zarkon follows the rest into the room and then takes his wand of burning hands and lets off a round into the other corner where the other assassin had hidden. The burst of fire from Zarkon’s wand fills the corner, but the assassin is nowhere to be found. He must have dashes out of the room and around the corner in the cover of darkness. With a little disappointment, Zarkon tucks his wand back in his belt and whips out his pipe lighting it once again. He takes a few puffs from his pipe as Drexal perches on his left shoulder moving his head back and forth.

Jimini throws his torch into the room as it lands on one of the chairs illuminating the room. Then the rogue halfling slips back into the shadows in order to avoid drawing attention. Thorgrim advances and strikes at the second assassin but misses. Nadia joins in combat with the second rogue and tries striking with a flurry of blows, but the assassin nimbly side steps each swing almost like they were dancing with each other. The assassin takes another stab at Thorgrim and hits the dwarf with the poisoned shortsword further weakening his already damaged constitution. At which point, Brother Thimble advances up to Thorgrim and uses a health disc on him restoring some much needed health to the sorely stricken dwarf.

Castor stands up from his prone position and advances forward towards the enemy to engage. Zarkon holds his ground, continuing to smoke his pipe as he watches events unfold. Jimini advances to make a ready stand for his next turn. Thorgrim lets loose a string of dwarven curses at second assassin as he buries his great axe into his tormentor’s chest. A smile of satisfaction grows across the dwarf’s face and he no longer feels the utter cringing from the poison in his veins. Nadia tries a stunning fists attack and hitting only the air in front of her as the assassin recoils from the beating Throgrim dealt him. Suddenly, a dart comes flying from the darkness striking Jimini in the neck from other assassin dropping him to the floor again.

Brother Thimble rushes forward to Jimini and breaks his final health disc on him reviving him again. Castor moves in to attack and his great sword whiffs right by the assassin. Zarkon looks over at Castor giving him a “what the hell?” look as he take more puffs from his pipe and Drexal’s wings flap a few times then settles down. Jimini stands back up from being prone position and pulls the dagger from his back. Although, as Jimini stands the assassin swipes at him but misses. Jimini then pulls a dagger from his belt and makes use of his flanking position to attack and deals substantial damage. The assassin is still standing, but not by much. Thorgrim takes a leaping strike at the assailant ending him for good.

Nadia advances towards the hallway, but the assassin escapes her view in the darkness. She does hear some footsteps retreating around the corner and tells the crew what she heard. Another dart flies out from the darkness at Nadia and slams into the muddy walls behind her. Next, Brother Thimble takes a step back and surveys the situation this round. Castor advances all they way to the farthest corner and doesn’t see anything except darkness. Zarkon goes over to the door barres it closed and then while leaning against it takes a few more puffs of his pipe. Jimini takes a breather and stands his ground still bleeding badly from the dagger to the back.

Thorgrim advances twenty feet further down the hallway and sees two doors in the distance. Thorgrim takes a listen, but he can’t hear anything from behind either door. Nadia puts her ear against the door behind her to take a listen and hears nothing. She notices there is no lock on the door and opens it slightly as light from her torch enters the room and only sees no one in the partially lit room. At a glance it seems to be someone’s living quarters. Nadia then advances thirty-five feet standing in front of the door. Brother Thimble advances twenty feet and hangs tight where he’s at. Castor advances to the far door and it is locked as he checks it. The barbarian tries to batter down the door damaging it, but the door doesn’t budge. Zarkon hangs out smoking his pipe by the barred door watching the party’s backs. Jimini advances, picking up his torch and then hangs back in the main room.

Thorgrim charges past Nadia at the other door busting through it and into the room, but he does not notice the assassin lurking in the dark. Nadia decides to hold her spot in check and hang back. The remaining assassin makes a surprise attack stabbing Thorgrim from behind the door with his poisoned short sword again and Thorgrim drops to the ground unconscious. The monk, cleric, and barbarian hear what sounds like a sack of copper coins hitting the ground in that room. Brother Thimble advances follows Thorgrim into the room and casts heal light wounds onto Thorgrim as he is lying prone on the ground. Castor hears a plea for help from Brother Thimble and Castor runs into the room. Castor swings his great sword striking the assassin in the back dealing massive damage. Zarkon advances with a double move of thirty feet and can now see the commotion going on as he gets closer to the room. Jimini hangs back into the shadows in rogue like fashion. Then Thorgrim stands up from his prone position as the assassin take an attack of opportunity, but misses. Thorgrim punches the man directly in the face knocking him unconscious and he drops to the ground in the corner.

Edited by @adavis

Door X

We start in the treasure room with our fearless heroes. From this room they move back to the east through the foyer and around the corner. The path splits off to the east and also continues north. To the north Thorgrim spots a patch of green slime, so the party chooses to not forgo that path. Then our heroes made their way to the east and took out four guards in their own rooms.

The party interrogated one of the surviving guards. She revealed the location of the officer’s quarters and the mess hall. Our heroes knocked her out before they traveled to the south finding two empty rooms with the doors swollen shut. Further south there was a tunnel leading back to the west into four feet of water. There was also a door with a huge black “X” on it.

The heroes decided to go through the door marked with an “X”. As soon as it opened singing could be heard by all of the heroes. All of them were charmed by the singing except for Ivy and Brother Thimble who resisted the charm. Those captivated by the singing started walking into the room. Ivy and Brother Thimble watched the rest of the party walk towards darkness within the room charmed by the singing.

Both Ivy and Brother Thimble worried a trap may be set as they watched. Then Ivy nodded her head and casted entangle as branches and vines grew from the floor entangling the heroes who were charmed. Even though they had stopped moving, the rest of our heroes were still incapacitated by the two harpies singing. Brother Thimble casted sound burst and freed some of the charmed heroes from the singing. As they awoke from the charm, they struggled to annihilate the two harpies. However, after some considerable time the party defeated them.

One by one the party members left the room of the harpies from which they entered. Then went back to one of the empty rooms they had come across before to hold camp. The heroes double checked the empty room was secured and Castor sealed the door with his immovable rod to keep anyone or anything from barging in. Knowing they are safe for now, the heroes took refuge for the moment in the dungeon.

Into The Darkness

The heroes build up their courage making sure everyone within the party is ready and begin their descent down the muddy stairs. Each step they take squelching as their weight pressed on the stairs. Then the monk Nadia and rogue Jimini (roll a bad dexterity check) as the two slip on the muck and carry the whole group down into the dark. A resounding crash could be heard echoing from the entrance, as our heroes landed unceremoniously in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Suddenly, they hear the shouts of the guards yelling at their intrusion.

A short brutal altercation between our heroes and the spear wielding guards ended quickly. Our motley crew’s superior skills and numbers overwhelmed the guards in spite of their unorthodox entrance. Castor killed two of the spearmen and Thorgrim killed the other two. However, it was a group effort by our heroes. The heroes are now left with a decision of which direction they should take into the dungeon. To the east the passageway disappeared around the corner and the southern passage continued straight into the dark. The west went straight to a closed door.

Our crew decided to explore the south and found a pool of still water surrounded by four columns.  Past the pool, the tunnels continued to the east and to the west, but our adventures retraced their steps back to the north and then west from there. When the heroes came to a door to the west, it wasn’t locked when Jimini checked it, but it was swollen shut due to all the excess moisture constantly dripping down through the complex. Castor tried to force the door open, but couldn’t seem to get a good grip. Then Thorgrim tried and was able to wrest the door from its bound state to be instantly hit in the face with a putrid stench of rotting flesh smell. At the very same instance, three carrion crawlers began advancing on the group.

The combat with these creatures was fast, but almost proved to be fatal. Castor cleaved the first tentacled beast in half with two mighty blows, but before the battle was over Thorgrim, Nadia, and Castor were all three paralyzed. It was a good thing Zarkon and Strom were there to finish the carrion crawlers off. Zarkon had the final blow to the last crawler with his wand of burning hands. A cone of smoldering flames shot out from his wand and burned the last crawler to a crisp. After the combat had ended Jimini found a hidden treasure chamber to the north. He was able to pick the lock on all three chests. One chest was filled with many thousands of copper, the second with silver pieces, and the third carried a stash of semi-precious gems.