Session 14 - The Crystal Caves!

Day 28

Dawn broke and a pale light began to filter through the early morning mist, as the companions awoke. They breakfasted on cured meats and smoked fish, discovered in the hunter's smoke-house the evening before. Undisturbed all these years, there was enough to feed them for several days.

As the early morning sun crept above the treetops, the companions were already on their way. Their destination? The caves marked on the Centaur's map...a day's journey away.

Day 29

After an uneventful day's travel the day before and a quiet night, the companions set off at dawn.

The morning was still young, the sun only recently beginning to filter through the dense canopy, when Xin suddenly stopped in his tracks. “To your left!” he shouted, just as a giant Gecko came charging out of the undergrowth right into their midst.

A pair of javelins followed, thudding into the earth in front of Cullen at the head of the party. Unslinging his shield and pulling free his sword, Cullen swung at the Gecko, cutting a deep gash in its leathery hide. At the same time, Makoa took a few steps back from the creature and, unslinging his crossbow, let loose a bolt that dropped it.

Xin, meanwhile, muttering mystical incantations, let fly a pair of sizzling magical bolts at one of the humanoid lizard-like creatures that had appeared out of the undergrowth to the party's left, hitting one.

Ashrem, seeing them, drew his great sword and began to force his way through the undergrowth towards them. Just as he reached one of them, he suddenly faltered, retching. Taking advantage, one of the lizard creatures stabbed at the lanky warrior, the blow glancing off Ashrem's armour.

By this time, the nauseating stench had reached the rest of the companions. “Troglodytes!” shouted Makoa, wincing at the sulphurous odour. Cullen, gritting his teeth, moved up to join his friend. Xin let fly another pair of bolts, hitting both of the creatures, who by this time looked a little wary.

Ashrem, managing to regain some of his composure, leapt at the nearest Troglodyte, bringing his sword down on the unfortunate creature's skull, almost cleaving it in half.

The remaining Troglodyte desperately began to back off. Pulling something from a pouch, it kissed whatever it was and threw it up into the air. A bird! Xin, with lightning reactions, flung a magical bolt from his fingertips, bringing the bird down in a shower of feathers. Cullen, reaching the last Troglodyte, slashed at it as Makoa finished it off with a crossbow bolt.

The battle was over in moments, only the stink lingering in the air around the dead creatures.

“What are Troglodytes doing here?” mused Makao, frowning, as everyone caught their breath, “They usually live in the depths of the earth, rarely venturing up to the surface. Only once every few generations do they move up to caverns near the surface...”

“Caverns?” repeated Cullen. “Like the ones we are trying to find?”

Makoa nodded. “Hmm. That is a bit of a coincidence. It may well be that the caves we're looking for are now home to these foul-smelling creatures. We need to approach with caution.”

Makoa now took the lead, scouting several paces ahead of everyone else. Following the Troglodyte tracks, it was not long before he came upon a cave entrance, partially concealed by overhanging tree roots and vines. Low and dark, the hidden opening revealed two tunnels descending into the depths.

Makoa beckoned to the others to join him. After a hushed discussion, it was decided that Makoa and Ashrem would take the right-hand tunnel, Cullen and Xin the left.

Cullen, remembering the stench, fashioned himself a mask to cover his nose and mouth. Xin lit a torch and, walking behind Cullen, held it aloft. Cullen, needing both hands for sword and shield, nodded his gratitude. He was the only one of the party unable to see in the darkness.

Stooping low, Cullen and Xin pushed aside the vines and roots and entered the musty gloom of the tunnel. The light from outside caught on a vein of bluish crystal which seemed to run the length of the tunnel, glittering above a variety of bulbous fungal growths. A foul sulphurous smell permeated the stagnant air, but whether it came from one of the types of fungus or the creatures that lived in the caverns, it was hard to tell.

After a few paces, Cullen stopped. “Some sort of giant mushroom partially blocking our path,” he whispered, pointing ahead. Xin shrugged. All of a sudden, there was a thud as crossbow bolt, coming from the right, ripped right through the mushroom. This was immediately followed by a series of high-pitched shrieks. The ear-piercing sounds appeared to come from the mushroom itself.

Makoa appeared from off to the right, the entrance tunnels converging where the giant mushrooms stood. Turning back to look at Cullen and Xin, the stooping half-Orc grinned, winked, and pushed past the mushrooms which continued to emit their piercing shrieks. A moment later a wincing Ashrem followed.

Cullen and Xin looked at one another for a moment, then Cullen shrugged and continued down the tunnel, following the shadowy figures receding before him. Once the giant mushrooms had been passed, the shrieking thankfully stopped.

From what Cullen could make out in the dim light from the torch held behind him, the tunnel beyond opened up into a cavern with a domed ceiling from which a mass of roots hung, cradling a large violet crystal. In the shadows beyond, he could just make out a figure.

The shadowy figure lobbed something at Makoa, standing a few paces into the cavern. Some sort of gas-filled bladder hit the half-Orc and exploded, releasing a putrid and nauseating smell. Makoa seemed unaffected but Cullen, who had moved up to stand beside him, began to retch from the overpowering stench despite the mask covering his nose and mouth. As Ashrem joined them, the shadowy creature...a Troglodyte...threw another stinking bladder, this time at the lanky half-Elf warrior. Exploding on contact, the half-Elf, too, began to retch. Nevertheless, he pushed forward, swinging his great-sword, and dropped the Troglodyte where it stood.

Cullen and Ashrem both dropped to their knees, spitting and retching, taking a few moments to regain some sort of composure. Makao, meanwhile, studied the huge crystal cradled in the hanging roots above them. “I reckon that's worth several hundred gold,” he said, voice full of wonder. Sadly, this was lost on Cullen who was busy gulping in lungfuls of air, having only just managed to stop retching.

Xin pointed to the far end of the cavern. “Two passages,” he said. “A narrow one over there...and a wider one here. This one seems the most used.”

“That's the one we'll take then,” said Makoa, pulling Cullen up.

Cullen grimaced, pulled up the mask and set off, Xin falling into step behind him with the torch with the others behind him.

The right-hand passage dropped steeply, ending in a dozen or so stone steps that lead into another chamber. Cullen, standing in the entrance, could make out giant stone reptilian faces carved into the stone walls, mouths agape, jagged teeth bared. Beyond that, in the dim light cast by the torch, he could just make out the charred remains of a fire and some shadowy figures.

Cullen raised his shield, protectively, expecting more of the stinking gas-filled bladders. Instead, one of the figures called out in a harsh, guttural language. Unable to understand and not knowing how many more figures lurked beyond the range of the torch's dim light, Cullen just stood there, shield raised high, not making any threatening moves forward.

The voice called out again, at which point Makoa moved past the burly warrior. As he did a pair of stinking bladders flew through the air towards him, one missing but the other exploding as it hit the rangy half-Orc. Seemingly unaffected by the appalling stench, Makoa just stood there, teeth bared menacingly.

Xin began tracing arcane symbols in the air and then pointed at, what Cullen could now see, was some sort of Troglodyte Shaman further back. The Shaman suddenly lost its balance, slipping to the ground, then desperately tried to regain its footing.

Ashrem, meanwhile, had moved up to engage one of the other Troglodytes. With one mighty swing, he decapitated it, then advanced on the fallen Shaman.

The other Troglodyte started to back off towards the Shaman behind it but Xin, muttering strange words under his breath, hurled fiery tongues of flame towards it, killing it instantly.

Cullen, finding it hard to see in the dim light of the cavern, moved up to the shaman, who was still trying to get up. Retching at the sulphurous stink from the creature, he still managed to bring his sword down on it seconds before Ashrem, too, swung his sword down. Amazingly, the Shaman was still attempting to pull itself up as Cullen swung once more, dropping it for good.

Cullen backed away from the dead Troglodyte and, dropping to his haunches, spat until he could control his retching. “By the gods, these things stink!” he moaned, wiping his mouth.

“You'll get used to it,” grinned Ashrem, clapping him on the shoulder. “Bugger off!” replied Cullen, smiling weakly.

Xin moved towards the fire where he began to poke through the ashes, picking up a broach of some sort and a ring. He popped the ring on his finger. “Anyone recognise this?” he asked, holding up the leaf-shaped golden broach.

“Nope,” replied Makoa, cocking his head, “You looking after that ring for us, then?”

“What about you?” Xin asked the others, ignoring Makoa, who just shook his head. Cullen was still catching his breath after all the retching. Ashrem grunted a “No.”

Xin then proceeded to search the walls as Makoa watched on, finding a pair of small boots in a hidden recess which he popped into his pocket.

Ashrem, meanwhile, left Cullen to it and began to search the Shaman's body. “Don't know how you can go near the thing,” muttered Cullen, raising his makeshift mask and standing up. Ashrem found a variety of things which he laid out before the others. “Some nice stuff,” he said. “Might come in handy.”

Cullen, after taking a few deep breaths, grabbed a couple of the stinking bladders from the belt of one of the dead Troglodytes. “So might these,” he said.

The companions decided to head down the tunnel the Shaman had tried to back off towards. Ashrem eager to get moving, took the lead, disappearing as the tunnel veered off. Before the others could join him, there was the unmistakeable sound of a sword hitting flesh, scuffling, then sword on flesh again.

Cullen, with Xin holding the torch high right behind him, turned the corner and entered a large cavern. This chamber was lit by several candles placed in niches high up on the walls, reflecting off crystal veins in the walls and the water which bubbled up with some force from a well in the middle of the room. The bubbling water created a fine mist, in turn creating rainbows. There were also two cat-sized frogs. Dead cat-sized frogs. And no sign of Ashrem.

Cullen advanced towards the far exit, seeing a dark room, full of what appeared to be bones. He was just in time to see Ashrem cut a Troglodyte down, as he moved up behind him, retching again at the stink. He could also see another three Troglodytes, one of which was a huge beast of a lizard, wielding an enormous war-hammer.

Xin, from just behind, threw the torch into the chamber, lighting it up and enabling Cullen to see clearly. Between retches, Cullen nodded his thanks...only to see that the stench had gotten to the sorcerer, too.

Ashrem, meanwhile, had decapitated another Troglodyte and was eyeing the huge one, when it suddenly rushed him. Swinging its war-hammer, it caught Ashrem a mighty blow, throwing him...dazed...back against the jagged wall.

Makoa fired his crossbow, hitting the big Troglodyte. At the same time, Xin let fly fiery tongues of flame, burning it. Ashrem, shaking his head, took a swing at the beast but missed, still reeling from the war-hammer's blow as Cullen moved in, shield held high.

The huge Troglodyte swung at Cullen, but he caught the blow neatly on his shield and lunged at the creature, piercing its leathery hide. Moments later more flames from Xin licked at the creature, burning it once more. The creature again swung at Cullen, who once more caught the blow squarely on his shield and lunged forward with his sword, wounding it.

Ashrem, meanwhile, taking a moment to gather his wits, charged the other remaining Troglodyte which seemed to have been content to let the big one deal with the intruders. One swing and the creature fell to the ground. Spinning around, he charged the big one, who by this time was beginning to flag from multiple wounds. With one last swing it tried to hit Cullen but was unable to get past his shield. Ashrem brought his sword down and finished it off.

“Give us poor folk a chance, Ash,” said Cullen, sinking to his haunches, “Hard to keep up when you go charging off like that, old friend!”

Ashrem just grinned, wiping his sword clean, as his friend tried to spit out the foul smell of Troglodyte. Xin, too, was looking a bit green. Makoa, meanwhile, busied himself searching the bodies.

A few moments later, he dropped a pile of weapons and other assorted items on the floor in front of the others. “Some more stuff that might come in handy,” he said, grinning.

For a slightly easier read, a PDF of the write-up on Google Drive here.