Session 15 - Troglodytes!

Day 28 cont...

Keen to get out of the cavern full of bones, the companions followed the tunnel that led out of the far end. Damp and covered in moss, the tunnel sloped steeply downwards. After a few paces, Cullen stopped.

“I don't like it. I think we should go back,” he said, motioning from whence they had come, “There are caverns and tunnels we've missed. Who knows how many of those foul-smelling creatures are behind us. The last thing we need is to be attacked from behind...”

“Agreed,” replied Makoa, looking down the dimly lit corridor, “Let's clear out any chambers behind us before we descend any further.”

With Makoa scouting a few paces ahead, the companions retraced their steps through the bone cave and the rainbow chamber until they got back to the cavern with the carved reptilian faces and the remains of a fire. From this chamber, they entered the first of the tunnels they had passed, Makoa still a few paces ahead of the others.

Makoa cautiously followed the tunnel as it descended into another cavern. Suddenly, a giant lizard charged out of the dimly lit shadows at the far end of the chamber. Cullen, leaping past the rangy half-Orc, thrust his shield forward to deflect the creature's drooling maw. Ashrem joined him a moment later, the two warriors standing shoulder to shoulder.

From out of the shadows a troglodyte appeared. Leaping forward it lunged at Cullen. The burly warrior blocked the attack with ease, plunging his sword into the creature's side and then ripping his sword upwards, flaying a chunk of flesh from it. Makoa, taking advantage of the creature's howl of pain, fired a crossbow bolt into the gaping wound, killing it.

Ashrem, meanwhile, leapt upwards, bringing his great-sword down on the giant lizard in a vicious blow but the creature, undeterred, lunged forward to grab the lanky warrior in its saliva-flecked jaws. As Ashrem grunted in pain, Cullen charged forward, plunging his sword into the creatures head. The creature's jaws opened, releasing the half-Elf, as it fell to the ground dead.

As the warriors caught their breath, they all had a chance to look around the now empty cavern. In the middle of the chamber, a small fire gave off a dim light...enough to illuminate the many nooks and crannies dug into the walls. These were all filled with dried grasses and animal pelts suggesting areas for sleeping. The main thing that drew the eye, though, was a carving on the far wall depicting a creature hatching from an enormous egg. A quick search of the room turned up a few items of use, including some weapons. The room cleared, the companions retraced their steps to the room with the carved reptilian faces.

With Makoa scouting ahead again, the companions headed for the next tunnel they had missed. Ashrem, though, hung back and, after a moment, entered a different tunnel.

Makoa carefully led the others forward, only to see Ashrem suddenly appear ahead of them. Grinning and raising his hand in greeting, the half-Elf turned back to towards the cavern beyond. All of a sudden, something lashed out at him from the darkness beyond and pulled him into the cavern.

“What the...” spat Makoa, eyes widening before rushing forward, the others close behind.

The tunnel opened up into a large cavern, dominated by a dark and foetid pool. On the ceiling, two giant crab-like creatures clung, both of which had long tendrils attached to the half-Elf warrior that were slowly dragging him towards them.

“Ash!” shouted Cullen, pushing past the others to reach his friend. Sword drawn, he raised it up to slash at one of the tendrils as Ashrem struggled. Before he could bring his sword down, though, the half-Elf was yanked up towards the fearsome creatures on the roof of the cavern.

Makoa, unslinging his crossbow, fired a bolt at one of them, hitting it.

“Ash...!” cried Cullen, dropping his sword and shield. The warrior unslung his bow and let loose, hitting the same creature Makoa had.

Ashrem, grunting, tried to get a grip on one of the creatures to pull it off the ceiling but, instead, both creatures dropped into the pool below, taking Ashrem with them as they sank into the depths.

Makoa, struggling to see into the murky water, fired his crossbow, but missed. Cullen, seeing that his bow would be useless, stowed it to retrieve his sword and shield. Standing at the water's edge, he waited for an opportunity to help his friend.

Xin, meanwhile, made an arcane gesture and bolts of fizzling energy leapt from his fingertips to strike one of the creatures.

Moments later Ashrem, struggling under the water, managed to stab at the same one, killing it. The remaining beast, though, pulled Ashrem close, snapping at the flailing warrior and wounding him as he fought to keep the air in his lungs.

Makoa, deciding his crossbow was no use above the water, dived into the stagnant pool and, in one fluid motion, fired a bolt that hit the creature square on.

Xin jumped in, too, but immediately began to struggle in the foetid waters . Ashrem, fighting to escape the creature and fill his lungs, could not break the creature's hold as it wounded him again and again.

Makoa managed to fire his crossbow one more time before he, too, began to struggle in the water. Fortunately, this last bolt was enough to kill the creature.

Cullen pulled them all out, sputtering and coughing, dragging them onto the cavern floor. After a moment to catch his breath, Makoa turned to tend to Ashrem's many cuts and bruises.

“I can sense something in the water,” gasped Xin, still catching his breath, “Something magical...over there.”

Cullen stripped off his armour and jumped in. In the murky waters he could make out the skeletons of what were probably Troglodytes but also, further back, a smaller lichen encrusted body, a Halfling by the looks of it, wearing some sort of golden belt. Next to this skeleton was an iron coffer. Dragging the coffer and the belt to the surface, Cullen opened it in front of the others. Inside were a wand and dozens of gold pieces.

Resting for a moment, the companions waited until Ashrem had recovered enough under Makoa's ministrations. “I'm good,” said Ashrem, swatting away the half-Orcs hands, “Let's finish this.”

The companions continued onwards, following the only other tunnel leading out of the pool-filled cavern. As they entered the next cave, they saw racks against the walls from which the carcasses of various woodland creatures hung, the stench of death and blood heavy on the air. An underground stream ran along the far side of the cave, the noise loud in the confined space.

As the others began to search the racks for anything of use, Cullen approached the stream. Suddenly something ploughed through the water, leaping up at the surprised warrior...another giant lizard, which grabbed Cullen in its slobbering jaws. Makoa, hearing the splashing and Cullen's gasp of pain, whipped around, unslinging his crossbow and, in one smooth movement, fired a bolt straight into the beasts side. Moments later, Ashrem leapt forward and, cleaving down with his sword, finished off the creature.

“By the gods, that was some shot,” said Ashrem, slapping Makoa on the back, “I swear you had let loose the bolt before you'd even seen the thing!”

“C'mon,” replied the half-Orc, grinning, “We should be almost back to where we began.”

Stuffing their packs with the few bits of meat that looked edible, the companions took the only other tunnel out of the cavern.

Makoa, once more in the lead, led them up several steps into another small cave, only to be confronted by two Troglodytes. Standing amidst shelves full of dried mushrooms, herbs and root vegetables, they threw a couple of stench-filled bladders at the half-Orc. Fortunately, only one of them hit but it had no effect.

Ashrem leapt forwards, swinging his sword at the nearest Troglodyte and taking off its legs just below the knee. At the same time, Xin muttered strange words of power and the remaining creature suddenly looked sluggish and confused. Makoa let loose a bolt, wounding the malodorous creature, just before Cullen plunged his sword into its breast, killing it.

“How many more of these things are there?” exclaimed Cullen, wiping his sword clean on the dead creature.

Filling their packs with any of the mushrooms and vegetables they could recognise, the companions quickly made their way out of this cavern, finding themselves back in the chamber with the carved lizard faces.

“Looks like that's it,” said Ashrem. “Where now?”

“Back through the cave of bones to the only tunnel we haven't explored,” replied Makoa. “The one that goes down. But first, let me see to those wounds...”

A short while later, they were ready to continue. They followed the dank, mossy tunnel down until they come to a wide pit with rungs leading down into the darkness. Makoa turned around just as two dark shapes dropped from the stalactites above, one falling on Cullen. The burly warrior, completely surprised, bit the dark thing in a frenzy of fear and anger as it tried to engulf him, taking a large chunk out of it.

“Darkmantles!” shouted Makoa, shooting the other one with his crossbow.

Cullen, over the initial surprise, slid his sword into the creature enveloping him, slicing through it and flicking it away, dead. Ashrem finished off the other creature with one mighty swing of his sword.

Tired and exhausted, the adrenalin no longer enough to keep them going, the companions stopped to rest at the top of the pit, trying to see down into the depths.

“It's late and, I don't know about you, but I'm knackered,” said Cullen, dropping to his haunches, “Let's rest here for the night. There's nothing behind us now and anything down there has to come up the rungs...as long as we keep a watch we should be okay.”

Makao nodded in agreement, though Ashrem was for continuing.

“I need rest,” agreed Xin, leaning against the tunnel wall, “I'll take the first watch.”

And so the companions took turns to watch while they each got a much needed sleep. A long day of fighting in the dark confines behind them, who knew what tomorrow would bring?

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