A Dungeon Game Session 1 - Play Report
A small group this session, just three players, two of whom had played in the first session of this dungeon over a year ago and one who was new.
Although it's been over a year since we last visited this dungeon the veterans quickly got their bearings in the first couple of rooms, remembering the spot where they had fought the bear and heading to the small side chamber to see if Josh and his friend were still excavating the statue in the wall. They found the chamber abandoned, and saw evidence of a small cave-in that had slowed progress on the excavation. (This was the result of a setback roll on my part in the goal tracking for the Rusted Hammer faction.)
Alone in the room, the party turned their attention to the large metal door in the southern wall. Old, hinges rusted shut, and covered in ancient runes, it immediately screamed "open me". Gladys set about hacking at the hinges with a pickaxe and had soon done enough damage that the rest of the group was able to lift the (very heavy) door away from the opening and prop it against the wall, giving access to the room beyond. Inside they found a low well capped with a thick lead disc, and noticed black ooze emerging from the mortar between the bricks. They decided to leave well enough alone and, replacing the door, headed back into the dungeon to explore.
Faced with a labyrinth of corridors, and with nobody volunteering to map the route, the group took the decision to always choose the southern passage at junctions. This led them down a long corridor with a few doors to the sides, which they ignored.
Soon they came to a small chamber with carvings of leering, demonic faces at the tops of the walls. They were faced with two exits, a short flight of stairs descending to the south or a door to the east that had been nailed shut. Being the foolhardy adventurers that they are, they decided to open the door. Gladys pried out the iron nails with her crowbar, and they opened it onto a small chamber. In the southeast corner stood a sculpture of a tree with a leering face emerging from the trunk, one of its eyes a gleaming red ruby. Skeletal bodies were scattered on the floor around it, and the group immediately sensed danger. Gladys threw one of the iron spikes from the door into the room and the group watched as the skeletons immediately animated. The adventurers reacted quickly, closing the door and holding it shut against the skeletons while Gladys replaced the nails to seal it again.
During this I was rolling for encounters due to the noise, but all rolls came up empty.
Pusning further to the south they approached the stairs, and there was some debate about whether these were stairs leading down to a deeper level or not. Seeing that they only descended for around ten feet the group followed them, led by Monev and their ten foot pole. At the bottom they found a short corridor and then another flight of stairs rising back up, as though the passage had simply passed under something.
After probing the floor, roof, and steps with the pole to check for traps the group climbed the stairs and found themselves in a room filled with broken crates holding rotten fruit and vegetables and crawling with fruit flies. Ignoring a heavy portcullis to the west Monev headed for a passage to the south, only to become cut off from the group when a huge jelly-like substance rose up from the rot. Monev offered the creature (the group dubbed it the "fruit jelly") his helmet as a peace offering but it didn't seem interested.
Taking the initiative Gladys stepped forward, reaching around the jelly with a pickaxe to allow Monev to take hold of it and be pulled free. As Monev was dragged out of danger the creature struck, bringing Monev almost to unconsciousness and also dissolving his shield.
Seeing that a fight may well be a bad idea, Monev coated the ground in lamp oil and ignited it, giving the group time to run. Here I rolled 3d6 - the duration of a lantern - to determine how long the oil on the floor would burn for, and ruled that although the "fruit jelly" is not weak against fire it would obviously not seek to immerse itself in the stuff if it can avoid it, so it would not give chase.
Wounded and shaken the group retreated back up the corridor, taking some time to explore the side rooms on the way back. They found a small set of stacking bear dolls that they will be able to sell in town, and located what appears to be a puzzle in one of the early rooms - a metal hoop extruding from the wall, with no obvious use yet.
Our hour up, they retreated back to town to rest and recuperate until next week.