Stonehell: Side Delve

Session 97 was played on 5/11

Eiric, wizard 8 (Kat)
   Brie, wizard 5 (Apprentice to Eiric)
   A-A-Ron, Thief 7 (Henchman) (stayed in town)
   Orpheus, Human Fighter 6 (Henchman)
   Darryl, Cleric 7 (Henchman)
   Linkman (Hilwik)
   M@A (Vog, Bolden, Buford)
Karl, Dwarf 8 (Julia)
   Lex the Cheeseman, Fighter 5 (Henchman)
   Men at Arms (Rawin, Kildrik, Lamgo)
Koltic, Cleric 5 (Chris)
   Jurda, wizard 1 (henchman)
   Robin the Bard (0 level human)
Kili, Dwarf Cleric 5 (Matt)


Digging through the loot that had long gone dusty, Eiric rediscovered a Scroll of Truth, and wondered if it would work on Rocky… Only one way to find out. So she gathered everyone up, and they headed for the box canyon, wanting to get to Rocky as quickly as possible. At the end of the boxed canyon, the entrance was still swarming with scarab beetles. Rather than go around, Eiric decided to use a fireball on them. It was incredibly effective, killing the vast majority of the bugs, and sending the rest scurrying away.

Down the stairs, and through the demon mouth hall, they made it to Rocky without problem. They chatted a bit, and then got to it. Eiric pulled out the scroll and asked…

Q: How do we find the heart in the riddle to stab it; more specifically what are the exact directions and measurements to get to the heart?

And Rocky answered as he had before…
A: Where the Sect of the Rampant Green went too far, where their shadows burn eternal, where now grows hot and wild and the queen reigns, you'll find the heart.

However, on the scroll appeared these words…
“Under the scorching heat of the Black Sun,
From the Throne upon which Ka’Nefer rules,
There you will find the heart”

Thanking Rocky, they decided to head out, wanting to be fully prepared for their assault on Ka’Nefer’s throne… However, rather than head back to town, they listened to Robin the Bard tell of the dungeon that he’d shown Koltic just the day before. And off they went!

The hike to the cave entrance, under the ruins of some old fortified building was a pleasant one, and the cave was cool. Koltic explained which direction they’d gone before, and the party started off that way, but quickly stopped and took a side passage, and were immediately set upon by some very angry giant ferrets. Karl wanted to keep one, in spite of the nasty bloody bite it gave him. Darryl bashed in the creature’s skull before it could continue to nosh upon Karl’s arm.

Next they came to a set of natural stairs heading down, and so they went… finding shredded giant rat corpses, a messy nest of giant rats (which they exterminated) that included a baby giant rat (that seemed to take an unexpected liking to Karl, and he kept, saving it from Kili who wanted to smash it).

They were jumped by a very hungry ghoul, which didn’t go so well for the well dressed abomination. Made for the first treasure they’d recovered though… and then natural more stairs going down. Karl avoided getting his brains bashed in by a loose rock, then some zombies were destroyed by the overwhelming power of Darryl’s drunken faith. A door set into the wall opened into a worked hallways, and more dead were discovered in alcoves lining the walls. Thankfully most of them stayed dead, and the ghouls that attacked didn’t last long enough to scream. The party noted a set of worked stairs heading up.

In one alcove they discovered a locked box with some treasure, and then a secret door. Koltic opens the door, and there’s a blinding flash of light… and he goes blind. In the chamber beyond was a circular chamber with murals of ships upon a stormy sea, and monsters hidden in the clouds and under the water. The sarcophagus in the center of the chamber emitted a magical glow when Eiric checked it, and then revealed that it was also trapped with the same blinding spell as the door. Since Koltic was already blind, he was the one to open it while everyone else looked away. Within was a sack containing coins and a magic Sleep scroll. Jurda claimed the scroll, and Eiric shrugged as she already has that spell,

Taking the stairs up, they came to a door partly open. Within were half a dozen goblins playing at dice and cooking a giant rat in a stew pot. Karl decided to try to go in alone with beer, and avoid fighting them. Unfortunately Karl doesn’t speak goblin, and a heavily armed and armored dwarf walking in was a little too much for them. The cookpot was tossed at him, splashing him with not quite boiling stew and semi-cooked chunks of rat meat, and then he was jabbed with several rusty blades before Eiric rushed in behind yelling in goblin to stop! Seeing they were vastly outnumbered, they did stop fighting, the pot was recovered, and rations were added to it, and they chatted, discovering that the goblins tribe had recently split, and that there are other humans in the dungeon that they call “elementalists”. One goblin is sent off to go get their boss.

Gains: Scroll of Sleep, jewelry worth 3,800gp, significant quantities of low value coinage
Kills: Zombies, Goblins, Giant Rats
Losses: