Stonehell: Dead Dragons and Dark Tunnels

Session 135 was played on 4/12

Eiric, Mage 8 (Kat)
Big Red (dog)
Karl, Dwarf 8 (Julia)
Hobart (dog)
Joho, Mystic (Chris)
Boris, Cleric 3 (Jeff)
Daton, Fighter 2 (Jay)
Morgana, Mage 2 (Robert)
Borumar, Thief 7 (Josh)
Captain Morgan (dog)
Koltic, NPC Cleric 6
Darryl, NPC Cleric 6


Knowing the dragon could speak and cast spells, Koltic used Speak With Dead on the corpse, and asked the following questions:


Is your lair in the swamp?
An entrance to the lair is in the swamp


North or South side of the swamp?
North


Closer to the river or the Old King’s Way?
The river


Darryl then used his Speak with Dead on the dragon.

East, west, or middle of the swamp?
West


What’s the most identifiable landmark near the entrance?
Grossly misshapen tree next to the hidden depths


What defends your lair?
Tentacle monster of the dark depths
Ogre Queen
Lizard-kind
Troglodytes


The party left Lady Eiric’s estate and went directly to the town market looking to hire meatshields. They buy a dog, Big Red, and hire some men at arms

Knowing hat the news of the dragon had spread all over town, the party decides to get a move on, in spite of the late hour. Heading out from town, the party arrives at the entrance to St. Uther’s Crypt at just after sunset. Rather than attempt to navigate the swamp at night, they camp in the entryway to the crypt.

The next morning they begin their search. Miserable hours of wet boots, itchy bug bites, and thick mud reveal little of interest. Well into the afternoon, the party stumbles on a nest of giant water termites. Not long after slaying the bugs, the party notices a large misshapen tree, and next to it, an area where the water seems deeper than the surrounding area. Daton uses the lenses of seeing to explore the water. In the murky depths, he sees an underwater tunnel. It drops down nearly a hundred feet before turning to the south-west. The party moves parallel to the tunnel on the surface, allowing Daton to continue using the arcane eye of the lenses.

As the party stomps their way through the swamp, Daton sees an undead spirit nearby. He passes the lenses to Borumar, who uses them to shoot the spirit. It flees. As the party continues on, following the tunnel (which has continued to slope further and further down stretching to near the edge of the lens’ range… until the tunnel opens up into a much larger space. Moving the arcane eye upward, it breaks the surface of the water inside a colossal cave.

On the surface, the party realizes they’re near the Crypt of St. Uther. With some bitter complaining of bug bites and wet feet the party descends into the crypt, following the path as deep as they’ve ever gone. They’re briefly slowed by a giant scorpion, before arriving on the 11th level…

The stone stairway opens out onto a crescent beach. The water stretches out from the beach far beyond what their light sources can reveal. But far out there is a light… dim, but distinct. The sounds of water gently moving against the rocks of the beach are amplified by the cave, drowning out any other softer sounds, and even muffling the clanking of the party.

Gains: 2 vials of scorpion venom
Kills: giant water termites, giant scorpion
Losses: