Present
- Ardern. Human Female Priestess of Mr Quail from Porn City – Kevin
- Cody Dieback. Human Male Wizard from Highport – Andrew
- Esmeralda "Ezme" Abernathy. Human Female Temple Fighter of Soixante Neuf from Scabport – Shane
- Jack "Blocker" Jones. Human Male Temple Fighter of Aquamarina from Porn City – Jamie
- Lois Price. Human Female Wizard of Porn City – Ian
- Munch Ease. Human Male Thief from Porn City – Darryl
- Tom Eade. Human Male Fighter from Porn City – Jeff
- Willow. Half-elf Male Caribou Gorn Priest from Porn City - Chris
- MARMALADING Rock Hammer. Human Male Barbarian from Central Plains – Steven
by Jeff
Munch snuck back into our hide sometime before dawn and reported on his discoveries. A potential back door into the enemy caves that will bypass the two watch towers and any patrols!
"It's perfect" Munch said, "And even Willow could fit through the tiny entrance."
"Well, we can't make it there tonight" noted Cody, "We'll keep a close watch tomorrow and can check it out tomorrow night."
Not much happened down in the enemy camp during the next day. The Woman and her two Ogre guards came out for water, some cooking was performed in the two fire pits just outside the cave entrance, and the two pairs of Orcs on watch in the watch towers were relieved by another two pairs of Orcs.
Everyone felt rested and energetic by the time night fell, and after waiting for a few hours to let the enemy patrols settle Munch led us in a large arc around the canyon to a small stream that meandered down from outside the canyon walls. Following the stream up towards the canyon, we found it soon entered a narrow gulch and then disappeared into a small dark opening in the stony hillside.
"I can't fit in there" exclaimed Willow, "Do you think I'm a tiny rat or something?"
"You can" confirmed Munch, "I measured it last night and there is plenty of clearance"
And sure enough, Willow was able to squeeze his ample bulk into the opening, albeit complaining all the while about not being able to breathe and getting his trousers and socks all wet.
In fact, it was Ezme that led the party through the squeeze and into the cave.
There was only room for one person to squeeze in at a time and Ezme was followed by Jack, Tom, Cody, Ardern, Willow, and Lois, with Munch bringing up the rear.
The cave soon opened out a bit, still narrow, but about 3m high.
We followed the cave, winding our way along between the rough stone walls, splashing through the water, for about a hundred metres before Munch pointed to a small ledge up ahead.
"Up there" stated Munch, "A small cave leads off away from the stream"
The narrow ledge sat about two metres above the stream, and once we climbed up onto it, we could see the small entrance in the cave wall that led off into the darkness.
"Bloody tight hole" mumbled Willow, "Do you all think I'm a rat or something?"
"Good idea" noted Ardern, "A rat will fit up there nicely."
"And you can check out if there are any enemies!" instructed Cody.
Willow used his ability to transform into a rat, then scuttled off into the opening.
"This is pretty nice water" declared Jack, (Aquamarina Priest!) "I'm going to explore up the stream and see if it leads to that small lake in the canyon"
"Why?" asked Tom, "We already decided we're not going in through the front"
"Just to see" answered Jack, "And, it's pretty nice water"
Jack lowered himself down off the ledge and headed upstream, his light slowly fading away until it winked out. Then his light winked back on and brightened, until he was back with us.
"Got a bit steep" Jack reported, "Give us a hand will you Munch"
So, while Willow was off ratting down the tiny tunnel, Munch and Jack explored upstream.
"What was that adage about splitting the party?" wondered Ezme.
But nothing happened.
Willow returned safely out of the hole and reported that it wound along for some distance and then opened up into a much larger cavern, containing Orcs. There were about 20 sleeping mats there, with Orcs coming and going, between five and twelve present at any one time.
Jack and Munch returned safely from up the stream and excitedly reported that there was a magical pool of water in a grotto, which was the source of the stream.
"Not sure what it does exactly" said Jack, "But it doesn't recharge magic points"
"And there is a water filled shaft that leads up to the canyon lake" continued Jack, "I'm sure of it"
"Magic" exclaimed Lois, "Lets go and check it out"
The party dropped down off the ledge and headed up the stream to the magical pool.
Except for Tom, he thought it was a waste of time.
"I'll be waiting here for when you come back" Tom grumbled.
"Me too" yawned Willow, "All this ratting has tired me out"
Willow made himself comfortable on the stone ledge and dropped off to sleep.
Tom tried to keep watch, but it was dark, and the gentle rumbling of the stream below quickly lulled him into a pleasant nap, and glorious dreams of mighty battles where he smashed his enemies into pulp with his new magical Morning Star.
The rest of the party had scrambled up through the steep cascade of water towards the magic pool. Arriving at the edge of the pool, they all looked out over the still waters of the grotto.
There was a slight sparkle to the water.
"Maybe Healing" suggested Cody, "You test it out Lois"
Lois drew her dagger and sliced it across her hand, drawing blood. Then she lowered herself into the pool and floated there for a bit. The blood dissolved and the wound slowly closed up.
"Healing" confirmed Lois, "And my web-snot infection had cleared up totally"
"Oh yeah" noted Jack, "Mine too. I hadn't noticed"
"Must be why that woman was bathing in the lake" declared Ardern, "I bet its magic up there too"
"I'll go up the shaft and check it out" declared Jack, "Cody, can you cast Water Breathing on me?"
"Snap" went Cody, and Jack dived silently into the pool and disappeared on his underwater adventure.
But he didn't return.
Some hours passed before everyone became concerned enough that a rescue plan was put into action.
Munch tested the rectangular communication devices to see if they could talk to each other. Sure enough, they could. The older one, Ugly Unt's, was able to open a channel to the newer one, Thackery's. And vice versa. Cody took one of them, tucked it into one of his multitudinous pockets, cast another Water Breathing spell on himself, and slipped into the pool, heading down to the submerged opening to the shaft that led up to the lake above.
Cody cautiously and stealthily pulled himself into the shaft. He spotted the side jet where the magic water was entering the shaft, seeping both upwards to the lake and downwards into the pool.
He pulled himself past there and continued upwards towards a faint glimmer overhead.
After ascending about twenty metres, maybe halfway to the surface he could see above, Cody felt an uncomfortable tingle pass down his body, like a weak static shock. Then a ton of rapidly moving water thrust him back down the shaft.
He noted later that it felt like it had gone from a barely perceptible current to a thundering torrent in less than a second. Driven back down the shaft, Cody thumped and crashed along the stone walls, got pounded into the rocks at the bottom of the shaft, and was forcibly ejected from the pool as water erupted from the pool and thundered off down the cave.
As Cody dragged himself up the banks of the pool, bleeding from numerous cuts and contusions, [nine hit points of "falling" damage inflicted after failing his Swimming roll] he was certain that the barrier holding back the lake had failed, and the lake was rapidly draining down through the shaft and flooding into the cave system.
As the torrential flood gushed up from the pool and cascaded off down the cave system, Munch looked on with horror as the water picked Ardern up from the side of the pool and carried her away. [Ardern suffered thirteen points of damage, was knocked unconscious, and carried some hundreds of metres down the cave system. In a stroke of Luck, she was deposited face down just metres from where Willow and Tom, by then very much awake, were watching anxiously as the water rushed past just below the ledge they were on.]
Lois was also surprised by the sudden upswelling of water and was blasted off the side of the pool and smashed into the walls of the grotto and then dumped high up on a small stone ledge above the flood line. [Ian failed his Perception roll, eleven damage, knocked unconscious, but made his Luck roll and didn't get washed away down the cave]
Ezme noticed the initial upswell of water, managed to jump clear, and was essentially a startled bystander as everything unfolded in front of her. She watched as Ardern was dashed away and Lois was forcibly thrown into the grotto wall. Then Jack shot out of the pool, carried by the torrent. He flipped through the air like a leaping dolphin and landed beside Ezme.
“Cool, aye?” he beamed. “Where’s Ardern?”
Ardern was at that point being pulled out of the flood by Tom and Willow. They pumped the water from her lungs, checked her breathing, and slipped her into the recovery position, and wondered how the others were getting on.
Jack explained to Ezme that after diving into the magic pool earlier he had emerged into the lake, explored around a bit, then attempted to return. But was blocked halfway down the well shaft by some solid barrier and couldn't get back to the party in the underground grotto. It wasn't until a few hours later when a whirlpool formed over the shaft and the lake water level began to drop that he had swum back out to the shaft and dived into the swirling water to shoot down the shaft like riding a hydro slide.
"Ah yes" commented Ezme, "Cody removed that barrier, so you could return"
As the water levels at the pool subsided, Cody rushed off down the chute to see what had happened to Ardern. Lois and Jack slipped back into the calming pool. The still-magical pool healed their Major Wounds and restored two hit points each.
"Back to the magic pool" commanded Cody when he arrived at the ledge where Tom and Willow waited with Ardern's unconscious body. And off they went, everyone once again together in the grotto at the side of the magic pool, returned now to its peaceful still state. Cody had noticed that his session in the magic water had cured him of all his lice and tics and apart from his still weeping sores and cuts, he felt refreshed.
A flurry of Healing spells were cast, and serious discussions were had.
"I guess someone will notice the lake is gone"
"It's still dark out there"
"Let's bugger off out of here"
"Let's attack through the orc tunnel now"
"It's still dark out there"
"Let's bugger off out of here"
"Let's attack through the orc tunnel now"
"Let's not"
Plans quickly gelled and the party went to work.
Munch scouted the stream exit to see if anyone, or anything, was investigating the flood. Nope.
Cody cast an Invisibility spell and snuck off through the orc chamber to scout the cave system.
The rest of the party sharpened up their weapons, counted their spell points, and prepared for battle.
Cody returned and reported that he had found Thackery, as dead as, hanging from the ceiling of one of the caverns, gutted, and partially eaten. But he had also found the woman, in a side cave, talking on a rectangular communication device to someone. About us!
"She's by herself there" sneered Cody, "And Thackery's pile of equipment is there too. Just a bunch of Orcs, Goblins, Gnolls, and a couple of Ogres to get through and we'll 'av her!"
"I reckon Fireballs" said Cody.
"With a Silence, so no one hears" suggested Lois.
"And I'll charge" declared Tom.
"Me too" said Ezme eagerly.
"And I'm in" said Jack.
"I'll guard the rear" stated Munch, "So ya don't need to worry about things sneaking up behind ya"
And it went to plan. Mostly.
Cody used his Invisibility (still running) to position himself in the perfect spot to include the occupants of the orc cavern in a Fireball, then triggered the attack by rolling a pebble across the floor.
As the four Orcs and two Gnolls casually turned to look, Lois cast her Silence just beyond the cluster of creatures to ensure no sound exited the cavern to the rest of the cave complex, and Cody dropped his Fireball into the centre of the creatures. [Twelve points of damage, all the Orcs and one of the Gnolls failed their saving throws, and all of the Orcs went down in piles of smouldering skin] Of course, his Invisibility switched off when he "attacked".
Tom, who had dropped into the room after the Fireball went off, charged forwards towards the two remaining Gnolls, Ezme and Jack dropping down from the cave entrance right behind him.
Tom's mighty swing connected with the first Gnoll's head, dropping it instantly.
Their wild return swings passed cleanly over Tom's head, hardly disturbing his hair.
Tom and Ezme engaged the last Gnoll in that first chamber and dispatched it effortlessly.
Simultaneously, Cody sent another Fireball into the next chamber where a collection of Goblins were milling around and cleared that room. But no Silence to mask the explosion, and surely the rest of the complex occupants would now know we were here.
Most of the party were down in the orc cavern at this point, barring Willow who was still struggling to make the two-metre drop from the little cave opening.
Munch, skulking about towards the rear of the orc cavern, warned Cody that a group of five Goblins were sneaking up from a rear passage and Cody cast another Fireball towards them.
"CRUMP", five more enemy Goblins scorched!
Willow finally arrived with the group and cast his Bless spell. This would add a one-point bonus to our saving throws against all things damaging. And we moved forward. Cody already knew that there were two chambers down that passage where a bunch of Gnolls and the two Ogres had been situated earlier and had warned the others what to expect.
Cody cast his last Fireball along the passage before Tom, Jack, and Ezme stepped up.
[The Fireball managed to catch the two Ogres and four Gnolls up ahead in its area of effect]
Tom and Ezme led the advance down the passage, Jack at their shoulder with the strange mini crossbow [a pistol by any other name] pointing forward past Tom's ear.
Tom stepped through into the next chamber and found himself face to face with a scorched Ogre, another standing just behind it, both scowling nastily at him. With a deft swing of his magical Morning Star, Tom's strike passed the first Ogre's defences, dealing a critical hit to its chest region. One down!
[A 1 on the initial D20 attack roll, followed by another successful hit roll, means a critical hit with additional effects off the critical hit table. In this case ignoring its armour, an additional D8 dice roll of damage, and negating its attack in the next combat round. Perfect]
Jack simultaneously pulled the trigger on the crossbow, and the tiny metal bolt shot off into the chamber ahead, past Tom and the two huge Ogres, and ricocheted off the stone walls to no effect. [His chance of hitting is quite low, but marginally better than his chance of hitting an ally! And the potential damage is significant]
Having dealt to the first of the Ogres, Tom and Jack pushed forwards into the chamber. Beyond the remaining Ogre were a cluster of three dead and still smoking Gnolls, with one still alive and heading their way brandishing a huge club.
Giving the crossbow up as a lost cause, Jack slipped it into its holster and drew out the second of the shock rod devices that Munch had handed over. This one had two buttons, and Munch's testing had discovered that each of the buttons generated some kind of glowing blade, one equivalent to a long-sword and the other equivalent to a short sword. [A light sabre, for those in the know]
With Tom engaging the last Ogre directly, Jack had the perfect opportunity to use his shock rod weapon. The glowing blade shot out as he pressed the activation button, a strange hum emanating from it, and he swung the blade at the final Ogre's arm. It passed straight through it, the arm dropping to the ground in a spurt of sizzling blood, and the last Ogre collapsed to the ground, dead.
But then a streak of red shot towards us from somewhere ahead.
"Duck" yelled Cody as an enemy Fireball exploded in our midst.
Of course, there was no ducking from a Fireball, and eleven points of damage was dished out to those in the combat; Tom, Jack, Ezme, and Cody. [Tom and Ezme made their saving throws and received a half dose, six points, less some absorbed by whatever armour they were wearing, none in Cody's case!]
Ezme had also engaged a creature, the last Gnoll standing. But not standing for long. One decent strike and the Gnoll toppled back to the deck, its skin still smoking from the previous Fireball, and blood and guts spilling from the large wound Ezme's two-handed sword had opened across its stomach.
Those still standing spotted the woman, standing by the cave system exit out to the canyon, and she was in the process of casting another spell.
Lois, wearing her cursed magical cloak, [This cloak absorbs magical effects, points equal to the level of the cast spell being deducted from the cloak's capacity (was originally 20 points, but slowly dropping). We had forgotten about this previously as no spells can be cast on Lois, such as Healing, Bless, etc. and she can't remove it due to the curse] charged forward, confident that no spell would cause her any harm.
A Fireball would still engulf the rest of the group though, so prayers were offered. Luckily, the woman cast a Lightning Bolt which crackled and fizzed harmlessly around Lois as she barrelled straight into the woman, both of them falling to the ground in an odd parody of a wrestling match.
Tom, Jack, and Ezme rushed forward after Lois, and Ardern slipped into the chamber and cast a Healing on Cody, who had slumped to the ground in a smoking heap. The woman drew a dagger and managed to slice Lois across the arm, drawing blood, and causing a nasty stinging wound that rapidly darkened, some type of poison spreading quickly.
Tom brought his Morning Star down on her head, and Ezme threw herself onto the woman.
"Don't kill her you oaf" she shouted at Tom, who was raising his Morning Star for another blow.
Jack cast a Slow Poison spell on Lois, which seemed to slow the advancement of the poison effects. With his Morning Star still poised for an attack, Tom glanced around for any other enemies to engage. Nothing. They were all down. He reluctantly lowered his Morning Star.
"There might be others outside?" he questioned hopefully.
"There are for sure" replied Ezme, "Lots. But let's deal with this one first"
The woman, now unconscious following a gentle tap by Tom, was dragged back through the cave complex to where Cody had first spotted her talking on the communicator, and we thoroughly searched her and the room. A Detect Magic spell was cast over all the assembled loot. The woman's communicator didn't detect as magical, which aligned with what we knew of the others we had collected, but her dagger definitely was. As was the bow and quiver from Thackery's belongings, and the large ornate looking lock on the heavy chest in the corner of the room.
As Munch considered the lock with a thoughtful frown, a Cure Major Wounds was cast on Cody, and Lois cast a Knock spell on the lock. Unfortunately, the Knock spell failed, and in fact failed critically, generating a deafening noise booming out from the lock. Lois and Munch staggered back as the sound blasted on for a full minute, during which time it was impossible to think or cast any more spells.
Lois was then out of magical power, and the lock was still locked.
"I ain't touching it" warned Munch, "Not with some magic trap thing going on"
So, Jack cast a Transfer spell, depleting his magic reserves but successfully transferring some power over to Lois. Lois then tried again with the Knock spell, almost depleting her magic reserves too. But this time the spell was successful, and the lock sprang open with a snap and an electrical fizz.
A hexagonal key, a small wand, a bunch of gold, and some minor trinkets.
Then we left, back through the caves to the stream. A brief diversion upstream to the pool for a Healing bathe, and then down the stream to the outside. [Spell points for all the casters were pretty much exhausted, so Heals were strictly rationed. A few points for some Remove Tracks spells were held in reserve]
The dip in the pool healed up Lois's wounds, but the tingling cold from the dagger's poison was still present. Dragging the unconscious woman with us, we made our way cautiously back to our hide.
We knew there were plenty of creatures still out there in the wild, including the two pairs of Orcs on guard in the watch towers, the patrolling wolves down in the canyon, and the hunting party of Goblins, Orcs, Gnolls, and an Ogre. They were in for a surprise when they returned to their base!
Would they be cowed by the devastation we had left, or would they set out on a hunt to inflict vengeance on whoever had attacked and killed their friends and taken their leader?
We hoped for the former!
