Session 3: Architecture & Beetles

This session took place on Sunday 20 December 2020, and the party consisted of:

Agnes Longtoes (Lv1 Magic User, kindly old lady, Chaotic) - played by Panny.

Anvil (Lv1 Cleric, Acolyte of The All-Glorious Blacksmith) - played by Sam.

Grungebeard (Lv1 Dwarf, gregarious exile from the Flintmason clan) - played by Ollie.

Winnie (Lv1 Cleric, Acolyte of Ygrrd, minor goddess of Hearths & Homecooking) - played by Michael.

Scuttleweed (Lv0 Torchbearer) - NPC retainer.

The party sit in The Wheel O' Cheese tavern in Drigbolton, admiring the stuffed giant gecko lizard head that Fat Gordo, the tavern's landlord, has proudly mounted above the fireplace. They hire the services of Scuttleweed, a local guide who accompanied Anvil & Grungebeard on their expedition to The Hole In The Oak.

Scuttleweed

Scuttleweed knows a direct shortcut through the thick forest of the Dolmenwood, so their journey to Stonehell Canyon is a few hours quicker, and they arrive by early afternoon. The canyon is quiet and peaceful, and they head straight for the entrance hall and descend the spiral stone steps into the depths of Stonehell.

In the ruined lobby Grungebeard hears faint voices speaking a Dwarvish dialect coming from the SE corridor, and the party investigates. Grungebeard calls out a greeting and they are met by a female dwarf carrying a torch, who introduces herself as Snorri Broadshoulders, a Dwarven architectural scholar. Snorri takes a liking to the party and invites them to follow her - telling them to avoid a concealed pit trap in the corridor ahead.

(DM's note - I made a 2d6 reaction roll here to decide Snorri's disposition to the party; the higher the roll the more friendly she would be, the lower the roll the more hostile she would be. I added a +2 bonus to the role because Grungebeard, a fellow dwarf, had been courteous and polite. The role was a 14, as good as can be, so I played Snorri as being overwhelmingly receptive and welcoming.)

Snorri leads the party into a breathtaking chamber full of exquisite Dwarven stonemasonry - statues and pillars all lit by multiple lanterns, with a group of Dwarven architects taking notes and sketches. Snorri welcomes the party and breaks out a bottle of Dwarven brandy, which is soon polished off and everyone becomes the best of friends. Snorri explains that she is researching the ancient Dwarven architecture in Stonehell, and that her research mentions a Dwarven chapel down on the 2nd level. She offers a payment of 200gp for information regarding the exact location of the chapel.

The brandy loosening her tongue, Snorri also offers a candid opinion of the inhabitants of Stonehell's upper levels: the Kobolds are vandals and nuisances who have no appreciation of fine architecture. She warns the party to avoid the Orcs to the south.

The party head back to the main central stairway and run into 8 Fire Beetles scavenging through the rubble. The party head through a rotting wooden door to the NE, and the beetles take an interest and begin to follow, cautiously.

(DM's note - every two turns I roll a 1d6 Overloaded Encounter Die. The result of the roll decides whether something happens to the party as they explore. 1: a random encounter; 2: spoor or evidence of a future encounter; 3: location-specific event; 4: torches go out; 5: lanterns deplete [takes three of these for a lantern to go out]; 6: fatigue - rest for a turn and magical effects expire.)

Fire Beetle

The door opens onto a ruined kitchen. Winnie pokes around in an old hearth and disturbs some mice, who have nested in an old cooking pot. She catches one. Agnes pokes around in a foul-smelling sink and disturbs a Green Slime, that plops out of the rusty tap. The Green Slime is quickly dispatched with fire, and the party move on to a large dilapidated dining hall, followed by the curious Fire Beetles.

(DM's note - I made a reaction roll for the Fire Beetles and got a 5 - unfriendly, may attack. I interpreted that as meaning that the beetles were hungry opportunistic hunters, and would attack if the party got too close or turned their back.)

Searching the dining hall, the party finds 3 large woven tapestries hung upon the walls. The tapestries are a bit mouldy and damp, but probably worth some coin, so the party begin to pull them down. This gives the Fire Beetles the opportunity to scuttle in and attack. Winnie reacts quickly and toasts the mouse over Scuttleweed's torch flame then tosses the toasted rodent snack to the far corner of the room, where the hungry beetles scuttle to chase it.

(DM's note - I thought this was very clever improvisation from Winnie's player, so I rolled a Morale Check for the Fire Beetles, which they failed, making them lose interest in hunting the party when tempted by a freshly-roasted mouse. I think that this kind of quick-thinking improvisational play, supported by Rulings Over Rules, is one of the stand-out benefits of OSR gaming.)

Grungebeard attempts to force open a stuck door with a headbutt. He fails on the first attempt, leaving him with a sore head and bruised pride.

(DM's note - in OSE, rules as written, all doors in a dungeon are stuck when closed, and require a Open Doors check to force open - usually a 1-2 on 1d6. I've always found this kinda weird and interferes with my suspension of disbelief... but I'm gonna rule that doors in Stonehell have a 50% chance of being stuck. Gotta admit... it did lead to an amusing, and dramatic moment of emergent play here!)

The door leads into a room with pristine white-painted walls. Four sooty shapes are on one wall, forming the shape of human silhouettes. The party don't have time to investigate, as the Fire Beetles have finished their snack and begin to stalk once more.

The party circle back into the entrance stairway, and a booming voice bellows from the darkness "FOOLS! FLEE THIS PLACE NOW, BEFORE YOUR BONES REST HERE EVERMORE! HAHAHAHA!". The party need no further encouragement and flee up the staircase to the surface as quick as they can, mouldy rolled-up tapestries hoisted onto their shoulders.

Area of Stonehell level 1A explored so far

Gains: 3 mouldy tapestries (10gp each)

Losses: 

Foes Bested: 8 Fire Beetles (120xp), 1 Green Slime (25xp)

Session 2: Descent Into Stonehell

Our intrepid adventurers gather at The Wheel O’ Cheese tavern in Drigbolton. Sitting at their favourite table by the fireplace, the party listen to Grungebeard regaling them with tales of his exploits in the Stonehell canyon just a few days ago.

The party consists of:

Anvil (Lv1 Cleric, Acolyte of The Eternal Forge of All-Glorious Blacksmith) - played by Sam.

Grungebeard (Lv1 gregarious Dwarf, exiled from the Flintmason clan) - played by Ollie.

Marceline ‘Mouse’ Castel (Lv1 Thief, murderous & rude & always well-dressed) - played by Fran.

Winnie (Lv1 Cleric, Acolyte of Ygrrd, minor goddess of Hearths & Homecooking) - played by Michael.

Wilderness map

The group share rumours that they have heard about the legendary dungeon of Stonehell.

Anvil says that “one section of Stonehell, called The Hothouse, is filled with exotic and dangerous man-eating plants”.

Mouse has heard that “an exiled holy man lives in an ancient crypt, where he talks to the dead. He offers solace and healing to weary adventurers”.

Winnie reckons that “all the cisterns, pools, and fountains of Stonehell are guarded by powerful elementals, who will punish anyone not knowing the proper rituals”.

Whatever truth there is to these wild and fantastical rumours, nobody can say.

The party set out from Drigbolton and journey 15 miles west through the wilderness before arriving at the gatehouse of Stonehell just before dusk. They survey the crumbling gatehouse, and spot some movement within through the arrow slits on the first floor. Cautiously, they decide to enter via the main gate. A rusty portcullis guards the way, but the bars have ben bent open wide enough to allow access. Inside, the gatehouse is strewn with rubble and they wall are covered with graffiti in chalk and charcoal: one particularly intriguing message reads “Down past the living caves theres gold nuggets the size of APPLES!”. As they are passing through the Gatehouse, they hear sniggering voices from above. Grungebeard recognises the language as Goblinspeak, and calls up a greeting. The high-pitched voice replies that "the Warty Nose Tribe demand a ‘toll’ be paid for safe passage". Grungebeard asks what the ‘toll’ is. “WHAT YOU GOT?” shrieks back the Goblin toll master. Mouse says that she has a pocketful of acorns and the goblins get extremely excited. “ACORNS? YESSSSSS ACORNS!”. A small green-skinned hand pokes out from a hole in the ceiling and greedily grabs a handful of Mouse’s acorns, then retracts into the hole. Sounds of jubilation and celebration are heard from above.

The party pass freely into Stonehell canyon as the sun is setting behind the jagged mountains to the west. They ignore the various cave openings in the canyon walls and head straight for the massive stone archway in the western wall of the canyon. An inscription carved above the archway reads:

"Beware All Who Enter

These Blighted Halls Of Stone.

Within Lies No Solace

Nor Any Comfort Of Home.

Toiling For Our Crimes

We Must Dig Where We Dwell,

With No Freedom Or No Mercy

In Our Vast Stone Hell."

Passing beneath the ominous message, the party light torches and the flickering light illuminates a huge, cavernous stone hall, with pillars reaching 50’ up into the gloom of the vaulted ceiling. The hall is littered with vast piles of detritus, including plenty of broken, discarded adventuring gear, armour, and weapons. Strewn around the great hall are dozens of ashy remnants of campfires, long gone cold. A gaping, circular hole in the floor, 30’ across, bears a set of smooth stone steps carved into it’s walls, spiralling downwards into the pitch black void. The walls of the vast hole are unnaturally smooth, like something huge bored straight through the rock. Anvil kicks a rock down the hole - it disappears from view and she manages to count to 10 before she hears an echo resounding, of stone hitting stone. The group slowly and silently begin their descent, taking great care as there is no handrail to prevent falling, and the steps are smooth and slippery, worn by what must be centuries of footsteps.

Finally reaching the bottom after 10 minutes of descent, the group emerge in a circular hall. The stone walls are decorated with bas-reliefs of scenes of toil and labour, massed columns of identical figures raising pick-axes to strike at the earth as one. There are 5 exits from the hall. The archway to the NW is carved into the rather unwelcoming shape of a fanged beasts mouth, but the party decide to head that way anyway as Anvil could hear the familiar and comforting sound of iron striking steel in the distance.

They reached a crossroads with a signpost banged into the ground. The rickety signpost pointed towards a cave tunnel to the west and bore a message, scrawled in a white, chalky substance, that read “To da DRAg0Ns dEn!!!!”. The ammonia stench coming from the cave tunnel was almost eye-burningly unbearable, but in they went. 

Mouse stopped the party when she noticed a lantern light glow from the cavern ahead. Peering around the corner she saw a group of 5 small creatures gathered around a lantern, quietly arguing with each other in hushed, yapping voices. The creatures were barely 3’ tall, and were scraggy and spindly, like a cross between a scrawny chihuahua and a rodent. Their skin was scaly, a rusty-clay brown colour, with tufts of coarse hair on their snouty faces. They each carried a bulging sack that leaked with ammonia-stinking, whitish goo. The party approached the group and startled them. One ran away to the north. The rest yapped and yelped in fright, before their leader hushed everyone and reminded them all to be quiet “cuz da dragon might hear us”. The party parlayed, and the leader introduced himself as Grik, and said he and his work-crew creatures gathering bat-shit from the caves to take to someone called Trustee Sniv. He exclaimed that Trustee Sniv was very generous, and paid a handsome reward of one rat-on-a-stick for each sack of bat-shit. The party declined Grik’s offer for them to join his work-crew, and headed down a tunnel to the west, despite Grik’s warning of that way being where ‘Da Dragon’s Den’ was located.

Grik

The tunnel came to a fork. A soft green glow came from one fork, a whistling breeze from the other. Grungebeard’s highly-attuned dwarven senses smelled the unmistakable scent of gold from both directions. They headed towards the whistling. A stone well stood in the centre of the cave, the whistling sound was the wind blowing up the deep well-shaft from below. The party pulled up the rope attached to a winch, and found a bucket on the end of the rope. Inside the bucket was smattering of gold and copper coins, and a note tied up with twine. The note read "Dear wishing well, if you get this, i wish that he would come back." Winnie made a wish and tossed a coin down the well into the darkness. It hit something and a chorus of guttural shrieks and grunts erupted from below, followed by a volley of stones and rocks thrown up the well-shaft. The party left and headed back towards the Dragon's Den.

Following a narrow, twisting tunnel, the party passed some mushrooms that gave off a soft, green luminescent glow, and then arrived in a large cave. The ceiling was so high that their lantern-light would not even reach up that far. Filth and muck covered the rocky floor, and a pool of greyish stagnant water filled the far end of the cave. A pile of bones lay next to the pool, possibly human bones. Anvil called upon the divine power of The Blacksmith Of The Eternal Forge and cast Detect Magic. She sensed something resting at the bottom of the pool, emanating strong magical energy.

Da 'Dragon'

Before Anvil could investigate further, Winnie let out a shriek of alarm as a large four-legged reptilian creature dropped down from the gloom above right on-top of her. She barely had time to react and bring up her shield to fend off the Giant Gecko Lizard's bite and claws. Winnie summoned all her strength and flung the frenzied reptile off her shield and against the cavern wall. Anvil tossed her hammer and struck the lizard, then Grungebeard and Winnie charged in with their weapons raised. Their combined attack was brutal and ferocious, and soon the lizard's blood was leaking from it's crushed skull and flowing into the stagnant pool (50xp).

Circlet Of Fire Resistance

Anvil used her 10' pole to fish out the magical item from the now bloody pool, and discovered a ornate golden circlet studded with fire-red garnets. Her Detect Magic spell gave her the sense that this circlet would grant her kinship with flames (Circlet Of Fire Resistance). Winnie expertly butchered the 'Dragon' and took a slab of belly meat for her stew-pot, whilst Grungebeard removed the lizard's head as a trophy. They then decided to leave and head back to Drigbolton for a hearty 'Dragon' stew.

Area of Stonehell explored this session