SESSION 341: Death-Stench Effluvium
The basics still work, near death around every corner in the undercity
Day 858 Continued (Under Dry Gulch): Turn 27. Mutant frogs attack
Frogs appear to be larger than real life, sadly…
They may have been voracious little buggers but they were actually on the small side, for seasoned hobos, being about three feet in length. The frogs did control the environment tactically but mindless attacks will only get you so far when you is just a froggy. The settling pool that they lived in did hold some treasure that was retrieved but probably not worth the effort. Biff was now smelling well and rank, thanks sewer juice. Exploration continued.
They took the steps up to the west wing. This chain of chambers had seen better days. Tracks and prints all over. One chamber held the remnants of an owl bear. Looks like it could have fallen to the mutant frogs. The final chamber was a big mess of stone and soil. The back wall had collapsed long ago revealing a tunnel. Maybe it was natural maybe it was not. It was too old to tell. Grandeal recounted that he had heard rumors of a cave system southeast of Dry Gulch this probably connected to it and could easily be a monster highway. Something to consider for a future day, it was time to return to the surface. Biff stank while Gord and Chung-Li were looking unwell, time to see the Green Priestess and get purged of the sewer sickness..
Day 859 (Dry Gulch): A day of rest for the explorers. Carla used the day to check out the two temples in town.
The Temple of Nahasha. The primary deity worshiped in Dry Gulch, Nahasha, the Horse Lord, is venerated throughout the Zelaia Plains, due to the importance of horses to the people that dwell there. Nahasa is the lord of the open prairie, of family, and of travelers.
The Temple is a simple structure, a roof of slate supported by carved columns at the four corners. Each column is fashioned from horse bones, lashed together by woven horse-hair. The current priest of Nahasha, Usir Farseer, dwells in a small hut next to the temple. Ceremonies are held on the 26th day of each month, when horses to be sold or traded at the market are brought to Usir to be blessed. Otherwise, there are no set holy days, with worshipers or those seeking blessing coming to the temple when they are about to set out on a journey, or when their mares are foaling, or when they seek advice or care.
The Temple of Tanafar. A relatively new deity, growing alongside the increase in mining. A decade or so ago, a prospector stumbled across an especially rich vein of gold in the hills north of Dry Gulch, and that night had visions of a formless shape that whispered the secrets of the earth and stone into her ear. That miner, Axca Halskul, is now the head priest of the Cult of Tanafar, and most miners, when they visit Dry Gulch, leave offerings of gold and silver nuggets at the altar. The Cult of Tanafar has grown wealthy, and with that wealth it has gained outsized influence among the community and Council. The Temple is a medium- sized building in the heart of Dry Gulch. It is sumptuously appointed inside and out, with the exterior clad in delicate pink marble and the interior carpeted with thick rugs and decorated with frescoes and carvings depicting the process of mining. The central temple has several pews, fashioned from rosewood, facing a statue against one wall carved from the same pink marble as the exterior cladding. The statue is abstract yet sinuous and somewhat reptilian in appearance. A large wrought copper bowl is placed before the statue, into which offerings of gold, silver, and copper are placed.
Day 860 (Under Dry Gulch): After a night in bed it the exploration group were more than ready to get back to creeping through the sewers. Returning to the wizard’s tower it was confirmed that Grandreal was allowed to come out and play once again. Master Thyber reminded the crew that the little wiz was one of his favourites and any lasting damage to him would not be well received. Back into the basement passed the series of locked doors and then racing down the long stairwell and past the water weird pool they were once more in the lost sewers.
They decided to go deeper down the main branch of the system. After bit they came to another settling pool (large) and a bit of commotion was in action. It was another exploration team from the Wiz Tower, this time being overseen by Suzie Hotpants. Charles and Dolec stopped listening to Grandeal after the ‘Suzie’ bit, “Quite the muffin.. no Versa but zing”. She was our little buddy’s dream girl and co-apprentice to Master Thyber. Suzie was with four fighter types and a torch and treasure boy. They were preparing to go deeper down the only pipe leaving the area. Dolec stepped up to display his preeminent Boss in Training-ness. He covered the business and secured a topside meeting with Little Miss Hotpants like a pro. “Well played partner”, came from Charles when he fell back to the group. “Take the bull by the horns” was his response to Charles and obvious sch0ooling towards Grandeal. Suzie and her crew had dibs on the passage so our group would backtrack to the frog zone, there was an unexplored area. They needed something to do and it was about to happen.
Getting back to the frog pool and then going up the west steps there was three chambers. The first was a dimly lit chamber. Lying face down on the floor of the chamber was a body of a man-at-arms type clearly damaged and with light coming from underneath. Biff checked it out and was double rewarded. A medallion of continual light along with a whole bunch of rot grubs – Huzzah! Leaving the chamber now distinctly smelling of burnt flesh the gang pushed into the final and largest chamber in this zone. A silent and hungry horde awaited the arrival of the hobos. A clan of twisted creatures known as hook horrors.
A horrible combination of vulture, cockroach, bird, bone, and claws; and is one of the worst to ever come climbing out of the Underdark (foreshadowing?). Bring on the extreme violence… It is flesh ripping time. Six in total which started as a hooky handful but once the swords got themselves sorted and in front of the puny weaklings (hello wiz-kids). This would probably have been the end of most exploration teams but we had some razor sharp blades and these things end up being more akin to mobile back scratchers. Once dead they were hacked up for neat parts. This process attracted a swarm of rats.
Eventually they got moving, into the final room in the area. Walking the twenty feet they came to a door it was swollen shut until Charles kicked it in. Beyond was a small candle lined room with a bed. The bed was should have fallen apart ages ago but a mostly rotten chest seemed to be holding it up. Inside was a lotta crap and a small onyx statue of a dog. Cool, folks seemed to know what it was.
This section of the sewers had now been fully explored. They had three options: Leave, go into caverns, follow Suzie Hotpants. Dolec, for some reason choose number three. It was way to early to surface and going into caverns can lead to mayhem, general exploration in a constrained environment was favoured.
More mutant frogs attacked on the journey to the next local. From the last settling pool they followed the long sewer passage to a large settling pool. On the way they encountered a dead merc, cause of death was by multiple woundings of unknown origin. This new pool area seemed to have a distinct aura of unease.
They looked in but did not proceed immediately.
Darkness obscured the extents of the chamber but they could see an alcove.
They waited for something to happen.
Team UG (you figure it out): Dolec, Chung-Li, Biff, BoB, Katre, Charles, Gord and Grandeal the Grey
ROLECALL (Bosses in Training)
Dolec Da the Hero (F7) 88101 xp +10% <120000> CRT 1d20/IV
Missing five teeth
Chung-Li the Elven Champion Sorcerer (E7) 143241 xp <250000> +10% CRT 1d8/II
The Henchmen
Biff Bartley the Half-Orc Blackguard (HO8) 130139 <MAX> +5% CRT 1d14/II
‘BOB’ the Unseen (N8) 92246 <180000> +5% CRT 1d20/II
Charles in Charge the Champion (F7) 94414 <120000> +10% CRT 1d20/IV
Franz the Grave Return (Lawful; XXXX) Sword
Critical Wound: Punctured lung (-2 CON)
Mostly DEAD. (-1 CON)
Katre Elf-Girl and Swordsman Conjuror (E4) 18372 xp <32000> +0% CRT 1d8/II
Gord the Scout (R3) 6500 xp <10000> +10% CRT 1d14/III
Grandeal the Grey Seer (MU2) 3250 xp <5000> 5% CRT 1d6/I
RESERVES (Death Recovery)
Ramrod the Cloned Thief - Recovering from death (yet again) 846 start (876)
Bimbles of the now creepy electrical eyes– Freshly not dead (881).
Raul of more facial scars (-2 CHA) – no longer mostly dead (866)
Herbert the Gnome - no longer dead (867)
Elapsed Campaign Time
870 – Everyone Else for reasons.
858 – Carla-Team (at Dry Gulch)
Domain Days
Gormandia: 20 (Start 838)
Bunnland:?
Join us for session Three-Hundred-and-Forty-One when we ask the questions:
What’s with the unease?
What is beyond our light?
What happened to Suzie Hotpants?
Tale of the Tape
All is well so far.
KILLS
Giant mutant frogs (9)
Rot grubs
Hook Horrors (6)
Rats (50)
Giant mutant frogs (10)
LOOT
1 pp
223 gp
15000 sp
Horseshoes of Zephyr
Medallion of continual light (Biff)
Components: hook horror bits x2
Onyx dog figurine of wonderous power
