Shadowdark Stonehell Session 5

In Session 4, we spent nearly the entire session exploring a single room and its occupant. It wasn’t a boring session. It was, actually, quite tense at times. It was also pretty much all impromptu as a result of my asking if the players would like something interesting to happy in what would otherwise be a plain and boring room. As a result, they recovered one magic item and we have added to the history to Stonehell, its inhabitants, and the inhabitants of the surrounding area. By the end of the session, two of the five characters were incapacitated and the party retreated to a relatively safe area to recover. We’ll pick up there after the break.

All players were in attendance for this session so Collem rejoined the group…albeit only for a short period of time. There are, of course, potential spoilers for Stonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted Halls below. My GM comments, as usual, are in italics.

4 Spring 1024

• While recovering and waiting for their incapacitated comrades to recover, a group of adventurers were spotted traveling through the canyon from the party’s perch up in some caves. This group followed the main path through the canyon and then veered off the path leading to the chambers that the party had recently vacated.
  • Brielle, Clara, and Ivy quickly made their way down the switchback trail to warn this party of what might be found. They tried yelling out, but the noise from the waterfall on the opposite side of the canyon prevented their shouts from being heard.
  • Before they can reach the canyon floor, one individual of that other group came screaming out and was sprinting for Stonehell’s gatehouse. He was quickly followed by the rest of his party, chasing after him.
  • Ivy chases after this fleeing group. She eventually catches up to one of them, a wizard named Tom, and convinces this individual that she is friendly.
    • The fighter who was fleeing with all haste he can muster had gone into the room where the party had encountered the “ice elf.” Although they had pushed his body and chair back into the hidden room and closed the door, they had not cleaned up the carnage that they left behind.
    • This fighter saw the bits and slices of the “ice elf” that the party had removed and left lying about the room. He lost it and fled. They are all planning on heading back to Hawk’s Nest.
    • This individual also dubbed the party the Brain Butchers based on the head “viscera” they had so neatly sliced off. Ivy (or maybe Rachel or both) was not a fan of this moniker for her group.
• Everyone regroups at the camp in the cave and they are able to rest for the night.
• In the morning, they take some time to give the circlet they had recovered a closer look.
  • The eye in the sapphire mounted on the circlet continued to move and track the movement of the party. Collem decides that he wants to figure out what it does and puts it on his head.
  • The eye in the gem rotates to look “backwards” as though it is looking into Collem’s head. He instantly attacks the party–casting ice/cold type spells–and attempts to flee.
  • Collem is caught by Beast and Korgath and is slain. His body is “looted” and the circlet is placed back into a sack and into Beast’s new, slightly used, backpack.
• The party heads back to the chambers where they had encountered the “ice elf.” There were other rooms that the had not yet explored. As they head that way, a halfling comes running up to join them. He is a wizard and his name is Jano. He had been with the other, fleeing, party, but had wanted to stay and explore Stonehell for magic. The party quickly and easily accepts him within the group (and I’m sure it had nothing to do with Jano being Todd’s new character).
• There are two doors down the hallway past the “ice elf” room. One, which the party had previously glanced at, is boarded up from the outside with small writing in dried blood stating, “Mercy undeserved; death is the only release,” over and over again. The group opts for the other door.
  • Korgath opens the door and a bucket of green gooey stuff falls on to him. Room is empty, but the ceiling above the door has “Made you look” on it. The green stuff doesn’t seem to do anything but is very resistant to being removed. (Korgath still has a good bit on him.)
• Jano insists on checking out the hidden room with the “ice elf.” Outside of finding that it is incredibly cold within by sticking his hand in, nothing new is discovered.
• The party then heads down another passage that they had not yet explored.
  • They found a chamber with a damaged ceiling, water damaged, and not quite structurally sound per the resident dwarf, Brielle. She could tell that the damage was from water that went up into the roof rather than just seeping through but no indication as to the specifics. (Rachel asked if it looked like it was damage from water above or water coming through the chamber and going up. I asked her, as is becoming fairly common for me, which she thought would be more interesting. She chose up into the roof. Perhaps we find out what had happened at some point.)
  • The all carefully made their way through to a pair of double doors leading out of this chamber. After another hallway and set of double doors, they came to another chamber. This one had an open pit in front of a stone throne. Lots of “adventurer graffiti” on the throne. One arm had a mechanism that looked like it would open and close the pit, but was clearly broken.
  • There was really nothing else of interest in here until Jano discovered a poorly hidden secret door. The chamber beyond it just had a large stone table and debris from broken chairs and shelves.
    • Jano determines that there is something magical about one of the legs of the stone table. With some additional scrutiny, the party finds that the table leg has a small, secret compartment that can be accessed by twisting the leg. Inside is a small pouch with some silver pieces, a potion which Jano believes is a potion of healing, and a brass ring with enameled bands of scintillating colors.
      • Jano believes the ring has something to do with transportation/teleportation but can determine no more about its powers.
      • Jano holds on to the ring, Brielle takes the silver, and Clara takes the potion.
• They then leave this compound of chambers, leaving the boarded up door unopened, to go explore some other caves. One is clearly the den of wolves. Another looks to be the lair of a mountain lion. Both of these caves are left alone.
• The last cave they go to explore is more of an archway with a hallway of worked stone beyond. (It is also the closest to the gatehouse.) As soon as they pass through the archway, they all feel very uneasy and it is cold within. It feels as though something really bad has happened here.
  • The sound of sobbing children can be heard from a hallway leading off to the west from this entry chamber. Korgath moves forward to take a look.
  • In the next chamber, he spots four children huddling together, wracked with sobbing. He asks if they are okay and steps forward a bit closer. As he does, the children turn to look at him. Their faces are half-rotted and their frightful grins are filled with sharp fangs.

That’s where we ended the session.

Not much to add from my perspective. I think it was pretty clearly telegraphed that the circlet removed from the “ice elf” probably wasn’t something to mess around with. I mean, it does seem to have at least an eye of its own.

I’ve also changed a few things up a bit as anyone familiar with Stonehell might recognize. We’ve played some early Stonehell stuff before so I wanted to change things up. Plus, I think undead children are: a) more terrifying and creepy; and, b) makes the sense of something horrible having happened a little more poignant.

One PC death to date. Might there be another by undead child at the next session? I guess we’ll find out soon, but it does seem somewhat ironic that the gravedigger might be killed by the dead not yet buried.