A session was missed the week of the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US, but we got right back to it the next week. By the end of our last session, the party had decided to leave Stonehell to rest and recuperate back in Hawk’s Nest. Ivy was unconcious, Clara could not use her healing magics anymore, and Beast, Jano, and Korgath were all off distracted by some shiny thing (Todd missed the session and RJ had to unexpectedly leave early). Seeing it was just Jen and Rachel left playing, it is no surprise that they made the smart and most reasoned choice. We will pick up with the party returning to Stonehell after a rest and purchasing some more supplies.
There are, of course, potential spoilers for Stonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted Halls below. My GM comments, as usual, are in italics.
5 Spring 1024
- Quickly returning to the Canyon after a night’s rest in Hawk’s Nest, the party made a beeline for the stairs down to Stonehell. J’Haak appeared and offered insurance again, but he was politely declined.
- The party continues with their quest for “da Spa.”
- They pass through some of the passages and chambers (worked and natural) already explored. They find a room with a dry fountain and basin in it. The fountain is shaped like a large leaping fish. Some cursory investigation reveals nothing so they continue on.
- Another corridor reveals the backside of the portcullis from the “skeleton” room they had explored previously. Continuing on…
- They come to a pair of doors. Behind these can be heard a mechanical clicking spinning sound. Opening the doors shows a a large vertical wheel mounted to the far wall. It stops spinning as the party steps in.
- The wheel has alternating red and white sections, an equal number of each along with pegs, one for each section, which strike a flexible stopper at the top. Beast steps up and spins the wheel.
- It stops on a white section and symbol upon it blazes…Beast feels more hale and vigorous.
- Additional characters spin and it becomes clear that stopping on a white section is good and stopping on red is bad. A few spins and a few different things happen. After those who like the risk get their fill, the party starts to leave but…
- Jano dares Beast to give the wheel another spin. Beast, not one to back away easily, spins the wheel…it lands on red…a scythe like symbol blazes and slashes through Beast…he drops dead on the spot.
- A death by dare!
- After (coldly and callously) looting Beast for any valuables and equipment, the party heads out, backtracking the way they came.
- The wheel has alternating red and white sections, an equal number of each along with pegs, one for each section, which strike a flexible stopper at the top. Beast steps up and spins the wheel.
- They come to a set of double doors not yet explored. They are locked…not just stuck, but actually locked. A comment is made that maybe they are locked for a reason. But the doors are broken open via brute strength.
- There is a relatively short passage leading to another set of double doors. Single doors are set on either side down the entire length of the passage, about every ten feet or so.
- One of the single doors is opened and the small room is filled with four zombies who immediately attack.
- After this, the party is a bit more strategic about opening the doors. They encounter various undead creatures in each room. Some rooms also have items scattered about the floor.
- During this door-to-door approach, damage is done to the party. One zombie, after being turned by Clara, fled out of this area to locations unknown. A normal shield and a scroll of floating disk are recovered in the rooms.
- Korgath checks back they way they came at one point. He spots some glowing red eyes coming from the cave with the glowing mushrooms. Whatever creature they belong to stays just outside of the light carried by the party. Korgath has Brielle come check, she sees them too. When Korgath turns to return to the party’s main actions, small, dim flames briefly flare around the head of this creature, revealing some sort of large animal…perhaps a canine…as being the source of the glowing eyes. When the flames die down, darkness only remains where the creature had been.
- The door-to-door sales, er, exploration continues until they open the last door on the right, just before the double doors at the end of this corridor. There appears to be nothing but garbage, junk, and debris on the floor within. Korgath enters and finds some chainmail in scattered items. As he picks it up, all of the stuff in the room rises and starts to swirl about and it gets very cold within.
That’s where the session ended.
Between looting poor Beast…leaving the body behind DESPITE the message from management left at the top of the entry stairway to not do exactly this…and the door-to-door fighting with the undead, they didn’t get too far in their exploration of Stonehell.
Death by dare…I wonder who will be the next character to die and what will be their cause of death. So far, I’d say I’m 0 and 2 with the deaths. Zero by GM and two by players pushing their luck. They have only themselves to blame.
