When last I posted here, the party had finally won through to the Immense Cavern (level nine) after defeating the last derro slaver outpost on level 7.
This was really a landmark, because this was the first step beyond what my previous group accomplished. The old group stalled out at the derro slaver camp on 7 after 2 players moved away and one got a promotion. At that point we had to build up a new group and I let another player run games for a while before the current group finally spun up.
The party had done well for themselves up to this point, having handily beaten the derro slavers, the Wight Lady and numerous random encounters on level 7, but I was a tad concerned. I strongly dislike the flavor of levels 8 and 8A in Castle Whiterock, and had put in place a home-tooled replacement for it using various online resources and the excellent Dolmenwood setting as a template. However, the party wasn't interested in chasing down any leads to Fairyland, and so they returned to the derro camp, rolled aside the stone blocking the tunnel, and headed downward.
Now, level 9 is a quantum leap in difficulty. The Watery Way (level 7) was designed for 8th level characters (the party consists of 5 7th level pcs) while the Immense Cavern was designed for 9th level characters (i.e., characters with access to things like Raise Dead and Teleport; game-changing mechanics that make life much easier in the harder levels).
In addition, there are at least two other sub-levels *within* level nine: the Inverted Tower, a secret hideout for a small drow enclave, and the Tomb of Ankhotep, a fairly traditional tomb-raider-style dungeon. The Inverted Tower is exceedingly hard to stumble on, since it hangs from the roof of the Immense Cavern hundreds of feet above the cave floor and well beyond the range of darkvision. The Tomb, however, sticks out like a sore thumb. Inadvertently dropped there by an improperly phrased wish centuries before, the giant, obsidian pyramid stands surrounded by a veritable mountain of sand, standing in stark contrast to the moraine and mucky humus of the surrounding cave.
My players were not to be daunted, though. They made their way down the tunnel to level 9 and promptly set their sights on the pyramid. After some noodling around the exterior and narrowly avoiding being crushed by the falling slab traps, they found their way inside and ran smack dab into the clay golem. They wisely beat a hasty retreat and watch from afar while the golem emerged to reset the slab trap.
They then went on to meet and befriend Gar and Nar, the lonely ettin. I'll admit I made him seem sympathetic, but I felt the need to provide more foreshadowing and local history for the cave system and how it relates to the duergar. The cavern began to take on shape and scale to the players...
They set off from the abandoned ettin lair to find the way down to the Bleak Theater, but wound off getting sidetracked in the fungus forest by the "old trail" leading off to the north. (NEVER follow the "old trail") The party wound up crossing swords with a drow banshee, which they dispatched, but at a cost - Bear died as a result of the banshee's wail.
Knowing they didn't have access to Raise Dead yet, but that a Resurrection could be performed back at their little secret lair in the Fane of Justicia, they prudently decided to cut off Bear's head and bury his body and equipment rather than slog all the way back up there with a corpse weighing them down.
Here's where my party's short-sightedness may have cost them. Gektas cast Secure Shelter right there in the banshee's clearing so the party could rest in relative safety, not bothering to consider whether the sounds of combat - much less the banshee's wail - might have drawn any attention. It's worth noting that there's a significant aerial component to this dungeon, as the party has been attacked by giant bats and frequently heard the distant, echoing growls and flutters of the eponymous Immense Cavern. Oh well.
While camped out, one of the folks on watch detected the sound of scuttling (feet? claws?) on the roof of the shelter, followed by timid scratching and clawing around the walls of the solid Shelter. The party chose to ignore the sounds and rest fully, so they could meet whatever threat presented itself when fresh in the "morning".
This they did, and had some difficulty opening the door, because it was being held closed by something stretchy. Webs.
No comments:
Post a Comment