Run Date: March 13, 2024
PCs
Kimli:
Lv1 Vaultguard
Delvinan:
Lv1 Nightblade
Enddilas: Lv1 Spellsword
Mina: Lv2
Explorer
Gimli brother of Kimli: Lv1 Craftpriest
Hench
None
Oppressive Darkness
After purchasing some extra supplies, the party headed back to the Manse. On their way, they spotted a pair of giant hyenas. After several moments of consideration, the party decided to take the initiative and fire a volley at the approaching creatures; with poor results. Kimli had stepped forward and landed a solid strike with his crossbow, but the creatures soon closed the gap and tore him down. While the hyenas’ powerful jaws snapped through bone, the party fled.
They ended up circling around and arriving at the Manse after dark, pitched camp, then marched down. Along the passages just before the cavern system they discovered Kimli’s brother Gimli. After news of his brother’s demise was passed on, he agreed to help in the delve. It was no long before the group arrived at the first chamber and heard the sound of snapping and crunching.
Delvinan knew the tongue of the beasts, and attempted to parley. He explained they were trying to kill the ghouls that had fled and did not mean to trespass (7 orcs and 10 dredge is quite a number to fight for them). The leader weighed their argument, having watched the creatures flee and immediately turn to dust when cut down. After Delvinan offered some extra rations as a sign of good faith, they were content to feed the dredges and let the party go.
The quick start was followed by a time of peace. The party followed their map back to the chamber with the stream. Due to recent rains, it was rushing now. There was a bit of conversation regarding climbing down to explore the area as it appeared to have hewn stone akin to the Avarian cathedral. The water, however, stayed their hand. After a quick rest, the group held a vote then began heading back to the trapdoor Enddilas had “discovered.” During the prior delve, Delvinan had spotted a small hole leading somewhere in the pit and wondered if something was hidden through it.
After passing through the cathedral, the maelstrom room, and the secret door; the party arrived at the trapdoor. They gave it a prod to make sure it was still there before deciding… not to go down. “We should check the other halls and make sure nothing comes up from behind us.” With that, they went down the west hall until it shifted into chambers of slimy green, stinking mucus.
The party was not perturbed by the change of scent and scenery, and soon found themselves turning a corner into an ambush of Troglodytes; these having mouths akin to a blobfish. The party was beset on all sides and desperately fought to break the enemy ranks. They succeeded in killing a third, but morale held and the group was felled. Fate intervened on Enddilas’s behalf, and what followed was the spoilery details of her preparation as a sacrifice for the great denizen of these caves.
Rewards (Totals)
None
Afterword
Another TPK. Unsure how many this makes it, but the players were certainly frustrated. For myself, I’d like to see them succeed. This dungeon was stocked using the JJ rules, and I had more uniques than monster encounters; and what is probably a solid amount of treasures to boot. It’s just unfortunate that none were ever found. It does serve to show, though, that getting nothing too many times can exacerbate already building issues.
I’ll probably be getting feedback from the group and seeing where (or if) we go from here. ACKS does seem to prefer larger groups of 6+, though it has been said that signposting should be improved (ie: knowing how tough something is going to be).
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