Winter's Log: Part 6
We decided to double back to check a door that we'd missed. The passage beyond was interrupted by a great rift in the earth. An earthquake had, at some point, rent the stone here and shifted the passage some ten feet to the side. The room at the end of the passage contained a pedestal shaped like a dragon holding an empty tray. Nothing of interest here.
Further down the rift, though, was a small cave. In this cave was a glowing orange worm-like creature. It attacked as we approached. The warmth radiating off this creature rivaled the heat of fire. At this moment, Quince became even more useless than usual. He was unable to attack without also hurting himself. And for a fat worm, this thing was pretty agile. Most of our attacks missed, but with a few well-placed blows, it finally died.
As we progressed deeper into the dungeon, we had several more encounters with various enemies, including another one of the fire worms. We defeated these creatures with some difficulty (we must have been having an off day), but eventually prevailed and continued our exploration. There were various statues, carvings, and dusty books lying around, but nothing to write home about.
We descended a flight of stairs that appeared to pass under one of the rooms we'd searched before. After a long passage, we came to a room that was once rectangular, but the back wall had collapsed. Four goblins sorted through twigs and root piles. I signaled for the others to be silent. I wanted to get the drop on these goblins. I would have pulled off a successful sneak attack, if Jonah and Crons hadn't tripped over themselves, making a huge racket. The battle was short and our party emerged victorious even though we'd lost the element of surprise.
Beyond the crumbled wall, the chamber extended back beyond view with rough cave walls. Saplings, briars and other woody plant life dotted the floor of this chamber, nourished by the light of glowing fungus growing on the ceiling. This appeared to be the evil druid Belak's garden. Ten of the plants began moving as we approached. Great. More twig blights. The party hacked its way through them as we moved towards the back of the chamber. With our growing power, enemies like these were starting to seem a bit laughable.
In a clearing surrounded by crumbling walls, stood a huge twisted tree: that which the goblins called the Gulthias tree. Beneath the tree were two men, a woman and a giant tree frog. We drew our weapons, expecting a fight, when one of the men (the one wearing the garb of a druid) held up his hand. "Hold your actions a moment, you know not what you do!" cried Belak.
He seemed to genuinely not want to fight, so we hesitated and began interrogating him. He explained that the Gulthias tree was the source of the fruit that cured illness, and that the tree itself was a source of great power. After a few more questions, it was clear to us that he only wanted to make us his slaves, just like his dead-eyed companions. Well, as this was clearly not a favorable outcome for us, we attacked.
Three twig blights joined the fight, but they were no match for our might. Neither was the frog. Belaks servants were a bit more of a challenge. In the midst of the brawl, the druid summoned a big fireball that followed Crons's every movement, burning him. Once the woman and the other man had fallen, we combined our efforts on Belak. I think Crons was upset about the whole fireball thing, because when he swung his axe, he cleaved the evil druid in twain.
With Belak dead, Jonah and Erky stabilized his two slaves. They were after all Sir Braford and Sharwyn, the final two missing adventurers. Meanwhile the rest of us decided the Gulthias tree was too dangerous to leave standing. Without any means to cut it down, we settled for burning it. But as the tree died, so did Sir Braford and Sharwyn. We decided to at least bring their bodies back to town so that they could have proper funerals.
With that, our party returned to Oakhurst. The mayor of Oakhurst was glad to know that Belak was dead, and vowed to have any remaining twig blights destroyed on sight. Sharwyn's mother thanked us for returning her body and immediately began funeral preparations. We attended the funeral and paid our respects. Sir Braford had no family in town, so after giving him a proper burial, we decided to hold on to his sword. It was, after all, magical and very valuable.
So that was it. We had cleared the Sunless Citadel of the filth of goblins, confirmed the deaths of the four former adventurers, and slain the evil druid and his twisted tree. Erky Timbers had gotten his revenge on his captors, and then some, so he had no further attachment to the party. He decided to stay in Oakhurst for a while, until his temple required him elsewhere. So he took his share of the loot we'd gathered then we all said farewell to our gnomish companion.
The five of us that remained (Crons, Quince, Jonah, Midian, and myself) headed back to the city of Ashnar to meet up with Richter and collect our reward.
Further down the rift, though, was a small cave. In this cave was a glowing orange worm-like creature. It attacked as we approached. The warmth radiating off this creature rivaled the heat of fire. At this moment, Quince became even more useless than usual. He was unable to attack without also hurting himself. And for a fat worm, this thing was pretty agile. Most of our attacks missed, but with a few well-placed blows, it finally died.
As we progressed deeper into the dungeon, we had several more encounters with various enemies, including another one of the fire worms. We defeated these creatures with some difficulty (we must have been having an off day), but eventually prevailed and continued our exploration. There were various statues, carvings, and dusty books lying around, but nothing to write home about.
We descended a flight of stairs that appeared to pass under one of the rooms we'd searched before. After a long passage, we came to a room that was once rectangular, but the back wall had collapsed. Four goblins sorted through twigs and root piles. I signaled for the others to be silent. I wanted to get the drop on these goblins. I would have pulled off a successful sneak attack, if Jonah and Crons hadn't tripped over themselves, making a huge racket. The battle was short and our party emerged victorious even though we'd lost the element of surprise.
Beyond the crumbled wall, the chamber extended back beyond view with rough cave walls. Saplings, briars and other woody plant life dotted the floor of this chamber, nourished by the light of glowing fungus growing on the ceiling. This appeared to be the evil druid Belak's garden. Ten of the plants began moving as we approached. Great. More twig blights. The party hacked its way through them as we moved towards the back of the chamber. With our growing power, enemies like these were starting to seem a bit laughable.
In a clearing surrounded by crumbling walls, stood a huge twisted tree: that which the goblins called the Gulthias tree. Beneath the tree were two men, a woman and a giant tree frog. We drew our weapons, expecting a fight, when one of the men (the one wearing the garb of a druid) held up his hand. "Hold your actions a moment, you know not what you do!" cried Belak.
He seemed to genuinely not want to fight, so we hesitated and began interrogating him. He explained that the Gulthias tree was the source of the fruit that cured illness, and that the tree itself was a source of great power. After a few more questions, it was clear to us that he only wanted to make us his slaves, just like his dead-eyed companions. Well, as this was clearly not a favorable outcome for us, we attacked.
Three twig blights joined the fight, but they were no match for our might. Neither was the frog. Belaks servants were a bit more of a challenge. In the midst of the brawl, the druid summoned a big fireball that followed Crons's every movement, burning him. Once the woman and the other man had fallen, we combined our efforts on Belak. I think Crons was upset about the whole fireball thing, because when he swung his axe, he cleaved the evil druid in twain.
With Belak dead, Jonah and Erky stabilized his two slaves. They were after all Sir Braford and Sharwyn, the final two missing adventurers. Meanwhile the rest of us decided the Gulthias tree was too dangerous to leave standing. Without any means to cut it down, we settled for burning it. But as the tree died, so did Sir Braford and Sharwyn. We decided to at least bring their bodies back to town so that they could have proper funerals.
With that, our party returned to Oakhurst. The mayor of Oakhurst was glad to know that Belak was dead, and vowed to have any remaining twig blights destroyed on sight. Sharwyn's mother thanked us for returning her body and immediately began funeral preparations. We attended the funeral and paid our respects. Sir Braford had no family in town, so after giving him a proper burial, we decided to hold on to his sword. It was, after all, magical and very valuable.
So that was it. We had cleared the Sunless Citadel of the filth of goblins, confirmed the deaths of the four former adventurers, and slain the evil druid and his twisted tree. Erky Timbers had gotten his revenge on his captors, and then some, so he had no further attachment to the party. He decided to stay in Oakhurst for a while, until his temple required him elsewhere. So he took his share of the loot we'd gathered then we all said farewell to our gnomish companion.
The five of us that remained (Crons, Quince, Jonah, Midian, and myself) headed back to the city of Ashnar to meet up with Richter and collect our reward.