Old School Essentials Solo #2
In the first session, the party entered the dungeon, were chased by robed figures with maces, killed two of the figures, and discovered a secret passage in which to rest.
The party is: Feog the dwarf, Yaïma the elf, Elomi the halfling, and Dark Rain the thief.
The map from this session:
Adventure Session
From the darkness of the passage in which the party was resting, a lone elf suddenly appeared. Feog and Yaïma quickly rose to their feet. “Hail,” Feog said. Dark Rain re-lit his torch.
Through discussion, the party found out that the elf, named Radwen, was not allied with the robed figures; in fact, he knew little about them. They were a recent addition to the dungeon environment, and had other denizens concerned. Radwen allowed the party to cross through his room.
The door led to a passage angling at 45° to the southwest, then again another 45° toward the south. At the end of the passage, it connected with a 40' wide corridor with a double row of columns supporting the ceiling. This massive corridor stretched far beyond the torch light.
The party continued down the corridor, off to the side behind the northern row of columns. A 10' wide passage branched off to the south, but the corridor of columns continued on to the west.
The party followed the branching path, around a turn to the right. It shortly ended at a door. Dark Rain pressed an ear to the door, but heard nothing. He pulled at the door but found it stuck. Yaïma yanked at it, pulling it open to reveal a continuation of the passage.
From further on, the party could hear chittering and yipping and saw lantern light. Dark Rain crept down the passage to scout ahead. At the end, he peeked around entry way to find a trapezoidal room inhabited by four (distracted) gnolls.
Suddenly, a group of 6 neanderthals entered the room from a passage on the opposite wall of the room from where Dark Rain was eavesdropping. The gnolls and neanderthals began to converse, each speaking their own language but communicating with seemingly little difficulty.
Unwilling to deal with 10 fearsome humanoids, the party backtracked out to the columned corridor. Dark Rain lit a new torch and guided his companions to the west.
The corridor finally came to an end [Referee's note: mercifully, when I reached the edge of my graph paper!], with a passage leading to the north. As they followed it, the party members began to pick up a nauseating stench on the air.
They reached an intersection where the passage continued on ahead while a side passage branched off, curving toward the north as well. The stench emanated from the curving path. As they pondered their next move, the sound of sibilant speech followed the odor. The party headed back to the corridor of columns as 8 troglodytes appeared from the curving passage!
The troglodytes broke into fighting stances with their claws at the ready. The party immediately turned and ran!
The party rushed down the center of the columned corridor. Feog started to fall behind, owing to his dwarf-y physique. He cried out for help when the troglodytes reached within 10' of him, their disgusting odor sharp over his shoulder. The troglodytes were running along the edge of the room, behind the columns; some started to break out into the main path down the corridor.
Yaïma turned and began chanting, waving her arms about in the air. Elomi stepped behind the columns with an arrow knocked; Dark Rain shot an arrow from within the main path. Feog continued to run toward his party mates.
The arrows of both Elomi and Dark Rain struck true, bloodying their targets. Nevertheless, the troglodytes advanced. Yaïma unleashed her spell, causing four of the troglodytes in the main path to fall to the flagstones in a magical slumber (one of which was wounded by Dark Rain). Feog reached the column closest to Elomi, turned to face the troglodytes, and drew his battle axe.
The four standing troglodytes (including the one injured by Elomi) charged: two at Elomi and two at Feog. The injured troglodyte exacted his revenge on Elomi, slashing her to death with his claws. The two troglodytes on Feog did the same, leaving him a shredded mess on the stone floor.
Yaïma and Dark Rain ran for the side passage, and escaped back to Radwen's domain. Taking pity on the remaining two adventurers, Radwen guided them back to the surface. From there, they returned to town.
Referee Notes
I want to remember to re-roll if the generator puts a door in the middle of a passage... See the passage right before the gnoll room!
And what is up with that massive corridor in the middle of the dungeon!? :)
R.I.P. Elomi the halfling and Feog the dwarf.
