Session date: Monday, August 6, 2018
Game date: Saturday, September 18, 210
PCs:
Gulleck Stonefoot, Dwarf 7, hp 41, xp 71454/140000
Caryatid, Magic-user 5, hp 24, xp 20451/40000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 4, hp 15, xp 9222/16000
Adrien, Fighter 4, hp 16, xp 8169/16000
Retainers:
Manley "Meat" Smythe, Fighter 5, hp 17, xp 16826/32000
Father Chase Pike, Cleric 3, hp 13, xp 4342/6000
Orin, Elf 1, hp 4, xp 2033/4000
Jack, Thief 3, hp 10, xp 2724/4800
It had been a LONG time since our last delve below Idalium, both in real time and in game time. Seventeen weeks had passed, in fact. We took some time to explore the consequences of the adventurers' unexpected three month disappearance from Idalium. Those with "day jobs" had some explaining to do to get their old jobs back. Everyone who lived in an apartment had been evicted and their belongings had been stored or disposed of by various friends and relations. All of the adventurers were now living in the rickety old house they had purchased over a year ago, in The Steps, the rundown and neglected hillside neighborhood to the west of the river that ran through Idalium. Collectively they paid several hundred gold darics to replace the planks and boards with a proper front door and windows. Adrien and Simon bought several hundred darics worth of gems to feed to "The Judge" down on level 3, to learn what they could about recent events in the dungeon.
Eventually, they arrived at the Rusty Lantern and descended to the streets of buried Ancient Idalium. Though it had been a long time indeed, the silent and cool air underneath the city was the same as ever. When they passed through the town square, they discovered the ominous sight of a recently deceased adventurer or bandit, lying on the cobblestones near the shattered fountain. They could not ascertain exactly what had killed him, but as they gingerly examined his body they heard jingling in his backpack, and discovered several hundred silver shekels and a few dozen gold darics. Grimly, they redistributed this wealth to themselves, and continued along the familiar streets deeper into the dungeon.
There were half a dozen hedonists hanging out in the "den" of the Temple of Hedonism. Thankfully, it must not have been a scheduled orgy day, as they were just loafing around drinking wine and playing music. They were surprised to see the adventurers after so many months, and bid them success as the adventurers passed through the temple on their way to the third level.
At the top of the stairs, the adventurers noticed something new: a small "sandwich-board" sign with writing in Common facing down the stairs. The writing said, "BEWARE: This level is protected!" The adventurers exchanged looks, wondering about these new benefactors of the second level that had arrived during their absence. Then they proceeded downstairs and entered the third level.
The "Judge", the living stone column perpetually standing in a room adjacent to the entry hall, was very surprised and pleased to see the adventurers again after so many months. Gulleck fed the Judge a gemstone and asked for general news of the dungeon events in the last few months. The Judge told them that the Queen of Nightmares had increased her entourage of bugbear slaves by a significant number (in the aftermath of the destruction of the Goblin King). But the big news was that a strange party of dwarves had taken up in residence on the second level. They seemed to be searching the dungeon for something specific and occasionally gave the Judge "shiny stones" in return for information. They had marked the second level as their territory and warned the various factions of the third level to mind their manners if they traveled above.
Caryatid gave the Judge a gem and asked about the garden that she remembered hearing about once or twice. She was still hoping to find the rumored beanstalk that was said to lead to the castle of the giant from whence her goose had come, in hopes of finding more of the special oats that would make it lay more golden eggs. Gulleck, on the other hand, felt that this rumor was too silly to possibly be true. The Judge did tell Caryatid that the door to the garden was through this level to the north. So that's where they set out for.
They proceeded along a very long hallway past many side corridors, and eventually came to a wider, more ornate hall that ran west. The floor was covered in a once-grand carpet that was now tattered and worn. The walls were hung with huge, dusty paintings of wealthy Idalians engaged in various activities of the rich and idle. The party decided to bypass this hall for the moment, however, and continued along a smaller hallway to the north.
This hallway soon opened up into a large open room with what once obviously once a very nice polished wooden floor. In the center of the room they could make out all sorts of debris and rubble, where the ceiling had collapsed, and among the rubble were the bones of enormous snakes, as well as the dessicated husks of dead giant spiders. The adventurers recognized this room as being directly below the hole in the floor of the apartment courtyard in which the orcs and later the Goblin Prince's group had resided.
They moved further into the room, but as they stepped onto the wooden floor, torches set in wall sconces suddenly flared to life all around the perimeter of the room. The adventurers could see another doorway leaving the room to the west, and also saw that the perimeter of the room was lined with ten unusual cabinets or wardrobes. Before they had much time to take this in, the air was filled with music from no visible source, playing a stately dance. The ten cabinets suddenly opened, and from each emerged a life-sized cloth doll, stepping wobbily onto the ballroom floor. Five of them wore elegant men's attire, and the other five wore fancy white gowns. Their features were crudely stitched, and their heads and limbs were floppy and limp.
The dolls gained speed as they emerged, and danced their way across the ballroom floor, dodging the rubble in the center as they approached the adventurers. Their arms were outstretched as they attempted to sweep the adventurers up into the dance. Meat, Caryatid, Father Chase, and Orin were all taken up by the embrace of a doll, and found their feet moving of their own volition to the rhythm of the music, dancing in graceful circles with the dolls. Gulleck and Simon attacked the dolls, weapons slicing into stuffed cloth. The doll that Simon hit thrashed around and released Orin. Meat, even in the midst of dancing, managed to draw his sword and carve his doll open entirely and it fell in a heap of cloth and spun flax and stopped moving. Caryatid struggled to get free of the strange magic that forced her to dance with her partner but she was unable to do so.
The one-sided battle went on. The dolls never attacked with any physical force, but kept sweeping the adventurers up into an unwanted dance. The music was loud and I was rolling every round to see if wandering monsters would turn up. Eventually, the last of the ten dolls was hacked down and the music and torchlight faded.
As the adventurers, breathing heavily, took stock of the situation, the silence was broken by a slow, ironic handclap. They turned to see a group of about half a dozen dwarves standing at the edge of the ballroom floor at the same hallway to the south that they had entered from. The lead dwarf was smirking and applauding with slow, deliberate claps. The adventurers sized them up and walked over to speak with them.
"Well, thanks for the help," said Gulleck.
"Ah, you seemed to have everything under control. Besides, we saw no reason for us to get caught up in that spell," said the lead dwarf. He spoke in a strange, unfamiliar accent. [My attempt at a cod Russian/Slavic accent. Yes, as a DM I am not at all averse to a bit of "amateur theatrics".] Their clothes as well were unusual for Idalium, and indicated an origin in a colder climate. The adventurers attempted to ask the dwarves about themselves, but the lead dwarf simply offered to take them to his leader.
"How about you come with me and meet Tobar. Perhaps he will tell you what you ask."
So they followed the dwarves back up to the second level, and were brought to the room directly above the ballroom floor: the courtyard of the apartments that used to house the orcs. Now it appeared to be the redoubt of a party of dwarves, who were busy preparing meals, moving supplies, etc. The adventurers were met by a pair of rather weathered-looking dwarves. Their clothes, like those of the others, were rugged and utilitarian. After being introduced by the dwarf who had escorted them, the senior of the pair spoke.
"Well met, cousin," he said, nodding to Gulleck. "My name is Tobar. This is Yoska, my second-in-command."
Pleasantries were exchanged. Tobar was guarded but pragmatic and seemed to be evaluating the character of the adventurers before revealing too much to them. He told them that his group had come from the north, from their ancestral homeland in the Balinok Mountains, and that they were on an expedition to search for a long lost dwarven artifact that fell into the hands of the Ancient Idalians hundreds of years ago. He was cagey about the exact nature of the artifact, but told the adventurers he would pay for any information they came across that helped them locate it. He also told them that their current obstacle was in dealing with the Queen of Nightmares on the third level. Her bugbear minions had already abducted several of their number, and they would be happy to see her eliminated. In fact, they would be willing to pay a bounty on any bugbears that the party killed, and offered to pay 10 gold darics for each left bugbear ear the adventurers brought back as evidence.
The group was happy to shake on that offer, and though Tobar and Yoska seemed a bit aloof and cool to them, any enemy of the Queen of Nightmares was a friend of theirs. They parted with an exchange of mutual well wishes for future success, and the adventurers returned to the Rusty Lantern tavern, perhaps with only a few coins to show for it, but with a decent appraisal of what was new in the dungeon.
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