Session date: Monday, January 14, 2019
Game date: Saturday, February 26, 211
PCs:
Caryatid, Magic-user 5, hp 24, xp 20808/40000
Simon Sackwell, Halfling 4, hp 15, xp 9596/16000
Adrien, Fighter 4, hp 16, xp 8479/16000
Retainers:
Father Chase Pike, Cleric 3, hp 13, xp 4506/6000
Orin, Elf 1, hp 4, xp 2213/4000
Jack, Thief 3, hp 10, xp 2888/4800
Unusually, Gulleck's player had to be absent, so we had a smaller than usual party. Three weeks had passed since the last delve, and as a hobbit of average intellect, Simon got to make a weekly saving throw to see if he snapped out of the Charm Person spell that had enchanted him. Amusingly, he failed all three saves, and thus Simon was quite racked by guilt at having let three weeks go by without finding a bugbear for his best friend in all the world.
On their way down to the third level, the party encountered a group of friendly gnomes (their favorite entry on the level one wandering monsters table), and a rival adventuring party dubbed "Sallies Forth" that was composed of a deranged hobbit and three increasingly corrupted magical clones from the malfunctioning resurrection pool. The Sallies were aggressive and rude, but hostilities were narrowly avoided, and the adventurers proceeded below.
They knew that the Queen of Nightmares kept bugbears as slaves, and they knew her palace was at the west end of the third level, so they made their way in that direction, hoping to find a single bugbear that they could trap or put to sleep. They followed the long, ornate palace wall that ran north and south until they found an ornate and grand door. Simon used his mindreading amulet, and sensed the presence of over half a dozen bugbears on the other side.
Somehow they lost their courage here, and decided that this was too many bugbears to take on inside the Queen of Nightmare's palace, so they retreated south to find an alternate entrance, perhaps hoping to double back and catch the bugbears by surprise. To the south, they found another ornate door, and Simon used his amulet to "listen" there as well.
Everyone was so eagerly awaiting the results of Simon's extrasensory perception that they didn't notice something very large and bizarre creeping up to them from the north: a giant ten-foot cube of some sort of glistening, transparent jelly-like substance. In fact, they only realized it was there when it bumped up against Simon and he yelped as he leaped backwards in shock. Where it had touched his bare flesh he felt numb and tingly.
Father Chase quickly pulled the door open and they all hurled themselves into the room as fast as they could. Unfortunately, Orin was the last in line, and just wasn't nimble enough. The gelatinous cube moved inexorably towards him and engulfed him as he attempted to run to the door. The rest of the party members, inside the room, turned and watched in horror as the enormous cube slid past the door with Orin suspended inside it like a lump of orange peel in some horrible marmalade, his insensate face frozen in a look of perpetual shock.
Caryatid thought fast and pulled out her magical rope of climbing. She ordered it to burrow right into the cube and tie itself around Orin. This was a rather unorthodox use of a rope of climbing, so I had Caryatid make an attack roll to see if the rope could successfully penetrate the cube. She rolled very well, and then Father Chase and Adrien rolled well on strength checks to heave on the rope and pull Orin out. With a grotesque slurping sound, Orin's limp body emerged from the gelatinous cube and slid across the stone floor. They quickly pulled him into the room, and slammed the door shut before the cube could reverse direction and retrieve him.
Orin was covered in bits of transparent jelly and he was not breathing or showing any other signs of life. Father Chase channeled the power of his staff of healing through Orin, and miraculously, Orin's eyes fluttered and he began to draw trembling breaths. Orin had narrowly escaped death, but he could not be awakened. They debated over what to do, and decided to explore the palace a bit, since everyone else was still fine. To the west, a door led to the grand hall that they had explored last month. A passage to the north was decorated with unfamiliar heraldry, and led to a door that was barricaded with a heap of old furniture. Again they ignored this door, and explored another side room off of this hall. Simon used his amulet at a door and detected some sort of primitive animal mind whose thoughts were only of hunger. They passed on this door as well, and opened a different door to find a sort of supply closet filled with old brooms and mops and other maintenance and cleaning equipment. There was a large winch apparatus in the corner, with a chain that disappeared through a hole in the ceiling. There was also a large chest poorly hidden under a pile of rags. Jack tried to pick the lock but couldn't manage it, so Simon waved everyone back, and proceeded to smash in the lid with the pommel of his sword. There was the sound of breaking glass and a green gas hissed out of the box right in Simon's face. He felt woozy for a moment, but made his saving throw and managed to hold his breath and avoid the worst of the fumes. Inside the chest he found 300 silver coins, and these were dutifully packed away in their backpacks.
At this point they decided to head back home (although Simon was getting increasingly antsy about not having found a bugbear for his friend). Father Chase carried Orin's comatose body, and they returned to the entrance of the third level, decided to stop in to visit "the Judge" on the way. It turns out the talking stone column had company, however: five black-robed cultists, including the young lady who had "befriended" Simon three weeks ago!
"Oh, I've been looking all over for you, Simpson!" she said, somewhat tentatively.
"Uh, it's Simon actually. And uh... I'm drawing a complete blank on your name right now, it's the strangest thing..."
"Oh, it's Elfstar," she replied with a knowing smile.
"Elfstar, of course! Stupid me, how could I forget? Don't worry, we're trying really hard to find that bugbear for you."
"Good, good! You know it's very important to our... rituals that we find one."
Meanwhile, Caryatid was casting a Charm Person spell of her very own. Elfstar realized what she was doing just before the enchantment hit her. A momentarily look of confusion passed over her face, but then she smirked.
"Nice try, lady!" And Elfstar and her companions ran out of the room, snickering. The party declined to follow them but turned to the Judge.
"I hope those people weren't disturbing you," said Caryatid.
"Oh, not at all," said the Judge. "They are a bit unsavory, that's true, but they do bring me shiny stones every so often, in return for information about this place."
They offered the Judge a gem from their own funds and asked if he knew where they could find a bugbear off on its own (I guess forgetting that they had asked basically the same thing last session).
"Well," he replied, "there used to be many more bugbears, who were in the service of the Goblin King, but now it seems that only the slaves of the Queen of Nightmares remain."
They fed him another gem and asked what he knew about bugbears and their weaknesses.
"They are very nimble and quiet, and can creep up on the unaware. But they are as mortal as any other flesh creature, and can be killed like an ordinary man. And I know more about that than most."
Spurred by this somewhat cryptic comment, the conversation turned to the Judge's past. He told them how he had been worshipped as a god by the Ancient Idalians, for no one could conceal the truth in his presence. The Idalians would bring those accused of the worst crimes before him and he would judge them, and those guilty he would deliver judgment upon.
The stone column revolved to display a proud face. "Would you like me to demonstrate?"
"Um, sure!" said Caryatid.
The Judge turned to look at the lonely wooden chair in the corner of the room, the chair with the leather ankle, wrist, and head restraints and the curious scorch mark in the back of the chair. A strange glow began to build within his eyes, and a high-pitched crackling whine grew in volume. The hair on the backs of the adventurers' necks stood on end. Then there was a brilliant flash of light, and an enormous spark like a bolt of lightning cracked between the Judge's face and the chair. Their eyes swam with the afterimage, and when it faded the back of the chair was smoldering and smoking. The Judge rotated back to face them with a giddy, sated look on his face.
"Oh, it's been a long, long time since I did that. Just like old times! Tell you what, if you find any ne'er-do-wells in this city, feel free to bring them to me for... judgment. Oh, I would like that!"
"Uh... Okay, we'll definitely keep that in mind!" said Simon nervously. And they all made their polite goodbyes, and returned to the surface.
Simon failed his saving throw for next week, and remained blissfully enchanted by his "best friend" Elfstar.
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