(written by Phil concerning Bartholomew's most recent adventure, and earning Bartholomew 100 xp per level)
From
the Journals of Bartholomew Pettibone, of the House Pettibone
A
Purveyor of Enchanting Sorcery
31
January 2021 – a continuation of capers and shenanigans in the
harbor city of Cothon.
After
our last delving into the Weirding Caves, we returned healthy and
wealthy to Cothon Under-Star. Our 'archaeological' findings were
equitably distributed among our party members, and tankards of ale
were raised to our great success!
Within
our pilfered wares was a small, metallic, spherical object. Very
interesting. Our good friend and chum Hey-Jo attempted to identify
the item through arcane means. Little progress was made, but we did
determine that it was of similar make as Durham's 'detection device'.
However, neither his detector or the 'eye' appeared to possess a
magical aura. Hey-Jo packed the 'eye' away, and we discussed with
Durham and Persephone how we might dispatch the foul
'evil-anemone-trees' down in the Weirding Caves.
And
so we decided on an arsonists adventure! Hirelings were procured;
Persephone and Durham each brought an erstwhile companion, and of
course I HAD to bring my old chum Gan ad-Din in on our new escapade –
such a fine and stalwart fellow! And Paku and Finbar, the brave and
sneaky Renyu joined us. We loaded up on many new adventuring items,
as well as three hand carts, loaded with more oil than any sane
person would ever procure in a lifetime of cooking. Aside from
several dozen flasks of oil, this included six large clay amphorae of
oil – a total of 60 gallons – hahahaha! And off we went, back to
the caves, for fire and fury! On our journey, Gan noted that all his
life he aspired only to be the best water-bearer in all the great
world – and now he will instead be known as 'chief of all treasure
and oil bearers'! His grin was wide and white – a very fine and
stalwart fellow, indeed!
Our
travel to the caves was free of interruption. Into the caves we went
– quick and quiet as a wink. We had prepared two carts of oil as
giant molotov cocktails, and left the third alone – as a back-up.
We crept through the caverns, squeakily, and with trepidation, until
we were in the vicinity of the 'pit-room' – the lair of the evil
anemone-trees (EATs). Finbar reported that the two EATs were still
present.
As
we began to set the carts up for conflagration, our preparations were
disturbed by a group of 'creatures' passing through the caverns.
Luckily our Renyu companions detected the approach of the intruders
before they burst upon us. We hooded our lanterns and hid, hoping
they would pass us by. Four did, but one remained. Augh! The best
laid bonfires always have their carts upset!
With
no other options available, I unhooded my lantern in order to
illuminate the thing. It turned out that our interloper was naught
but a weird, large spider – odd to behold, perhaps poisonous, but
still, just a spider. Hey-Jo dispatched the single loiterer quickly
with a well placed sling bullet!
That
one well placed bullet should have been seen as an omen. Hey-Jo will
make an even more spectacular splash in the games to come! But, I get
ahead of myself. Back to the main task!
The
party then split. Gan and I remained in the lower chamber with the
two 'molotov carts' of oil. Each cart contained two oil amphorae,
about twenty gallons of oil. We quietly wheeled one cart about one
quarter of the way down the final, lower entrance passage. And then
waited for our good friend Finbar to return with word from above.
Above,
the larger portion of our party parked their cart of two oil amphorae
on the ledge above, at the entrance to the 'pit-room'. Hey-Jo and
Durham crept the ledge to the far, eastern, side and prepared a
grapple and rope for later descent to the 'pit-room' floor. Finbar
was then sent back down to alert me and Gan that everyone was
prepared. Gan and I then quietly wheeled the final 'molotov cart' out
to the end of the tunnel where the EATs dwell. Nothing disturbed us,
it was eerily quiet, and in the EATs 'pit-room' we saw … nothing.
The beasts were gone. Or hidden.
Gan
and I quietly crept back to the first wagon and sent Finbar back to
the party above – Finbar was our 'runner' for this part of the
adventure. We waited below for word from the rest of our party. It
came soon enough. We first noted faint light and muffled shouts
coming from down the corridor, from the direction of the 'pit-room'.
Presumably our upper party was starting the diversion. Suddenly
Finbar returned and barked that Durham wished us to move into the
'pit-room' and make noise, to call the EATs out. Oh sure, yeah,
right! We'll just rush on down into that pit of doom and let those
giant, monstrous, man-eating trees clobber our brains out – sure!
Why not?! And so we did. And so one did!
One
of the massive, fifteen-foot-tall EATs lumbered toward Gan and I –
much more quickly than we expected! We scampered back up the lower
passage – bravely – screaming like frightened children all the
way! A second creature had made it's appearance as well.
Gan
and I reached the upper wagon, took a moment to light a second torch,
and waited. At the first sight of one of the creatures lumbering up
the lower passage, I pitched a lit flask of oil at the creature, and
watched as the EAT easily deflected it. I have the worst luck with
throwing oil flasks! Even as my throw missed, the flask still burst
and sprayed the EAT with gobs of flaming oil. All was not lost! Gan
and I then dumped our wagon of oil and lit it. And the blaze was on!
And Gan stood affixed – staring with wide eyes at the spreading,
blazing oil – exclaiming that he had never before seen so much oil
– wasted! Hahahahahaha!! Old Gan, such a funny, funny guy! Always a
font of comic relief when you need it the most! I had to physically
pull him back around the corner, out of the lower passage, and out of
harm's way.
In
the meantime, after seeing the flaring of bright fires from within
the lower passage (when Gan and I lit our oil), the main group of our
party began an assault that they later called, 'death from above'.
With his crossbow, good Durham shot at the amphorae in the 'molotov
cart' down below, in the entrance of the lower passage (hoping to
break them). At the same time, wild and dye-stained Hey-Jo tossed a
lit flask of oil at that same 'molotov cart' (intending to break
amphorae and help start another conflagration). Persephone attacked
the second creature, while her hireling, Warda, tossed a rock at the
'molotov cart' in hopes to help break the amphorae of oil. The blaze
was successfully started, but physical attacks upon the EATs appeared
to be fruitless.
Gan
and I retreated apace to watch over the blaze that now filled both
ends of the lower passage. One EAT was trapped within the lower exit
passage, with conflagrations in front of and behind it. Hopefully
that EAT was being slow-roasted and suffocated. Above, and out of our
earshot and sight, the rest of the party continued their assault on
the secondary EAT, remaining in the pit. And the retelling of their
exploits was epic!
During
the fight above, Hey-Jo pitched a perfectly aimed flask of lit oil –
a shot that hit squarely and firmly within the very top center of the
creature. That anatomical location on the EAT was like a wide,
shallow bowl. Instead of burning oil running down and off of the EAT,
the oil pooled and lit-up it's crown of whipping fronds like a giant
torch! It was bright. It was mesmerizing. It was a beautiful sight –
but it smelled horrible!
And
lo! While Gan and I maintained our watch on the lower passage, four
of the spider-beasts came upon us! Again, lucky for us our good Renyu
friend Finbar noted the spiders' approach and gave us slight initial
warning of their presence. My fingers moved and I uttered the words
that would bring the arcane forces into focus. It took but a moment,
and as my words fell silent, and my fingers stopped moving, all of
the spiders dropped into a deep slumber. Gan and I dispatched them,
post-haste, and continued to wait. And watch. And tend our fires.
The
EAT with its crown on fire (within the 'pit-room') finally burned to
a crisp. Yay! There was much rejoicing. And so Durham and Paku went
down the rope into the pit to glean the goodies! They were joined by
Persephone and her hireling, Warda. Hey-Jo, and Durham's hireling
remained on the ledge above to keep a watch.
While
gathering loot, Durham tossed another torch down the main, lower pit.
He related to us that as he watched the torch drop through one level,
he briefly glimpsed several other EATs within a lower chamber, before
the torch continued to drop further down the pit into the darkness of
oblivion.
Wth
their bags full, Durham, Paku, Persephone, and Warda returned to
Hey-Jo. They all then gathered up Gan and myself. We left the final
two oil amphorae on the ledge of the 'pit-room', and then made our
way to the western 'pool-room' – where the strange salamander
creatures and their rat-like friend had been dwelling during our
previous adventures. Persephone had a hankering to chat with those
interesting folks once more. But they were gone; only the faint trace
of an old fire ring remained as evidence of their encampment. So we
continued to explore the caves further east of the pit room.
Further
on we entered another large open room, similar to the 'pit-room'.
However this one was more natural, had no deep pit at it's center,
and had a beautiful and quite large flow-stone formation in its
northern section. The formation was spectacular, with interesting
passages that wove between columns of melted rock. These columns
reached floor to ceiling and could almost be described as looking
like a giant spider web made from stone. I gave this room the
appellation of 'flow-room'. Two passages exited the 'flow-room'. One
was to the north (hidden behind the mass of beautiful flow-stone).
The alternate exit angled away to the southeast. After a brief
exploration we learned that the southeast passage connected to
familiar, upper passages, and outside!
We
retreated back to the 'flow-room', intent on investigating the more
narrow, hidden, northern passage. Not far inside that passage, Finbar
stopped us and noted that Chnelh (ape-men) were ahead – he could
divine them from their aroma. We hooded our lanterns and shuffled
slowly and quietly down through darkness, hand in hand, led by brave
Finbar. Soon we noted faint torchlight ahead, and could hear the
muffled and echoed hoots and grunts of what must be a sizable group
of Chnelh. As we approached the entrance to a very large, natural
room within the cavern system, Finbar stopped us again and noted that
humans were also present with the Chnelh. Hmmm.
We
crept along the western perimeter of the great, cavernous room,
quietly and with care, remaining in the darker shadows and using the
several natural stone formations (stalagmites) as cover. And then we
laid eyes upon them. A lot of them. Many of them. At first glance, I
was certain there were many hundreds – if not thousands! But then,
my excitement waned, I calmed myself, and my senses returned –
there were clearly not more than about twenty-five Chnelh. The
ape-men were gathered around a large fire that had been set in the
northeast bulge of this large cavern room (we will call it the
'cathedral'). And in the wall of that area of the room a rough-hewn
dais had been carved into the stone. Or perhaps it was a natural
alcove that had been roughly worked? Something within that alcove
glittered with the firelight – perhaps a large crystal or
crystalline formation? Or perhaps that alcove was akin to a massively
giant crystalline geode!
We
were then astounded to see that two humans were upon that dais, and
the Chnelh appeared to be in the process of worshiping them – or
the crystal(s)? Perhaps they were the 'masters' leading them in some
form of religious ceremony? Clearly the 'masters' appeared to be
leaders of some kind. This scene was a bit much for our timid crew,
so we made the wise decision to slowly and quietly extricate
ourselves from a potentially BAD situation. However, with this new
knowledge, perhaps we can learn more about these interesting Chnelh,
and their 'masters'. Food for thought!
On
our return back to town, Durham became uncommonly groggy, and fell
into a deep, deep slumber! Luckily we still had the remaining hand
cart, used earlier for transporting oil amphorae, in our possession.
We tenderly tucked our good and brave (but tired) friend, Durham,
into the cart, wrapped him in blankets, and took turns trundling him
back to Cothon Under-Star. Our return was uneventful, and after
depositing good Durham safely to his rooms, I treated Gan and the
rest of our wild bunch to a round of top-shelf spirits. And we let
the stories commence!
