Session 25: Greed Wins Again!

Session report for January 16, 2025. Five players adventured for one day.

Characters

Bastion, human fighter level 4, with men-at-arms
Jude, half-orc cleric/assassin level 2/1
Garth the Obscure, human magic-user level 1
Johnny Sausage, human thief level 1
Karl the Might Nervous, human magic-user level 1

After the players' moderate success in the previous week, they returned to the megadungeon to plunder an area they hadn't seen in a year.

The delve was executed well at first. They went down to level 2 and explored orc territory. They found a one-way door and spy holes that the orcs might have used to spy on intruders. They avoided certain doom by falling block by using ropes to open a trapped door; behind was a shrine to an orcish fertility goddess.

In another room - where a group of troglodytes were slaughtered long ago - the party discovered a secret passage. It led to a narrow natural cavern deep in the darkness. The hirelings refused to proceed - and the party took the hint and returned.

Later they encountered a long hallway obscured by mist. There was some disagreement on whether to investigate or not but the greedy half of the party led by Jonny Sausage won out. They tied a rope to the thief, who crept along the wall and moved into the corridor.

It was a good plan. I took Johnny to a private text channel and told him he found a door concealed by the mist. He shoved the door open and entered a large room with a throne, four chests, and no guards. While he told me what he wanted to do I went back to the rest of the players.

Outside the hall, the rope jerked forward and then went slack. The players got nervous and followed the rope to the door. The end of the rope had been cut. They burst into the room and found Johnny Sausage lying dead beside a treasure chest. His face was frozen in agony.

poor defenseless thief

The party investigated the scene. Jude stepped outside the room into the mist, alone so he could spot intruders with his infravision.

Wandering monster: gelatinous cube. Perfect timing. Jude was surprised, but the monster failed to devour him with its free attack. Jude pinwheeled back into the room and the party squared up with their back to the wall. The cube won initiative and took one more shot at Jude before it was put down by Bastion's wall of spears.

Among the bits and coins in the cube was an iron key that looked like it just might fight the locks on those treasure chests. Bastion took the key and tried to open one of the chests without any precautions. I could not believe my ears! Surely they figured out what had happened to Johnny! I called for a poison saving throw and granted him a large bonus to account for his metal armor, but the die came up a 1. Bastion fell to the ground and died convulsing in agony just like the thief.

We took a minute to lament the loss of Bastion and Johnny. Bastion in particular was the highest level character in the campaign so far and had made a lot of friends and connections at the Fort. And despite how it might seem in these reports, I am always rooting for the players and hate seeing a character die.

Garth cast unseen servant and unlocked all the chests safely - salt in the wound. They were full of gold and silver coins! Jude used a combination of create water and purify food and drink to wash any poison off the treasure before they packed it up and headed home.

When they returned to Fort Fenrir with Bastion's body, they were informed that he had a will on file. He was to be given a hero's funeral paid for with his gold. He was also to be buried with his magical plate mail +1. Jude considered turning in counterfeit plate mail so he could keep the magical armor, but at the last second decided that Bastion was so well-known the risk of detection was too high. Who says you can't take it with you?

THE GRAVEYARD
Johnny Sausage, level 1 thief, killed by contact poison.
Bastion, level 4 fighter, killed by contact poison.

THE VANQUISHED
1 gelatinous cube
XP for monsters defeated: 250

THE SPOILS
2310 gp
1500 ep
3089 sp

THE SCORE
Each surviving character got 770 gp, 500 ep, 1029 sp and 1193 XP.

GRADES:
Garth the Obscure earned an E for nearly perfect use of Unseen Servant.
Karl the Might Nervous earned an E for solving problems with his intelligence.
Jude earned an E for scouting and use of purify drink to cleanse poison. [Note to self: Jude should have been downgraded for not stealing Bastion's magical armor]