4/3/21

(Link to Session Prep: Session 2 Prep )

Facing Smorc & Runk, a large, angry Ettin, the party was stunned when cultist Selm, in the throes of madness and believing himself to be the most powerful warrior in the land launched an attack and caught the beast with a perfect blow from his “whippin stick.” {rolled a Nat20). Seizing on the momentum, Titus Flint leapt into the fray and was quickly smashed to pulp from one mighty blow of the creature’s club. (RIP Titus Flint ). Soon, Selm’s madness wrote drafts his skill could not cover and he, too, was beaten well past death (RIP Selm ).

Ironically, the dying Lord Calder and the injured Greer the Betrayer put up a much better fight. Calder was an ex-mercenary, after all, and Greer is a skirmisher, taking advantage of flanking tactics and well-timed finishing moves. Between them, the trash-talking monster was finally dispatched, though attempts to revive their fallen comrades proved fruitless (Both players failed CON checks AND rerolls!).

Greer mourned his comrades by looting their still-warm bodies and continued the mission to escort Calder to his final resting place. Amazingly, just one flight of stairs down, they discovered two former comrades from the Blackbrand Mercenary Company (Sooney-Crow of No Family & Thud Strongbrew ) fighting a giant scorpion. The two were easily convinced to join the escort mission for a cut of the spoils, and the party ventured deeper into the Vault after wisely choosing not to explore the rough-hewn tunnel branching off from the main hallway.

With teamwork and ingenuity, the party found the hidden mechanism to open the ornate carved doorway to the vault proper yet triggered a trap at the same time. Luck and quick reactions helped them avoid the noxious cloud of gas that began to spew forth (party LUCK success; Greer DEX success to close the door).

Deeper they went, soon discovering an antechamber containing a large, ornate sarcophagus. Greer wisely consulted The Litanies of Blood and Iron (successful Arcane Lore check and one of the secrets from Session 2 Prep !) and discovered a passage suggesting a prayer to the Iron God was the appropriate action - Calder led the group with spiritual fervour and all but Sooney felt a wave of good fortune wash through them (Luck increase by 1). After some debate, they decided not to open the sarcophagus.

Exiting the room, they carefully searched the doorway for traps, but neglected to search the stairway, and only his cat-like reflexes saved Thud from falling into a deep pit of spikes. The party hugged the walls to avoid the hole and only just made it past before a large block fell from above, which surely would have finished anyone unlucky enough to have fallen in.

The closer they got to the Arena, the more excited Calder got, despite the toll taken on him by his illness. The next room contained racks of weapons for holy combatants to use in the sacred combat rituals of the arena, and Greer’s keen eye found a sword marked with the sigil of Graxus that seemed to stand out from the rest. He graciously gave the sword to Thud, believing a well-armed warrior could only help to keep him safe. Time will tell the nature of this weapon.

Having made it to the arena and fulfilled the promise made to Calder, the party accepted the agreed-upon payment, and settled in to watch him engage in the final combat of a life devoted to martial glory in honor of the Iron God. However, there was no opponent to be found; instead, Calder found himself ankle-deep and held fast in a grey ooze that had infested the combat floor. He barely had time to tell the party to run before the bubbling goo plunged into his nose and mouth, drowning his final screams.

The party did indeed flee as fast as they could, with the ooze hot on their heels. They sprinted up the stairs and back the way they came, slamming doors behind them and hearing the sound of breaking wood and popping rivets as the ooze kept up the chase. They barely remembered to hold their breath in time as they sprinted through the cloud of poison gas. The trapped door slammed behind them (party LUCK), though the ooze was finding its way through cracks in the wall at last fleeting glance.

Upon making it back to the surface, the dawn had broken, and the party was greeted with a scene of carnage - the urgot sentries they’d left sleepingdue to a fume flask had been brutally massacred, and the larger urgot encampment reeked with the smoky stink of burning bodies…