Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Part 19

We had a change of pace today - no traps! After resting in the safe room, we went back through the secret area to explore to the west. We found a secret room with a large black pearl on a pedestal, which radiated magic (the pearl, not the pedestal). I tried to mage hand the pearl off, but it was attached to a large piece of black velvet, which was draped over the pedestal. In the end Quercus pulled the pearl and cloth out of the room by hooking his spear into the cloth. He quickly wrapped the pearl in the cloth, without touching it, and stowed it away in his backpack. I can't help wondering what strange powers it might have...

Anyway, whilst we were busy with this, Ran heard voices coming from an adjacent room. He told me about them and I sneaked over to listen. Some of the voices were speaking in a guttural language I did not understand, but there was one voice speaking in common. He was saying that they should speak to us. I reported back to the others and we decided to attempt to parlay with the creatures behind the door. It turned out they were bugbears, and that they had been fighting a war with the goblins to the south. They were not keen on us, but they were few in numbers and were unwilling to risk a confrontation. They confirmed some of the details on the bugbear map we found earlier. The area to the north-east is apparently filled with a magical deathly cold. I think we felt something of this in the previous section.

Anyway, they agreed to leave us alone, and the leader even gave us a token to show to other bugbears, to avoid a fight. I wonder how effective it will be... We decided to explore to the south, to see what the goblins were up to, but we told the Bugbears we were going to the north. No point in telling them all our plans!

I went ahead to scout, and found an area with many corridors, all at right angles to each other. It was very quiet and there was no reaction to my presence, even when I threw a copper piece down the corridor (which I have yet to retrieve). I returned to the others, and we all went to explore, but we managed to alert a goblin sentry and he set off an alarm. We hastily retreated back to a more defensible area, a cross-roads with many avenues of escape, and waited to see what happened. A largish goblin force appeared. Oren was worried, because they seemed to be very well organised for goblins. They asked to talk to us, and things were going fine until we let Quercus get involved. He soon managed to insult the goblin leader, and then declared that Pelor's wrath would fall upon their heads...

They attacked, but instead of just charging us, as would be expected of goblins, they sent in a band of trained wolves first, from two directions. The wolves proved very troublesome, as they kept tripping up those they attacked, leaving them prone and vulnerable. Fortunately, Ran was able to summon some magical creatures to aid us, which kept them occupied long enough for us to finish most of them off. The fight continues, and the wolves are thinning in numbers (I even killed one myself, with a well-placed sword through the back of the head), but there are still the goblins to worry about, and I wonder if we are prepared for them...

The secret bit of map


Just to make sure your map is upto date.

Don't forgot to mark the traps on the map, alternatively you could write TRAPS in large bold red letters across the entire map. :)

Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Part 18

Our luck continues to be bad...

After resting we set about exploring again, this time vowing to be more careful. We found a room which had ghostly noises of battle coming from it, with an ancient rusty sword hanging by a rope from the ceiling. We checked the room for magic, and the sword was not magical, but the area above it was. This suggested a trap to us, so we decided to leave the ghosts to their own devices and move on.

For the sake of my sanity I have decided to produce a more concise summary of the rooms we explore (along with the traps...) I will add extra comments as appropriate.

• Room with well in it, halfling tracks going to well (perhaps the halfling who brought Ran here?) Healing potions in bucket down well, but trap on handle. Trap set off by Ran (I think) Stone blocks fell from ceiling. Only minor damage, and we now have potions, hurrah!
• Bugbear lair - dirty and no treasure, but we did find a map showing how this area is populated. We are in Bugbear section now, Goblins to the south, "despair" to north-east (avoid) and "death" in south-east (avoid more)
• Room with red, white and black tiles on floor, tapestry on rear wall, obviously a trap. Solution printed on other wall, but I think it is a fake solution. We did some tests using a bugbear body and a summoned wolf, and decided it was too risky.
• Safe room. At last, a room with no traps! No treasure either, but we can seal this room with a secret door.
• Found a secret area: Room with four chests stacked up, all trapped. We managed to avoid some of the traps, but we set off a fire spell which destroyed the contents of one chest. Also found a clay goblin head on a pedestal. Tried to examine it, but Quercus destroyed it. Oh well. Also found a room with a desk - ring and book on desk: both trapped. Decided to use mage hand to lift the book away (hoping to find more info) Trap went off, book got burnt. Ring was left, took it and put it on. BIG mistake, see below...
• Room with another well in, bag of gems in front of it. Big sign floating in air above saying "TRAP!" Found a trap mechanism on door, propped door open with chests from secret area. Tried to disarm trap, but set it off instead. Managed to get out of the room before door sealed. Sound of water filling room. Eventually drained away, gems still there. They can stay there.

When I put the ring on, the one we found on the desk in the secret area, it magically re-sized itself to fit my finger. In fact it now fits so tightly I can't take it off... (What is it with halflings and cursed rings?) As soon as I put it on I realized I was under the effect of an enchantment. I feel compelled to tell the truth at all times. Once the others realised this they wasted no time in asking me lots of awkward questions, including what I really thought of Quercus. I told them he was a "one-legged, pompous, Pelor-pushing twat", which didn't go down very well with Quercus, as you can imagine. Of course, it was only after this that I realised that just because I have to speak the truth, doesn't mean I have to answer every question...

There is something worse than the truth-telling though. I also find myself compelled to act according to the law, which is not a good thing for someone of my profession. I can only assume this ring is some sort of restraining device for evil creatures. I want to remove it as quickly as possible, let's hope Quercus will remove this curse, if I haven't upset him too much...

We are resting in the safe room, and it seems there is some magic in the air here. A few hours of sleep and we are all refreshed and ready to set off again. Time to turn over a new leaf, no more stealing for me! Wait a minute, that's not my idea, it must be that bloody ring, trying to influence me. Must resist, must be free!

Ran's Journal

Exploring. Progress slow. Still spending most of our time waiting for Rosia to search things. Corridors trapped. Rooms trapped. Items trapped. Everything not trapped is guarded by monsters.

Dungeon sucks.

When I find that halfling I'm going to kill him painfully.

Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Part 17

Curse this place, and curse my luck!

Every room we encounter seems to have a trap in it, and I seem to be setting them all off. It's almost as if this whole area is designed to guide people of my profession into alternative employment...

We found a room full of pillars, with debris scattered around. I discovered that the pillars were trapped, and I attempted to disarm one of them. However, I set the trap off instead (of course...) and managed to get buried under a pile of rubble as the pillar collapsed on me. Thank Pelor for Quercus' healing spells, or I would have been badly hurt. One small ray of consolation was the silver dagger I found in the remains of the pillar. It is not magical, but it will come in handy if we ever meet Longtail again! We also found a golden ring in some rubble at the back, and it seems to be magical, but we can not discern what it does. Isaak thinks it might be a decoy to fool the unwary.

In another room there was a pedestal with a large gem on top of it. Assuming it would be trapped I tried to lift the gem off from a distance using my mage hand spell. However, it seems that the designers of this cursed place had thought of that, and had fixed the gem in place. I searched the pedestal and found that it was indeed trapped. It pained me greatly, but I allowed the others to persuade me to leave it alone.

A secret door led us south, to a room covered in moss, with many wands attached to the walls. I had grown wary at this point and decided to leave the wands alone, but Isaak seemed determined to test his luck, and pulled one of the wands down. He was promptly cursed by the evil powers that resided in the wand, and began to shake uncontrollably. We had to camp out for the night to allow Quercus time to petition Pelor to remove the curse from poor Isaak.

We continued south and found a large, empty room behind huge double doors. Inside was a smaller doorway to the east. Curbag and I went in to investigate. I could find no traps on the smaller door, but when we opened it the double doors slammed shut and spikes came out of the north and south walls. At the same time the north wall started slowly moving towards us. We knew that we would be killed if we stayed where we were, so I investigated the room through the smaller doorway to see if I could find a reset mechanism for the trap. Meanwhile, Curbag began hacking at the door with his greatsword, trying to cut out the lock.

As I entered the smaller room to the east, which was empty, I felt the presence of some evil force. I found the location of the trap trigger, but as I knelt to examine it I felt that the force was tearing me apart, and the longer I stayed there, the more damage it was doing me. I left the room, meaning to return at the last possible moment, and could only stand around and watch as Curbag hacked at the door. I could hear the sound of hacking from the other side too, and we found out later that Oren was helping from his side. However, the sound of Oren chopping was soon replaced by the sounds of battle. Apparently a band of bugbears and dire wolves attacked the party whilst we were trapped, thinking they would be weakened without us, no doubt.

If they thought is was going to be an easy battle, they were sadly mistaken! From what the others told us afterwards, they put up an heroic defense, and succeeded in killing most of their foes, and driving the rest away. I cannot comment on this fight, as Curbag and I were still trapped in the other room. As the northern wall edged closer and closer we faced a tough decision: should we abandon the attempt to break the door open and dive into the deadly eastern room, or miss our chance as the wall moved past the smaller doorway? Seeing that he had made some progress with the door, Curbag decided that he would carry on with his task, and trust to his mighty muscles. I momentarily considered entering the eastern room without him, but thought in the end that it would be better to perish in the company of my friend, than die alone in that room of evil.

This turned out to he the correct decision, as Curbag (once more with the help of Oren) was able to break open the lock at the last moment, and we stumbled out into the relative safety of the corridor. Whoever built that trap must have been a sadist. It seems to me that it was designed to strike the maximum fear into its victims, giving them time to contemplate their grisly end, whilst offering them the scant "hope" of surviving a slow death in the evil room. I have had it with this place. From now on, I will leave the treasure alone unless I am totally sure there is no trap. Even then, I will weigh up the risks and decide if the reward will help me survive this dump. If there is a lesson to be learnt here, it seems I am learning it...

Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Part 16

We have now copied the map, and most useful it has been to us! From the room with map we located another room to the south, full of scrolls and books, much as the one we found to the west as we came into this area. However, they seemed to be in much better condition, and we had good hopes that we might find out more about this place. Also in the room was a stone chair and desk. Oren was much taken with the chair, admiring its quality. As he sat in it, I noticed a glint from underneath the chair. There was a golden amulet, just resting there! I cast a spell, and was able to detect a magical aura around it. Being wary, I checked for traps, and finding none I reached out to take the amulet. Alas! It was trapped, with magical fire. As I touched it, great flames rushed outwards, filling the room. I was able to jump quickly behind the desk, and took no damage, but the others were not all so lucky. Poor Oren, being sat on the chair which was over the amulet, was blasted into the air, and then crashed into the roof. At the same time, all the books and scrolls were incinerated, along with the amulet. I think the others were a little cross with me, and I was sorry to lose the chance to peruse the parchments in this room, but it was a very shiny amulet...

We found some other rooms that seemed to have a theme to them. One room was blazing with terrible heat, and I was able to use my magic to lift a scroll case from a pedestal therein, without entering. Inside was a magical fireball scroll of some power, which Isaac is able to use. We also found a room that was a deep pit filled with water. There was a small, slippery ledge going all round the room. At the far end was a large, glowing gem, fixed into the wall. Oren appraised it, and thought that it was worth at least 10,000 gold pieces! We decided that I had the best chance of making it round, so the others tied a rope to me (again!) and I made my way around the ledge. Unfortunately, halfway round I slipped and fell into the water. It was icy cold, and I lost my breath and started to drown. Fortunately, Oren was able to quickly pull me back in before any harm was done. I tried again, but was so cold that this time I had barely managed 3 feet before I tumbled into the water again. They soon, had me out, and were keen to have me try once more. I was less keen, but the thought of the large glowing gem sustained me, and the third time was the charm!

When I got there, I unpacked my tools, and soon found that the gem was trapped with a magical device. It seemed a very powerful spell, but I decided to risk it, and this time luck was with me! I prised the gem out of its socket, and made my way back. The gem felt warm to the touch. More than that, it seemed to warm my whole body (which was nice, after my swim...) Oren seemed to have taken a shine to it as well, and we agreed to share custody of it. I hope this doesn't cause a problem later on...

We ended up in a room with a large pit in front of the door, and two sections going off west and north. In the west section a large sword was embedded in the floor. To the north, a skeleton was slumped against a wall, with an axe in its hands. Once more the party decided that I should go first, and tied a rope around me, in case I fell into the pit. This turned out to be a good thing, as when I went into the west side of the room (easily avoiding the pit) the floor fell away. The sword fell down into a pit, and I tumbled after it. The rope broke my fall, and the others were able to pull me back up before the floor closed up again. Having lost the sword, we decided to try for the axe. I went northwards (very carefully!) and was able to snatch the axe away without incident. I returned to the group, and Curbag and Oren examined the axe. Curbag wasn't too keen on it, for some reason, but Oren said it felt as though it had been made for him. The axe had a name engraved on it, Urthieln, and when we fought some dire wolves shortly afterwards Oren found that the axe was magical and seemed to do great damage. At last we have found some decent magical treasures! We may be rich in terms of gems and other valuables, but they will not help us survive this endless dungeon...

Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Part 15

After resting we tried again to traverse the snake-pit room. It hardly seems possible, yet our second attempt was even more disastrous than the first... I went first, carrying a rope along the ledge. I was able to fix the bridge so that it extended all the way to the eastern wall. Even so, the way was narrow for the larger members of the group. I carried the rope across to the eastern ledge so that the others would have something to hold on to. Isaac went first, and joined me with no trouble. Curbag was next, and he promptly fell into the pit again, attracting the attentions of the snakes. He was able to tell us later of the holes that let the snakes in. That solves one puzzle at least: they are not magical snakes, they must gain entrance from somewhere outside.

Quercus tried to cross the ledge, hoping to be able to help Curbag from the other side. Unfortunately he fell in after his first step onto the ledge. It seems he is not yet used to his wooden leg. He was able to grasp the rope I left on his way down, and used this to help him gain the bridge on the southern wall. Curbag, meanwhile, had been bitten by several snakes, and was in trouble from the poison. Ran did some sort of magic and was able to climb down the wall as if he was a spider. He tried to reason with the snakes, but they did not seem too happy about being hit by Curbag, and were not inclined to listen. Oren tried his best to pull Curbag up on a rope, but succeeded in falling in himself. Amazingly, Curbag (who was halfway up the rope at the time) was able to catch him as he fell, and the two of them pulled themselves up. Finally we all made the eastern wall, although Curbag was feeling the worse for this encounter with the snakes.

We explored some other rooms, but the most interesting was one with a large statue in, holding a spear. The spear was magical, but as Quercus and I approached it, two glowing balls of light came at us, whilst at the same time some large dogs appeared out of nowhere, seeming to blink into existence. As we fought them they kept blinking in and out of sight, making it hard to land a blow. We finally defeated them, but we were forced to abandon the spear, as the glowing lights proved too hard to overcome.

After more exploring some more, we found a room at the northern edge of this section which had a most welcome treasure in it: a map of the whole area! We decided to camp here for a while to allow us to copy the map to a smaller version, as the original is very large. With this we can surely find a way out, and perhaps avoid all these traps!