Session Report - OSE Open Table #12

Party Members

Robin Redwood (Magic-User 2)

Maleneth (Thief 2)

 

Accompanied by: Gorato the Ox (Fighter 1), Losandro (Thief 1)

 

Events

Setting out under an overcast sky, Maleneth (burdened with two extra wheels of cheese) and Robin ventured forth into the Whiterock Caverns in search of the winged apes and Kadmacho's domain. Heading north through previously covered territory, they nervously skirted past the mosaic door into the arena and passed through an archway at the end of the corridor. The room beyond was coated in a thick layer of dust, little had passed through, and a singed door led out of the far corner. Investigating the frame revealed a set of holes bored into the lintel of the door, angled out in a fan-like coverage of the area beyond. The duo plugged the holes with bandages and a torn up sack, then pulled the door open from a distance with a rope - smoke fumed from several of the plugged holes and a few of the fabric bungs shot out like fiery dart as a couple of gouts of flaming oil splashed harmlessly into the dust.

Beyond lay a finely decorated room bearing frescoes of a hooded figure before vaguely apocalyptic scenes, always gathering and/or preserving sources of knowledge. A large marble statue of the same figure stood in the middle of the room, beneath them a lectern bearing the outline of a book. Maleneth and Robin recognised this as Rhilea, the Letter and the Word, one of the Six Divines. They approached a door on the far side of the chamber, but were warned by a voice speaking directly into their skulls that none may pass without adding to the Great Lady's archive of knowledge.

Mike Nash

Backtracking, for no other route lay before them, the party heard the sound of guttural voices - akin to the speech of the Black Talons - echoing down the corridors, but nothing appeared before them. Passing the door to the arena and heading back towards the entrance, they suddenly heard the agonised breathing of the Minotaur, seemingly just around the next corner, and froze. The creature's blindness kept their torch from alerting it and Losandro crept forth to ascertain its position. The Thief scuffed against the stone wall as he peeked around the corner and cam face to face with the creature, but he was able to sprint out of its reach. The party raced away, chased by the maddened bellowing of the creature, and entered through the arena's secret door. They hurled a torch further along the corridor and closed the door as far as they were able - the ruse worked and the creature continued in search of the noise they had made.

Taking a breather, the party explored the great arena where they had previously fought the Minotaur - bloodstains and dragged trails marked the sand among the beast's ever-pacing footprints. They followed the trails, passing a tunnel heading north, and eventually reached a crude hollow dug from the wall at the far end of the arena. The hollow was carpeted with smashed pottery fragments and old bones, torchlight reflected from coins scattered liberally around the place, and the mutilated, decomposing bodies of Brando, Helene, and Georgios were strewn around like ragdolls. Maleneth claimed Brando's moneypouch, holding 160sp, while Robin took Helene's spellbook. Gorato stood watch and Losandro began to gather coins, noting that they were a mix of ancient and new ones. Robin found a peculiar cracked horn, bound with engraved golden rings, and Maleneth hefted a strange axe with its head covered by a leather bag which sloshed as if full of seawater.

Hearing a noise from further back, the party grabbed what else they could - 4 pouches of incense worth 50sp each and 230sp from the scattered coinage - and Robin conjured a Floating Disc. The party loaded their fallen comrades aboard and headed back across the arena. As they approached the northern door, it burst open and several figures tumbled through in a chaotic melee - the Minotaur appeared to be engaged in combat with a maille-clad warrior and 4 spiders the size of ponies. Extinguishing their torch, the party groped their way forwards only to realise that they could cover almost no ground. Re-igniting the torch showed 2 of the spiders smashed to a pulp. Robin blew the horn he had recovered, intending to distract the Minotaur, but instead found that it dulled all sound from him and his companions nearby as long as he blew into it. Taking a deep breath, the Magic-User blew as long as possible while the party raced past the melee. They were joined by the warrior, a Black Talon, as they passed and they were able to make it back to the secret door out before the Minotaur finished with the spiders.

The Black Talon accompanied them as they backtracked. The warrior had no name, referring to himself as 'Soldier' in Ancient Minoic, but confirmed he was part of Ent Sha Nur's band and had been on a scouting mission in the area until his patrol was ambushed by the Minotaur. The Black Talons had fortified an area of the Caverns against the Swine, and the warrior offered advice regarding the creatures: they are very strong and fierce, will readily use fire, and their weapons are crude but effective, but they are poorly disciplined and greedy, and fear the mushroom folk on the second level. Reaching the room with the strange obelisk, the Talon gave directions from that room to the staircase down to the second level and stepped through the rusted portcullis to the east, effortlessly opening and closing the metal grate. Robin restored his arcane talents at the obelisk and the party continued to the entrance, depositing the bodies of their former comrades outside.

Re-entering, the group headed west from the entrance chamber and Maleneth picked a lock on a door to the south, finding a dead Black Talon lying in a room with a broken word daubed on the floor. Continuing west, the party entered the remains of some sort of tavern or feast hall which was littered with broken wooden furniture and smelt of stale wine. Tracks through the debris and loose feathers showed that the winged apes had passed through here, but while discussing a plan the party were interrupted by three large lizards bursting through another door, each about 5' long with vivid blue and orange skin. The reptiles skittered curiously around the door frame with sticky feet and the party cautiously withdrew to the far side of the room - the lizards, content that they posed no threat, withdrew from whence they came.

Familiar whining voices echoed through the portcullis to the west, and the party came eye to eye with a group of Curselings, sent by Geros to search for treasure, who had become trapped by the portcullis. Maleneth and Robin were unable to budge the grate, but applied oil to the rusted mechanism and tried again, successfully. The Curselings bounced off with a jingling sack and the party found a secret passage leading back to the tavern room, concealed by a plaster facade.

The next room held an old armoury full of rusted weapons and articles of war. Remembering the apes' warning, Maleneth triggered the poison dart trap on the next door from a safe distance. A set of long stairs led down, and near the bottom the party heard a sound like drizzle or steam from the next door, along with a sweet, floral smell. The next chamber was tiled and slick, misted from above by jets of cool, sweet-smelling mist which coated a series of stone couches and tables. The door at the far side was locked, and Maleneth was unable to pick it. Gorato hefted his great-axe and started hacking away, stopping when he heard grating stone speech from beyond. Waiting until the speech faded, he recommenced work and breached a small hole in the wood - in the next corridor stood several winged apes behind a slender brass figure with a porcelain mask. It politely asked that the party cease causing their master a disturbance and regretfully informed them that it would be forced to respond violently if they continued.

Not wanting to push their luck, the party decamped the Caverns intent on holding funerals for their fallen companions and planning their next moves.

Funeral March, John Coulthart

Referee Thoughts

The players misread their own map at first and headed in totally the wrong direction, which was quite funny. It literally had a big arrow and 'THIS WAY TO KADMACHO' on it.

Random encounter distance rolls really worked out for them - the Minotaur was 50' away which was just around a corner, and given it's blind that gave them a chance to avoid it.

The three-way brawl provoked some weird indecision among the players for reasons I couldn't fully understand. They were debating distraction techniques etc. until I mentioned that they could just move past the melee. Perhaps it was down to my depiction of the distances involved - it was getting late in the session and I wasn't feeling my best that day. It did lead to them blowing the noise-cancelling horn though, which was cool.

Similarly, they didn't seem that fussed about grabbing everything not nailed down in the Minotaur's lair, despite me describing all of the things scattered around. The got the most interesting bits but there's still like 1,500sp left in there...

However, their note-taking has been on point - they're remembering warnings and small snippets of information that slip my mind! 

I've really been enjoying describing traps out in the open and seeing what solutions they come up with. It keeps play moving at a good pace and stops us getting bogged down in the details.

Both players said they had fun, which is what I'm aiming for, and they were super engaged the whole session - good feelings all round.