Session 4: Death and Victory

The stark, white cobras press in while the party is surprised, but they're able to ready themselves by the time the snakes strike. From the back line, the elf begins chanting the Sleep spell; the dwarf and half-foot fend off the the cobras with club and spear. Their swordsman splits one in half in one stroke.

The snakes are undeterred, and two sink their fangs into the swordsman's arm, piercing even the leather bracer. Another spits a burning gob at the cleric, narrowly missing her. She returns fire, a stone from her sling battering its head. The fighter is already dead from the venom.

The elf finishes chanting, and two of the snakes are charmed to sleep. The rest are soon driven back and killed, but the party has paid the price for inattention. They divide up the dead man's money and equipment; he was an untethered mercenary, and no one but the party stands to benefit. The cleric is already at work carving up the snakes, for the Red God frowns on wasting the flesh of slain foes; its servants should eat and grow strong.

Between their accounting and butchery, the mage notices a near-mummified form smothered under the ivy. An ancient inhabitant or a stray wanderer? They clutch a bundle of what was once perhaps fine cloth, now ruined and frayed. From within spills dozens of shining, untarnished coins, no doubt platinum from their brilliant whiteness, and struck with a forgotten mark. This alone would be a handsome reward for their efforts, but there's something else inside...

A hammer, cast in coarse iron and unbelievably heavy, is unwrapped. No one but the elf can do more than lift it off the ground, let alone swing it, so it goes to him. Its magic is palpable, standing one's hairs on end when swung. Each side is chiseled with angular runes.

Author's note: this was an insanely improbable roll! They've found a magic item, and not just any: this is a hammer of thunderbolts! The fact that the party has a person with 18 STR to wield it is already quite unlikely...

The balance of power was shifting. The elf proposes to double-cross Rusk. They would entreat the dryads to help them, using the rotting corpse from earlier as a fake "zombie" to bait their adversaries in.

As they try to leave the snake chamber, however, they're surprised by a swarm of giant rats, teeming at the iron gate. The party doesn't want another fight, even if it's just rats, so they throw portions of the swordsman's rations the other way until the rats are distracted. The walk to the surface is uneventful otherwise.

End of Delve One

The corpse is trussed up with some rope, and the dwarf and cleric are dragging it dramatically like they're reeling in a fish. Rusk's party takes the bait and approaches. The nymphs appear in a flurry of wind and leaves, taking the trespassers by surprise and disappearing four of their number into the trees before vanishing themselves.

Their morale is shattered. The remaining force scatters in fear, and in the confusion, the cleric strikes down Rusk with a single wicked bullet from her sling. All but one of the fleeing sellswords fall in a volley of arrows. Secure in their victory, the party camps at the grove and takes their evening meal, then goes to bury their dead: their swordsman, marking his grave with a piece of the ruins, and Rusk's mercenaries in their own shallow graves. The rain starts up again overnight.

Day Three

Carrying the lifeless body of Rusk with them, the party strikes out up the mountain to his camp again. Less than half of his force remains, and they hope to cow the rest into giving up with their master slain. This time, they don't lose their way and make it to the linden tree in a fraction of their previous time.

When the camp guards spot them, there is a moment of confusion. The world is still until one of the guards draws his blade and breaks out in a charge; the rest are swept up in his brave stand. Most of them are struck down by missile fire before they meet the party, but their morale holds against the odds. When they cross blades, the dwarf speaks out again, demanding their surrender, and this time they give in. In exchange for the rest of their plunder, the remaining few hired swords escape down the mountain.

The treasure amounts to a few gems and a scroll of Locate Object that Rusk seems to have been saving. Tucking these together with their looted coins and extra supplies, the party rides back to Starforge to recover and resupply. The way is clear for them to delve deeper into the labyrinth...