Shadowdark Thracia 16
Players:
Snubrash - Tor
Zema Zafat - Laumry
Xaayr - Iniquitous
Recap:
The party decided to investigate the Lost Citadel further to see what treasures might be found within. Andros, the priest of Dionysus wanted to accompany them after ZZ made a donation (while drunk). The party were reluctant to let a drunkard join them, but felt a priest would come in handy. Moving out of Minos through the jungle they encountered an eldritch berserker, likely wandering out of the black pyramid. They deftly avoided getting his attention as they skirted past him. They made it to the shore by late afternoon.
Moving northwards up the seaside cliffs, the party rested when they reached the top. On Snubrash's watch he saw a Giant Octopus making its way up the cliffside to grab and eat them. Snubrash immediately woke the others, which gave it enough time to scale the cliff. With its tentacle it tried to grab Snubrash at first but missed. It did end up grabbing Andros, and ate him immediately. The remaining party fled.
They made it to the Lost Citadel before dawn. Choosing to explore the Eastern half of the building the party entered a cavern attached to the man made citadel. This small cave had a shrouded figure undulating in the wind. It reminded Snubrash of a similar figure found in the Caverns of Thracia, which was not immediately hostile then.
While ZZ tried to detect the nature of its magic, 6 skeletons closed in on them from behind, blocking the stairwell. They could try to push through the gang of skeletons to get back into the entrance hall, or they could flee into the cave. Once they made it into the cave the shrouded figure blew a magic wind at them that snuffed out their torch!
Snubrash fumbled trying to get a new torch lit but Xaayr was able to get the light back on with a new one. The party takes a good beating but manage to flee the skeletons into a room north of the caves. In that room they discovered mosaics on the walls of Thanatos lording over the mortals. The party donned the robes hoping it would do something to calm the skeletons. Snubrash even sang the Cult of the Dark One's song for the dead. Neither had an effect on the skeletons.
The party had the chance to flee and moved up into the northern hallway. They shut the door behind them and pitoned it to block off the Skeletons. Up the hall they saw a pair of ettercaps attacking a lone Gnoll. Xaayr tried to sneak up and saw that the ettercaps webbed the Gnolls and bit him to death. However, he was not so sneaky so they turned their attention to him. Xaayr rushed them and knocked one over, creating room in the hallway for the others to run through.
ZZ managed to open the door and inspect a long hallway running up north. At the south end, beside him was a brass bull statue with an emerald in its head. Snubrash tried to destroy the gem with his spear, but alas he could not quite land a good strike. The bull stayed motionless. ZZ altered himself to get gecko limbs and climbed the wall to land atop the bull, whipping out his crowbar to pry the gem off.
As soon as Xayr stepped in the bull activated and charged him and Snubrash. ZZ flew off the back and scurried up the wall. Snubrash just barely dodged the bull. Xaayr was gored and downed. The bull ran up to the north end of the hall and started trotting back. Snubrash tried to make a curative but failed. He luckily was able to stabilize Xaayr in time to save his life. Xaayr spent the next few rounds unconscious, carried by Snubrash.
ZZ managed to drop back on top the bull and removed the gem just as it resumed its starting position, deactivating it before it could charge again. The gem retained its value of 120GP.
The party pushed north until they found an exit. Luckily they made it out without incident and were able to rest up outside the dungeon. Rushing back, they made it to town. At the Roost, a baby cockatrice was waiting for them.
Treasure retrieved:
- Emerald Gem (120GP) 1XP
- Brass Key (No value)
Northern exit found 1XP
Total XP gained: 2XP
Thoughts:
It was nice to welcome another new player to game with us. It's happened a few times recently and I'm glad to see there is still interest in the game. Also grateful that the new players are good vibes.
The session itself went well, but the party didn't get much treasure or XP out of it. It is what it is. I am liking the Lost Citadel more and more though. Really solid dungeon. Good size too, for something that's on 1 floor. I think you could easily expand on it as well and make it deeper. Perhaps even make it a floor of Thracia (fuck! I should have done that).
I do like its traps a fair bit, and the faction play is solid, if not particularly interesting. The threat of the Minotaur is awesome though. I am sad he doesn't get to show up that often, but I also want to make the appearance special. I have the feeling the players like delving here, so I'm sure they will revisit.
One change I will institute going forward is the unconscious condition after stabilization. I will only make it last til the character is taken to safety, by which I mean out of immediate danger.