Shadowdark Thracia 17
Players:
Bomb - FelineAvian
Zema Zafat (ZZ) - Laumry
Orkhon - Kut
Snubrash - Tor
Xaayr - Iniquitous
Dina - Al
Atar - NPC
Recap: The PCs left the roost at the crack of dawn, taking advantage of the good weather to cross the jungle and reach the shore in good time. On the way they were able to scavenge some fruits and grubs, and were luckily undisturbed.
When they reached the shore they encountered 8 merfolk who were out hunting the Giant Octopus. They were friendly to the party and offered them fish as a gift. They gave ZZ a conch to call them should they encounter the Giant Octopus again. They made it clear they would not appreciate being called under any other circumstance.
While resting on the beach for the evening, Bomb saw the Merfolk out at sea attacking a large tentacled beast. He grabbed the conch and called them to the shore, luring the beast closer to the party so they may aid in the fight. The octopus, giant though it was, was no match for 8 merfolk and the 7 party members. The merfolk were grateful for the assist and let the party go with a giant tentacle they could use as rations.
The party moved north, fishing along the coast as they travelled, until they reached the Lost Citadel. Once inside, they knew they wanted to grab the spear pinning the skeleton in the robing chamber. To get there they had to cross the shrouded scarecrow which could blow out their light if they aren't careful. The party torched the scarecrow with a makeshift molotov (oil flask set ablaze) which deactivated it. They then searched the 5 webbed gnoll bodies in that room and discovered 1 pearl (40gp) trapped in the mouth of one of them.
Moving on to the robing chamber, ZZ cast detect magic and saw it ping the spear embedded in the skeleton pinned to the wall. Thinking (correctly) that the skeleton would animate, he struck it with a crowbar. It woke the skeleton, who stood no chance for the combined might of the party. Snubrash, who used his Foebane against undead in the room prior, got a nice hit in with his sword.
With the skeleton defeated, the party looted the Spear of the Sun (+1 spear that glows for an hour on crit - also blinds the target struck) which Atar the priest of Apollo (who is best friends with Orkhon after they shared some drinks last week) recognized as a relic of his god. Snubrash claimed the spear.
Equipped with a powerful weapon, the party decided they would take a shot at the Scarlet Minotaur. They made their way westwards through the citadel and then north into the courtyard. In the hallway just before they listened in and heard the minotaur huffing and puffing beyond the door. Dina and ZZ cast protection from evil on Bomb and Xaayr.
Xaayr then kicked the door in, surprising the minotaur who was across the courtyard. ZZ immediately cast a fireball which struck the minotaur square! The party then pelted it with missiles which did not do much. The minotaur charged at Xaayr, who was in the front line, but the protection spell diverted his course, making him crash horns first into a pillar. The minotaur was stuck for a round, which was enough for Bomb to strike and behead him with a mighty swing of her axe.
Xaayr picked up the head and impaled it on the bull statue (which already had a skull collection on its horns). Xaayr immediately grew two little horns from his forehead and felt a command from the bull to bring it more skulls. Bomb picked up the minotaur's magic greataxe Bloodlust. The rest of the party looted the corpses littered about the courtyard, finding 210gp worth of treasure.
Satisfied with their haul, the party made their way out of the Lost Citadel and made the day-and-a-half journey back to Minos.
7XP gained during session.
Thoughts:
Definitely a successful session for the group today. I also felt good about the pacing. I was a bit worried when it came to having 6 players that it might take a while to get moving, but having a caller kept things on track. I also dropped the always-on initiative entirely. That would not do us any favors today.
Player numbers really skewed encounters in their favor though. They got lucky with the random ones and their reaction rolls. There were no random encounters within the Lost Citadel, which could have whittled them down somewhat. The minotaur was one combatant against 7 when they decided to take him on. Even with level 1 PCs it would have been tough for him to survive. Zema was also level 5 and got a fireball off on him. That took him down to half his HP in one action.
The players should feel proud of this accomplishment nontheless. It was good planning and some fortunate rolls that got them the result they wanted without so much as a scratch. This player count, with some good planning, can go on to bigger and even more rewarding challenges.
I am not loving my encounter list for the coast, they could definitely be fleshed out more with some prep. The merfolk feel like they should be a faction, or could at least be tied to an adventure site so I'll get to work on that.
The Lost Citadel has lost its fearsome minotaur, for now. I think the dungeon definitely served it's purpose for this campaign. They could revisit it. Things can change. But the big beastie is felled.
I'm kinda missing the Caverns after a few sessions spent on the periphery. I am happy to go where the players desire though, there's plenty of cool stuff to find in the hex-crawl.