Shadowdark Thracia 8
Players: Zema Zafat Ebane Strabon Bomb Hizirin
Recap:
Session began with the party leading Strabon's newly formed warband to the main dungeon entrance (Area A). Unlike before, there were Tribal Warriors guarding the entrance as opposed to Gnolls. These warriors were cultists, but untrained and in a religious fervor, spurred by wine and mushrooms.
Upon seeing the warband approach the Tribal warriors scattered, leaving behind a figure, the priest initiate Hizirin. Hizirin immediately renounced his worship of Thanatos and joined the party.
Delving into the dungeon, the party discovered that the bats had fled the main entrance and alcove. In fact, the place looked cleaned up. Hizirin was part of the cleaning crew, as one of his initiation tasks. Up ahead in the alcove, the cult reclaimed the connecting rooms and began renovating the chapel (1-5) for Thanatos.
Donning their black robes and skull amulets, the party spoke briefly with the cleric of Thanatos in the chapel, learning that the cult plans to expand into the dungeon and have waged a holy crusade on the beastmen.
The party also learned that the cultists took over the guard room (1-7) on level 1.
Heading down into level 2 (2-20), the party witnessed a stalemate between cultists and beastmen on either side of the barrier blocking access to the stairs (2-21) heading up to the Temple of Athena. One of the cultists recognized Hirizin and asked him to help out against the beastmen. Hirizin informed him politely and calmly that he quit the cult. The cultist, Alexios I think his name was, was shocked. So was the cleric with him, who took offense but did not want to cause commotion while under threat from beastmen. Hirizin returned to the party and did not address his awkward exchange.
The party moved on to the trash room (2-15) and cleared the space where they knew there was a trapdoor. Opening the flap they were hit with a gust of cold air. Bomb was the first to lower herself in, using a rope. Inside, she felt cold. On the ancient walls were cave drawings of people that looked prehistoric. The smarter party members confirmed this. They were not just silly doodles, as Bomb hypothesized.
Moving further down the cold hallway they saw a room covered in frost (2-13). Within it, the party saw two bodies frozen over, an armored man (Danaus) and woman (Epicaste). The ice seemed to be coming from the East wall. Both bodies were warriors who wore Ancient Thracian plate. The party remembered very quickly that Orpheus, the man behind the Thracian Revival Company was particularly interested in such a treasure. 500GP interested.
Bomb broke the male warrior off the wall using her axe and the party together began dismantling the plate from the corpse. Ebane meanwhile discovered that the woman warrior was still alive, though unconscious. While they de-frosted her, Hirizin followed the staircase down to an incredibly ancient room (2-31F) He could see that it was over a millenia old from the abundance of stalagtites and stalagmites.
They carried her and the other suit of plate out of the dungeon.
8XP Total awarded.
Thoughts: This session felt like a neat arc. I tried to introduce a new dynamic to floor 1 and I think it paid off. The cult are a very dynamic faction. They have a simple motivation, but it has pull. I'm learning that I need to give my factions some agency. They have to be reactive. The campaign only grows if they do too.
The players are growing in power, even if they don't quite know it yet, the factions need to match it and then some. I'm not talking about turning the factions into videogame hard mode, I'm talking about growth in the sense of character. They will rise and fall over the course of a campaign based on the conditions the players create.
Zema Zafat blew up the dead end wall in room 1-1. That wall was the only thing separating the world of beastmen from the world of cultists on level 1 up until 2 sessions ago last week. Not only did that create new territories to inhabit for the cult, but the players also introduced the cultists to Level 2 and the temple of Athena. That temple is where the beastmen "spawn" in via a teleporter from Level 3. The beastmen are not going to be cool with the cult knowing this and will defend that teleporter with anything they could throw at invaders.
The beastmen are aggro, but now they are playing defense. The players massacred their small infantry units. If this cult invasion gets out of hand they will retaliate and strike the fear of god.
Thracia is a small kingdom facing an invasion and potentially civil unrest. I gotta keep treating the players like an 8 ball. They hit things and cause domino effects.
Most importantly, I have to be less precious about this dungeon and this game as a whole. I've got a good crew of players who are having fun with it. I can just let Thracia be our Thracia. I can appreciate the artistry behind the original dungeon, but god damn if the situation hasn't changed so much by the time they hit level 2 that the key and encounter table becomes kinda meaningless.
I can't just rely on the book to tell me what's in here anymore. It's in my hands now.