Buried Treasure 5
| Buried Treasure 5 | |
|---|---|
| Date | 2023-08-05 |
| Storyteller | Foster |
| Tier | Trainee, Medium-Hard |
| Player Characters | Damian, Berta, Aleth, Siltmean, ALOT, Taru |
| Rewards | 250xp, +1StrikingGreatclub, Cauterizing Torch, Hat of Disguise, Mortar of Hidden Meaning, Pucker Picklex4, Stone Fist Elixir, 1gp. |
| Result | Success |
| Author | Unseelie |
| Downtime | 1 day |
A final expedition to the sunken village for supplies.
Log
As I am yet new to the city, I decided to join an experienced group of five heroes on a final expedition to explore the depths of a recently discovered sunken village. Those heroes were Berta Stormhammer of Clan Ashenforge, a stout woman wielding an immense battleaxe, only exceeded in size by her companion lizard by the name of Stupid; Aleth, a tall gunslinger able to hit even the farthest foe with unsurpassed accuracy; and not one, but three artificers of great prowess by the names of Damian Brooks, Siltmean, and ALOT, each wearing a spectacular armour of their own design, and with the latter not only being accompanied by an intricately designed wolf of metal, but herself even being an automaton of such meticulous construction that healing magic usually reserved for those of flesh or bark could stitch her wounds. I dare not yet count myself among such accomplished adventurers, but bard that I am, I endeavoured to assist as best as I can from a distance, longing for the day when I too would have the ability to join them in the fray.
Our guide to the entrance of the barren hill forming the entrance of the village was, just as for the previous expedition there, Jeremiah, a man of small stature but great jolliness. Not only did he provide a wagon on which we could travel and waited for our triumphant return, he even prepared a meal to strengthen us after any fights we might experience!
Within we found the entrance unchanged from what the previous expeditions had found: Hallways long abandoned and cleared of treasure, only inhabited by strangely large fireflies, providing illumination that some of our party required. Still we moved carefully, waiting for when we would hear the dreadful, sickening noises of the slug people that now made their home in the deeper parts of the caves.
The wait was not long. Soon after crossing the only bridge over the rapids running through the centre of the village, the sounds of three of the creatures reached us, and quickly spotted one openly standing in our path as if to challenge us. They were truly disgusting beings, their forms a mockery of humanoids as if formed out of slugs and ichor, and their movements showing remnants of what they or their ancestors once might have been. Granting them death was, if anything, a mercy.
Those with ranged weaponry immediately started firing, attempting to end the being before it became close enough for its death throes to affect us, while ALOT bravely charged in, risking herself and her companion COT to keep it away from the rest. Berta soon followed her example, taking on a second of the monsters she found with just Stupid at her side, shouldering whatever wounds it would inflict so that it would not fall into ALOT's back. Damian too chose to join the melee, relieving ALOT of some of her burden, but soon being ambushed by the third of the beings.
Strong as the monsters were, the fight did not take much longer after that, and we managed to bring them down without killing them, allowing us to explode them from a save distance. It was thrilling to see these mighty deeds so close up, and I dare even hope that my own encouragement and healing made it just a bit easier on them.
After a short rest to recover our strength, I soon spied a cave troll in the distance that we decided to lure towards the river, so we could fight it without endangering those favouring ranged weaponry. There were plenty of stories warning us that cave trolls lack the weakness to fire otherwise so prevalent among trolls, but acid would still stop its regeneration. Knowing this, the three artificers quickly crafted improvised acid projectiles from the remains of the horrid slug monsters.
As with most plans, it did not quite survive contact with reality. Siltmean, ALOT, Berta and Stupid managed to lure it part of the way, and the acid worked as intended, but it locked ALOT in a melee she could not escape as she valiantly protected the rest of us. Brave Berta soon joined her and even took a mighty hit that nearly brought her to her end, but twice the distance planned could not deter Aleth's aim and the troll was brought down before it could claim Berta's life.
Behind it, we found the only tunnel not yet explored and a hoard of magic items, which should greatly help our effort to rebuild the city.
I must admit, having been caught up in the experience of an adventure, that, while cave trolls rarely can be reasoned with, I failed to consider the individual. Should it have been one of the few of its kind not destined for the Abyss, I pray to Desna and Pharasma to forgive us, to guide it through the darkness it now entered, and to judge it fairly where we failed to do so.
Expedition log of Tarina Autio, Associate of the Round Table.