Recap 20180209 - Escape from the Dungeons of the Slave Lords

Recap 20180209 – In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords


After being captured by the Slave Lords, Grid (Human Monk – Art), Mantis (TriKreen Barbarian – Ross), Cyrano, (Drow Rogue - Kenji), Raistlin (Elven Wizard – Arthur), Bannor (Human Fighter – Brendon), and Souldun (Human Warlord – Vic) are in the dungeons of the slave lords.  Through persuasion and trickery, an agent of the barons was able to provide our heroes some small amount of aid, a few potions and other items, informing the group that their gear was aboard the Water Dragon, the slave lord’s ship.  Seeing one passage with a distant bobbing light, a second having the faint sound of hammering, and the last one emanating the smell of a wet dog.  After a minor earthquake, the group decides to move toward the light.

The light seems to move away as the party closes, stopping when the party stops.  The group persists and near an area where the sand underfoot seems alive!  The light flashes brightly and the wizard is drawn nearer.  Gird is in the lead as the sand strikes at him.  The light flashes again and dazes the drow.  As the sand tries to envelop Cyrano, Souldun shouts to the rogue to shake it off and Cyrano manages to sidestep the threat.  The others charge in and kick and beat the sand but it is Raistlin’s spells that puts the sand elemental to ground.  The party continues to strike at the glowing ball with Mantis doing good damage with a fierce charge.  The ball, seems to draw energy from Cyrano who continues to throw a small magical knife, the group’s only magic weapon.  This allows Bannor to move into position to deliver a solid punch, right to the middle of the ball, putting it’s lights out.  Moving down the tunnel, Mantis and Gird find a small hand axe and small shield they give to Bannor, a dagger which they give to Souldun after which they turn around and head back to the initial cavern.

While deciding to go toward the hammering sound or the tunnel that smelled, the group experiences a stronger earthquake with some of the group taking minor injuries from falling rocks.  They move toward the smelly tunnel and Gird spots a large side cavern full of water.  The others come up and with the wizard’s light, they are able to see blind fish, small shellfish, and some small crayfish.  Bannor and Mantis decide to explore the pool and discover it goes well beyond and under the far cavern wall.  Using the glow stone given to them by their allied agent, Bannor and Mantis see the huge crayfish moving to attack them!  The pair rush back and all the others join in to beat off the crustacean.  The crayfish moves up on the beach, snapping at, grabbing and swatting party members.  Cyrano is swatted back and Gird jumps over the low swinging tail.  Bannor hacks at the nearest leg while lying on the ground, chopping the leg off, thanks to Gird who side kicked the beasty off balance.  The beast swats everyone back again, except Mantis who lands a couple good stabs with the rusty dagger, distracting the crayfish so Bannor is able to chop it over the head with a cracking blow, ending the fight.

After eating some great lobster meat, the group finds some flint and coal which Raistlin used magic missiles to pry from the wall.  Gird then comes across a couple of very large bright orange mushrooms.  The drow identifies them as Shriekers.  The passage seems to go beyond them.  While moving past, the group sees that they are going to shriek and pounce on them, smashing them quickly but not before the large violet fungus between them strikes back.  It lashes out at the group, grabbing and weakening them.  After a brief fight against the immobile plants, Mantis squashes it into paste.  After a brief rest, another, even more powerful earthquake hits, injuring the group further with falling rocks.

There are two passages, one sloping up with the faint sound of water and one sloping down with a burnt smell.  The group heads up and finds a small tar pit and then when the tunnel slopes down, they go a ways and then turn around.  The group comes across some hanging roots and realize they are close to the surface.  Gird and Cyrano come across a side tunnel with some webs.  The group tosses in some flammable materials and continues down the main tunnel with Cyrano shouting a warning to not kill spiders.  Sure enough, four big and one huge spider charge out of the side tunnel.  Mantis howls and uses a flurry of attacks to squish all four of the big spiders!  Bannor, encouraged by Souldun, Gird, and Raistlin blast the huge doom spider as it shoots webs and poisons various members of the group.  Mantis hangs from the ceiling over the huge spider allowing Bannor to deliver a strong chop to the body as Gird finishes it off with a round kick to the head and a flurry of blows to the body.
 
After a brief rest, Gird and Cyrano take point again and see a large chamber with a river of molten lava blocking the exit of the chamber.  In addition, there are four large bats, engulfed in flames circling on the other side of the lava river.  Wisely, the group uses Raistlin’s magic gate to get over the river.  Rather than fight the bats, the group heads toward the exit.  Yet another large earthquake hits and damages the party once more but also deters the bats from giving chase.  The team of heroes makes the final dash for the exit and take a brief rest next to a field after killing a large, fierce goat which had already killed an unfortunate man who wandered into the field.

After circling the mountain side, the group sees a ship, moored in a cove that’s underneath a large rock out cropping.  It’s the water dragon, and Mordrammo the Slave Lord priest is commanding a group of men to get the ship ready to sail.  The group sneaks up as close as they can, and attack swiftly.  Raistlin’s spells do not seem to be very effective but nearly all the close in fighters manage to jump aboard and attack the priest.  Souldun and Cyrano guard the rear as several more thugs attack Raistlin from the back.  Gird takes down a crewman and Mantis another.  Bannor rushes right past a crewman blocking the gangway.  Cyrano hides but as a crewman rushes in his direction, Cyrano jumps out from hiding and dispatches him, but Nerelas, the slave lord assassin, hits the drow for heavy damage.  Raistlin’s area spells continue to be ineffective, but a targeted spell on the evil cleric from up close, puts the priest down.  Nerelas hits the elf wizard for heavy damage, causing Raistlin to move to cover with Souldun nearby to heal.  Additional thugs come from below decks, hitting Bannor but the fighter slugs it out, downing one and with Manti’s help, forcing two others back.  Mantis downs another crewman, and with that, several others thugs flee.  The group then pounces on the remaining assassin allowing Bannor to strike a mighty blow and Mantis finishing the barely standing slave lord off.

The group rushes below decks and retrieve their gear just as another earthquake hits and a large section of the overhang breaks off, nearly sinking the Water Dragon immediately.  The party barely manages to get off the ship with their gear before the ship sinks to the bottom of the cove.  The entire group can clearly see a large smoke plume shooting from the nearby volcano.  Just then, a man dressed as a slave lord officer charges up.  It turns out to be the baron’s agent who had helped the group earlier.  He urgently tells the group that if they are to have any chance of getting off the island before the volcano erupts, they need to get to the docks and get a boat or ship off the island!

…to be continued in the EPIC final segment of the series!

Its good that monks are not as dependent on trinkets as the rest of you.