Lair Of The Orc Lord - Deep 2 (Part 2)

This 27th day of the month of Winter, according to the Kulthean Calendar, will end sadly. Someone is going to die. This is not by design, but, as the storyline unfolds, proves to be just plain bad luck.

The session starts out pretty calmly as the players and GM discuss the drop in probability of an absent player character's weapon breaking. Last session saw Kodos' player absent yet his weapon did not break during the last session. Oh well, so now the percentage is about 66.7% chance.

After clearing and searching the hidden Guard Room (3), Shashari moves to the eastern door and listens - nothing can be heard. Then she moves over to the western door and listens - again nothing.

The PCs move through the west door after Shashari checks for traps - no trap detected. Cavell opens the door and sees that it is a corridor heading north. Forming into a now familiar marching order, the party move north (4 - 5).

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The corridor takes a sharp turn to the left ahead. A chittering sound can be heard from above and looking up you can see your lantern light reflecting from beady eyes overhead.

Before they know it, eight small Spider Bats start attacking the party. The danger these creatures pose is really their poison they inject if they get a non-tiny critical. Small creatures can readily cause what are termed Tiny Criticals but occasionally their attacks are quite effective, causing "normal" criticals. These normal criticals allow for the spider bats to inject poison as well as inflict additional damage.

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All party members are attacked simultaneously with Asmodeus being attacked most ferociously. Cavell takes down the first spider bat just as Asmodeus gets bitten with a non-tiny critical. He is stunned and since he didn't heal up fully since their last couple of encounters, he is very close to falling unconscious due to concussion damage (loss of hit points). Asmodeus finds that the poison has no effect on him as his player made a successful poison RR (resistance roll).

Xera is unsuccessful with her attacks and gets stunned in the second round and third rounds of combat. Rikku and Kodos are using their missile weapons in the hopes of not re-opening their healing wounds but find them difficult to use, even with the short range bonus, so opt for their melee weapons in later rounds of combat. Kodos moves back down the corridor from whence they came to use his bow. Shashari also uses her bow trying to take advantage of the short range bonus and manages to down a single spider bat.

With only two spider bats down, Asmodeus is again critically hit and bleeding. He falls to the cold stone floor unconscious as more spider bats bare down on him attacking savagely. He is not dead yet but looks in very bad shape. His player makes another successful poison RR.

"I drop my bow and move to Asmodeus' side. I use first aid on him to stem the flow of blood and prevent him from dying." - Shashari.

"You attempt first aid, but you are unsuccessful. You try to apply pressure to the bleeding wound but cannot stop the blood flow." - GM.

Asmodeus is slipping fast, running headlong towards his ultimate destiny.

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Xera is still stunned, her player is not amused and getting a little bored not being able to attack.

Rikku pulls out his not-so-trusty yet rusty long sword he picked up from the weapons rack in the Pit of Deff. He attacks fervently and batters down one, two and then a third spider bat over a few rounds. He manages not to re-open his healing wounds.

Meanwhile Kodos uses his short sword, also picked up from the weapons rack and hacks at the fast flying creatures. He is unsuccessful in just about all of his attacks, however, he is successful in re-opening his healing wound and is now bleeding at one hit per round.

Not successful with her first aid attempt Shashari defends the dying Asmodeus from the poisonous spider bats. One of the nasty creatures attacks her and hits her critically doing 18 hits of damage - she only has 25 hits in total and is now sitting on 3 hits having been previously wounded for 4 hits. She is now bleeding at two hits per round and also needs to make a poison RR.

Things are getting tense with Asmodeus now about to walk through Death's door and Shashari on 3 hits and bleeding two hits per round. She has one full round to act before falling unconscious.

Before she has time to even think, still trying to protect her friend Asmodeus, another spider bat attacks her savagely managing to strike into the back of her neck, piercing the skin and into her brain. Shashari dies honourably giving her life so that her friend may live. (Acting for the spider bats, I, the GM, rolled 97 on the attack roll. Since it is an open-ended roll another roll was made and added to the first resulting in the highest possible damage done by a spider bat. The attack had a critical attached to it and again the GM rolls in the high 90s resulting in Shashari's ultimate demise.)

Cavell hearing the scream of pain turns and sees Shashari slump to the floor not moving. He then moves to stand over the body of Asmodeus managing to down another three spider bats over the remaining few rounds of battle.

Xera finally comes out of stun and moves to aid the injured. Kodos continues to be unsuccessful with his attack while Rikku continues with his luck downing the spider bats.

The last spider bat is killed by Cavell and healing begins.

Xera casts a clotting spell on Asmodeus to stop the bleeding just in time. He is now sitting at -50 hits.

All are surprised at the death of Shashari and are wondering what they can do. Cavell says that if they can get her body back to the Temple of Eissa in time, the priestesses may be able to return her back to life. They do after all have free healing services for two weeks. Kodos needs to heal up and recuperate a bit before he teleports back to Sel-kai.

Not wanting to think of the death of Shashari, or maybe simply not caring, Rikku and Kodos search the area and find some treasure the spider bats have left there from their other victims. The PCs have yet to complete their healing fully and decide to move back to the hidden Guard Room to rest and recuperate.

Here the session ends with experience points being handed out to the living.

The next session is slated for three weeks time.

Prayers for Shashari are always welcome. Donations of money for her funeral can be made at the Temple of Eissa located on the Avenue of the Gods, Sel-kai.

Lair Of The Orc Lord - Deep 2 (Part 1)

Finally, after what seemed an eternity in Deep 1, the brave adventurers make their way down stairs to the second level of the Lair, Deep 2. With only a minor mishap of Cavell bumbling into a pit trap that had spikes at the bottom and with the grand luck of only hitting three of the spikes, he suffered very little damage. It could have been much worse!

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"Da scum is comin. We lot hyde uselfs in da seecret room. We jump em good wen dai try to get past us." - Orc.

"Ar dai comin yet?" - Goblin.

"Shhh... You gotta be kwiet. Skabnoze git sez dai is very cleva." - Orc.

"Hahahaha.... sumbodi hit da spike trap dead good." - a different Goblin.

"Shhh... [bash] [whimper] I sed be kwiet!" - Orc.

The PCs reach the bottom of the stairs and are confronted with a T-intersection. Undecided which way to go, Shashari notices what appears to be a hidden door directly opposite their entry corridor. Further inspection clarifies her initial perception, but she just can't figure this one out. It "looks" to be a door shape but she just can figure out how to open it. She decides to push on it anyway and the door swings open revealing a hidden guard room. Obviously this was meant to be a trap of some sorts but now that it is exposed, the goblins rush in to the fight.

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The goblins are urged forward by their two larger allies - Lugroki (orcs).

The PCs have a little trouble coordinating themselves this time as a few want to use their missile/thrown weaponry but can't because others are in their way. Cavell takes out a goblin first as they are all that are accessible at the front. The two large orcs can't get into the fight but do try to push forward to no avail.

Another goblin is dispatched and now one orc can move into the fight. As PCs shift positions, Rikku, Kodos, Xera and Shashari can now target the enemy with their missile weapons. Rikku and Kodos are concerned about opening up their previous wounds if they go in for hand-to-hand attacks.

Meanwhile, Asmodeus casts his sleep spell and successfully (finally!) puts two goblins to sleep.

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Kodos gets a critical hit on one goblin while Shashari and Rikku both critically hit another goblin. With a mighty swing, Cavell chops the orc facing him and downs him in one critical hit. Soon enough Xera takes out the goblin that Shashari and Rikku critically hit. Kodos kills his goblin good, and Shashari manages to get a critical on the remaining orc, as does Rikku. With a lucky dice roll by her player, Shashari gets a second critical, an 'E' this time and slays the foul orc creature. Finally Cavell moves into the room to mop up and takes out the last goblin.

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The orcs and goblins are searched for treasure as is the room - little is found other than a crossbow that has no bolt but it already cocked. Strangely enough it has no loading mechanism. Rikku takes it under the direct instruction of Cavell and Shashari not to sell it without their approval.

This is the sixth day the group of adventurers have been looking for the Life Stone. They have fourteen more days to go before their free healing services expire.

See you next time.