View source for The Sidewinder Pass, Part 1

[[Category:Dark City Sagas]]

==About the Saga==
Fresh from their victory over the Rusty Axes, the new adventuers seek the long-lost Sidewinder Pass.

===Timeframe===

* Greyhawk Date: Goodmonth 27, CY 591
* Real World Date: December 17, 2004
* [[Dark City Sagas|Read other Dark City Sagas]]

===Cast of Characters===

* [[Prug]], Half-Orc Monk 1 (Bob), a refuge from the Wild Coast with a shameful past, Prug seeks the path to enlightenment.
* [[Gruffudd Castlemaine]], Half-Elf Paladin 1 (Jon), a paladin of Lendor and former resident of Urnst out to see the world, and to conquer his despised elven heritage.
* [[Largo Leftpocket]], Halfling Rogue 1 (Lance), a former locksmith on the run from the Blue Thieves Guild and eager to start a new life.
* [[Vargas of Ralsend]], Human Aristocraft 1 (Nate), a young aristocrat, late of Greyhawk College, who comes to the city seeking apprentice himself to a powerful shadow mage.
* [[Corash]], Elven Wizard 1 (Damon), Celenese seeker of arcane knowledge and cultural awareness.

====Accompanying them were:====

* [[Salsar]], Human Fighter 1, a retainer hired by Vargas to provide much-needed martial support during his expedition into the UnderOerth. The fighter is a member of the Sellsword Guild.
* [[Grünhorn]], Dwarf Expert 1, a hireling of Vargas, brought on to provide much-needed engineering and dungeoneering knowledge.

===Notable Quotes===

"Someday that window will be open, and that die will be unguarded." – Damon, referring to Ken’s glow-in-the-dark d20.

===What Has Come Before===

A strange band of new arrivals has joined together for two goals: the first (at the request of the half-orc monk Prug and the half-Suel/half-elf paladin Gruffudd) involved hunting down and slaying the "Rusty Axes", a group of murderous cultists living in the sewers. 

The second involved the quest of an aristocrat -- Vargas of Ralsend -- to find a rare spell component for a shadow mage he wished to apprentice himself to. The paladin and monk agreed to help the aristocrat find his spell component if he and his followers would help them deal with the Axes. Previously, they tracked down and ended the threat of the Axes. Now they are seeking the long-lost "Sidewinder Pass", at the end of which they believe they can find the item that Vargas seeks: coal which has never been exposed to any sort of light.

* [[The Rusty Axes|Read the previous saga, The Rusty Axes]]

==The Saga==
===Goodmonth 27, 591===
====At the Threshold====
It is the afternoon of Goodmonth 27. The party goes into the sewers, finds the location of the walled-off entrance to the gulch. Begin clearing a wall of rubble stacked in front of the entrance, but are attacked by small monstrous spiders. One lands a bite on [[Corash]], injecting painful poison that saps his strength.

[[Prug]] and [[Largo Leftpocket]] try to tumble past spiders to flank them, but fail. The spiders press their attack, biting at the party fiercely, while the others try - and fail - to repel them. [[Salsar]] thrusts with his long sword, skewering the spider and then killing another spider, dicing it into a dozen pieces before turning to rundown the other. [[Gruffudd Castlemaine]], however, denies him the hat trick by killing the last spider.

After finally clearing the wall, and Prug and Largo move into the area behind … immediately attacked by two darkmantles that fall from the ceiling. One badly misses, falling to the floor. Largo is hit by a darkmantle which suffocates and then drops him. Gruffudd moves up and tries to pull the darkmantle off the halfling's head, but fails.

[[Vargas]] moves up, attacks darkmantle but misses. The other darkmantle continues to crush halflings head. Prug reaches forward, and pulls the darkmantle from his head, allowing a rush of air to pur into the halfling's body.

[[Grünhorn]] grabs the halfling rouge and pulls him to safety. Corash makes several attempts to bind Largo's wounds, finally succeeding. Vargas stabs forward, killing the stunned dark mantle.

After these two short but brutal battles, the party retreats to the surface and the Mudsitters District. Start debating what to do with Largo. Vargas wants to leave him in a boarding house, but party objects, fearing he will be abducted. 

Gruffudd and Prug seek out the Temple of Pelor, located near the border of the High and Wharf districts. There they meet with Brother Jason Aldern and tell him of the strange cloak-like beasts they fought, as well as the state of their fallen friend. He is impressed by their tale, and explains that the creature they fought was a "dark mantle". The Pelorites agree to take Largo in (seeing as how he was injured by a creature of the dark) and allow him to covalence for 1 cp a day. After a brief discussion, Gruffudd and Prug return to the party. Goodmonth 28, 591

===Goodmonth 28, 591===
====The Sidewinder Pass====
After a night's rest at their respective inns (or in Prug's case, on the streets of the Mudsitters District) they return to the entrance to the Sidewinder Pass. Prug enters into the corridor, and is caught by a razor-wire trap across the corridor. Gruffudd disables trap by breaking it with his great sword. Continue down the path, find room where area transforms into different kind of rock.

Look for traps, don't find any … until Prug steps forward and falls through concealed floor trap. Hear kobolds sniggering nearby. Salsar hears them, and waits to shoot if one attacks. Then four kobolds come bursting out, laughing and saying "you should never have come further! You will all die!"

The kobolds whirl sling stones at Gruffudd and Grünhorn, hitting each once. Corash unleashes his sleep spell on the kobolds, causing two to fall. Gruffudd tries to move around right side of the trap, but fails balance check to avoid falling in, and plummets into the pit.

The kobolds, seeing that two of their individuals had fallen asleep, fall back down the corridor out of sight. Paladin moves over to check on Prug, finds that the half-orc is unconscious and calls for rope. Others move to other side of pit trap, and Gruffudd boosts Prug out of pit. Salazar moves forward to scout ahead, sees nothing, but then four spears come showing out of darkness.

Party presses forward. Grünhorn catches glimpses of kobold, slays him with a crossbow bolt. Kobolds respond with hail of sling stones. Corash drops one with an arrow from his longbow. Paladin charges forward to join Salsar.

Salsar charges forward, and slays another kobold. Last humanoid flees, screaming "This is your last chance! Flee before we kill you all!" Loot the bodies, finding 30 very strange, thin crystal disks, each guilded around their edges with gold. The coins are scratched and worn, but are not magical. Fall back and rest for several hours before pressing on.

====Snapback Curve====
After a long rest, during which Prug recovers his strength, the party presses on. Crawl down the narrow, 3 foot diameter "Snapback" corridor, exiting three quarters of a mile and three hours later into a larger corridor five feet in diameter. Grünhorn proceeds down widened corridor, accidentally tripping (and amazingly disabling) a trip wire trap. Also catches sight of kobolds, shouts a warning, and moves forward. He shoots his crossbow, felling one of the creatures. Prug then moves up directly in front of the kobold, who strikes (and hits) with his spear. The half-orc counter-attacks, killing him. The next kobold snarls, drops his sling and pierces the monk, dropping him. Two more kobolds come charging out of what the adventurers assume is the "Weeping Room" they'd been seeking. One fires stone from sling, hitting Grünhorn.

Corash unleashes a magic missile, which hits a kobold but does not kill it. Fortunately, a bolt from the dwarf's crossbow finishes the job. Paladin overruns one kobold, forcing him out of the way, and charges another, but misses with his attack.

Salsar crits a kobold, slaying it instantly. Others demand that kobold surrenders, but it shouts "never" and then pierces paladin for brutal damage. Gruffudd responses by cutting him in half with his longsword.

They enter the "Weeping Room" and find it true to its name. Water slowly seeps from its walls, collecting in a shallow pool in the southeastern corner of the room. The walls are covered with slime and the occasional green-glowing fungus. Scattered around the 15-foot square room are piles of rags, among which the party finds 32 of the strange crystal coins, 62 gold coins of Keoish make, a moldy spellbook and journal, and eight vials (5 cure light wounds, three antidotes). Find that the spell book was written by someone called "Graphly Nimbletoes" and contains the spells magic missile, alarm, silent image, and hypnotism, as well as a message: "Damn kobolds are every where, but what's at the Crypt is worse by far. Can't believe the party didn't listen to me when I told them that putting that thing to sleep wasn't going to work - the dead may sleep, but ghouls certainly don't."

====The Dragon's Bend====
Next day, head out down the Dragon's Bend and are attacked by a wing of three stirges stirges. One latches on to Prug, while another sucks Corash. The wizard stabs at the one on him with his dagger, and his owl slashes at it, but while damaged, the creature does not fall off. Prug, meanwhile, crushes the one sucking him. The other darts forward, under Prug and Gruffudd's attacks, and latches on again. The orc squashes it, spurting blood everywhere. 

==Experience==

Not available.