The Dungeon of Laduguer's Crucible

About the Saga

Having retreated from the deadly traps of the dungeon beneath the ruined monastery of Laduguer's Crucible, the Dark City adventurers rest, lick their wounds and wait for reinforcements.

Timeframe

• Greyhawk Date: Ready'reat 3, 591
• Real World Date: 2008-02-02
• Read other Dark City Sagas

Cast of Characters

• Garioch the Black, cleric/wizard of Istus
• Ferdiad, human ranger
• Zilanderan, the planetorn swordsage
• Seamus Fisher, the Fisherman
• Gorrock Headsplitter, half-orc warrior

Quote of the Game

• "I am a scholar. I kill and break things as well," -- Garioch.
• "Oh, good. We need the help." -- Seamus.

The Saga

Ready'reat 3, CY 591

Resting in the Tower

Ferdiad, Seamus, Garth and Glenmore retreat to the corner tower of monastary (known in the UnderOerth as Laduguer's Crucible) to rest and recover after their disastrous expedition friends retreat to a fortified tower. They are joined by the half-orc Gorrock, who'd been lost in the woods.

Battered and drained, they rest the night.

Meanwhile dwarf and Zil hires on Garioch the Black -- a cleric/wizard -- to bolster the party, then head out to the dungeon and the tower. They arrive. "I am a scholar. I kill and break things as well," -- Garioch. "Oh, good. We need the help." -- Seamus.

Seamus explains that Ferdiad tracked the children to the ruined dwarven monastery. Seamus and Ferdiad tell tales of the horrors seen in the ruins of the monastary. Seamus shows them slippers taken from fallen dwarf, an over-sized iron gauntlet, and an obsidian tablet ("Garth says Moriam will pay well for this!" Seamus explains.)

Ready'reat 4, CY 591

Return to the Dungeon

They head back into the dungeon, Zil donning the newly identified slippers of spider climbing. Seamus tries to emulate Zil to become the great hero who will wield Frostreaver, the great axe. They see out the secret room that Ferdiad and Seamus found on an earlier expedition.

Kobolds!!!

Seamus, Garioch and Ferdiad suddenly hear snickering sounds behind them, which turns out to be a handfu of kobolds. As the yippering humanoids close, Ferdiad catches a glimpse of a werewolf -- the same little girl werewolf the party fought earlier -- sneaking down a corridor. It then lunges forward, biting Garioch the Black.

The half-orc, enraged because he can not close with the kobolds, throws down his weapon and instead fires a crossbow. The lead kobold digs out a claw-shapped device on the end of a line, and throws it at Ferdiad.

Seamus, seeing the werewolf thrash Garioch, attacks the wolf, impaling it on his harpoon with a savage hit. Zil brandishes his sword in a flourish, attempting to dazzle his opponents, but only manages to affect one of the kobolds.

Seamous and Garioch managed to drive off the kobold. Zil attempts to kill the kobold before him but misses badly, dropping his sword. Ferdiad, on the other hand, managed to kill a kobold. The half-orc Gorrock the Splitter charges forward into the opening, splattering the kobold before him. The lead kobold slashes at the half-orc, then withdraws.

The werewolf flees, and Seamus and Garioch the Black follow him. The frustrated Zil ignores his lost bastard sword, draws his rapier and strikes at a kobold. He evokes the burning blade, searing the kobold and killing it instantly.

Seamus returns to the battle after the werewolf fled, arriving in time to strike down the lead kobold. They loot through the body finding small dagger, two small javelin, flying claw and a vial of some sort of poison.

Mumbling Death

They return to the secret door, which turns up a small corridor. At the end of corridor, Zil finds a secret door, revealing a hexagonal room. Stone benches pace the walls, with openings between each bench, with a stone trumpet shaped object extending into the center of the room. An odd whispering fills the room.

Strange, vaporous creature flows into the room, muttering insanely and beginning to work into the hero's minds. Zil prepares to attack the creature should it close, waiting for the clerics to attempt to turn the thing with divine power. Ferdiad attempts exactly that, and fails. Splitter charges into the room, attacking the allip, fumbling as he did so.

The creature's mumbling grows louder. Ferdiad and Seamus fall under its sway, and stand fascinated by its mutterings. Zil shakes it off by countering with the moment of perfect mind. Garioch identifies the creature as an allip, then steps up hoping to turn it. But fails. Zil runs up, slashes at it with his bastard sword, evoking the burning blade as he does so. Splitter attacks the creature again, missing.

The allip touches Zil, causing him to lose wisdom. The planetorn swordsage sidesteps the creature, assumes the stance of clarity, and attacks, missing. He strikes again, and manages to land the killing blow that banishes the creature from the mortal realm. Searching, they find another secret room, finding an obsidian walled chamber lined with dwarven names. A strange room, but they find nothing of value.

Yippering Prayers

They then find another secret door elsewhere in the complex, leading to a long corridor and two sets of double doors and some prayer benches. Clustered in the center of the room are a pack of kobolds.

Zil rushes in striking with his shadow blade technique, but missing a kobold. The rest of the party advances, with Splitter slaying a kobold with a single blow. The kobolds hits back, jabbing spear into Seamus' knee.

One of the creatures -- a blue-skinned kobold -- casts a spell, filling him with irrational fear, causing him to flee. Gorrock the Splitter kills two more kobolds. Zil, shaking his fear, returns to the combat. Ferdiad kills the sorcerer. They find a well-carved, intricate club on the kobold sorcerer's body.

The Children's War

The party presses and soon hears the sound of fighting, with children's voices mising with the barking of kobolds. Drawing closer, they find an adult halfling grappling with a kobold warrior, as a young girl tries to fend off several more kobolds. The adventurers instantly leep into the fray, led by Ferdiad who attacks but misses a kobold, and followed by Zil, who cuts down another of the creatures with his bastard sword.

The leader of the kobolds attempts to beat down on the halfling, but the new arrivals seek to intervine, with Garioch dazing the creature, and Zil slashing the creature with his bastard sword.

Meanwhile, Seamus runs to the otherside of the room, trying to get the kobolds off of the young girl who'd taken refuge in the corner. Splitter finally manages to drop the big bad.

With the kobolds killed, the adventurers turn the halfling and the children. Kimmie, one of the kids, explains what happened. Children were put in holding pen with halfling and half-elf, and destined for eating or sacrifice. They overwhelmed the guards and escape, except that the half-elf and one of the boys were felled by paralytic spears. As they tried to escape, the kids took wrong turn trying to escape and a kid was snagged by some dwarf monster with flaming beard and flailing chains. The halfling explains that he was captured while caravaning between Obsidian Bay and Blue, while the kids were captured while playing.

Experience & Loot

• Each character gains 615 experience.