We started by resting up, getting spells back, etc. The first order of business was to look into this unusual short sword. Oakwood and TerStegan went to Wren but she was no help. Her advice was “Read a book!”. They then spent half a day researching in the town library. That got them a new roll. DC26. Oakwood rolled a 2 but TerStegan rolled a 20. (Evidently Oakwood was in the gardening section by mistake.) It was a Gloom Blade. +2 striking short sword while in darkness or dim light. Only +1 otherwise. And in bright light, such as Xeelie’s lantern, it didn’t appear magical at all. Since we are a bright and shiny group, it wasn’t any use to us. And it couldn’t be deconstructed for parts since it had a name. It was worth 700 gold so we sold it. We also earned a Wand of Force Barrage (level 3) which Oakwood took since he had a spare hand. The +1 striking war flail and poison were sold as well. The Cheetah potion went to TerStegan. The 4 moderate healing potions were spread around. All told the split was 145 gold each. There was also a map of the level but it was mostly areas we had already been to.
Armed with new cash, TerStegan attempted to buy a Quenching armor rune but he couldn’t make the DC 22 Society roll. He could pay a 10% finder’s fee or wait a week and roll again. While he was at it, Oakwood asked him to look into a Size Changing armor rune but he failed on that roll too. TerStegan then went to Wren to have her make a Wand of Instant Armor. That would free up his one 2nd level slot. She could do it however when Paul was informed that Bards can’t change their known spells until they level up, he decided to wait. Briscoe showed up around here so we decided to head back to the dungeon.
There was some debate about the rope ladder. Since visibility was limited to 30, we rolled it up that far. And then Oakwood used Cat Fall to land. Briscoe noted the exact spot. We figured most people could retrieve it if needed such as Oakwood’s Burning Jet. We then boated over to the area we hadn’t finished off last time. Back to the egg cooking room. We opened a door to the west. It was a storeroom full of boxes and such. And a faintly glowing plant. Briscoe talked to it. It was swamp reeds that had been chopped and brought down. He decided to move them to the potted plant room and try to replant them. He rolled a 1 on Nature and thought he did a good job. There were also some dried mushrooms in barrels and usable torches. And we found 3 beautiful amethysts. But no secret doors.
There was a door to the south. And a bedchamber to the east from there. It had a desk with the map we found before. And nothing else of interest. To the west was another T junction. North was another bed chamber with a mat and a desk. It had an iron strong box that we took last time. The door to the south has junk piled in front of it. We spent some time to clear it. Oakwood and TerStegan moved stuff into the bedchamber while Briscoe guarded. Behind that door was a huge cave full of mushrooms. And some webs in the distance. The mushrooms Briscoe could see were normal mushrooms. This area was not on their map. We decided to turn back to finish off areas we were in before going into a new area. And wait for more players. We went back to a bedroom and did a thorough search. Nothing more was found.
Near it was a locked door. We used the key we got from Padli’s body. It was a prison room with chains and manacles. And a dead body that looked undead. It had a sword and longbow. Oakwood tried to retrieve them with a Mage Hand but they were too heavy. TerStegan got inpatient and bravely moved in to chop it to bits. Initiative. It started prone and TerStegan went first. He entered his stance and then hit for 28. And hit again only because it was prone. That did 30 points and killed it. Encounter over. TerStegan checked that it wasn’t regenerating. It had studded leather, a strong longbow, and a 2-handed sword. All not magical. There were no clues as to its origin. They searched for secret doors and found none while Oakwood guarded.
We chose not to head towards the “more evil” area on the map without more players so we decided to search the lake. It curves around to the north west where that caster had disappeared into the fog. We saw some recesses in the north wall. 4 of them, 10 feet up. As we assessed the difficulty, we saw some hand holds. It was merely a 15 DC climb roll. TerStegan climbed into the last one with ease and found a ghoul sort thing. Initiative. Another one swam into the boat and attacked Briscoe. It missed. The one on TerStegan reacted to his turn and did a Draining Glance. DC 23 Fort save. He used Counter Perform since it was visual power and rolled a 34 for a crit save. He entered his stance and missed by one. Oakwood gave him Guidance and he hit for 18. And then hit again for 23. Another Empty Death Bodak came out of another recess and flanked TerStegan. And crit for 28 points. Briscoe had to make a save at the start of his turn. He made it. He cast Hydro Push and missed. And then missed with his trident. The one on TerStegan finally went. It did a Death Gaze and TerStegan saved. And then it hit with a fist for 21. Oakwood turned on his Thermal Nimbus, hit for 15 and then missed.
The one in the boat did a Death Gaze on Briscoe who saved. TerStegan saved against the Glance. He attacked the one Oakwood could reach. He missed by 1 and then hit by 1 for 19. And then missed. The one he just hit shot a Death Gaze on him. TerStegan saved for Drained 1. (This reduced his max hit points and his Fort saves.) Briscoe missed his save and then saved with a hero point. He took a risk and cast an AOE heal. That restored 16 points to TerStegan and did 16, 8 and 0 points to the undead. The one on TerStegan did a Gaze on Briscoe. He saved for Drained 1. And then it missed TerStegan. Oakwood did Hunt Prey on the most injured one. And missed and then hit for 21.
The one in the boat Gazed at Briscoe. He saved so Drained 2. TerStegan saved and cast Bless. And then hit for 15. One hit TerStegan for 18. Briscoe missed the save and the saved with Halfling Luck. He wanted to use DV but TerStegan was a climb away. He made one roll for 5 feet but missed the second one. Brian decided the first 5 feet was enough to be within BFM range. There was nowhere for him to stand up there anyway. He got 67 points back and was unharmed. The one on TerStegan did the Gaze. He used counter performance again. That succeeded for Drained 2. And then missed. Oakwood continued to crit saved thanks to his mastery on Fort saves. And hit for 19. And then missed twice.
The one in the boat Gazed on Oakwood. He crit saved. TerStegan had to make another save. He failed, used a HP and saved. He hit the one between him and Oakwood and killed it with 24. He then failed to Demoralize the one in the recess and then missed. Briscoe had no one to Glance at him. He climbed up to the same recess but there was still nowhere to go. He was at the same level as TerStegan but on the edge. He threw his trident at the one in the boat and did 15. And then crit the one in the recess for 27. That one shoved Briscoe back into the water with a nat 20. He took 5 points for falling. And then Gazed Briscoe. He saved again with a 3rd 20. The one in the boat Glanced at Oakwood who finally rolled a 1. He used a hero point to crit save. He did Hunt Prey on the one in the boat. And then missed with two 4s.
The one in the boat Gazed TerStegan who made his save. So Drained 3. He then punched Oakwood for 12 points. TerStegan saved on the Glance and attacked. He hit for 23. And then hit for 20 because of the Bless. And then missed. Briscoe was Glanced by the one in the boat and saved. He swam back to the boat, and then climbed in. Lastly, he tossed his trident at the one in the recess and missed. That one tried to Demoralize TerStegan and crit succeeded for Frighten 2. But as a Fighter, he was only Frightened 1. It then hit for 16 points. And then failed to Shove him into the water. Oakwood missed with 3 agile attacks. Whiff, whiff, whiff. But he was doing 8 per round per monster from the Nimbus by just standing there.
The one in the boat failed to Demoralize Oakwood. And then missed and then hit for 19. TerStegan missed the Glance save and Paul chose not use a HP to see what it did. It healed itself a bit and he was now Drained 4. TerStegan hit for 25 and killed it. He couldn’t reach the last one from where he was. He jumped 10 feet and fell 10 feet to get to its square. Brian gave him a Shove action to land on it. But that had a -5 MAP. He succeeded because its Fort was poor. He shoved him out of the boat and TerStegan landed in the boat. (We’re lucky he didn’t sink it.) And then hit with a -10 MAP. That did 24. Briscoe made his save against the Glance. He tried to climb up the cliff and missed. And then cast Spout. It saved for half of 16. Oakwood used his new Force Bolt wand and did 32. But it wasn’t enough. However, it went first in the next round and died from the Nimbus damage.
Oakwood did Dash of Herbs on TerStegan and himself while TerStegan and Briscoe searched. Briscoe cast lots of Detect Magic. The last one had stuff in it. There was a bag of coins, a staff and a short sword. The bag had cash and an eye piece in it. We decided to head for home rather than mess with them in the dungeon. Drain recovers one level a day. And Briscoe has a 4th level spell to cure one level. It’ll take 3-5 days to get the Drained 4 folks back. Brian decided to do the Identify stuff before we signed off for the night. TerStegan failed and used a HP. Oakwood failed and used a HP. Briscoe succeeded. (Show off.) It was a Staff of Healing, greater, +1 striking short sword and Eyes of the Eagle. That granted low light and +2 perception with sight. Briscoe was debating the loss of his returning trident versus the new staff when this guy went to bed.
