| Session Date | October 16, 2015 |
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| Base XP Gained | 688 |
Departing the former den of the wererats (and its fleas, no doubt) the party turned to exploring to the south, following the supposed western edge of this second dungeon level. They saw little for a time until they came to a long, 20' wide corridor with numerous smaller corridors off of it. Here, they moved into the center area, noting an unpleasant earthy smell. At this point, Iban began to cast a few identify spells he'd meant to use before. However, while casting the third one, a horde of bombardier beetles erupted from the various narrower passages and attacked the party. Most went in to bite and gnaw, though a few sprayed an acidic cloud into the party. Although individually not terribly tough, the number of them, and the fact they'd managed to crash into the party from multiple directions, made for a tougher melee than might otherwise have been. Still, when most were finally killed, the last three all turned and fled down different passages, pursued by a pair of adventurers in each. two were cut down quickly while a third made it into the dung-filled hall that was clearly their lair. The last one, cornered, suddenly dropped to spray its acid, but was slain before it could do so.
They continued south, returning to the area of chill air where they'd previously rescued the elf of Neldoreth and fought shadows and wights. They did a little exploration to connect passages and improve their map, but decided to forgo the source room of the intense cold in this area, not wishing to tangle with energy draining wights or wraiths The party now took thought and decided that the second level was proving unprofitable and it was time to go deeper. Being close to a stair down, they took this to the third level and decided to make their way to another stair further down, as yet unexplored. This required a rather extensive walk across much of this level. At one point they ran into a small group of troglodytes, which they attacked and quickly slew, the last one cursing them with "the Dweller Below take you!" Near the next staircase, they also ran into a Rust Monster, but Lune used his chop-socky to chase it off without further ado.
Finally down on the fourth level, they explored a series of angled corridors and empty rooms, all seemingly quite clear of dust or debris, unnaturally so. In one room they found what appeared to be the remnants of a shrine or other special purpose room that once had great mosaics on the walls. However, something had shattered the mosaics with repeated blows, destroying them. They had not explored much when they decided to rest before proceeding, concerned that the place seemed eerily quiet and their healing somewhat reduced from their recent fights. So, they chose a room nearby to use as a base and settled in to sleep. During the last watch, however, they were disturbed by a black glob of goo that began to flow under the door into their camp. This they drove off with burning oil before it could do any harm, except a little acidic damage to Lune's spear.
Next morning, they continued exploring, coming to a hall with a series of numerous doors. Beyond one they encountered the black glob again. This time they doused it heavily with oil. To help ignite it, Iban was also doused with oil and lit afire, protected by his ring of fire resistance. However, the thing managed to be cut into two smaller monsters by the party, though even split it was no match for the full party, and was soon slain. The party speculated that it was the reason for the clean rooms in the area.
A little further to the north, beyond one of the many doors they ran into a pair of shadows, who were turned easily and which fled into an adjacent room filled with many more. Rowan and Havok managed to turn them all, but there was also a wight present, which they did not turn. however, it was slain quickly before it could drain the life from anyone. But, then things got complicated, as the turn was broken and apparently an evil priest of unknown origin began to throw spells against the party, most notably a flame strike that struck the front line fighters. A short melee ensued, but the party decided it was time to retreat. Although a fighting retreat, Iban hit the room with a web spell, engulfing most of the Shadows and allowing them to flee unhindered. Somewhat shaken, the party retreated back to the third level to the secret passage they'd used for a camp in the past...