Stonehell Open Table - Session Report #3

Veterans of the Valley, Mellywn the Unexceptional and Olaf Sausage Fingers this time ventured beyond the valley and into the depths of Stonehell itself. Accompanied by brave newcomers, the Fighter, John Trawler, the Dungeon Crawler and Magic User, Gregwyn.

They plunged down the long stairs 100ft into the dark, emerging into the large entrance hall dug out by the prisoners so long ago. They began their exploration tenatively and cautiously, uncovering a strange scene of a burnt-out room, an old kitchen and dining - long since abandoned and looted by the many adventurers who have passed down into the halls.

Luckily for them, they relaxed their guard and proceeded with new confidence after finding no dangers initially. Coming into the next room, they were buffeted by strong winds emanating from nowhere and knocking the long-dead skeletons away from their bloody resting places, and they ignored the warning from the booming voice “Fools! Flee before your bones rest here evermore!”

Gregwyn inspected the skeletons to determine a cause of death, but nothing could be determined; they did notice the peculiar glint of the dust in the room. The Magic Users’ arcane knowledge combined could not determine the substance, a fine-grained, shiny stone, and so they ventured forth.

John Trawler, now brash and confident, led the way, but his bulk triggered a pit trap. Luckily, being a sturdy warrior, he survived the fall - and to make up for the pain, the corpses of other victims yielded a small win - 200gp in a small pouch.

continued…

They then encountered a strange sight - 5 Dwarves, short and stout bearded men not usually seen in the realms of men - apparently delving into Stonehell to inspect architecture previously carved by their kin. The room they were studying was truly a marvel of perfectly cut stone - if the adventurers find any similar rooms Snorri would be very interested.

However, Snorri was able to identify the dust as diamonds! The adventurers weren’t back and collected their biggest payday yet! Narrowly avoiding a patrol of humanoids whilst they undertook the work. When it was done, Olaf disappeared into the shadows, returning to town to count his share (and level up) whilst the others continued!

Heading south, the now diminished party came upon a room obviously used as a dumping ground - filled with rubbish and food scraps - and obviously riddled with rats from the scurrying and squeaking. John Trawler, ever the brave adventurer and not scared of small rodents, entered the room confidently, but I am sure his confidence lapsed momentarily when 15 Giant Rats the size of small dogs emerged hungrily from the piles!

The rats swarmed over John, completely outnumbered - then in a blinding display of light, both Magic Users unleashed their Colour Spray spells, stunning all but 3 of the giant rodents. As they dealt with the remaining threats, they found that one of the rodents was wearing a brass collar engraved with the name Precious.

Then, sudden footfalls came from the east, and so they retreated back to the surface to enjoy their earnings with Olaf, who had already saved them a table at the tavern.