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Light Condition: Dim Light and Campfires
Active Buffs: Bardic Performance; Witz (Round 1), Bless; Rorik (Round 1)
Active Penalties: None
Red Duergar and Beetle(-0,Red Duergar: Enlarged)
Archer(-0,Fine)
Witz(-0,Fine)
Malsuza(-0,Fine)
Blue Duergar Boss(-21,Fine)
Yellow and Purple Duergar(-26/0,Yellow: Dead, Purple: Enlarged)
Gordy Grimes(-0,Fine, Burn: 2)
Kipp(-0,Fine)
Rorik(-0,Fine)
Green Duergar(-18,Fine)
Orange Duergar and Beetle(-0,Fine)
The green duergar's magic fails, so he casts a different spell! The orange Duergar grows larger, and rushes up to the front line.
The orange beetle begins to fly across the chasm to end up near Gordy. The red beetle flies up to attack Witz with its mandibles, but misses horribly!
Actions Taken
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Light Condition: Dim Light and Campfires
Active Buffs: Bardic Performance; Witz (Round 1), Bless; Rorik (Round 1)
Active Penalties: None
Red Duergar and Beetle(-0,Red Duergar: Enlarged)
Archer(-0,Fine)
Witz(-0,Fine)
Malsuza(-0,Fine)
Blue Duergar Boss(-21,Fine, Burn: 2)
Yellow and Purple Duergar(-26/0,Yellow: Dead, Purple: Enlarged)
Gordy Grimes(-0,Fine, Burn: 2)
Kipp(-0,Fine)
Rorik(-0,Fine)
Green Duergar(-18,Fine)
Orange Duergar and Beetle(-0,Beetle: Fine, Orange: Enlarged)
Malsuza grows another claw and goes further into the fight, shifting forward.
Actions Taken
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Light Condition: Dim Light and Campfires
Active Buffs: Lingering Performance; Witz (Round 2), Bless; Rorik (Round 1)
Active Penalties: None
Red Beetle(-0,Fine)
Archer(-0,Fine)
Witz(-0,Fine)
Malsuza(-0,Fine)
Blue Duergar Boss(-21,Fine)
Purple Duergar(-0,Enlarged)
Gordy Grimes(-0,Burn 2, Fine)
Kipp(-0,Fine)
Rorik(-0,Fine)
Green Duergar(-18,Enlarged)
Orange Beetle(-3,Fine)
Archer and Malsuza make quick work of two of the enlarged duergar, and Witz drives a retaliatory arrow back at the beetle who bit at him.
The invisible blue duergar appears as he slices his axe into Rorik! The large purple duergar swings his own axe with a mighty heave into Malsuza. The oozemorph takes a hefty blow, but the Kitsune manages to deftly dodge the incoming axe!
Actions Taken
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Light Condition: Dim Light and Campfires
Active Buffs: Lingering Performance; Witz (Round 2), Bless; Rorik (Round 1)
Active Penalties: None
Red Beetle(-0,Fine)
Archer(-0,Fine)
Witz(-0,Fine)
Malsuza(-18,Fine)
Blue Duergar Boss(-21,Fine)
Purple Duergar(-0,Enlarged)
Gordy Grimes(-0,Burn 2, Fine)
Kipp(-0,Fine)
Rorik(-0,Fine)
Green Duergar(-18,Enlarged)
Orange Beetle(-3,Fine)
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The Duergar retaliates against Kipp with a swipe of the axe! The axe bites deeply into the Kitsune.
Gordy's kinetic blade does indeed swipe where the creature's chin would be, and face if it was still attached to the beetle's body. His blade cleanly slices it into a splitting headache!
Actions Taken
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Light Condition: Dim Light and Campfires
Active Buffs: Lingering Performance; Witz (Round 2), Bless; Rorik (Round 1)
Active Penalties: None
Red Beetle(-18,Dead)
Archer(-0,Fine)
Witz(-0,Fine)
Malsuza(-18,Fine)
Blue Duergar Boss(-37,Dead)
Purple Duergar(-0,Enlarged)
Gordy Grimes(-0,Burn 2, Fine)
Kipp(-18,Fine)
Rorik(-0,Fine)
Green Duergar(-18,Fine)
Orange Beetle(-3,Fine)
The Green duergar appears behind Kipp and slashes his own weapon into the Kitsune. The Orange beetle flies forward to continue nipping at Witz. Both miss horribly with their attacks.
Actions Taken
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Light Condition: Dim Light and Campfires
Active Buffs: Lingering Performance; Witz (Round 2), Bless; Rorik (Round 1)
Active Penalties: None
Red Beetle(-18,Dead)
Archer(-0,Fine)
Witz(-0,Fine)
Malsuza(-18,Fine)
Blue Duergar Boss(-37,Dead)
Purple Duergar(-0,Enlarged)
Gordy Grimes(-0,Burn 2, Fine)
Kipp(-18,Fine)
Rorik(-0,Fine)
Green Duergar(-18,Fine)
Orange Beetle(-3,Fine)
Witz loads up another arrow and shoots at the orange beetle!
Actions Taken
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Light Condition: Dim Light and Campfires
Active Buffs: Lingering Performance; Witz (Round 2), Bless; Rorik (Round 1)
Active Penalties: None
Red Beetle(-18,Dead)
Archer(-0,Fine)
Witz(-0,Fine)
Malsuza(-18,Fine)
Blue Duergar Boss(-37,Dead)
Purple Duergar(-0,Enlarged)
Gordy Grimes(-0,Burn 2, Fine)
Kipp(-18,Fine)
Rorik(-0,Fine)
Green Duergar(-43,Dead)
Orange Beetle(-6,Dead)
Witz's arrow pierces into the beetle's flesh, and it stiffens then dies quickly afterwards. Malsuza claws into the flanking duergar and swiftly rips him to shreds.
The purple duergar steps away from Kipp and Malsuza and swings his weapon, hoping to bite into both the oozemorph and the kitsune. Malsuza takes a hefty cut from the axe, but Kipp manages to bounce the blow off his armor.
Actions Taken
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Light Condition: Dim Light and Campfires
Active Buffs: Lingering Performance; Witz (Round 2), Bless; Rorik (Round 1)
Active Penalties: None
Red Beetle(-18,Dead)
Archer(-0,Fine)
Witz(-0,Fine)
Malsuza(-36,Fine)
Blue Duergar Boss(-37,Dead)
Purple Duergar(-0,Enlarged)
Gordy Grimes(-0,Burn 2, Fine)
Kipp(-18,Fine)
Rorik(-0,Fine)
Green Duergar(-43,Fine)
Orange Beetle(-6,Fine)
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Archer begins interrogating the captive duergar, and in a few moments it is clear that this one would prefer to keep his head rather than honor to a contract. "Bah, they don' pay enough to keep me mouth shut. They were plannin' on havin' us bring all these dwarves as slaves, but they were specific bout it. Every one of these dwarves was a target to be taken'. They don' share much with me beyond that bit of knowledge. They wanted them alive at the Tower in Nar-Voth, down the Blighted Path."
The Blighted Path is an old dwarven iron mine that uncovered a vein of lazurite. Both the strange radiation from the lazurite and the Darklands creatures it attracted earned the dangerous tunnels their new name, and eventually drove the dwarves to seal up the mine entirely.
Most of the Blighted Path consists of secondary tunnels, ranging from 5 to 30 feet wide and occasionally opening into large caverns. Ancient magma flows and tectonic activity, as well as the movement of large creatures such as delvers and purple worms, formed most of these passageways, creating a confusing labyrinth of switchbacks and elevation changes.
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The adventure with the Pathfinders will begin as soon as they all agree to enter the mines.
You manage to find the correct path leading deeper through the mines. Clean, worked tunnels occasionally give way to crumbling, chalky stone shot through with sickly black veins of an alien mineral. A damp coldness seems to roll off the walls, and the musty stench of long-ignored decay fills the air.
This mine complex breaks away from the Five Kings Road about an hour beyond Firebrand’s Redoubt. Its main entrance has been bricked up, leaving only a stout, iron door to provide access. The door’s padlock has been freshly broken. Three dwarven corpses lie in the road nearby, looking as though they will turn into ghouls soon.
Hours.
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Gordy has a brand new pair of shiny red boots, which give him a noticeable spring to his stride. The Capt'n is now a four foot long serpent that looks like a living ice sculpture, with shiny scales that seem to be made out of ice. The creature makes a churtling noise that sounds reminiscent of boiling water and is wearing a floppy tri-corned hat with a jaunty blue ostrich feather sticking out of it.
"Everybody, please reacquaint ye'selves with Mister Cap'n Kraken McClacken. He's grown all up now."
"Glub glub glub," the water elemental cheerfully chortles.
The blackened, slimy doggo cuddles up to the Cap'n, nuzzling up against the elemental. After a brief instance where his tongue gets stuck, the now-cautious canine follows close to his owner.
He's still in good spirits, though!
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With the discovery of the soon-to-turn ghouls, a quick dispatch job is done, and the threat they pose is no longer imminent. Archer then is able to find that the tracks of these former dwarves was accompanied by what appears to be a pack beetle. Following that trail leads to the old dead bug, along with a crate of cargo.
10 Vials of Alchemist Fire
3 Tanglefoot Bags
4 Vials of Soul Stimulant
There also appears to be an old sack of what must have been flayleaf. It is rotted away now.
This soothing elixir was created to counter the energy-draining effects of vampires, wights, and similar horrible creatures. If you have a negative level (whether temporary or permanent), you can drink a dose of soul stimulant, negating the negative level’s penalty for 12 hours. You can only benefit from 1 dose of soul stimulant at a time, though you can continue to take a dose every 12 hours to stave off the negative level’s effects.
After descending the path even further, what you could guess would be at least another 19,000 feet, the party comes to a pool of water. Long ruts are worn into the floor of this massive cavern, as if it saw heavy traffic, but the roads have no apparent destination.
The sound of chirping cave crickets and water trickling into the chamber’s large pool seem deafening compared to the silence of the surrounding tunnels.
Hours.
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Rorik guides the party through the caverns.
After descending the path even further, what you could guess would be at least another 19,000 feet, the party comes to a pool of water. Long ruts are worn into the floor of this massive cavern, as if it saw heavy traffic, but the roads have no apparent destination.
The sound of chirping cave crickets and water trickling into the chamber’s large pool seem deafening compared to the silence of the surrounding tunnels.