llot session 2 - backstabbery

Session #2 of the Lorn Labyrinth of Tsathoggus, an OD&D 3LBB megadungeon campaign run over at the OD&D Discussion Board Discord Server.

The Expedition

After their previous success, the party of Lucienne the cleric, Sebed and Athona the fighters, Eless the magic-user, and their two hired men-at-arms decided to once again set out on an expedition into the Lorn Labyrinth. During the previous week the party brought on a new member Aurelius Moore, a magic-user, with his hired man-at-arms as well as sourcing two longbowmen. The set out quickly and arrived with no resistance to the labyrinth by late morning.

The Labyrinth

Lowering themselves into the dungeon in the same manner as before, the party found themselves in an unfamiliar environment. Evidently the labyrinth had shifted since their last delve. The room around them smelled of rotten tallow. Melted candles littered the ground at their feet and the distant sound of revelry could be heard distantly. The party began their exploration, carefully exiting the room and traveling east. In a side room they encountered pig-bodied half-men. The party cast a sleep spell and quickly dispatched them, not before Eless managed to dominate the mind of one with her helm of telepathy.

With their new mindslave in tow the party pressed on. After a few twists and turns their path opened into a 20' wide corridor. Light and voices were detected to the north as the party entered the large corridor. 70' distant the party saw another group with a torch. Upon calling out to parley, the opposing group snuffed out their torch and disappeared into the darkness. Eless tapped into the magical helm of telepathy she wore on her head and detected a brief thought of one of the mysterious evaders: "circle around and flank".

The party quickly made an about face right as the opposing group made themselves visible from the south, coming from behind the party's previous position. The longbowmen repositioned in the wide corridor and let a hail of arrows fly, dropping two of the five attackers. Melee commenced. A lethal blow was struck on Lucienne the cleric before the party could gain control of the situation. Athona received a wicked blow wounding her severely, but retaliated with a deadly stroke followed by the remaining party members, dropping the remaining assailants.

Repositioning Athona to the center rank due to her wounds, the party pressed on and began exploring the eastern portion of the dungeon. After an hour in the dungeon, they started to find familiar rooms and realized they were now located in the portion of the dungeon in which they began in their last delve. After getting their bearings they pushed on opening a door containing a desk and a statue of a winged reptilian figure. Immediately suspicious of a gargoyle, the party sent their new companion into the room, who traversed it without issue. They followed hesitantly. On the other side of the room they pushed through a door opening to a corridor. Still curious of the room's contents the party had their small pig friend return to the room and open the desk. Immediately the stone statue animated, but not before the party and their companion beat feet out the door and around the corner. Their mind-slave managed to snag a small sack. Dumping the contents on the ground they were rewarded with a bar of soap.

To their annoyance the party decided against returning to the room and sought an alternate route to return to their original location. Being forced to travel west, they entered another room, this one containing cobwebs, fancy furniture, a similar reptilian statue and 4 very large spiders. The party hurled pots of oil inside followed by a torch. The room went up in flames and the party couched their spears in preparation for the escape of the spiders which they slayed handily.

Allowing the fire to die down, the party entered the room finding the statue to be inert. A smouldering chest was opened and inside some coins and equipment was uncovered. Unfortunately some parchments were destroyed by the fire forever obscuring their intended purpose. Traveling north out of the room they were once again in the corridor from which they came and pressed back toward the exit, happy with their current gains.

As they returned they decided to make one last detour into a nearby room. Inside they found a marble statue of a woman with a pot pointing to a chamber connected to the south. They followed her direction and were ambushed by long-armed hairy creatures with spears. Immediately the party retaliated and slayed the creatures.

Deciding they had pressed their luck, they made an about face to leave, but not before a door connecting to the chamber swung open revealing a robed man with 4 men-at-arms and a torch bearer. The party let loose missile fire and a sleep spell knocking out all by two of the men-at-arms. The other party held up their hands in surrender immediately asking for an alliance. The party turned down the offer, instead utilizing Eless' helm and dominating the remaining men-at-arms. With the rest, they pressed them into service with the agreement of release upon reaching Croy. They bound and gagged the robe-wearing party leader to the disapproval of the men-at-arms.

Making their way to the exit, the party managed to avoid any encounters and reached the surface safely.

The Return

The party arrived to the outskirts of Croy before nightfall, narrowly avoiding a group of nearly 80 men who were traveling north through the wilderness. Before reaching the gate, the non-enslaved prisoners began to make a push to the gate, pulling at the restraints of their employer. Athona, suspicious of future retaliation, shived the robed man in the back, killing him. The men-at-arms turned to flee for the safety of the gate of Croy, but were shot in the back by the party with missile fire and perished. The party looted the corpses and left them to rot on the eastern outskirts of Croy. After calculating up their earnings they found they had some gold coins which they split evenly and a strange, polished, metallic orb found in the robed man's pack. Each received ~500XP.

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