AtD 036: One Thing After Another

Thonn was on guard, but Thonn was distracted. The half-orc was beginning to suffer from claustrophobia and was dreaming of escape—either up the waterfall or down the whirlpool. Therefore, it came as a complete surprise when a skinny ogre surprised him!

The ogre burst into view from around the corner and fell on the distracted half-orc. Still, Thonn reacted instinctively, and the ogre’s club narrowly missed his head.

Battle was joined, and Thonn’s friends leapt into action to help him. Within moments, the starving ogre was dead—felled by a veritable whirlwind of attacks. It died without injuring anyone in the party, and the heroes’ relief was palpable.

However, it had become clear they could not rest in this chamber. So, they gathered their gear together and pushed on. Returning to the central chamber, the heroes picked one of the two passages they had yet to explore and pushed onwards.

In short order, they came to a large chamber. It seemed empty but for a pile of rags and leathers in one corner. The heroes entered cautiously.

Darkness—magical and impenetrable—fell over the party, and Balasar and Gromm felt crushing impacts as something fell from the ceiling and wrapped itself around their heads. The creatures began squeezing and suffocating the two heroes. Only Ozloc—blessed with “celestial” vision—could see through this magical darkness, and confused combat broke out.

Things got even worse when another of the creatures—which resembled stalactites—fell on Bodrum’s head, badly injuring the elf. However, Ozloc was now merrily blasting away—from a safe distance—and soon the creatures were slain.

With the creatures—now identified as darkmantles—slain, the party investigated the pile of rags and leather, which was revealed to be the corpse of a long-dead adventurer whose skull was horribly crushed.

Two corridors to the south led away from the chamber, and the party quickly gathered at their entrances. More stalactites hung from the ceiling, and no one was particularly keen to discover if any of them were actually darkmantles biding their time…