Summary
The group returns to the dungeon underneath the manor house, slaying the beasts that have been hunting the talasumi and finally securing an alliance with them.
Party Members
- Verasha - Level 3 Druid
- Pipam the Younger - Level 3 Thief
- von Plarf - Level 2 Elf
- Zoltan - Level 3 Dwarf
- "Rusty" the Talasum - Level 2 Fighter
Followers
Jaro (Verasha's war boar); Grub (Verasha's other war boar); Alois (Porter and Cook); Old Ben (Porter); Walter of Potsdam (Man-at-Arms); Tatana (Woman-at-Arms); Baba Tonka (a brown bear) and 3 War Hounds
Session Recap
With preparations for the winter over, the party headed down into into the dungeon once more. They were given fairly good instructions by the bigger boss on how to find the top boss of the talasum population within the dungeon. On the way down the group stopped at the catacombs of level 3, clearing out a nest of robber flies and also finding a secret door they had missed previously.
After looting the trapped sarcophagus of its contents, the group was now satisfied with having secured level 3 and thus headed deeper down, into the lair of the beasts that have been terrorizing their friends.
Making their way carefully to the holdings of the Goblin King (a.k.a. the Biggest Boss) the strangely tall talasum thanked them for their willingness to help and also gave them a rough overview of the level, nothing that they really had no idea what the beasts that hunted them were, as nobody had returned alive from encountering them. The goblins' best guess was that there were two of the things stalking the hallways.
The Biggest Boss promised to reward the party with his very fancy gilded full dining set (plus cups) if they managed to get rid of the menace. With introductions and rewards settled, the party had nothing else to do but go and hunt down their target.
Making their way towards the part of the level that the monster inhabited they saw a room that clearly served as a slaughterhouse or a feeding ground for the beast - corpses of both talasum and humans dismembered or nailed to the walls with bony spikes. Deciding to not go through there they instead approached from the side and through a rather screechy door which revealed a room who's floor was absolutely covered in a blanket of silver coins, as well as a large chest nestled between them. Before the group could do much of anything about it though, Walter the Man-at-Arms shouted from the back that they were being attacked. The beast, now revealed to be a manticore, had heard the group and circled around to ambush them.
A frenzied battle ensued, with the two porters desperately trying to get away from the monster, the two soldiers backing away to get some arrow shots at it before it closed completely and animals and people all shuffling around and trying to get anywhere, underscoring the dangers of fighting in hallways.
As the manticore blasted the back ranks with its tail spikes, killing Old Ben on the spot and wounding Walter as well as one of the party's dogs, Verasha acted on a hunch and instead took Baba Tonka and some of her other animals and sprinted through the rooms, trying to ambush the ambushing manticore! Meanwhile von Plarf had cast Light, blinding the monster and as it was flailing uselessly in its blindness the manticore got ripped apart by the rather angry brown bear.
Taking a breather the group took stock of their situation. Verasha healed Walter's wounds, while Pipam the Younger sprinted back to the hold of the Biggest Boss, informing him they had succeeded in slaying one of the manticores and leaving the wounded dog with the talasum for safe keeping.
With that handled, the party got to thinking on how to find and lure the second manticore. After lengthy plans on using one of the trapped rooms on the level the group decided that probably the simplest way was the surest and they dumped the killed manticore's corpse in the room holding the stairs that lead both up and down, and then just waited behind the door.
After an hour or so of waiting Zoltan the dwarf, who was peering from the cracked door with his infravision, saw the large shape of the manticore emerge from the down staircase. As it found the mauled body of its friend, the Manticore flew into a rage, screaming "They fucking killed you, brah! I'm gonna fuck them up brah!" and smashed through the door...inadvertently flinging Zoltan to the floor and coming face to face with Baba Tonka.
A proper hoss fest then ensured with the manticore and bear tussling while Zoltan was trying to get off the floor. The rest of the party could not do much to assist, with the large bear essentially blocking any attempts to advance into the melee. Their help was not needed though, some lucky swings and the bear managed to take down the manticore, tumbling forward into the room beyond and ripping its throat out.
Victorious the group returned to the Goblin King with the happy news and the alliance between the party and the talasum was officially struck. However the reward part of the deal did not quite work out. As the Biggest Boss unlocked his treasure chests he...found them completely empty. After nobody fessed up to taking his fancy dining set, the group set about investigating what was going on. They found a secret door connected to the treasury and a series of hidden tunnels! Searching the tunnels the group ran into some lizardmen, who quickly fell victim to a Sleep spell and Baba Tonka.
With the lizardmen captive the group surrendered them to the Goblin King (who was happy to simply hire them to work for him as long as they promised to stop stealing his shit). The group found the missing treasure and took it as their reward, then gathered up the manticore's treasure and headed back to town, happy at a job well done. They also gave a hefty bonus to all their retainers, as well as giving Old Ben's remains to the town church for proper burial, earning them a positive reputation among the mercenaries of the town guild.
Making their way carefully to the holdings of the Goblin King (a.k.a. the Biggest Boss) the strangely tall talasum thanked them for their willingness to help and also gave them a rough overview of the level, nothing that they really had no idea what the beasts that hunted them were, as nobody had returned alive from encountering them. The goblins' best guess was that there were two of the things stalking the hallways.
The Biggest Boss promised to reward the party with his very fancy gilded full dining set (plus cups) if they managed to get rid of the menace. With introductions and rewards settled, the party had nothing else to do but go and hunt down their target.
Making their way towards the part of the level that the monster inhabited they saw a room that clearly served as a slaughterhouse or a feeding ground for the beast - corpses of both talasum and humans dismembered or nailed to the walls with bony spikes. Deciding to not go through there they instead approached from the side and through a rather screechy door which revealed a room who's floor was absolutely covered in a blanket of silver coins, as well as a large chest nestled between them. Before the group could do much of anything about it though, Walter the Man-at-Arms shouted from the back that they were being attacked. The beast, now revealed to be a manticore, had heard the group and circled around to ambush them.
A frenzied battle ensued, with the two porters desperately trying to get away from the monster, the two soldiers backing away to get some arrow shots at it before it closed completely and animals and people all shuffling around and trying to get anywhere, underscoring the dangers of fighting in hallways.
As the manticore blasted the back ranks with its tail spikes, killing Old Ben on the spot and wounding Walter as well as one of the party's dogs, Verasha acted on a hunch and instead took Baba Tonka and some of her other animals and sprinted through the rooms, trying to ambush the ambushing manticore! Meanwhile von Plarf had cast Light, blinding the monster and as it was flailing uselessly in its blindness the manticore got ripped apart by the rather angry brown bear.
Taking a breather the group took stock of their situation. Verasha healed Walter's wounds, while Pipam the Younger sprinted back to the hold of the Biggest Boss, informing him they had succeeded in slaying one of the manticores and leaving the wounded dog with the talasum for safe keeping.
With that handled, the party got to thinking on how to find and lure the second manticore. After lengthy plans on using one of the trapped rooms on the level the group decided that probably the simplest way was the surest and they dumped the killed manticore's corpse in the room holding the stairs that lead both up and down, and then just waited behind the door.
After an hour or so of waiting Zoltan the dwarf, who was peering from the cracked door with his infravision, saw the large shape of the manticore emerge from the down staircase. As it found the mauled body of its friend, the Manticore flew into a rage, screaming "They fucking killed you, brah! I'm gonna fuck them up brah!" and smashed through the door...inadvertently flinging Zoltan to the floor and coming face to face with Baba Tonka.
A proper hoss fest then ensured with the manticore and bear tussling while Zoltan was trying to get off the floor. The rest of the party could not do much to assist, with the large bear essentially blocking any attempts to advance into the melee. Their help was not needed though, some lucky swings and the bear managed to take down the manticore, tumbling forward into the room beyond and ripping its throat out.
Victorious the group returned to the Goblin King with the happy news and the alliance between the party and the talasum was officially struck. However the reward part of the deal did not quite work out. As the Biggest Boss unlocked his treasure chests he...found them completely empty. After nobody fessed up to taking his fancy dining set, the group set about investigating what was going on. They found a secret door connected to the treasury and a series of hidden tunnels! Searching the tunnels the group ran into some lizardmen, who quickly fell victim to a Sleep spell and Baba Tonka.
With the lizardmen captive the group surrendered them to the Goblin King (who was happy to simply hire them to work for him as long as they promised to stop stealing his shit). The group found the missing treasure and took it as their reward, then gathered up the manticore's treasure and headed back to town, happy at a job well done. They also gave a hefty bonus to all their retainers, as well as giving Old Ben's remains to the town church for proper burial, earning them a positive reputation among the mercenaries of the town guild.
GM Observations
Oh man what a session. This I am fairly sure was the single biggest loot haul I've had in any of my campaigns so far, with 12,810 gold pieces worth of coinage, fancy dining sets, bejeweled goblets and gold-threaded robes. The party is very close to getting the funds to start rebuilding the manor proper, and with the talasumi of the top 4 levels of the dungeon now as firm allies they have fulfilled the requirements set to do so. Obviously the lower levels still remain, and the group will have to figure out a way to restrict access from there, but that is for the future.
Also everyone except von Plarf and Zoltan leveled up (and both the dwarf and the elf are now very close to leveling too), which is not surprising considering the windfall from this delve. The game is very much progressing slowly towards the midgame - overland adventures and the beginning of domain play (which would really come around once the manor is completed).
Also, as expected, a grizzly bear wearing scale armor is an absolute tank in combat, though a lot of it also come down to lucky vs unlucky rolls. With something like manticores there is honestly a good chance Baba Tonka might have been overwhelmed.
The session also presented a great example of why having a lot of followers and fighting in corridors is not really a great combination, with people having a hard time maneuvering around each other and also the veritable zoo that Verasha has along with her.
Also everyone except von Plarf and Zoltan leveled up (and both the dwarf and the elf are now very close to leveling too), which is not surprising considering the windfall from this delve. The game is very much progressing slowly towards the midgame - overland adventures and the beginning of domain play (which would really come around once the manor is completed).
Also, as expected, a grizzly bear wearing scale armor is an absolute tank in combat, though a lot of it also come down to lucky vs unlucky rolls. With something like manticores there is honestly a good chance Baba Tonka might have been overwhelmed.
The session also presented a great example of why having a lot of followers and fighting in corridors is not really a great combination, with people having a hard time maneuvering around each other and also the veritable zoo that Verasha has along with her.
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