We played the twenty-eighth session of our Dungeon Module B1: In Search of Unknown AD&D 2e game last night. You can read past play reports here.
The roster for this session was as follows:
- Llombaerth, CG elf thief 4 (Adam)
- Mirkle, N human fighter 3 (Maya)
- Rhonodel, NG elf cleric 1 (Jack)
- Zommernar, CN elf fighter 3
- Egbert, human necromancer 1 (NPC)
- Brazile, halfling hound master, his dog, Ripper, and the party's two war dogs, Dewey and Phooey (NPC)
- Bilodeau, man-at-arms (NPC)
- Graves, man-at-arms (NPC)
- Lendeborg, human porter (NPC)
Last we played, the party explored a cluster of rooms south the of the one-way secret door on the left side of the entrance tunnel.
First, they followed a long, spiraling corridor and found four red garnets on the floor at the end.
Second, they explored a large backwards L-shaped room overgrown with fungi and mold and infested with giant rats. The party sent their dogs in after the rats, and the frantic activity caused the mushrooms to emit clouds of spores. One of the party's dogs, Dewey, sprouted a third eye. Dewey had tapped into the rhizome network and had gained some measure of alien omnipotence.
The party communed with the rhizome by way of Dewey. Through psychic visions, they received confirmation that Dewey was, in fact, a good boy. They also saw visions of Zelligar's past apprentices. Many of them were killed in the course of arcane experiments or transformed into chickens by a vengeful Zelligar, but at least one - a young man - seemed to have been exiled from Quasqueton, never to return.
The party fashioned rough masks to protect themselves from the clouds of spores, then carefully entered the room. At the far end, they found five lifelike wax statues of barbarian warriors. Thinking these might contain treasure, Mirkle attempted to melt one, but the statues came to life and attacked.
The party fled back to the entrance, kicking up clouds of spores, against which their masks protected them. The living statues seemed unaffected. Llombaerth dropped a bomb at the statues' feet, which Mirkle ignited with a flask of flaming oil. The statues were all destroyed, but not before one of them landed a blow against Mirkle.
After communing with Dewey one last time and learning that many of the mushrooms in the room were dangerous, the party turned back.
In the third room they explored, they found the remaining goblins, Pigmug and Tobb. The goblins blamed the party for all their woes and wanted nothing to do with them. They had apparently found treasure, and feared the party would swindle them out of it. After attempting to negotiate, the party turned back.
Finally, the party returned to the entrance corridor. They recalled that there a stuck door opposite the orcs' lair which they had not explored beyond. They returned to the door and forced it open, heading down a short series of corridors to another door.
Beyond the door they detected a wretched stench, and heard a pair of voices speaking in a language which Llombaerth identified at troglodyte.
We picked up there. After discussing what to do, the party decided to send Lendeborg (who was carrying their lantern) back into the preceding corridor so as to not give away their position. Llombaerth then quietly cracked the door to the next room.
Beyond the door, he saw a huge room, at least 60' deep and 120' across. It was oddly shaped - more or less rectangular but with a diagonal wall ahead and to the right, and zig zagging walls to the left and straight ahead.
The floor was a mosaic of ceramic tiles of golden brown, white, and black. Most notably, he could see nine 10' diameter pools in the floor. One bubbled with steam, and another billowed thick clouds of white smoke.
Near the pool closest to the door on the left was a 6' tall lizard man with mottled grey-green skin, lounging on its side on the floor as if half asleep. On the far side of the room was another lizard man, kneeling beside a pool and drinking from it. The second lizard man wore chain mail and had two javelins or spears slung across its back. Neither seemed to notice Llombaerth.
To the right, Llombaerth noticed an alcove cut into the wall, in which he thought he'd be able to hide. The pool which billowed white smoke was between the door and the alcove, and he could perhaps use the smoke as cover. Llombaerth slipped through the door, hugging the wall, and made from the plume of smoke.
As he moved across the room, he passed several pools. The pool by which the first troglodyte was napping contained a greenish liquid of varying shades with a swirling pattern on its surface. It smelled fruity. The next pool he passed seemed to contain normal water filled with small fish. He passed the pool which billowed with smoke. It felt hot. Beyond that was a pool of normal water with a pile of gold pieces at the bottom.
Finally, he made it to the alcove. Inside was another pool, which Llombaerth had not been able to see from the door. It was almost empty, with just a small amount of water at the bottom. Successfully hidden, he waited for the rest of the party to engage with the troglodytes.
The party summoned Lendeborg back into the hallway with the lantern, then threw the door open. The troglodytes shielded their eyes against the light. The one in chain mail hissed and snarled at their companion, who groggily rose to their feet and yawned. The party could smell the stench of its breath some 30' away.
In the Common tongue, the troglodyte in chain mail informed them that they were intruding in the domain of Horm, Master of Pools. He demanded that they identify themselves, suspecting that they were orcs. The party stepped into the room. Horm's companion, Gorm, sleepily remarked that they appeared to be pink goblins of some kind, not orcs.
The party asked Horm by what right he declared himself Master of Pools. Horm sneered. Simply put, Horm was here first, he was strongest, and he had killed all challengers. Besides - he slapped his chain mail - he was invincible. In the light of the lantern, the party could see that Horm's suit of chain mail glittered magnificently and appeared to be of excellent craftsmanship.
The party indicated their numbers - Mirkle, Rhonodel, Zommernar, Egbert, two men-at-arms, two porters, and two war dogs - and asked Horm if he thought he could stand against them. Horm considered his options and, surprisingly, concluded that he could defeat them easily. His metal suit would protect him, and if somehow he did suffer a wound, he would simply drink from the pool of life, his wounds would heal themselves, and it would be as if the party had never lived at all.
The party asked Horm which was the pool of life. Without thinking, he pointed towards the corner of the room farthest from the door, to the darkness beyond the party's light. He immediately realized his mistake, and when the party asked what the pool near Gorm did, Horm snarled that knowledge of the pools was his alone. He was Master of Pools, and knew all their properties. Gorm, however, yawned and remarked drowsily that it helped you sleep. There were enough pools to go around. Horm sharply chided Gorm, and Gorm seemed cowed.
The party remarked that it did seem like their were enough pools to go around. Surely, the Master of Pools could allow them to have a drink from just one of the pools. Horm considered, and agreed that the party could drink from one of the pools, which contained the finest wine Horm had ever tasted.
Rhonodel offered Horm a magnificent gemstone - the chunk of crystal he had removed from the teleporting rooms. This pleased Horm, but he demanded more. Zommernar offered 10 gold pieces, but Horm demanded all his gold pieces. Zommernar convinced him to accept the 10 that were offered. Horm conceded that they could drink from the pool of wine, but the party reneged, demanding access to the pool of life. Mirkle and Rhonodel were wounded, and beseeched Horm to be open-handed with them.
While Horm was offended that the terms of the deal had changed, he relented. Don't let it be said that the Master of Pools is not fair and generous! Horm and Gorm led Rhonodel and Zommernar to the far side of the room where the pool of life was. The rest of the party remained by the entrance. Zommernar lit a torch.
The party passed by the pool of green liquid that helped you sleep, as well as the pool of wine. The whole room was about 80' deep and 140' across. It contained thirteen pools that they could see (fourteen, counting the one in the alcove in which Llombaerth hid). They also noticed that a section of wall to the left of the door had been marked by a troglodyte's bloody handprint.
They came to a triangular configuration of pools in the far corner. One contained pinkish glittering liquid which smelled like the essence of fruit. The second contained clear, fizzling liquid which gave off an unpleasant aroma. At the bottom was a tarnished brass key. The third contained sweet-smelling murky gray syrup. Horm indicated that the first pool was the pool of life.
Zommernar asked about the second pool. She said it seemed angry. Horm said that was probably because the party had swindled the Master of Pools. Zommernar said that an offering might appease the pool, and prepared to throw a gold coin into the liquid. Horm cried out, saying that the pool had not use for gold - better to give it to Horm. That would appease the pool for certain.
Zommernar thought about it for a moment, then threw the coin into the pool anyway. It fizzled violently as it sunk to the bottom alongside the key, becoming tarnished as well. Horm stared daggers at Zommernar.
Meanwhile, Rhonodel knelt beside the pool of life. Horm snarled suddenly at Gorm, and both troglodytes charged at Zommernar. Both Rhonodel and Zommernar were overwhelmed by the troglodytes' stench as it intensified. They became considerably weakened (Rhonodel's Strength decreased by 4, and Zommernar's by 2, which increased Zommernar's encumbrance category, slowing her and imposing a -1 penalty to her attack rolls).
Gorm grabbed Zommernar to hold her still. Horm ran into her, knocking her into the fizzling pool. Zommernar tried to stop herself from falling in, but failed. She fell prone into the pool, the liquid burning her flesh. Fortunately, she only took 2 damage. Rhonodel quickly drank from the pool of life. It tasted like a delicious fruity seltzer, healing 3 HP. Llombaerth emerged from hiding, and he, Mirkle, and the men-at-arms fired missiles at the troglodytes. All missed, except Graves, whose crossbow bolt plinked harmlessly off Gorm's hide.
Llombaerth and Mirkle beckoned Rhonodel and Zommernar to rejoin them some 50' away. Llombaerth was itching to use one of his bombs to blow up these troglodytes, but needed the rest of the party to clear the area first. Rhonodel fled back to the rest of the party. Zommernar climbed out of the pool, but in her weakened state, she could not get back to the party in time. Gorm landed a critical hit with his claws, but only did 2 damage. Horm threw one of his javelins with impressive accuracy, dealing 3 damage to Bilodeau, gravely wounding him. Zommernar tried to strike back at Gorm, but her long sword glanced off his hide.
Zommernar finally had the opportunity to flee, but had to expose her back to Gorm to do so. Gorm tried to bite Zommernar, but Zommernar's armor protected her. During the confusion, Llombaerth was able to run forward and roll a bomb towards the troglodytes. With the party at a safe distance, Graves moved in with a flask of flaming oil and threw it at the bomb - a direct hit. The bomb exploded at Gorm's feet for 13 damage. Gorm failed to dodge the blast, and chunks of troglodyte were scattered across the room. Horm dodged away for half damage. Rolling, he leapt to his feet and threw a second javelin at Graves for 3 damage, grievously wounding him as well. Rhonodel fired a pair of arrows at Horm, the second of which found a gap in his chain mail, slaying him.
The wounded members of the party drank from the pool of life. Mirkle regained 1 HP, Llombaerth 3, Zommernar 5, Bilodeau 1, and Graves 2. Zommernar's equipment had been seriously damaged by the acid. Her club, short bow, darts, bandolier, and all her food were completely ruined. Luckily, her sword, armor, and shield were intact.
Mirkle scavenged Horm's chain mail, observing that it weighed no more than a heavy winter coat. Since she had fallen into the acid, Mirkle gifted the armor to Zommernar. Zommernar gave her splint mail to Lendeborg to wear, just in case, and donned the chain mail. I simply told the players that this was +1 chain mail, since I didn't want to have to secretly keep track of that +1 myself. It's actually equivalent to splint mail, but its light weight and bonus to relevant saving throws (i.e., not mind-altering magic, poison, gases, etc.) makes it an upgrade.
We wrapped the session there. Next time, the party will have the opportunity to fully explore the room of pools.
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