Searching the dead dwarf, the party retrieve his magical suit of dwarven sized chainmail and functionally perfect magical warhammer.
A quick scout of the local caves is followed by a short rest to recover after the battle with the spider demon. The party have discovered a number of passages leading away from where they met the mad dwarf, and decide to press further into the caves rather than using a newly discovered doorway or returning the way they came.
One cave, which is clearly the nest of the spider, contains a dwarven statue that is half twisted and melted. A heavy bronze chest is found to contain approximately a thousand gold coins and clearly represents the wealth the demon had collected. Another cave, which the party had ignored on the way through was crudely boarded up. After pulling down the woodwork, the party discover a statue to the luck goddess Tyche. She has her cupped hands outstretched in front of her, with several gold coins laying in her palms. The party’s response is mixed, with some adding to the coins and Bittersalt snatching from the pile. The latter unluckily coincides with the ceiling collapsing in on top of her, severely wounding her and trapping her. After pulling her out, Brother Spenzar replaces the coins that were taken.
The party then travel back to the moonpool, where a very skillful throw results in the party have a climbing rope securely affixed and enabling them to climb up to the hole in the cavern's ceiling. Bittersalt works her way up, falls, climbs again and finds that the opening is as expected on the side of the mountain. From this particular vantage point she see that near the very summit of the Dwimmermount is a huge metal doorway, wider than it is tall. Due to the angle of the mountain, and the ledges before it, this doorway, which is possibly 60ft across wouldn’t normally be visible from most approaches to the mountain. There isn’t much space around the hole, spoiling the parties initial plan to camp on the mountain. Much is discussed about what this may mean.
The rest of the party investigate the water itself, and Errol risks a sip after remembering that the moon themselves are said to have arcane properties. A strange transformation occurs, and the gnome feels the strength of his magic grow, at the cost of the well of power that it comes from. Calphis immediately fills every potion and bottle he has with water from moon pool.
The final section of the cave system is explored but ends in dead end, that is for everyone but the dwarf. He continues walking straight towards the walls and then through them. The party realise a powerful illusion is upon the wall here, but that dwarves, or at least Erroll, is unaffected by it. The cave continues going up for awhile and then into a large, sealed cave. Once again, Erroll makes a comment about this being a new entrance to the dungeon, but only he can see the small entranceway that leads to the outside and a narrow path that goes down the side of the mountain. Clearly the dwarves have had a back entrance to the dungeon they’ve not let on about.
The party rest overnight in the cavern chamber hidden by the illusionary walls, although return to the moonpool once the moon is at it’s zenith to observe how it interacts with the pool. A beam of moonlight shines down, causing the entire pool and chamber to glow brightly in silvery light.
In the morning the party double back towards the doorway they discovered, leading they suspect back into the dungeon and indeed it does. They travel through a series of mostly empty rooms, the party are lucky enough to discover a human sized chainmail shirt that seems to be coated with the black and silver magical metal Azoth. They also come across a circular room that is covered in a mosaic depicting a map of the lands around Dwimmermount. It shows the ruined citadel of Winterburg and a ruined city named Lloraec. Many forts and military positions are also shown. Bittersalt opens a door to shot in the stomach by a poisoned dart of some size, however the chamber is marked by the presence of broad stairway down into the gloom.
We ended the session here. Will the party descend immediately, or will the follow up on the few remaining door and passages they’ve left unexplored? One thing I’ve really been reminded of is how useful a map is to the players, and how well they’ve managed to keep theirs updated. It was another really good season, and this write up doesn’t really do justice to the interesting locations and sense of exploration the session had. Also, these session diaries have hit the 10k word count, which is strangely pleasing.
A quick scout of the local caves is followed by a short rest to recover after the battle with the spider demon. The party have discovered a number of passages leading away from where they met the mad dwarf, and decide to press further into the caves rather than using a newly discovered doorway or returning the way they came.
One cave, which is clearly the nest of the spider, contains a dwarven statue that is half twisted and melted. A heavy bronze chest is found to contain approximately a thousand gold coins and clearly represents the wealth the demon had collected. Another cave, which the party had ignored on the way through was crudely boarded up. After pulling down the woodwork, the party discover a statue to the luck goddess Tyche. She has her cupped hands outstretched in front of her, with several gold coins laying in her palms. The party’s response is mixed, with some adding to the coins and Bittersalt snatching from the pile. The latter unluckily coincides with the ceiling collapsing in on top of her, severely wounding her and trapping her. After pulling her out, Brother Spenzar replaces the coins that were taken.
 |
| The Moonpool |
The rest of the party investigate the water itself, and Errol risks a sip after remembering that the moon themselves are said to have arcane properties. A strange transformation occurs, and the gnome feels the strength of his magic grow, at the cost of the well of power that it comes from. Calphis immediately fills every potion and bottle he has with water from moon pool.
The final section of the cave system is explored but ends in dead end, that is for everyone but the dwarf. He continues walking straight towards the walls and then through them. The party realise a powerful illusion is upon the wall here, but that dwarves, or at least Erroll, is unaffected by it. The cave continues going up for awhile and then into a large, sealed cave. Once again, Erroll makes a comment about this being a new entrance to the dungeon, but only he can see the small entranceway that leads to the outside and a narrow path that goes down the side of the mountain. Clearly the dwarves have had a back entrance to the dungeon they’ve not let on about.
The party rest overnight in the cavern chamber hidden by the illusionary walls, although return to the moonpool once the moon is at it’s zenith to observe how it interacts with the pool. A beam of moonlight shines down, causing the entire pool and chamber to glow brightly in silvery light.
In the morning the party double back towards the doorway they discovered, leading they suspect back into the dungeon and indeed it does. They travel through a series of mostly empty rooms, the party are lucky enough to discover a human sized chainmail shirt that seems to be coated with the black and silver magical metal Azoth. They also come across a circular room that is covered in a mosaic depicting a map of the lands around Dwimmermount. It shows the ruined citadel of Winterburg and a ruined city named Lloraec. Many forts and military positions are also shown. Bittersalt opens a door to shot in the stomach by a poisoned dart of some size, however the chamber is marked by the presence of broad stairway down into the gloom.
We ended the session here. Will the party descend immediately, or will the follow up on the few remaining door and passages they’ve left unexplored? One thing I’ve really been reminded of is how useful a map is to the players, and how well they’ve managed to keep theirs updated. It was another really good season, and this write up doesn’t really do justice to the interesting locations and sense of exploration the session had. Also, these session diaries have hit the 10k word count, which is strangely pleasing.
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