The adventurers return to Deadwood much later than expected and they head straight to the house of Sister Garaele not knowing that they would find Nundro Rockseeker alive. There she was happy to see them all back and everyone was introduced to those they did not know. Sister Garaele provides Hard Cheese, Black Bread, Hot Soup and Beer while the adventures retell their adventurers.
Lofty shows Sister Garaele the pipe which was in the puzzle box and she checks it and says that is not wholly Evil but it is not Good. Astrid is given a ‘Potion of Darkvision’ by Sister Garaele.
The adventurers all agree to travel to Wave Echo Cave together. Once they all have rested, the heroes set off and expect to reach Wave Echo Cave in the afternoon.
Once they are within 3 miles of where Gundren explained the entrance was, the Lofty, Astrid and Galdor begin to pay more attention and look out for any dangers. Then when they are several hundred feet from the hidden entrance Lofty, Astrid and Galdor begin to check again for enemies lying in wait. The 3 heroes see and hear nothing alarming.
Lofty, Astrid and Galdor all make their way to the entrance as quietly as possible and once they are happy that there are no guards, they approach the entrance. Lofty checks the entrance first for Traps and then Galdor check the area for Tracks. Lofty finds nothing to worry him but the Cleric is unable to astrain any recent traffic.
Sister Garaele, Sildar and Gundren stay hidden 100’ feet or so by the tunnel entrance, while the horses have been tethered further away by Galdor and his calming nature helps settles the horses. Gundren hopes that Nundro Rockseeker is still alive
Astrid takes the lead after consuming her ‘Potion of Healing’ and having had Sister Garaele cast ‘Aid’ on Lofty, Astrid and Galdor.
Galdor used the ‘Augury’ Spell from the Gold Statuette of the Sun Elf, Corellon Larethian.
After Astrid comes Galdor and lastly Lofty. This having the advantage that the Cleric can fire either way and not be impeded by the 2 Halflings. The party head North-West along the tunnel which turns out not to have been that long, 60’-70’ feet of darkness which then opened up into a larger cavern.
CAVE ENTRANCE:
The entrance tunnel leads into a large cavern supported by a natural pillar of rock and containing three stalagmites. In the western part of the cave, behind the column of rock, are three bedrolls and a heap of ordinary supplies—sacks of flour, bags of salt, casks of salted meat, lanterns, flasks of lamp oil, pickaxes, shovels, and other gear. Amid the supplies you see a Dwarf miner, behind a large fire seated and looking towards the entrance.
The North-Eastern section of the cavern has collapsed, forming a ten-foot-wide, twenty-foot-deep pit. A sturdy hemp rope is tied off around a nearby stalagmite and dangles down the side of the pit some 20’ feet, at the bottom of which is a rough-hewn tunnel heading northwest and east.
Astrid steps back as she is unsure if the Dwarf was in fact Nundro Rockseeker. Lofty steps up and is also unsure, because of the glare of the fire but believes it could be.
Lofty moves silently out of the corridor again and peers into the cavern directly at the Dwarf and he just looks through the Rogue as if he was not there so he can check that it was in fact Nundro Rockseeker.
Astrid Bilberry: “I think the time has come for you to make yourself Invisible so that you can take a closer look at this obvious trap.”
Leif ‘Lofty’ Bilberry: “I have a better idea Sister, I will cast ‘Message’ and see if it is an Illusion, trap or Nundro himself.”
NPC – Nundro Rockseeker
Lofty communicates with the Dwarf and it is in fact Nundro Rockseeker and not an Illusion, Disguise or Doppelganger. Nundro Rockseeker explains that there are 2 Bugbears in the cavern somewhere and also a Giant Spider is lurking about the place. Unfortunately, Astrid was not as quite as the others and the Giant Spider was alerted to the intruders and was watching very closely from the ceiling of the cavern hidden among the stalactites.
Lofty attempts to look for the Bugbears first by checking behind one of the stalagmites and then moving for a better view. That’s when he saw the hidden Bugbear but was attacked by the Giant Spider. The Giant Spider shot its Web at the Rogue but he was fleet of foot enough to avoid the Web, but this then left a 20’ x 20’ area of sticky Web on the floor which made movement that much harder.
Astrid throws a Dart and hits.
Galdor fires his Longbow and also hits the creature and then Lofty finishes off the Giant Spider with his Magic Missile.
The Bugbear draws is Javelin and the second Bugbear appears from behind another of the stalagmites.
Astrid rushes to his sister’s support and with her new founds Monk Skills is able to hit the Bugbear twice with her Magical Shortsword and twice with her Flurry of blows. Even though the Monk only connected with one of her strikes, she never the less killed the Bugbear.
Galdor engages the other with the aid of Lofty, whose Shortbow arrow ends up missing the Bugbear. Then between his hit and then the Rogue using his Cunning Action, the Bugbear did not take another breath.
Monster – Bugbear
Lofty escorts Nundro back to his brother and they spend sometime going over the events of recent weeks. They are resolute in their decision to stay and wait, in case they are needed if things go very bad. So, the Rogue returns to his comrades and they pick a tunnel to take in the collapsed cavern.
Galdor: “I believe that Tymora will show us the way and I can toss the coin.”
Leif ‘Lofty’ Bilberry: “I think the time has come for to choose and just by looking at the Map I think we should go along the North-West route.”
Astrid Bilberry: “The sounds positive, I agree that..”
Leif ‘Lofty’ Bilberry: “No wait, the sound of the Wave is coming from the North-East, then we need to go East and then North.”
Astrid Bilberry: “Fine, lets just go or I will need a short rest soon.”
Leif ‘Lofty’ Bilberry: “No wait.”
Astrid Bilberry: “No more waiting, choose brother or we let the coin decide.”
MINE TUNNELS:
This area consists of numerous intersecting passages. The ceilings here are only six feet high, and several of the passages end in partially excavated rock faces.
The adventurers choose the Western tunnel and then they choose to head for the central area first. They move forward in a very tentative manner, trying not to alert the inhabitants of their presence within Wave Echo Cave. The adventurers move North and East and they discover that the tunnel have old tracks in some places and that some corridors are filled with rubble. The miners must have been looking for minerals and stopped digging when they found none in that direction.
After moving forward, with one adventurer covering the other as they progressed, in an Easterly direction the adventurers hear the sound of the wave again.
The rhythmic thunder of pounding waves echoes throughout the mine, loud enough to make the stone underfoot shiver. Waves come about two minutes apart, growing louder toward the northeast.
The Rogue points out that they need to travel East until they can find the longer tunnel heading in that direction. As they reach what looks like another dead end with rubble, Astrid, who is in the front of the heroes, spots a 10’ reses corridor that end at a door.
The door is 6’ feet tall, 4’ feet wide, and made of six-inch-thick cut slabs of stone fitted with iron handles and hinges. The doors are low and wide, perfect for Dwarves.
Astrid listens out for any noise but can not hear anything. Not satisfied of the Monks skill, the Cleric decides to listen himself and is glad that he did as he hears the sound of gnawing and crunching coming from behind the closed door. Lofty tries to verify the sound but is also unable to hear any noise.
Leif ‘Lofty’ Bilberry: “Shhh Astrid, you’re making enough noise to wake the Undead and I can’t hear a thing.”
This may have been the sudden cause of the silence from within the room.
Astrid points South and the Rogue goes to see what is around the corner, but not before he casts ‘Invisibility’ on himself and hoping that it will hide him from the menace in the chamber. Lofty moves south and when he reaches the corner the Rogue stops and listens out for the creature. The Rogue concentrates very hard and is just able to hear the sound of a stone door being opened ever so quietly. Then moments later a foul smelling grey skinned humanoid shambles towards the Rogue.
Lofty thinks back to his school days and remembers the following:
In folklore, a ghoul (from Arabic ghūl) is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid, often associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. In the legends or tales in which they appear, a Ghoul is far more ill-mannered and fouler than the commonly mistaken Goblin or Gobbo. A cchaotic evil undead monsters with razor sharp teeth, jagged claws and a hunger for flesh.
Monster – Ghoul 5e
Lofty is torn between hiding and moving and so decide the first option and when he realises that the Undead creature was heading straight in his direction, the Rogue moved off back to his fellow adventurers. The Rogue then chooses not to cast a Spell, unless he became visible or talk as his intension was to hide and gain its benefit. The Rogue moves silently between Astrid and Galdor and waits around the corner. As he turns the Rogue can now see that the door, which the crunching noises were heard from, opens and 2 more Ghouls exit and head toward The Monk and Cleric.
Missile weapons are used, a Dart form Astrid, to attack the Ghoul nearest her and Galdor intends to take out his Holy Symbol and Turn the Undead. However, the Dart was true but Galdor fumbled finding his Holy symbol and this allows the Ghouls to advance and strike.
Astrid is hit once by the Ghouls filthy Claws, while Galdor is also hit but is immune to the Ghouls powers of Paralysation. Astrid is not so lucky and is instantly affected by the Ghouls diseased claws.
Lofty fires first and hit one of the Ghouls that had been Turned and would have run away. The other is about to run North-West and the last stands ready to attack either Galdor, who is immune to its Claws, or the recently appeared Rogue.
Fate has made the choice for the Ghoul as from the ceiling of the corridor the soundless slurp of a creature releasing its grasp proceeds it falling on our unsuspected Rogue.
Leif ‘Lofty’ Bilberry: “What is that some form yellowish Jelly, that’s surprising.”
Monster – Ochre Jelly