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Montporte Dungeon Campaign Session 29 Notes

The Cast
Adzeer Mattiu, Hunter of the Second Circle (Half Orc, Hunter): Tim (Gothridge Manor)
Dante Rathburn (Human, Warlock): Chris (The Clash of Spear on Shield)
Luven Lightfinger (Human, Thief): Rob (Bat in the Attic)
Duncan Kern (Gnome, Wizard/Thief): Dan
Larramore “Little Larry” (Kobold, Marksman): NPC
Diana (Human, Torch Bearer, Goat Driver): NPC
Marcus Aurelius (Magic Sword): NPC
Daria (Human, Rebel Leader): NPC
Herodius (Human, Rebel): NPC
Silvaria (Human, Rebel): NPC
Muh ("Gaunt," Rebel): NPC
Zot ("Gaunt," Rebel): NPC
Mechlor (Thuragian, Rebel): NPC
Dwemmon (Gnome): NPC
5 cave goats
Map A (1 square = 5 feet)
The Session
Session 29 started where Session 28 left off: The brave adventurers had found the first room of Level 3 of the Montporte Dungeon. They had been searching for Daria and her band of rebels at the far eastern end of Level 2 when they heard footsteps and decided to give chase. They followed sound of the footsteps to Level 3.

Session 29 started in Room 1 (Map A above). The party, using Adzeer's tracking ability, followed the footprints in the dust through the door in the west wall. This led them into an odd room (Room 2). The floor in Room 2 was 15 below the door but there was a steel catwalk leading across the room to a door in the west wall.

The party peeked into the western door (leading into Room 3) and saw: (a) it was the mirror image of Room 1 and (b) the dust on the floor was undisturbed. No footprints. So they looked around more closely in Room 2. They discovered that, based on the dust on the catwalk, foot traffic went from the eastern door of the room to the middle of the catwalk and then disappeared off the northern edge of the catwalk. It was as if someone was jumping off the catwalk to the floor 15' below. However, the floor appeared to be undisturbed. No footprints.

Using the finder's lens, Duncan discovered a secret door in the north wall, 15' above the floor of the room and even with the catwalk. Using levitation, he propelled himself over, removed the trap in the door and opened it. He entered, and the rest of the party found it easy to jump the 5' gap.

This took the party into Room 4, which had a pool of bubbling green goo in the floor. A catwalk went across the pool to a door on the north wall. The party noticed that the west, north and east walls of the rooms had several arrow slits in the them, which meant that they were sitting ducks for missile and magic attacks from unseen opponents.

Luven, using his magically enhanced hearing, could hear voices through the arrow slits, both female and male. Duncan, using his magic beanie, became invisible and went out on the catwalk to see if he could see into the slits. He was able to see a human male, a human female, a few "gaunts" and a thuragian (crab folk).

In the meantime, the party was addressed by an unseen female (calling out from the arrow slits). She wanted to know who they were and why they were there. The discussion was tense at the start, but eventually both sides decided to trust each other. The party learned that they had found Daria and her small band of rebels.

The party was invited into the rebel hideout. Adzeer was able to give Daria the map that Allindrihl had given him way back in Session 16. She took this as conclusive proof of the party's trustworthiness:
Allendrihl's Map of Level 1
Daria explained that her rebel band had been decimated in a battle with the Breeders. Of her original 30 rebels, only six were left, including herself, Herodius (human), Silvaria (human), Mechlor (thuragian "crab folk"), Zot ("gaunt"), and Muh ("gaunt").

The party learned a few new things from Daria:

  • Elias the One, the leader of the Breeders, was very powerful and could usually be found on Level 4 of the dungeon.
  • Elias the One had purchased several gnomes from a group of hobgoblins and was going to use them in a sacrificial ritual that would grant some sort of undead life to the participants. Daria didn't know why gnomes were the sacrifice of choice in these rituals. She thought the gnomes were being held at the northern end of Level 2.
  • Elias the One didn't seem too concerned about the rebels, although there was a small group of hobgoblins camped out on Level 2, not far from the rebels' hideout. Daria believed them to be paid by Elias the One to capture any remaining rebels. The adventurers were pretty sure that they had killed these hobgoblins (Session 28).
  • The area of Level 3 that served as the rebel hideout could not be accessed from the main part of Level 3. It could only be accessed at the eastern end of Level 2. To get to the main Breeder area and Elias the One, the party would have to go back to Level 2, head west, and then head down to Levels 3 & 4.

Daria asked the party if any of them could read the document she found on Level 1. Allindrihl had told her what to look for and she had ripped some pages out of book with the hopes that she was following Allindrihl's directions. She had been unable to contact him since. Adzeer discovered that Daria had the missing pages out of a dwarven construction log they had found in Session 24.

The pages were written in the dwarven tongue, but Adzeer was able to read it (using the Belt of the Dwarvenkind). The document was a summary of construction of the Montporte Dungeon, originally built as a monastery (here is the PDF version of the document). The party found a very helpful description of five levels of the Montporte Dungeon.

The party was invited on a tour of the hideout and was also invited to rest and relax before heading out. The party slept in Room 6 (Map A above).

The next day, the party decided to rescue the gnomes on Level 2 of the dungeon. They decided to include Daria and her rebels. Duncan scooped up some of the bubbling green goo in Room 4 (Map A above) and put it into a few empty flasks he was carrying.
Map B (1 square = 5 feet)
The party, now doubled in size, headed back up to Level 2 (Room 7 on Map B above). They retraced their steps and met up with two hobgoblins and a boreal troll in Room 8. This is the same place where the hobgoblins and frost wolves were encountered and killed in Session 28. The party had learned their lesson from their last hobgoblin encounter so they attacked immediately.

Dante took a beating from the troll before the party could even position themselves to press their attack. The rest of the party joined in the melee. It was fierce, with the troll having 3 attacks/round and the hobgoblins 2 attacks/round each. Duncan was able to stun the troll with the color spray, which allowed Luven to backstab the troll with two weapons. The troll was still alive, but seriously wounded. It took two more rounds to finish off the troll and the hobgoblins.

The troll was dead but not finished. He began to regenerate, even after his corpse was burned with oil. They poured some of the green goo from Room 4 onto the troll. The troll dissolved and the battle was finally and truly over.

The hobgoblins had a large sack with them, containing a gnome. He was unconscious, but the party was able to revive him. They learned that his name was Dwemmon and that he had been captured by the hobgoblins. He had no idea why they had taken him captive. The hobgoblins were very good at beating him senseless while keeping him alive. He lived in a subterranean forest, but he had no idea how to get back to his home.

This is where the session ended for the night.

The Dungeon So Far
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3