To the Batcave (Days 1-7)
The party set out over the plains, east toward the bat cave. The first two days through the plains were uneventful, though they stumbled upon a grove of strange woods on the second day out. Music floated along the breeze from within. They foraged on the second day, boosting their rations with scramberries, plump berries with a slightly bitter juice, and edible mushrooms.
The third day brought them to a swamp, the mud sucking at their boots made it difficult to move with speed. On their third day in the swamp (day 6), they forded a shallow river that ran through the marsh, and were attacked by a herd of feral hoglings (L1) which Artaeus managed to deal with single handedly, sending the last living hogling squealing for its life back into the swamp.
On day 7, the party arrived at the bat cave and entered, hoping to find bats quickly and return to Lagis.
The Batcave (Day 7)
The cave’s entrance proved empty, and presented the Crawlers with a decision: left or right. The ultimately chose to take the left passage and encountered a dead end. While this chamber appeared to be empty, the party was quickly ambushed by a pack of small cave cats (3d6 = 13). In the fight that followed, only Calindis was wounded by the cats’ razor sharp claws before the onslaught of Folgi and Artaeus killed the majority of the felines and the survivors fled.
Returning to the entrance chamber, the party continued down the right passage into another empty cavern. Calindis discovers a tattered scroll written in an eldritch language that she has some knowledge in. It is mostly illegible, but she identifies the words ‘restore,’ ‘decay,’ and the ordinal for ‘one.’ The scroll crumbled as she attempted to read it, but her eidetic memory would not allow her to forget.
The Crawlers entered the lair of a Vrykolaka—a humanoid bat-like creature believed to be the original source of vampirism. The Vrykolaka is caught off guard, not expecting its lair to be violated. The party manages to wound it twice before the Vrykolaka manages to sink its long fangs into the neck of Artaeus. The cleric feels the burning poison seep into his bloodstream even as his companions begin a renewed assault against the many-winged monster. Calindis receives a superficial cut across her forearm, but resists the effects of the monster's potent venom. She blasts the beast with a superheated ball of magic, and the effect is immediate. The beast's defense weakens noticeably as flames flicker along its paper-thin skin. Folgi swings his warhammer hard, crushing its skull with a wet squelch. Among the detritus of bones and stones, Calindis found an ornate rod with an orb on one end. She immediately identified it as a Wand of Fireball. They also found an old potion of healing, and a scroll containing the spell Escape. While the party searched the lair, Artaeus managed to cast Blessing upon himself (at -2, d6 = 6), ridding his body of the disease that would—if left untreated—turn him into a creature of the night. Folgi and Aria cut the wings from the giant man-bat, folding them up and storing the five in their packs.
[3 treasure rolls at +2 on d6 = 3, 6, 6]
[Magic treasure table: d6 = 5, potion of healing; 6, fireball staff]
[Folgi the Dwarf achieves level 3]
The next chamber proved to be almost as dangerous as the Vrykolaka’s lair. It was filled with gossamer thin webs, upon which eight large bodied arachnids scrambled. The spiders drop to the ground as the Crawlers enter their den, and Folgi, Artaeus, and Aria quickly launch an offensive, killing the majority of the beasts. One of the spiders that escaped their onslaught managed to sink its fangs into Calindis’ arm, but she pulled away before the arachnid’s venom could poison her. Folgi races to her aid, crushing the final spider beneath his warhammer.
In the intersection outside of the spiders’ den, they find a collection of ruined weapons (which they ignore) and head south. This new chamber taunts the rogue with a gilded treasure chest down a narrow passage. Aria and Calindis move down this passage and only just manage to avoid the spears that launch from a concealed trap in the cavern wall. The rogue opens the chest and recovers a second Wand of Sleep, which she tucks in her belt.
They return to the intersection and head north. Folgi and Artaeus, who lead the way, find themselves face to face with a massive, gray furred cave bear. They spare no time launching into battle, their hammers moving with practiced ease. They wound the beast, but only serve to enrage it the more. Suddenly, the bear wavers on its massive paws and slumps to the ground. Aria stands behind the Folgi and Artaeus, the Wand of Sleep raised above her head.
[Aria gains level 3]
The next chamber contained a gurgling pool of crystal clear water. The water radiated comfort and magic, illuminating the walls about them with a golden glow. Calindis recognized the pool for what it was and was the first to kneel and cup some of the cool mountain water into her mouth. She instantly felt rejuvenated. The others followed suit, and, within a few minutes, they felt better than they had in some time.
They pass through two empty corridors, until they find another empty room with no passages leading out. They spend some time searching the room, when they are suddenly attacked by four giant, black-furred bats the size of hunting hounds. Aria is too slow and one of the bats raked her shoulder with its six inch talon. Folgi’s mighty swing knocks two of the bats to the floor, where they squeak piteously. Artaeus slams another against the cave wall, killing it with a loud crunch. The remaining bats fled back into the shadows. Aria collected (d6 = 3) three usable wings from the dead bats, bringing their total to twelve—the number requested by Lagis Moonscar. Despite completing their quest, the adventurers decide to continue exploring the bat cave.
The party backtracks and move west, where they find an expansive passage littered with weapons and the bones of long-dead adventurers. Most of the weapons are rusted, or pitted by abuse, but Folgi finds a shortsword that might be salvageable if he could access a quality forge. He tucks it into his belt, and the party moves north.
The next several chambers present the Crawlers with more of the cave’s denizens to contend with: nine giant bats, six diminutive iridescent pseudodrakes who put Artaeus into a magical sleep, a ghost that rendered Calindis terrified for a long while, a pack of hunting cave cats, and another cave bear which Folgi manages to kill.
[Aria pries three iridescent scales from the pseudodrakes (80gp)]
[Folgi finds a ruby lodged in the cave bear’s mouth (110gp)]
The final, expansive chamber is filled with the bones of animals and humans alike. Resting in the center of the room is a massive cave lion. It is at least three times the size of the hunting party of felines the party encountered earlier, and nearly as large as the cave bear they just defeated. Tired, but still capable, the party charged the beast. Folgi and Artaeus managed to wound the lion with their hammers, but Aria was unable to get close enough with her dagger. Calindis attempted to cast Lightning Bolt, but her concentration remained shattered from the experience with the ghost and the spell failed.
The lion charges after Aria, but the agile rogue dodgedits sweeping paws. Artaeus' blow missed the lion, but Folgi leapt upon its broad back and pummeled it with his warhammer, driving it to the ground and killing it. He immediately set about removing the great beast's hide (d6 = 2, no encounter). Aria explored the cave lion's den and discovered a skeleton in a ripped and bloodied robe. Inside a moldering pouch, she found a vial of a strange golden liquid. She brought it to Calindis, who identified it as a Potion of Cunning.
With the lion's pelt draped over his shoulders, Folgi followed the wizard and rogue out of the lion's den and they began their trek back to the cave entrance.
[Folgi acquires a cave lion pelt (20gp)]
[Calindis attains level 3]
The Crawlers managed to make it out of the bat cave without encountering any more resistance. Full dark was close, and they decided to make camp in a hollow below the cave. Folgi and Artaeus agreed to split the watch, while the others slept. Nothing disturbed them in the night, and the rogue and wizard woke feeling rested.
Back to Chasman Village (day 8-13)
The party returned to Chasman via the route they took to reach the batcave. On the second day (day 9), they foraged as they trekked through the swamp finding enough swampberries (3d6 = 9) to feed them for one more day. On the next day, they managed to find a handful of mushrooms which they roasted over the campfire. Returning to the grassy plains on the fifth day (day 12) they managed to collect enough fruit (2d6 = 9) to last them the remaining two days' journey back to the Chasman.
Within sight of Chasman, the party found themselves surrounded by large, black furred rats with red eyes and sharp teeth. Not wanting to let the beasts get the upper-hand, Folgi charged with a cry, swinging his massive hammer. Six rat bodies soared through the air or burst in sprays of offal as the dwarf's hammer killed them. The remaining rats disappeared into the high grasses. By nightfall, the party reached the village and returned to their rented home to rest.
The next day they visited the general store to sell off their loot. They made 286 gold pieces across all of their goods, which they split amongst themselves equally. Lagis Moonscar paid them five gold for each of the twelve bat wings they delivered him, which they also split equally. Lagis also delivered on the promise of a potion of healing. The old wizard reminds them of their rent, and they pay him (8gp total, 2gp/each).
Random Table Links
At the following links you can find my custom tables used in this session.
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Thanks for the shout out. Loving the story and the art so far!
Cool. You are definitely bringing out the narrative.