Rise of the Runelords Recap # 70 [RPG]

[3 Calistril 4708 continued]

In the narrow tunnels leading from a cliffside cave near Jorgenfist, Kang suddenly realizes that the battle against the redcaps caused many of his vials of chemicals to crack!  He rushes back to the cave to render them inert before they explode.  The others decide to continue on, with Nerissa scouting ahead.  Eventually, the main branch of the small tunnels leads to a chamber cluttered by tiny mounds of carefully sorted junk.  Resting on a hammock tied between a pair stalagmites is a kobold idly holding a shortspear.  Nerissa’s stealthy approach allows her to retreat silently and confer with her fellow adventurers.  They agree that she should sneak up again and try to subdue it so they have a prisoner they can interrogate for information.

Mokmurian met Enga on one of his journeys and,

 impressed with her, made her the sentinel of the 

river tunnels to Jorgenfist

At first, the plan goes well.  Nerissa tiptoes in and pounces on the surprised kobold, placing a hand over its mouth so it can’t even cry out!  But the wily creature is stronger than it looks and breaks free of her hold.  Before Nerissa can react, the kobold impales her with its spear and then wrenches the weapon free, shouting “Enga best guard ever!”  Nerissa collapses to the ground in a pool of blood.  Hearing the shout, the other adventurers rush in.  Salma’s magic locks the kobold’s muscles in place as Jinkatsyu darts forward and stabs it, but then the kobold also breaks free of the paralysis enchantment!  Salma reverts back to her favourite means of dispatching enemies: conjuring huge explosions while somehow sculpting the flames to exclude herself and her allies.  This time, though, an unwelcome surprise rears its ugly head: the beaded necklace that the kobold was wearing explodes in a fireball an order of magnitude higher than even Salma had ever conjured before!  The blast shakes the cavern, killing Nerissa and Salma instantly and badly burning the kobold who is somehow still standing!  Fortunately, Ava had not yet arrived on the scene and Jinkatsyu was able to duck between stalagmites to escape unscathed.  Jinkatsyu shouts for Ava’s help as he stabs the creature in chest and it collapses, gurgling blood.

Ava arrives in time to bring Salma from the brink of death’s door, but Nerissa is too far gone to help without more powerful magicks.  Knowing that the tremendously loud explosion must have alerted everyone nearby, the surviving trio of heroes quickly gather up Nerissa’s remains and rush back through the narrow tunnels until they reach the cliffside cave.  There, they see Kang has set up his alchemical workshop in a niche in the rock; he forbids any interruptions, saying he’s on the verge of a magnificent breakthrough!  Ava makes the preparations for the elaborate ritual to summon Nerissa’s soul back to her body, but she decides to communicate with it first—and in so doing, is surprised to learn that the soul has moved to a better place and has no wish to return.  The grippli sobs as she realizes Nerissa is gone forever, and then, to make matters worse, Salma adds that the next time she dies, she wants to stay dead as well.

Army ant swarms are relentless in their attacks.

Exhausted and dispirited, the adventurers undergo a miserable day of rest in the cave.  Their misery is exacerbated by swarms of poisonous army ants that stream out from cracks in the cave floor, and Salma is forced to nearly exhaust her magicks to fend them off.  After getting to a fitful sleep that night, another infestation is discovered a couple of hours before dawn and this one is almost lethal!  And then, a final blow: just before dawn, Jinkatsyu is tormented by nightmares of being unable to save his family only to realize that the horrific visions have magically sent to him by the surviving hag of Hook Mountain.

[4 Calistril 4708]

Having endured one of the worst days of their adventuring career, the survivors decide they have no choice but to press on.  But do the defenders of Jorgenfist realize they’re under attack, or do they simply think Enga had an unfortunate accident with her necklace?  And if the adventurers can barely survive one kobold, how will they ever succeed against the far greater terrors that lie beyond?

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Director's Commentary (23 August 2019)

Kang's player was unable to make this session, hence the character's sudden need to work on alchemical formulas in the safety of their cave.

I really enjoyed the necklace of fireballs situation here, as it's one of the few times in RPGs that characters face consequences for hurling massive incendiary magic left and right.  

The decision by Nerissa's player to stay that her character wouldn't want to come back from the dead started to become a pattern, and I think grew frustrating for the others at the table.