Thug Muggers in the Sewers 4/27/24
Table Talk:
I forgot about the Wererat that was outside the room in that last fight, so that’s 450 more XP.
I have a fun idea i am going to try for our next time shopping with Krubos, to make it more organic – and less “here’s a price, you doin’ it, or nah?” Once the players know the initial price (the difference in value between rarities), they will have to make an offer of a price to Krubos. Then i’ll roll a d10 for each number after the first (237 = 2## = 2D10, 56 = 5# = 1D10, etc). If any number they give matches a rolled number, then Krubos nods (318 offered, i roll 6 and 8 rolled - so yes) and Krobus agrees to the price. If not they have to increase the number and offer again.
Akris leveled up, and we decided that his new stats (here), will go into effect the next time he’s summoned. Because, that makes more sense than him just growing bigger out of nowhere.
The players are working on ordering the minis for their characters and i told them that whenever they get them, i will have a reward for each one as they come in.
Speaking of minis! I’m quite happy with my new printer (Creality Ender 3 V3 CoreXZ) and how well some of the new scenery is coming along. I’ve been painting a lot lately and I've included some of the more interesting pieces below, including some potion bottles that are about ¼ the size of my pinky nail, or the head of a 2 penny pin. Go ahead and check out my Thingiverse Profile (link is to my D&D collection), if you are interested in the files i’ve been using for these.
We had a week off, but i have not been slacking! I’ve been working on notes and plans for Eka, the city we are heading to. I told the players some bits of my ideas for all this, but i think i’m going to save them up and give you all a big dump right on this blog! What?
Speaking of notes and world building. I had a long talk with Sarah this week and she told me she had been writing out some backstory stuff for fun. I told her and all the players that if they are ever interested, i will gladly publish anything they give me like that here on this blog and give them full credit to share it wherever! So please! Comment at the bottom (under the maps) and encourage them to share this stuff with you, reader!
Lastly, a brief CW / TW / content warning / trigger warning regarding: cutting , self harm , automutilation (typed and spaced out to help with any apps or extension to recognize and highlight). There is one paragraph below which has some graphic details around this subject. I have put an image of a Care Bear next to that section to identify it. The Care Bear is also a link to basic resources if you read the section and have a panic attack or similar trigger. We care about you <3 please be safe.
“Chaos, activities calculated to disturb Order. Since wherever Evil is at large, Order may not reign, and everything Order builds collapses, cannot endure. The little light of wisdom and the flame of hope, the glow of warmth, instead of flaring up, go out. It’ll be dark. And in the darkness will be fangs, claws and blood.”
-Geralt of Rivia –Andrzej Sapkowski, “Lady of the Lake: Chapter 12”
🛡️🎲🗡️🔔✨🌿Chapter 14: Un-making Camp (cont.)
🛡️🎲🗡️🔔✨🌿Chapter 14: Un-making Camp (cont.)
The last Thug’s dying words seem to echo throughout the tiny room, now cramped with corpses,
“Totkao will save us. Totkao will kill you all.”
Ari has a manic grin on her face as she goes to whip down her blade, then coughs and hides her face from the others when she sees it’s already dry and clean, except for a thin line in the blood groove that disappears as she looks at it. She coughs again and wipes it down anyway in case anyone notices.
Fortunately for Ari, Cypress and Sorin are staring at each other and not noticing.
Rae is looking at her though. For a long second, Ari is sure that her friend caught on, but then Rae just grunts and looks at the ceiling. Then she throws her hands down and turns away, muttering, “Why do you have to make protecting you so hard!?”
Sorin looks away from the cleric's steady unblinking eyes, “What?”
“You forgot to look behind you.”
“Huh?”
“When you looked around, you forgot to look behind you.”
“Um…huh… Uh, what?” Sorin asks with a nervous laugh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.''
There's a heavy silence between the two of them, like a thin rope around Sorin’s neck.
“Nothing.” Cypress says and breaks eye contact; the word dropping like a brick weighted with guilt and a thousand hidden words.
We're all standing in the Thug’s second encampment, a tiny room down here on the second level. The southwest wall is lined by four bed rolls crammed together without much room. Then, the entrance that Ari burst in through and a table of gear and weapons next to it where the Wereboar lady grabbed her shield, now minus said same shield. In the corner, Rae is standing next to the Wereboar who collapsed backwards against the two walls showing her two huge round breast bosses (the name for domes parts of armor), and the third sharp one right in the middle – which disappears as Cypress despells his Spiritual Weapon. Against the northeast wall there is a simple stove with its door open for light and two chests on either side of it. Then the entrance where Cypress snuck in, with the dead body of Sorin’s would-be-assassin lying at the end of it. Along the next wall is a hammock and another bed roll next to a mostly broken couch. In the middle is a table made out of a roughly knotted block of a few sticks and boards forming an almost-tripod, with hammered out top of a cask nailed into it. There is a dagger stuck into the charcoal outline of a hand, and a few dice and cups along with slips of paper around the table in front of the simple stools and boxes around the table. Ari stands in the middle over the body of the last victim of the Thug Mugger’s crusad – i mean – the last foe of our noble and valiant heroes (please don't impale me or rip out my kneecaps), who just cursed us all.
Very true to his character, Cypress takes a moment before any sort of looting to roll a Religion check about Totkao and the curse of the dead Thug.
Clarify for me what you’re trying to ascertain here.
Nymbus: “I’m wondering if Totkao is the red squiggle.”
Thanks for reducing that whole cool idea to two words. Hmm… I don’t think you need to roll for that. I think, Yeah, I know you already know this, because of what you decoded on Zaanth’s note. In the top left those two lines translate to “Totkao will rule” and “With the will of something” so you can figure that Totkao is more like a prophet, Zaanth’s boss, and ultimately the leader of all the Cult’s under the city. You don’t really know anything about them, but you can piece together that Totkao is somehow definitely revered by them as a messiah.
While Cypress thinks about the nature of religion and cults, Ari walks out to let Bostra know that the fight is over.
“Okay, should I wait out here, or do you need me for something?”
“Um,” Ari is a bit taken aback, “I don’t think we’ll be too long if you want to wait.”
He gives a thumbs up and Ari walks away.
Bostra carefully looks to make sure she’s gone and then turns and bends down to tZulèe, “I’ll give you another brick for another go.”
The gargoyle frowns and its head rocks back and forth.
“Fine you little price gouger, two bricks.”
tZulèe grins and Bostra sits, then lays back on the cold stone floor. The gargoyle’s boney wooden hands reach out and start to slowly dig into Bostra’s scalp.
“Nuuugh that’s divine.” Bostra relaxes to the massage.
Sorin decides to loot one of the Cult fanatics, specifically looking for something that will exclusively help him – like a good, helpful member of the team. He finds a thin silver chain around their wrist and recognizes it from one of his classes. It’s a Chain of Binding a (homebrew) magic item that allows someone to attune to multiple items at once. The chain is 18 inches long and can be used on as many objects as it can be threaded through while still being closed as a loop. It allows the user to attune to all the objects within it in a single go, and then becomes a simple silver chain with no more magical properties.
Rae-the-Paranoid goes and closes the other door, wedging it closed to avoid anyone sneaking up behind them.
Thinking about the thug back on the 8th of Kythorn, Cypress checks the first Thug nearest them for any traumatizing letters home to family. With a 22, they don’t find any letter, but he does find some papers. Specifically a Scroll of Mage Hand, and two scrolls of Shield of Faith.
Ari walks back into the room and taps them on the shoulder. “Hey, the corpse in the hallway is, like, mummy dry. I don’t know if that’s something you wanna take a look at or not.” Then she walks over to the large chest by the stove to inspect the lock set into it. She can see that the plate of the lock is affixed with seven pin rivets. And, she can see that the whole thing is a trap. If anything like a key, comb, rake or pick is pushed into the lock, the rivets will spring out, not as pins, but as long spikes – practically nailing any hand to the wooden box.
With a moment of inspiration, Sorin grabs another one of the Thug’s cloaks so that maybe he can use it as a disguise later.
Rae moves to loot the busty Wereboar just in case Sorin decides to try anything later. She finds two +1 crossbow bolts, six +2 crossbow bolts and 3 +3 crossbow bolts.
As Cypress moves the bedrolls to arrange the bodies on them, he decides to pat them down in case any clever Cultists thought to store some goodies inside. Unfortunately, the only thing that comes out is a smelly puff of foot fungus spores. But the Mushroom Mace slurps them out of the air to get advantage on its next attack.
With unusual Rogue skill, Ari thinks about the trapped front of the chest, and tries to open it from the hinges on the back. Sadly that’s not the answer i’d already thought through, but i was so proud that i gave her a point of Inspiration anyways.
While Sorin is looting another corpse for personal gain, he finds something i was reluctant to give him. But Ashley rolled a 19 and i set the DC at 18, so i had to… Sorin finds a Ring of Spell Storing.
Rae moves over to check the weapons and gear on the table and her eyes turn to dollar signs. Basic short sword: 10 Gold, battle axe: 10 Gold, morning star: 15 gold, spiked shield: 12 Gold, another short sword, a long sword: 15 gold, and so on. Then she starts adding up the weight and her arms turn to noodles. Basic short sword: 2 pounds, battle axe: 6 pounds, morning star: 5 pounds, spiked shield: 8 pounds, another short sword, a long sword: 3 pounds, and so on. Since none of the gear is magical, Rae simply cries a coin-shaped tear before walking away.
brief CW / TW / content warning / trigger warning : cutting , self harm , automutilation
After arranging the first body, Cypress goes to check the Thug in the hall that Ari had warned them about. He glances over the body, but decides to check for letters before doing a medical examination. There are no letters on this body, but when their sleeve falls back, Cypress does find some words. Carved in jagged uneven letters, in lines that must’ve been cut and dug and recut over and over on the left forearm of the Thug there are several phrases. “Revenge is”, “Strength is”, “Hunting is”, “Rage is”, “Hate is”, and more are carved over and over in all different sizes until they seem to fill all the space of his arm. Cypress gasps and drops the arm, then steadies himself to look again. He lifts the right hand and sees the thumb and first two fingernails there have been shaped to points, all of the nails are bloody and the middle finger nail is cracked and half bent back. Swallowing, he rolls up that sleeve to see two more words carved there. This time the letters are huge blocks that take up the entire under arm. “The Truth”.
Domed chests are not actually domes, but half cylinders (often irregular cylinders for you geometry nerds) stacked on rectangular prisms. They are made with two thick rigid half circles/chords/ellipses on either end, and a series of cut slats or staves arranged and banded on top – similar to the side walls of a barrel or cask. Ari had reached over the irregular domed top to mess with the back hinges, but when she pulls back, her fingers catch on one of the slats and slip in. She leans back and can see the fine break in the board that mimics the knot in the wood. She presses in and to the side. The section of stave slides away. Using this new opening as a handle, she lifts up the lid. Inside is a small store of five rolled up paintings, each worth around 25 gold and probably stolen from someone's house.
To Ari’s right in the little entry hall, Sorin lets out a nervous cough, “Uh… You're done looking at the body?”
Cypress’s head whips around and even Akris rears back a little. “Why? Did you want another taste?!”
True to his brand, Sorin blurts out the first thought in his head, “I didn’t use my mouth, you know!”
Cypress gives Sorin a cool, level look, “This is not to be taken lightly Sorin. You're young. You’re rash! And you don’t THINK! When we fight, we are defending. We are Protecting. We are here to HELP! We should never kill without thought! This,” he points to the body, “was thoughtless. Killing is not a sport. Necromancy is a neutral for using magic. Which means YOU are responsible correctly. You maybe did what you felt was necessary, but then you must also recognize and respect that it is unfortunate. If you cannot manage your magic, then I will stop you.” The last five words drop out slowly and definite in the darkness, then Cypress picks up the body in a short fireman’s carry and brushes past Sorin.
When he walks by, Ari hurries to look busy and not at all like she was dropping eaves. ‘Necromancy’, she thinks to herself, ‘that's a good one to be aware of if we have another argument.’ She files it away in her mental ammo belt.
We also discussed how Ari might view Necromancy due to her upbringing, so here are my thoughts on it for this world. In the Hells, before the events that brought the planes together, necromancy was common household magic. Need to dust? Summon a disembodied soul with some suction to it and use it as a vacuum. Need to cool off a dessert? Harness a damned spirit collapsing in shame to use as a freezer. Nowadays things are different and this shameful past is seen as an embarrassing and harmful taboo and something untalked about – like racist “Mammy” cookware in the south (i’m not putting a reference picture here for obvious reasons, if you are fortunate to not know what i mean, google it – or don’t and just be grateful the world is [much too slowly] getting better). Maybe your grandma did it in the past but you’ve taught her better now and just hope she doesn’t do it when you're not around. Necromancy is a neutral magic and in the Hells it is still widely used, but the lessons on necromancy have much less in terms of the mechanics, and a LOT more in terms of ethics.
Before brushing beyond her, Rae beholds the bonny big burly boar belle on the bottom boards by her boots. Thoughtlessly touching the tyrant’s teething tusks, she tightly tears the tough teeth, taking them triumphantly as terrific treasure! (tee. hee.)
Ari goes over to the table and looks at the slips of paper. “Dish’s” “1st watch” “Last watsh” “Feching”. All the slips have chores and camp tasks written out and misspelled on them.
“Heh,” Rae chuckles, looking over her shoulder, “I guess they don’t have to worry about chores now.”
“Do they have chores in hell, Ari?” Sorin asks.
“Yeah, but it’s mostly sweeping.” Ari says absent mindedly turning things over. Then, “Score!” She finds a folded sheet that reads ‘Scroll of Mass Cure Wounds’. “Here, Cypress, I think you’ll have better luck with this than any of us will.”
Ashley: “Sorin loots the stove.”
… uh… okay. It's a stove. It’s there for light so the door is open and there's a fire burning…
Ashley, embarrassed: “Oh I thought - nevermind.”
No, no, please loot it. Stick your hand inside and see if you get anything.
Sorin kicks open the last chest on the other side of the stove. It pops open with dramatic music to reveal… …some potatoes, a sack of barley, some corn, two carrots, a couple beets and half an onion – because there's always half an onion. Like Rae earlier, Sorin thinks about taking it to sell, and then thinks about how heavy it would be and shakes his head.
Rae can’t find anything interesting on the Wererat, but then a thought strikes her and she pulls out the animal carving tools she bought from Devin. With a nat’ 20, Raelle-the-oh-my-god-did-you-really-just-do-that carefully extracts all ten of the the thorny claws from the (now very bloody) fingertips of her victim – i mean – her vanquished f – actually no i’m going with victim on this one.
🪨🪨🛡️🎲🗡️🔔✨🌿Chapter 15: A Plain Empty Cave with Nothing Suspicious
🪨🪨🛡️🎲🗡️🔔✨🌿Chapter 15: A Plain Empty Cave with Nothing Suspicious
Once Cypress has arranged and prayed over the bodies, we’re moving forward again. With a quick glance at the map to make sure we have the right direction, we line up at the next sealed cave door and Ari takes a look inside.
Behind the door is a wide open chamber, it is mostly round, with an archway on the other side leading to another open room on the other side. In the middle is a stalactite, and there is a small raised pool of cave water to one side near the walls. Otherwise, it is a plain and empty cave.
Ari nods and tests the door. Locked.
She is about to dig out her Chime of Opening when she remembers something and pulls out a few sewer keys. She tries one of these keys in the lock. She can feel it start to give, so it must be the right key, but it’s stuck and refusing to turn all the way. She grabs her crowbar and slides it into the open ring bow of the key, slowly turning. The rust in the lock squeals in a high shriek before being torn apart. The key turns, then stops with a sudden shock, but Ari is still turning and before she can stop, the crowbar twists and snaps off the brittle cast bow of the key, leaving it stuck in the lock. The door can still open and close, but the locking mechanism is broken for good.
Before Ari can stand up, a firm hand is on her shoulder pushing her back down.
Rae gives her a meaningful look, and then takes a cautious step into the room. She stalks around the edge of the room with her staff at the ready.
Nothing.
No monsters, no Thugs, no Cultists, nothing. She’s about to turn back to wave the others on when a thought hits her and she creeps around the back of the giant stalactite.
In the darkness, as the elf looks around at the base of the cave rocks, a crack appears in the stone next to her. The crack widens and a glistening wet purple eye peeks out. Then with the sound of a few small pebbles falling, the near silent mouth opens to reveal row after row of sharp crystal teeth grinning her the monk’s shadow.
The elf turns! The mouth and eye slam shut with a sound like water dripping on stone.
The elf stares at the rock, unsure what to think. She stares at a knot there, a lump in the dripping formation that almost looks like an eye. What she doesn’t see is the wriggling stone-scaled tentacle like a snake made of earth as it slowly loops around her leg…
Ari’s bow lets out a shriek!
The Roper’s eye blinks open and it reveals its teeth as its tentacles shoot out towards the door!
Everybody roll initiative!
Ashley, with remorse: “Brooke, can I have your inspiration, I rolled a nat’ 1.”
Nymbus, laughing: “Sorin’s just so startled by the rock coming to life that he jumps back and trips over Cypress, falling on his butt!”
Yes! Perfect, Ashley, the penalty for the critical failure here is that you’re prone at the start of your turn.
Ari is in the room right away, she lines up her shot and casts Burning Hands! Gallons of hot roaring flames shout past the Roper, drying its skin! Then the fire hits the pools of cave water and steam erupts through the room, so thick that no one can see clearly. (The Roper rolled a 20 to save, Brooke used her inspiration, and i decided the steam would last for as many rounds as she rolled 6 damage [6 =1, 10=2, 13=3])
Cypress clenches his fist and reaches out to the goddess and summons forth her love, “Strength of the vine,” he whispers – then as he looks at each of his friends, he opens his palms and spreads his fingers. With a glittery ‘pop’ a small red daisy blooms on the backs of their necks, the Aid of his goddess grants them extra life in this fight.
Four of the Roper’s tentacles flail out in the steam! The first grabs Ari around the waist and starts to pull. Rae dodges the second. Cypress saves with a crit’ and uses it to help defend Sorin.
So that’s advantage on its attack because you’re prone, disadvantage from Nymbus’s roll, and disadvantage from the steam. That evens out to just regular disadvantage.
Sorin can see the tentacle flying out at him and rolls to the side before the flailing rock snake can slam down and grab him.
Ari shouts as the Roper arm lifts her into the air and, with a sound like a small avalanche, the creature bends to reveal its mouth and bites into her.
Rae swings her Staff, but even as the mist is clearing, it’s still too thick and the swing goes wide. Then she uses her Ki to push a barrier of energy around her that she can use to heighten her senses for any incoming attacks, readying herself to Dodge.
Crab walking backwards, Sorin shimmies up the wall and, panting, jogs around the corner and out of sight of the rock beast's line of sight.
Gasping out in pain, Ari swings at the Roper's tentacle, but it jerks and swings her out – jarring her arm and causing her to miss.
With the steam clearing now, Cypress can see clearly. They reach into the godly plain and summon his Spiritual Weapon. Together they swing at the rocky monster, but fail to pierce its strong stoney hyde!
The Roper lashes out again. One of its arms is still holding Ari, but it has five to spare, and four of them swing out. One is still in the hall flailing around for Sorin, Cypress dodges two, but the last one catches Rae around the gut and lifts her to its maw, biting into her for 21 damage and leaving a ring of barbed tooth marks around her abs (which i'm sure Sorin will think is hot later).
For once, it’s Sorin that has had enough. Picturing the scene and freezing it in time in his mind, he pushes his magic down into itself, collapsing it until it forms four hard arrows. He opens his eyes and in a flash the Magic Missiles flying out and only the room, not at the massive Roper, but at its tentacular arms. The arm holding Ari falls to the floor, and Rae can see her own tentacle trap weaken.
Gasping for breath, Ari swings. Her sword is thirsty and it slices clean through the tentacle next to her. Rae drops and lands on her feet, then Ari’s breathing slows and steadies as her accursed sword feeds her the stolen life.
Sheela’s Sickle and Cypress swing together again, but the weapons only bounce off the thick cave rock.
The massive boulder lets out a howl like a landslide and its last tentacles grabs everyone but Cypress and it bites into Rae again, evening out her eventual scar with a twin on the other side.
Rae groans and punches out. She watches the Ki spikes of her new tattoo rip through the tentacle, leaving it limp and half severed. So she punches again and bursts through it with a spray of green blood. She falls to the floor and punches out in a Flurry of Blows, but flailing snake arms are hard to hit when they’re not already wrapped around you and she misses.
In a panic after seeing this thing’s teeth, Sorin hurriedly casts Magic Missile again, the blue magic arrows setting him free and maybe doing other damage, but who cares… the important part is him being free.
For the second time in a row Ari slices off the arm holding her, and she lands in a roll, coming up the forth position overhead low guard.
For a third time in a row, Cypress and the sickle fail to do any damage to the angry stone.
The Roper only has one rock-snake-tentacle-arm-thing left, and for the fourth time in a row, Cypress dodges it (this time only because being Lucky means halflings get to reroll 1’s).
Rae lands a critical hit for a ton of damage. “No. MORE. of. THAT!” She shouts, bashing the tentacle into the ground with each word.
Ashley, fed up: “Okay, I’m using my only third level slot. Sorin cast’s Magic Missile at third level!”
… maybe um… don’t…?
Ashley, skeptical: “Why?”
Brooke: “Oh it’s been bloody for a bit so it’s probably really low on health, so maybe save it.”
Ashley: “... fine second level, then…”
After the spark’s of Sorin’s spell clear from her eyes, Ari can see the hole they made in the Ropers hard stone shell. With a wicken demon grin, she grabs the butt of her hilt and rushes for it in a couched charge. When she stabs into the center of its meat she can feel the last of its life drain away, up her sword and into her. Not the full meal of a healthy victim, but the last breath of health from a dying gasp.
Then with a series of crunching noises, the Roper falls apart. Crack spreads out from where Ari’s sword bit in, and the entire thing opens up like a banana peel, the stoney facade, its cracked shell, sluffing off and opening to the ground.
“Three cheers!”
“Hip hip”
“Ha-”
A somehow familiar sound makes us all turn and look. The stalactite in the next room is grinning at us with one wide open eye. All around the archway, its tentacles are cracking away from the wall, preparing to lash out.
See, Ashley? I told you might not want to use that spell slot yet.
Ashley, deadpan: “Gee, thanks.”
But priests are good kind men,' said Twoflower. 'At home they go around with begging bowls. It's their only possession,' he added.
'Ah,' said Rincewind, not certain he understood. ‘This would be for putting the blood in, right?'
'Blood?'
'Yes, from sacrifices.'
-Twoflower and Rincewind the Wizzard —Terry Pratchett, “The Light Fantastic: Part 2”
Table talk:
No real table talk this time, just some specifics stuff that i need to do some looking up and deciding on; like whether Ari’s sword only gives HP at exactly 20 or any roll over 20.
