Caverns of Thracia session log: January 26, 2019

System: B/BX.

Players: Niku and Loretta (Les and Myrtle) who had only played 5e and Emily (Bagira) who has played many of my games.
If you're playing in my game, please do not read the following. You may request spoiler-free notes from me if you like.

• Entered main entrance without incident at about 7:50 am.
• Saw guano, heard bats. (1)
• Peeked into the hall to the north (2). More bats, deep guano.
• Went into eastern passage, walked past smashed plaster to secret passage of death, continued around the corner to new ground.
• Spear trap (6) shot two spears and both missed the party. The sound alerted a gnoll a little further ahead who, unnoticed, ran into a room to the side to alert other gnolls so they could prepare an ambush.
• Examined mechanism of trap and set trap with spears again.
• Party saw door, carefully examined it and listened. (7) They heard giddy gnolls chattering. One of the party went north into the dark to hide with a bow at the ready. The others called through the door, requesting negotiation with a plan of running back to the spear trap as the archer would attack from the rear. There was good reaction roll and the gnolls accepted offers of food after the party claimed to be against the death cult. The gnolls provided a little bit of information (the passage that continues north slants gradually down) and a promise to not attack the party. (Just these gnolls in this room, not any others.)
• The party continued down the very long northern passage to LEVEL 2. (This is the first time anyone has gone down.)
• They entered a cavernous, unstructured area. (42) They walked along the walls to map the area, discovering an artificially-constructed exit south and stairs NE. As they started to ascend the short stair (43) prone gnolls at the landing atop the stair nocked arrows and called out cautiously (another good reaction roll.) They negotiated their way past again, providing credible claims that they were friendly with the other gnolls and offering goods as a show of good faith. They were allowed past and given information of 1 of the 2 nearby traps. (The gnolls only know of one of them. The other is ancient and somewhat broken.)
• The party slightly examined the temple (45) without ascending the stair, then examined the statue at 44. Bagira could read the Thracian writing on it. They examined the walls carefully and found a flat section of the otherwise rounded, muraled wall. Upon further examination, it had a notched handle-like area. It was pulled, and spears mortally wounded Les who was then dragged to the statue. Its text seemed like it might contain healing power, so the dying man's hand was touched to the statue as the Bagira read the words aloud, healing him at the last moment.
• They then explored the passage west, finding a room (53) smelling a bit of methane and containing a gigantic demon-statue whose upper half extended through a hole into a room above.
• They went back down the passage, lit an arrow on fire, and shot it into the statue room. There was a small burst of flame.
• They returned to the room. No smell of methane.
• They climbed up to its head and removed the eyes, which are rubies.
• It's about 10:30am.

End.

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