Stonehell Session 12

Raccoon annihilation (for the good of all raccoons)

A botched brigand attack

Orc friends and more mining

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Evon, new plaguebearer
Gringle, Farmboy
Ethex, rogue
Henar, imperial scholar
Emrys, mage

1st of Sprout
Cloudy

Got some downtime sorted. Emrys learned a new spell. Next week the militia is raiding the brigands. The party paid their rent to Skinny Dick and set off for Stonehell.

The valley was quiet. The group decided it was finally time to deal with those unholy raccoons squatting in the halls to the north.

They cleared out a few rabid raccoons, managing to get the drop on them and avoid any bites. Dragging them outside to be burned, Ethex spotted some movement in the woods. 5 brigands, arranging themselves for an ambush. They retreated inside informed the party, and discussion ensued.

There was a lot of talk here about what to do with the ambush. Most of the session actually. Sometimes I worry about giving away too much information, since there's no "perception" skill in cairn I kinda default to "if you're spending time and attention, I'll give you as much information as possible". This means the players mostly know where traps are, find hidden items, and spot ambushes (usually through sight or sound). We play a lot in the problem solving space, less so with surprise.

The only time I've gotten someone with a trap, there was a lot happening in the room, I asked if they wanted to move on, they said yeah, and I asked who opened the door. Then I looked and realized the trap was there. Caught everyone, including me, by surprise. And it's super memorable. I sometimes think it felt a little cheap, but I guess that's what traps are for.

Anyways, back to the session.

They wanted to wait for nightfall, so they cleared the rest of the raccoon rooms. They hid their donkey, Aethelread II, in one with a working door.

These rooms held the remains of someone's old fort, supplies rotted and everything else picked clean. The Seekers were hoping for a secret entrance to the dungeon proper, and properly investigated every nook and cranny. They found a rainbow hued ring, and Emrys discovered teleportation magic within it, but it could not be activated until the other half of the spell was found.

After another long discussion, they wanted to check on the brigands, seeing nothing from the hall. Gringle grabbed a broken door, held it over his head and ran out.

He was immediately intercepted by 2 brigands on either side of the doorway, as arrows rained down from the cliffside above the entry to the halls. In a quick and dirty melee, Gringle pierced the brigand captain's chest plate, killing him instantly. The rest of the brigands attempted to flee, only one escaping the violent retribution of the Seekers.

They rested for the night and entered Stonehell the next morning.

They wanted to treat with some orcs, but their way was blocked by fire beetles. Afraid of their capabilities they decided to try another route.

They came across the remains of a recent orc encampment on the way to mine some more nitre. After a quick gamble with the wheel of fortune (gringle got unlucky again) they changed direction to break through the skull door catacombs.

Inside they made a clever use of the Wand of Detect Metal and began breaking and entering. 1 door and 200gp jewelry later, orcs stumbled upon them.

Their leader spoke common, and after a quick discussion they decided to hang out and split the grave loot. The party decided to open some doors that didn't have loot behind them so they didn't have to share, but still found a minor magic item.

The orcs wanted to keep hanging out, so they kept guard while the Seekers mined some more nitre and camped in the dungeon, sharing rations and winning the magic item in an arm wrestling contest.

The group got a nice escort out of the dungeon, and returned to Stonehome loaded with nitre. They purchased a hovel to store it in.