Party Members: Rimmy Tim, Gax, Zoren, Kita, Kavagin Vigor, Zauberer Kreiger
Leader: Rimmy Tim. Scout: Gax. Trailblazer: Zoren
Day 1:
We set out from town to meet Broc Lee the bugbear, who lives on the Ishah Plains. As evening drew close, Gax dug a hole for warmth and protection. During my watch, I saw a few skeletons from long ago get blown away by the wind. Kavagin wanted to investigate, but my instincts told me not to, so we did not inspect them.
Rimmy woke us up in the night shouting “Battle formations!” We were besieged by a hound of great size and breathed dark flames from its mouth that had an odious stench.
- Kita shot a lightning witch bolt.
- Rimmy turned into a large tree.
- Gax turned into a brown bear.
- Kavagin threw a javelin.
- Zauberer threw an ice knife.
- I used my spiritual weapon, which took on the form of a longsword.
Zauberer identified the monstrosity. I accidentally gave guidance to Kavagin before giving it Zauberer. He confirmed that it was a hellhound. They are terrible beasts that originate from the Lower Planes. As a disciple of Lathander, I must watch out for them in the future as well.
Day 2:
We saw a herd of axebeaks. Gax studied them to learn their form for wildshaping. Druids are like that.
Thanks to my many years traversing foreign lands as an Outlander, I was able to help find our way back to Broc Lee’s cave. It seems ale was previously promised to him but had not yet arrived. Rimmy mentioned having underlings. I hope he was not talking about us…
Broc Lee suggested going after the oozes that attacked a party. The party had likely consisted of 4 humans and 1 gnome I had met before because a gnome’s skull was getting tossed around as a “toy” by the 2 ogre brothers Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, whom live with Broc Lee. It was astonishing to see that the gnome (likely Snaggletooth, the gnome who lived in a kobold village)’s skull was still intact after getting smacked around with great clubs made out of tree trunks. We stayed at Broc Lee’s cave for the night in exchange for getting rid of the oozes, so no watches were necessary.
Day 3:
We found a few tracks and followed them. They led us west to a dark cave. Near the entrance was a bag of doorknobs. The cave dungeon floor was made of flagstone. I cast light on my shield and Rimmy’s shield, which made me feel fulfilled as a light cleric. Rimmy, Gax, and Kavagin fell down a trapdoor, but Zauberer managed to cast feather fall to prevent any damage, which was surely a nice move. Our best plan was Rimmy leading the way, so we decided to continue doing that.
Rimmy and Gax broke down a door with a portable battering ram. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of those. As soon as they broke down the wooden door, we engaged in combat with winged creatures with tridents that looked like pitchforks. Their skins were of a purplish hue. One was slashed into two by Kavagin’s greatsword, and the other I managed to kill with a toll the dead as it was escaping by flying away. Zauberer identified them as spined devils that are relatively lower ranking devils but still deadly with sharp tail spines that can be shot out. Devils were worse than hellhounds in my book and to Lathander. Not as bad as demons though, as I explained to Kita, who had devil’s blood in her ancestry, which doesn’t determine one’s fate and life entirely. Kita also made a good point about this island subverting previously held norms.
I did my best to explain my side to Kita when a yelp came from a room. We discovered the ooze, a black shapeless creature that emitted acid. The ooze damaged Rimmy’s armor, annoying him greatly. Kita’s lightning from her witch bolt didn’t hurt it all. Instead, the electricity split it into two smaller slimy duplicates! Truly it was an incredible but terrifying sight. Gax went down, but I managed to heal him. I then used the light of Lathander to sear them with my Channel Divinity: Radiance of the Dawn. Unfortunately, Kavagin slashed the ooze in an act of great folly, splitting the ooze into two again. Before he could retreat, the oozes overtook him and melted him to his bones. I was too late to stop them. Zauberer took too long inspecting the monster and went down, and Gax again also went down. After a combination of Kita casting shatter and fire bolt, me healing Gax and using my spiritual weapon, which dealt a different type of damage than a regular longsword, and Gax casting moonbeam, the oozes parts were destroyed. I was slightly annoyed that Rimmy retreated during the middle of battle instead of helping out further. To be fair, his armor had melted due to the attacks of the oozes. Still, any help such an arrow or two would have been appreciated.
I saw after the battle that there was a message on the wall.
“Ezekiel was here.”
Writing on the wall.
The floors were very clean as well. Zauberer later told us the ooze was likely a black pudding. Zauberer’s name is slightly tricky to write, but his knowledge was welcome.
After taking a short rest and mourning the death of Kavagin, we decided to open the door that Rimmy had found, and we entered into a maze of twisting and turn corridors. Gax and Rimmy continued to smash down every door they found in a spectacle of destruction each time… Eventually, we came upon a note. It was a will and testament written by Snaggletooth. After pestering Gax if I could read it, I finally managed to read it in full. Here is what it said:
I, Snaggletooth Slowden of Garl Glittergold, write this letter in case what we hunt ends up hunting us. Stranger if you are reading this, it means I did not pick it up because I’m dead. I have been on this land a long time. Then people from another world started coming and things started downhill from there. My brother Eziekial and I used to build for the locals around. But when the deep ones came I fear my brother succumbed to madness, and I could not cure him. I have been hunting him for days, either to cure him or to put an end to his suffering. I know it is a lot to ask of a stranger, but could you, would you be so kind as to put rest to my soul and his by inheriting my burden, it is a lot to ask of you.
Snaggletooth Slowden
Though the writing was filled with grammatical errors, I could understand it for the most part. It seems the deep ones drove Eziekial, for that is how his name is truly spelled, insane. This also revealed that Snaggletooth, the gnome from the kobold village, was Eziekial’s brother.
For some reason, Rimmy kept calling for me as “Lathander” for help. I reluctantly helped him and Gax by casting guidance on Rimmy to break down a sturdy iron door. After several attempts, they eventually managed to crash open the door, and we came upon loot that we gathered up and took back with us back to Broc Lee’s place. Rimmy told them that the dungeon was cleared. Broc Lee mentioned seeing a figure with a bald head, googly eyes, long nose, and red robes. Turn a doorknob in the air and disappear as if teleporting away. It was likely Eziekial, the creator of the maze of doors, carrier of doorknobs, and who I now know is the brother of the now deceased Snaggletooth…
I was willing to pay the 1gp per person fee to stay at the cave, but Rimmy offered to wrestle the ogres in lieu of paying the fee for the party. The ogres wrestled with Rimmy, and despite Rimmy turning into a tree and growing in size, he was still clubbed around by the ogres and bruised badly. Despite his frustrating behavior in the cave, I did feel slightly bad seeing him get thrown around like a ragdoll.
Day 4:
I received a bone fetish with the symbol of Lathander. It looked close enough to the actual symbol. I thanked the lizardfolk for his efforts with a weak smile, which was the best I could manage to muster.
Broc Lee mentioned hunting a “solar bear” with the ogre brothers. It was a shining, bright bear that appears during the winter solstice. Perhaps another adventuring party can take care of that.
We came upon a stone well to the northwest. The cut stone well had a side tunnel ten feet down in the wall that ran roughly eastwards for 30 feet. A tight wisp of smoke rose from the well; a discarded torch lay on a ledge just above the waterline. Gax mentioned seeing blood in the well during the night. I wonder what may have caused it.
Day 5:
Gax wanted to check the well, so he and a few others went down to check it out. They found a few halfling skulls down there. Disturbing stuff.
While dividing the loot, I received the scroll of Dispel Good and Evil, for no one else could use it. I hope it will be useful someday in the future. It is a very advanced spell.
After we dispersed, I scratched the name “Kavagin” on one of my torches at the inn, like I did for Snipper and Argon in the past. Another soul I was not fast enough or strong enough to save. Now that I have time to think back though, in hindsight I do have to admit he acted foolishly. Namely, he slashed at the ooze, even after having witnessed that it would only split into two smaller ones that could deal further damage. He also retreated hastily and let the newly formed oozes attack him, which didn’t help either. I hope his story will be a warning to other new islanders of the need to be proactive and use as much common sense as possible when on this island…
