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“Agreed,” said Danton. “Caution is warranted. Still, for present, we all seem hale and healthy enough to plow forward into this underdungeon. As to which direction we go, I am without any great insight or intuition. We know three things for certain. First, we know that the Frog Man and Dark Tree are either located on this underlevel ... or that we have to traverse this underlevel to find an even deeper hole in which to crawl. Second, we know that the huge goblin and his rat pets lumbered from the hole in the northern wall. Third and finally, we know that the goblins make their way to the Twilight Grove to grovel beneath the boots of the wicked Frog Man.”

While Danton spoke, Nanoc was already looting the body of the huge goblin of everything that seemed to be of any value, including the morning star that had glowed when it hit him, some coinage (165 silver and 10 gold), and what the half-orc had come to recognize as a potion vial filled with some unknown liquid.

Continuing to think and make plans out loud, Danton added: “If anyone has any better ideas, I would be happy to listen to them. My own two coppers is this: seek out goblin footprints -- starting from the shaft -- and follow them. If they head in multiple directions, mayhap the best direction to follow would be the heaviest traveled ... or, alternatively, the lightest (under the theory that only select goblins are permitted within the direct presence of the Frog Man). My vote would be to follow the heaviest, rather than the lightest, if it came to a choice. Can you find tracks here, Nanoc, my boy? The ground is soft and loamy, and, if Olidammara wills it, not every track will have been obliterated during our melee....”

“Hold a moment,” said Mauser, before Nanoc could speak. “Let me make myself clear. I am more than willing to continue on to this grove and burn it to Hades if needed, but keep in mind that Erky and I have expended our healing, so I would advise against looking for another skirmish like this last one. Even though we prevailed, these goblin scum seem to be getting bigger and meaner. I have no doubt the worst is yet to come.”

“If I recollect accurately our last extended conversation on metaphysics, good Mauser,” said Danton, “I seem to recall that you only need a couple hours of transcendental meditation to acquire more healing boons from Boccob. Certainly, if that is the case, I think 'twould be well worth our wait. However, as I judge it to be no later than some time in the evening in the world above, ‘twould mean a wait of nearly a full twenty-four hours for your late afternoon mediation.”

”Still,” continued Danton, “I have no objection to such a wait. P'raps we could bury this big goblin chap under the loamy earth here. Skeletons' bones oughtn't be hard also to bury, nor shattered twig blights or even big rats, unless Nanoc is partial to eating them. Then we could either re-scale the vines and hole up temporarily on the upper level or, alternatively, pass through one of these doors to find a place to hole up down here. The risk, of course, is that some more nasties might be lurking behind any of these doors ... a real unknown.”

“Now wait, jus’ a minute!” blurted Nanoc, but Danton continued without pause:

”Given that, I think I'd prefer to hole up on the upper level, p'raps in one of the goblins' guard rooms, where we can barricade and guard against a single entrance. You're the tactician, Nanoc my boy. What say you?”

Nanoc shook his head in disbelief.

“Are you listenin’ to yerself, Danton? ‘Cause even disregardin’ that crack ‘bout me eatin’ rats, I’m still hearin’ a whole lotta nonsense. I can sure tell ya that ol’ Grundar wouldn’t be retreatin’ back up no hole…sounds like we is runnin’ away like dogs with our tail between our legs.  Just cause we got a little bloodied don’t mean we can’t go on.  Why I feel great now that Mauser an’ Erky done patched me up a bit. Plus we still gots some of that there potion left.  An ya jus know that that there Frog Man is using the poor kids for somethin’ real bad.  We gotta get to ‘em as soon as we can.  I think we oughta go on! I mean that poor Hucrele lady has already lost her son—we gotta find the daughter ‘fore somethin’ bad happens ta her too!”

Danton scowled. He addressed the group, but looked pointedly at Nanoc when he spoke:

“It is true that we are in this filthy dungeon for a very specific purpose: to rescue the Hucreles—or return signs of their death, which seems increasingly likely—and thereby gain a reward, looting for our own purposes wherever suitable and convenient.  We are not here to slay the Frog Man, though likely enough ‘twill prove necessary.  Neither are we here to burn down the Dark Tree, though, again, I’ll wager ‘twill also be required.”

“My point,” continued the Velunese, “is, of course, that if we can somehow accomplish our mission without destroying the Frog Man or Dark Tree, we should do precisely that. Let us not get carried away with absurd thoughts of uncompensated heroism. No one is offering a bounty on the Frog Man, at least not to my knowledge. Not even Yusdrayl has offered an incentive to dispatch him.  These dungeon-dwellers are not charity cases, and neither are the people who live in the surrounding lands. If they want the Frog Man’s head on a pike, they should pay for it … and generously.” “Are we all quite clear on this, going forward?” he finished, now looking directly up at Nanoc, who stood towering over him.

“Oh, we’re clear all right,” said the half-orc. “An’ we ain’t campin’ here or goin’ back up the vines. A few hours rest’d be one thing—but it sounds like that ain’t no help right now—but we ain’t gonna be a campin’. Heck, we just broke camp topside ‘fore we fought those goblins up there! Anyway, Danton, the longer we is down here the longer we is away from collecting our booty, an without that, well from what ya told me ya ain’t got much chance with gettin’ that there girl ya like.”

“And,” added Nanoc for emphasis, “we are killin’ th’ Frog Man if we have any kind o’ opportunity ta do so. Whatever that guy wants any captive human for is no good—I’m sure of it. An’ if we have th’ chance ta put a stop to it, we’re gonna do it!”

While Erky had stood silently, but attentively, nearby throughout the debate, Telemachos had given the impression of being bored, shifting from one foot to the other, poking his sword point into the soft ground, and kicking at the remains of the skeletons and twig blights. Finally, however, he waved his sword with a flourish towards the doorway on the eastern wall, and said:

"Enough talk already! Nanoc here is well and ready for action.  I say, let us forge ahead and give this frogface battle. I shall take his long fly-catching tongue myself and cut it out to use as a sling!"

Growing increasingly animated, the Furyondian soldier continued, "We must assume that any enemies might have heard the battle and are assembling to attack us right now. Let us press the attack and fight like men—taking the fight to them. I for one would rather fight and join my father in the Elysian Fields - if he be there - than run from these Hades-spawn any longer!" 

“Couldn’t a said it better myself,” said Nanoc approvingly, his arms crossed over his chest in a challenging gesture. “Now that that’s decided, I’ll look fer tracks.”

Danton shook his head and muttered something unintelligible.

“If we are to move on,” said Mauser, looking at both Telemachos and Nanoc one last time, “just remember the value of stealth. If the pair of you drag us into another large-scale melee, there will be no healing forthcoming.”

While Telemachos and Erky kept a sharp eye out for any surprises, the remaining party members searched the dirt floor of the chamber for tracks (Mauser wilderness lore: 7+4=11, Nanoc wilderness lore: 12+5=17, Danton search: 14+8=22). Before long all three had found tracks—indeed they found humanoid tracks everywhere they looked in the soft dirt. The tracks were chaotic, moving in all directions, and most of them appeared to be fresh. There were so many footprints, moving towards and away from all three exits from the chamber, that it was impossible to discern which exit had the greatest foot traffic and which the least.

“I think it likely,” said Mauser, after several minutes of searching, “that when we routed the goblins above, the noncombatants of the clan all likely fled down here in a chaotic retreat. While they may indeed have a favored route to the Frog Man, it would appear that when they fled this time, they ran in all directions—leaving us without any clear guidance.”

Danton nodded agreement. “Either that or they deliberately made tracks everywhere in the hopes of confusing us,” he said. “In either case, for lack of a better idea, let us begin by retracing the steps of the big goblin.”

When no one objected, Danton led the group through the hole in the northern wall through which the huge goblin and his pet rats had appeared. Glowing lichen on the walls continued to provide illumination as the party moved into what was clearly a natural cavern rather than a worked chamber. It was irregularly shaped, ranging from twenty to thirty feet from east to west and running some sixty feet off to the north before narrowing into a dark tunnel or hallway.

The rough cavern’s floor was stained as if regularly drenched in blood. Luminescent fungus revealed the eastern niche, which held a matted-hair-and-fur pallet, a wide wooden board on which a variety of crude but deadly weapons were affixed, and a greatcoat of patchy black fur hung on a slender pole. To the east of the niche were two large nests made of fur and refuse.

While Telemachos examined the crudely made weapons, including two spears, a half dozen javelins, and a pair of swords, Nanoc poked through the nests with a dagger, finding a few coins that he quickly scooped up (70 silver and 40 gold).

“These weapons are pathetic,” pronounced Telemachos, “not even worth hauling off to sell in Oakhurst. We’d not get a silver for the lot of them.”

“Then let us move on,” said Danton, nodding towards the tunnel to the north.

When the party reached the northern end of the cavern, it became apparent just how narrow the passageway was. While as much as ten feet wide initially, it quickly narrowed to less than five feet and began to wind off to the west and descend deeper into the earth. The party members were forced to travel single file and soon Danton had to withdraw and light a torch, as there was less and less of the glowing lichen.

The party traveled in this manner through the dark and silent tunnel for some fifteen minutes until Danton called a halt.

“Methinks that we should turn back. This path is clearly natural and hath already led us far from the citadel. ‘Twould seem most unlikely that the goblins—or the Frog Man—would come all this way—unless they were abandoning the citadel, which seems improbable.”

“I think you are right,” mused Mauser from farther back in the group. “Though I have never seen it, I have read of it and I believe that this path would lead us into the subterranean world known as the Underdark. It is a most dangerous world that lies far below our own and it is no place we wish to visit at this point. There are creatures that inhabit it that would make the goblins—even the large ones—seem like child’s play. Strange and deadly are the things that live deep in the dark.”

“Fine by me if we turn back,” said Nanoc. “Side from takin’ us farther away from those kids, it’s getting harder and harder for me ta squeeze through these narrow parts.”

Because it was impossible to reverse ranks in the narrow confines, it was Telemachos who led the group back the way it had come, until the party finally made its way back into the lichen-filled cavern with the nests and shoddy weapons. The group quickly made its way through the cavern and back into the area where its most recent melee had taken place.

Uncertain which of the two remaining options, both closed doors, to try next, Danton shrugged and crossed the room to the door on the south wall. It offered no surprises (listen: 2+5=7, search: 20+8=28), and was unlocked. Nanoc opened the door and the party saw a worked ten-foot wide hallway, rather than a natural tunnel, beyond it.

“This looks more like the way deeper into the citadel,” whispered Danton.

Beyond the doorway, the hall was free of glowing lichen, so the party was once again forced to rely on a torch, which Danton took from Mauser and lit. The hallway continued south for fifty feet before the party came to a spot where the hall had clearly been damaged by some past geologic violence that rent the earth. The earthquake, or whatever had caused the damage, had opened up a jagged rift that ran as far as the party could see to the southwest and the northeast.

The worked tunnel continued past the rift, though it shifted some ten feet to the west. The rift remained free of any phosphorescent fungus, which grew so thickly in the previous chambers the party had seen. Rather than follow the rift in either direction, Danton elected to lead the group through it and back into the carved underground hall as it continued southward. When the party stood briefly in the rift, a strong scent of sulfur permeated the air. The debris-strewn rift’s floor was two feet below that of the corridor. It was also riddled with one-foot diameter holes that lead as far back as anyone could see to both the southwest and the northeast.

“Whaddaya suppose the deal is with these funny holes, Danton?” asked Nanoc, pointing down at the uneven ground beneath his feet.

“Don’t know,” said the Velunese. “Don’t want to know,” he added a moment later, as he stepped back up the two feet out of the rift and stood in the hallway once again. “Let’s go before we find out.”

Bringing up the rear, Telemachos was the last one to pass through the rift. As he stepped up out of it and reflexively looked over his shoulder to ensure no one was following the party, he briefly caught a flash of red-orange light from off to the southwest, far off in the rift. The fighter paused for a moment and waited for the light to reappear, but he saw nothing. With a shrug, he turned, stepped out of the rift, and followed the others.

Back in the hallway, Danton led the group south for another thirty feet, until the corridor turned to the east for less than twenty feet, and then turned back southward again for another thirty feet. The corridor then turned eastward once more and ran for twenty feet before ending at a closed stone door.

“Ya really think those goblins came all this way, Danton?” asked Nanoc.

The Velunese shrugged. “The mysteries of goblin psychology and tactics are lost on me, I fear,” he said. “I am still struggling to understand why the pathetic creatures would choose to worship the vile Frog Man in the first place.”

After finding nothing untoward with the door (listen: 6+5=11, search: 6+8=14), Danton turned to Nanoc.

“Do that thing you do,” he said.

Moving to open the door as usual, Nanoc found that it would not budge when he tried to move it. The door was not locked—or at least there was no lock visible—rather it appeared to be stuck or jammed in place.

Nanoc only flashed a toothy smile in the torchlight in response to the dilemma.

“Guess we really will be doin’ this one my way,” he said.

The half-orc leaned low, and slammed his shoulder against the door (strength: 2+5=7). Much to the surprise of all present, the portal did not budge, and Nanoc earned only a bruised shoulder for his efforts.

“Need a hand there, Nanoc?” called out Telemachos innocently from the back of the group. “Perhaps you are fatigued and need me to take over such duties?”

“That’ll be the day,” grunted the huge half-orc as he shrugged off his pack. He then moved up to the door again, braced his feet and put his back against the door (“take twenty”: 20+5=25). This time, with the grinding of stone on stone, the door did slowly slide inward, with Nanoc huffing and puffing as it went. When there was finally enough open space for the party members to pass through, Nanoc collected his things and then went in first.

Beyond the door was a pitch-dark room that Nanoc, with his darkvision, could see was square and some thirty-feet to a side. Faded mosaic tiles still covered parts of the wall, but most had fallen and shattered. Situated at the center of the chamber stood a slim pedestal of rusted iron shaped like an upright dragon. In the dragon’s mouth rested an empty tray.

When Danton came through the opening behind Nanoc and held up his torch, both men could see that a thick layer of dust coated the floor, undisturbed by any tracks, save their own and that caused by Nanoc’s forcing of the door. There were no other exits from the room.

“Lovely,” said Danton, “another dead end. Still, as long as we have come all this way, we may as well subject the place to a search.”

The Velunese matched word to action, but he turned up nothing (search: 17+8=25).

“Likely it’s nothing more than what it appears,” said Mauser when Danton finally gave up his search in disgust, “a long forgotten shrine of some sort. But we might keep it in mind as a place to rest later since it would appear that the goblins have never made it in here.”

“Guess we’re retracing our steps again, huh?” asked Erky rhetorically.

The group did indeed reverse march for the second time and made its way back through the hallway to the rift. Danton and Nanoc jumped down into the rift and quickly crossed it, followed by Erky. Mauser had just stepped down into it when Telemachos again caught a flash of bright light in his peripheral vision, coming from the southwest.

“Hey, did you?” began the fighter.

“Yes, I did see something,” said Mauser, stopping and turning to look down the rift for the source of the light that he had just caught in the corner of his eye as well.

Before any of the others realized that Mauser and Telemachos had stopped, a long, fiery light shot out of one of the holes some ten feet down the rift and flashed through the air—directly at Mauser.

Whatever the thing was, it was roughly cylindrical, a foot in diameter, and some five feet long. It slammed into Mauser’s body (hit for 6 damage), knocking him off his feet. Worse, the thing burned white hot and its flaming surface scorched Mauser’s skin and lit his clothes and armor on fire (reflex save: 6+3=9; failure; 8 fire damage).

For the first time that anyone in the party could remember, the normally stoic cleric emitted a blood-curdling scream as he was set afire. Telemachos had seen everything happen right before his eyes, but the others were caught totally unawares, and spun on their heels in shock.

[Initiative: Unknown Thing: 15, Mauser: 13, Telemachos: 20, Erky: 18, Nanoc: 13, Danton: 5]

Moving as quickly as he could, Telemachos jumped down into the rift and slammed his sword into the thing that was burning Mauser alive (attack: 14+7=21; hit; 12 damage). The momentum of the fighter’s attack drove his blade deep into the mass of fire that lay atop Mauser, and knocked it off his body. Much to Telemachos’ shock, the thing he had hit wriggled and squirmed like some kind of huge worm, and when he hit it, it emitted a high-pitched shriek that caused pain in his ears. After Telemachos knocked the thing off Mauser, Erky hit it again with his mace, but the squirming thing still managed to launch itself into the air again, this time flinging itself at Telemachos.

Having seen the thing in action, the Furyondian fighter was ready, and he moved his heavy wooden shield into place to block it. The thing slammed against the shield, which fortunately failed to ignite, and then fell back to the ground, where Nanoc’s axe (attack: 14+8=22; hit; 12 damage), cut it clean in half.

While the other party members dispatched the beast, once it was no longer atop him, Mauser rolled about in panic, seeking to extinguish himself. The cleric managed to put out the fire, but not before sustaining additional burns (2 damage).

“What deviltry was that?” blurted Danton, arriving last on the scene.

“Some kind of fire worm,” said Telemachos, giving the hacked up body, which still gave off waves of heat, a wide berth. “It jumped out of one of those holes.”

“Really?” said Danton, looking down at the mangled body of the creature and then at the seemingly endless number of holes in the rift floor in both directions.

“Uh, I don’t think just one of those things could have made so many holes…” began Erky, before Danton cut him off.

“Nanoc! Take point! Telemachos! Get Mauser! I’ll help with his feet! We’re getting the hell out of here now!”

“But Danton,” protested Nanoc. “We don’t know…”

“No time to discuss this in committee!” shouted the Velunese as he and Telemachos picked up the stunned and moaning Mauser. “Just move!”

Nanoc made no further comments and the group moved quickly out of the rift and back up the corridor to the north. When Nanoc reached the doorway leading to the ‘garden’ beneath the vine-filled hole and saw that no one was present, he motioned for the others to follow him back into the chamber.

Once inside, Erky had the others remove Mauser’s armor and his burned clothing and began administering first aid to the cleric’s burns. When this was accomplished, Erky stated that he could do little more for the cleric until morning, when his healing powers would be renewed. Judging that the cavern leading to the underdark was likely the most defensible and least dangerous of the options available, the group set up camp there, ate a cold meal of dried rations, and then began its watch rotation, with Erky taking Mauser’s normal place.

Although the party had now been underground for so many days that it was becoming increasingly difficult to judge the time of day in the world above, eventually Nanoc, taking the last watch as always, judged that it was time to wake the others. Not long thereafter, Erky was ready to apply magical healing to Mauser (+18 HP).

Watching the gnome healer go about his work on Mauser was an interesting experience for the other party members. While they had all seen divine healing powers used before on injuries caused by blades and other weapons, none of them had ever seen burns that covered much of a person’s body simply disappear without a trace in a matter of minutes.

When Mauser’s injuries were healed, the cleric’s only comment was, “I do not wish to encounter such a creature again,” and he turned to salvaging what he could of his clothing and armor. While the cleric’s scalemail was scorched, but basically intact, much of his clothing, even what had been stored in his pack, was largely destroyed, and he would be forced to make do with the ragged remnants at least until the party returned to Oakhurst.

With the cleric back in action, Nanoc and Telemachos were anxious to move on once again, and the group gathered up its gear, moved through the large ‘garden’ chamber yet again, and approached the door leading to the east. Danton checked the door (listen: 5+5=10, search:12+8=20). Hearing and finding nothing, he motioned for Nanoc to proceed.

Nanoc opened the wooden door with ease and found himself looking down a long hallway that was twenty feet wide and at least sixty feet long, running eastward. Two rows of the now-familiar dragon-carved marble columns that the party had seen twice before, first in Yusdrayl’s “throne room” and later in the long hall leading to the goblin residence area, marched the length of this hall as well, although most were completely smothered in luminescent fungus. The cobbled floor was cracked and stained with much use, and it held many small wooden tables. Table contents included mortars and pestles, bowls filled with crushed leaves, chopped fungus stalks, and other plant specimens. The many doors leading off this hall were all partly open, and sounds were audible from beyond several of them. The doors were evenly spaced, and there were three on the north wall and three on the south.

Motioning for the others to remain still, Danton slipped around Nanoc and into the hallway. Moving as quietly as he could (move silently: 8+6=14), the Velunese crept up to the first open door on the north wall and peeked inside. There, illuminated by the dim lichen, he saw sixteen small pallets woven of matted hair and fur covering the floor of a square twenty-foot by twenty-foot chamber. Only two of the pallets were currently occupied, with two goblins snoring loudly in them.

Moving across the hall to the first door on the south wall (move silently: 3+6=9), Danton cringed when a loose flagstone shifted under his weight and scraped against the stone next to it. He froze for a moment, and motioned for the others to be ready for trouble, but none came. Danton then proceeded up to the southern door, from which emerged strange squishing sounds.

Peeking through the crack between the partially open door and the wall, Danton saw another twenty-foot by twenty-foot room with no other exits. A large vat of some sort took up most of the space in the room and two goblins stood in it, stomping down heavily as if they were mashing something. Whatever they were doing, it made a great deal of noise.

Danton turned and moved along the wall towards the second door on the southern wall (move silently: 13+6=19). In this room, which was the same size as the others and also lacked any other exits, Danton saw one of the strangest sights he had ever taken in—two goblins were standing over one of the huge rats that seemed endemic to the citadel while the rat was strapped spread-eagled onto a wooden bench. The rat appeared to be covered with some kind of strange tumors that looked vaguely like wood. The goblins poked and prodded the rat and poured vials of some bizarre green liquid onto the woody tumors.

Shaking his head, Danton crossed the hall once more, now making for the center door on the north wall (move silently: 5+6=11). In the fourth identical room, Danton saw two more goblins. This pair was occupied with repairing the crude armor that the creatures wore. Using cord, iron needles, leather patches, and other crude implements, the two goblins seemed entirely preoccupied with their work. Danton paid them no further heed and moved on to the last door on the north wall (move silently: 5+6=11).

The last room on the north wall was the same dimensions as all of the others, but unlike the others, this chamber had a second exit, a closed wooden door at the northeast corner of the east wall. An armory to all appearances, the chamber held crude wooden racks holding perhaps a half-dozen short swords and several dozen of the javelins that these goblins seemed to favor.

Finally, Danton crossed the hallway to the last door on the southern wall (move silently: 2+6=8). Once again one of the flagstones shifted under his weight and produced a loud noise, and the Velunese pressed himself up against one of the stone columns in an effort to get out of sight, but again no goblin appeared to investigate the noise. After waiting for a full minute, Danton crept up to the wall and gazed into the last room.

The final chamber, also twenty-feet by twenty-feet, was completely empty and unremarkable, save for a cave-in that had collapsed much of its southern wall at some point. The collapse appeared to have opened up a tunnel of some sort, but without his torch and relying only on the glowing lichen that coated all the walls in this area, Danton could not see how far the passageway might go.

Having surveyed the entire area, Danton moved back down the corridor to a point between the second and third doorways where Mauser could see him more clearly and began delivering a simple report on the rooms using hand gestures.

Be ready for trouble, signaled Danton at the end. I doubt that the whole group will be able to slip past all these goblins undetected.

Knowing where the eight goblins were, Nanoc and Telemachos each moved to take one of the first two doorways should any of the goblins emerge. When they were ready, Mauser slipped down the center of the hall towards Danton (move silently: 16-1=15). There was no reaction from the goblins, and soon Mauser stood next to Danton in the center of the hall beyond the second set of doors.

Erky was next to go. Despite his small size, the gnome seemed to have difficulty moving down the hall quietly. Danton cringed each time a stone shifted or some bit of the gnome’s equipment jangled against his armor. The gnome had made it past the first set of doors and was nearing the second when disaster struck: one of the goblin tailors in the armor repair chamber stuck his head out the door just as Erky moved past a column and into the goblin’s field of vision.

The goblin shouted something and then ducked back into the room, no doubt going for a weapon. Danton motioned for Mauser to take the southern center room while he moved towards the armor repair chamber and pressed his back against the wall just outside the door. At the same time, having heard the goblin’s shout, Telemachos and Nanoc moved for their chosen targets, the fighter heading for the first door to the north and the barbarian the one to the south.

[Initiative: Goblins: 6, Danton: 11, Mauser: 20, Erky: 2, Nanoc: 13, Telemachos: 8]

Although Erky was caught flat-footed in the center of the hall, the other party members were in position when the first goblins came rushing out of their various chambers. Although both Danton (attack: 5+1=6; miss) and Mauser (attack: 5+2=7; miss) botched their surprise attacks, Nanoc (attack: 14+8=22; hit; 16 damage) and Telemachos (12+7=19; hit; 7 damage) were more effective, each cutting down the first goblin to emerge from their respective chambers.

While Nanoc and Telemachos were now each facing only a single goblin, and while Erky came forward to prevent Danton being flanked, Mauser was left facing two of the small humanoids and they quickly moved to attack him from both sides.

While Erky brained one of the goblins with his newly acquired mace, knocking the creature senseless and dropping it like a ton of bricks, Danton only grazed the goblin facing him (attack: 19+1=20; hit; 1 damage), and was caught off guard by the creature’s quick conterstroke (hit for 6 damage). While Mauser’s attacks were equally ineffective (attack: 11+2=13; miss), he managed to hold both of his foes at bay with his mace and shield combination.

Now facing single, and vastly inferior, opponents, Nanoc (attack: 11+8=19; hit; 13 damage) and Telemachos (attack: 11+7=18; hit; 10 damage), made short work of the remaining goblins facing them and then moved to assist their comrades.

With Mauser able to do little more than defend himself (attack: 2+2=4; miss), much needed assistance from Nanoc came none too soon, with the huge half-orc loping up behind one of the goblins and slicing him in half before he even knew what had happened (attack: 16+8=24; hit; 10 damage). The second goblin was so stunned by Nanoc’s sudden, devastating appearance that he turned his gaze away from Mauser to stare that the huge barbarian suddenly towering over him—a fatal mistake, as Mauser used the opportunity to slam his mace into the goblin’s face (attack: 17+2=19; hit; 7 damage).

Bleeding badly from the goblin’s surprising attack, Danton sought to hold the creature off (attack: 3+1+2=6; miss), even as he backed away from the fight. When Telemachos suddenly appeared in front of Danton and skewered the goblin with a lighting strike (attack: 20+7=27; critical hit; 22 damage), Danton collapsed back against the nearest stone column in relief.

“Here, let me take care of that,” said Erky, approaching Danton as soon as the fight ended. The gnome reached his hands up to cover the area of Danton’s chest where the goblin had pierced his armor and the wound quickly closed (+8 HP). The suddenness with which the Velunese had suffered the grievous wound and then the rapidity of its healing, left him gasping for breath.

“Just sit down and take a minute to recover,” advised Erky. “You’ll be fine.”

"You know,” said Telemachos to no on in particular. “These last two kids had better be alive—I’m getting really sick of fighting these idiotic goblins and those kids had better be worth all this. Shall we proceed?”

“We can,” said Erky, “but just keep in mind that I have now used all of my healing for the remainder of the day…”

“…and that it’s still early in the morning,” added Mauser. “I’ll be tapped out for at least another seven or eight hours.”

“So we’ll be cautious,” said Nanoc firmly. “No more campin! Now let’s move. Mauser said ya saw a door here somewhere, Danton. That right?”

“Yes,” said the Velunese, getting to his feet once more. “Through that last door on the north wall.”

“Anything we want to loot from any of these chambers?” asked Mauser.

“Unless you fancy goblin equipment or implements used in the Frog Man’s torture program or his experiments or whatever it is that he is having these pathetic goblins do for him, the answer is no,” pronounced Danton firmly.

“Then on we go,” said Nanoc.

Forming up once again, the group moved through the goblin armory and up to the door that Danton had discovered. The party’s scout then examined the door (listen: 20+5=25, search: 19+8=27). Finding nothing, he motioned for Nanoc to proceed.

When Nanoc opened the door, the party members saw another very large chamber beyond it. Nodules of luminescent fungus hung from the ceiling and walls, and grew in clumps upon the flagged floor. The vaguely nauseous light illuminated portions of grand bas-relief carvings on the stone walls that were not covered with the self-same fungus. The carvings all consisted of dragons in various stages of raining fire down upon terrified humans, elves, dwarves, and other people. Soil and compost covered half of the chamber’s floor, which allowed a variety of wan grasses to grow. A bench containing simple gardening implements stood along the west wall.

The vast chamber ran at least eighty feet from north to south and it ranged between forty and sixty feet in width, being narrower at its northern and southern ends and wider in the center. The door by which the party had entered was at the extreme northern end of the western wall. At least three other exits were visible from where the party stood, one on the northern wall, less than twenty feet away, one near the center of the eastern wall, where the chamber was wider, and the last in the center of the southern wall, only just visible in the distance in the dim light provided by the fungus.

Gazing down at the gardening implements gathered on the nearby wooden bench, Danton then looked up and across the chamber.

“Yet another garden,” he mused. “I liketh this less and less and it doth seem clear to me that we draw ever closer to the Frog Man and his vile tree.”

“Which way do ya wanna go?” asked Nanoc. “This place seems unoccupied, but with the weird light and all the shadows, it’s hard ta be sure.”

“At least there are no trees here,” said Erky helpfully.

“I sense that the time for burning trees shall come soon,” said Mauser distantly.

________________________________________________________________

Notes for turn 12:

Please send postings for Turn 12 by the end of Friday, June 16th. If you have any questions, let me know. Also, if any of you want to claim any of the recently acquired items for your characters, let me know. Otherwise I will simply assume that everything goes into the sacks and bags of Nanoc and Telemachos, who can carry much more weight than any of the others.

Items gained this turn: 235 silver, 50 gold, unknown potion, (magical?) morningstar

Undivided Loot previously gained: 630 silver, 367 gold, 3 gems, 2 onyx gems

Items used/lost this turn: one torch, 1 day’s rations

FOES DEFEATED:

Current Status of the Party:

Nanoc

AC: 17
Hit points: 27/27
New XP: 240
XP total: 2010
XP needed: 3,000

Equipment: great axe, 2 short bows, short sword, studded leather armor (2 sets), 46 arrows, 2 quivers, backpack, waterskin, 10 days trail rations, bedroll, 2 sacks, 2 flint & steel, bearskin, tent, 50’ rope, 16 pounds of caltrops, 1 sap, spare chainmail shirt, 2 small marble statues, 3 silver rings

Gold: 2

Mauser

AC: 18
Hit points: 22/23
New XP: 240
XP total: 2010
XP needed: 3,000

Spells Available:

0 Level (4): none
1^st Level (4*- one of these four spells must be a domain spell):Alter Self

Equipment: quarterstaff, heavy mace, light crossbow, scalemail, 40 crossbow bolts, small wooden shield, backpack, pouch belt, 50’ silk rope, 4 torches, waterskin, flint & steel, 2 holy water flasks, peasant outfit, bedroll, entertainer’s outfit, cleric’s vestment (all clothing badly damaged by fire), healer’s kit, 8 days rations, four jade dragon figurines, ½ potion of cure light wounds, 1 sap, scroll of cure light wounds, 1 arcane scroll, 1 Hucrele signet ring

Gold: 0

Danton

AC: 15 (16 vs. one opponent)
Hit points: 12/12
New XP: 240
XP total: 2010
XP needed: 3,000

Equipment: rapier, 6 daggers, light crossbow, studded leather armor, quiver with 13 bolts, bedroll, backpack, flint & steel, thieves picks, waterskin, 12 days trail rations, hooded lantern, 7 flasks of oil, notebook, pen, ink, gold ring engraved with the name Karakas, 1 sap, 1 metal key from Yusdrayl

Gold: 9

Telemachos

AC: 16
Hit points: 21/24
New XP: 240
XP total: 2010
XP needed: 3,000

Equipment: Longsword, short sword, 2 daggers, long bow, quiver and 40 arrows, scalemail, large wooden shield, backpack, large sack, flint and steel, 13 days rations, waterskin, bedroll, tent, 1 sap, spare suit of scalemail

Gold: 12