Again the Boys Delve into the Dungeon, part 2

Continued from Part 1.

The two fighters who separated from the main group walked relatively quietly down the corridor, (compared to the cacophony of voices yammering in the main group). They made a couple of choices in directions when they came to crossroads, and ended up they knew not where. Rounding one corner, they came face to face with a giant spider, big as a horse.

The spider attacked, the fighters fought. One of the fighters was killed, and the other managed to mortally wound the spider, and it fled. The surviving fighter hustled back the way they had come in hopes of catching back up with the main group. He learned why splitting the party is always a bad idea in D&D.

The main group found a set of double doors to the north and immediately kicked them open.

[This is the gray area of the map above. As DM, I pulled this room and it’s contents pretty much out of thin air, so it’s not actually on the official map. But you can see it drawn on the battle map in the below picture.]

Beyond the doors was a large room with a burning fireplace in the left and right walls, and another set of double doors in the far wall. One of the fighters immediately walked from the entrance to the fireplace on the right, while another walked to the left fireplace. As soon as the fighters stood in front of the fireplaces, the fires flashed and a flaming imp-like creature jumped out and attacked them. During the ensuing battle, one of the other fighters walked from the doorway straight across the room towards the other doors. In the center of the room, a hidden pit trap, (not drawn on the battle map yet, as it looks in the picture above), fell open and dumped the fighter into a 10′-deep pit full of fire.

The falling fighter took damage from the plummet, and from the fire. Another fighter quickly pulled out a rope and tossed one end down to the trapped and burning friend. The trapped fighter climbed/was pulled up to safety, but he had to drop his spear and shield to grab the rope. A few moments after the fighter escaped the burning pit, the trap door closed back up.

The fighters battling the imps finished their enemies with no harm to themselves. But then the cleric approached one of the fireplaces to search it, and when he got near it, another fire-imp burst forth. Another short fight ended with no friendly injuries. But they figured out that approaching the fireplaces would continue to produce the fire-imps, so they made sure to stay away.

They went to the double doors on the other side of the room, (carefully avoiding the center pit trap), and kicked them open. Beyond was a smaller room with some boxes, a large table, and shelves along two walls. The table and shelves were lined with glass and pottery containers full of various materials. The explorers began searching through all the scattered stuff, hoping to find treasure.

On the big table, one of the fighters found a large, sealed glass jar with what looked like a black cat suspended in a liquid. He opened the seal, and out came a gas in his face. He made his saving throw versus paralyzation, so nothing happened to him, but he did drop the bottle, and up jumped the cat, with wings. The cat flew up to the shelf on the back wall, looked over the crew, and then flew past them all and out the door. The fighter who freed it dashed off after the flying cat, and stepped on the pit trap.

There was a scramble to rescue the fighter, (who took damage from the fall and the fire), and then the pit door closed again. The fighter was disappointed that the cat got away, and he was very interested in finding it again and making it a pet. While standing in the first doorway, thinking about how to find where the cat went, the fighter heard the sound of battle down the hall, towards the kitchen. He called to the others back in the cluttered room, and they all moved forward to find out what was going on.

What they found was one of the fighters who had earlier separated from the main group, and he was engaged in a fight with four goblins. The main group rushed to his aid, and the goblins were easily defeated. After the battle, the main group learned what happened to the other fighter.

So now, with the remaining fighters (and the cleric) all reunited, they decided, (read: I suggested), to head back out of the dungeon to re-equip supplies and pick up a replacement fighter for the one who died. Once back outside, one of the fighter-boys asked about buying new equipment. This boy had played last year, and he had treasure still written on his character sheet from then — several hundred gold pieces worth of treasure. So he bought plate mail armor for himself and the cleric, (the boy’s dad), and a bow and a quiver of arrows. When the other boys heard about this, they asked him to set them up with better armor. So, within a few minutes, all the fighters had better armor and new shields and spears, (to replace those lost in the dungeon fights and traps).

Then they headed back into the dungeon, and I handwaved their trek back to the cluttered room so they could continue their search for loot. As they entered the first room, (with the fireplaces), the new fighter walked in first and right into the pit trap. Another scramble got him out before the doors closed. Then they had the idea of using chalk to draw a circle around the trap so no one else would step on it. [Note: three different fighter-boys fell in that simple trap.]

Then a couple of the boys were getting a little fidgety, so they went to one of the fireplaces to prompt another fight with a fire-imp. The fight was quick and easy, like the previous ones. (As DM, I was disappointed that the fire-imps didn’t get to show off setting someone on fire. But, luck of the dice failed to impress.)

The fighter who was wanting to find the flying cat went back out of the room and into the hall to stand guard and look for and think about the cat. Two other fighters joined him. I’m not real sure what they were thinking, whether they thought the cat was just going to come flying back to them.

The other two fighters and the cleric went back into the cluttered room and began going through the boxes. The cleric found a bunch of silver bowls, plates, and other serving utensils packed away in the boxes. One of the fighters found some loose gold, a shiny magic shield (with a flame painted on the front), and a magic dagger that talked! This fighter took the new shield in place of his old, and sheathed the dagger on his belt. He then went out to the hall to get the other fighters’ assistance in collecting the other loot.

The other fighters were impressed with the new shield and dagger, but the one fighter was still lamenting the escape of the flying cat. Again, a couple of the fighters went to a fireplace and summoned out another fire-imp. During the battle, the fighter with the shield noticed that he didn’t feel any heat from the fireplace or the imp. He concluded that the shield was somehow protecting him. They summoned another fire-imp, and this fighter killed it with the new dagger, and found that the imp’s fire seemed sucked into the blade. Everyone was impressed, but no one really knew what that meant.

By this time, it was time to wrap up the adventure, as parents were starting  to show up to pick up our guests. So I handwaved the party’s exit from the dungeon.

Like last time, all the boys had a great time. I was thrilled that the game was such a success, and I was exhausted from the mental work.

Bullgrit