08/29/2025 – Geeks & Games – The Shipwreckers

Summary

Last session, the Shipwreckers stepped through a glistening green slit in the world and landed on a fog‑shrouded cave ledge with a squat monolith of petrified wood. Sylvan sigils marked it as a dryadic waystone. Wulf slapped a hand to the runes, and the wood tore open like paper. Two towering, eyeless, hook-handed vulture fiends screamed through, shrieking blood and souls for the lords of chaos. The first tore into Jeffrey before Cadabra’s steady hands hauled him back from the brink. Patick locked shields, Wolf heaved one horror off the sixty‑foot drop, and Arantha’s cold iron finished the other. The portal sighed shut, and the party butchered four gleaming ivory hooks before catching a hard‑won rest.

Probing deeper, they found a cavern whose walls bristled with table‑sized gray starfish. A tendril-dart siphoned Jeffrey’s blood, and Cadabra tried to unleash killing vapors from the Book of Morkaal—only for the spiteful tome to twist the words and sputter. So Patick raised his shield, strode into a storm of needles, and Wulffollowed; together they dragged four desiccated drow back to safety. Their packs held spider‑silk rope and crawler’s kits, a pouch of strange yellow coins, and a curt note in archaic drow: The gears are below. Find them or die. Wulf swapped into drow chainmail for the depths, and the company pressed on.

Below, a white miasma choked the passages. When Jeffrey prodded a steel die on the floor, the hall detonated with a rippling thunder of countless cubes, and out of the fog drifted a monstrous, clouded face ringed in endless molars. Jeffrey’s frost crashed into it; the thing hacked up a reeking mist‑spawn, and Patick drove straight through, felling the maw. With a gale, the fog and its spawn were sucked into the dying head and vanished. In a nearby chamber of fallen gray dwarves, a duergar spirit rose and merged with Jeffrey, demanding vengeance. Then, satisfied by the daemon’s death, it blessed him with uncanny luck. The duergar’s packs yielded a gleaming mithril cog and a honey‑yellow, leaf‑serrated blade named Drowslayer, later refashioned into a javelin for Arantha. A low tunnel scented with flowers led them to daylight and a runestone offering succor to true dwarves. After marking the exit, they returned to town to carouse, craft, and ready themselves to hunt the final cog.

OUTLINE:

Through the Dryadic Portal, Clash with the Hook Fiends

• Arrived on a foggy ledge beside a petrified, rune‑etched dryadic stone
• Wolf touched the runes; portal tore open; two hook‑handed, eyeless vulture‑fiends burst through shouting pledges to chaos
• Jeffrey was cut down and saved by Cadabra’s timely healing
• Wolf shoved one fiend over the ledge; Arantha finished the other; portal snapped shut
• Harvested four ivory hooks from the slain creatures and took a risky rest

The Starfish Gauntlet and the Drow Spoils

• Entered a cavern whose walls and ceiling were carpeted with massive gray starfish that fired siphoning darts at movement
• Cadabra tried to conjure killing vapors from the Book of Morcal but the book resisted his will
• Paddock raised a shield wall and advanced under fire with Wolf; they dragged four desiccated drow back out
• Looted spider‑silk ropes, crawler’s kits, odd yellow coins, and a drow note: “The gears are below. Find them or die.”
• Wolf donned light drow chain for the depths (to be protected from sunlight later)

Thunder-Cubes and the Fog Maw

• A corridor littered with steel cubes exploded in a chain when prodded, stunning Cadabra
• A colossal clouded head ringed with molars floated in from the fog and hacked up a mist demon
• Jeffrey blasted the maw with frost; Paddock closed and destroyed it
• The reeking fog and its spawn were sucked into the dying maw, clearing the level

Duergar Dead, a Vengeful Spirit, and the Cog

• Found ledges strewn with gaunt duergar women and children
• A duergar spirit rose and merged with Jeffrey, showing the ancient drow–dwarf war and the demon that trapped them
• With the maw slain, the spirit’s need for vengeance eased and Jeffrey was left with a luck blessing
• Recovered a mithril cog from a dwarven pack and identified Drowslayer, a leaf‑serrated orichalcum blade (later reforged into a javelin for Arantha)

The Flower-Scented Escape and Regrouping in Town

• Followed a low tunnel scented of flowers to a gully near the great tree
• Marked a runestone reading “Succor for true dwarves” and established a surface exit
• Returned to town; caroused, gaining a priestly ally and experience
• Commissioned the reforging of Drowslayer to suit Arantha and prepared to hunt the final cog

NPCs:

• Black‑Feathered Hook Fiends: Eyeless, twelve‑foot, vulture‑like predators with bone hooks for hands; they shriek vows to chaos and hunger for fresh blood.
• Duergar Ghost: A pale spirit of a gray dwarf who demanded vengeance for his people trapped by drow sorcery; merged with Jeffrey and, satisfied by the maw’s death, granted him uncanny luck.
• Fog Maw (Clouded Molar‑Head Demon): A drifting, colossal face ringed in endless slimy molars; hacked up a stinking mist‑spawn and smothered the level in rancid fog until slain.
• Glib Priest (Town): A smooth‑talking cleric who parted the company from coin during a night of carousing; now a tenuous ally at the local temple.
• Mist Demon: A reeking, oily wisp coughed forth by the fog maw; dissipated when its progenitor died.
• Strel: An ally of the Shipwreckers who currently safeguards one of the mithril cogs, awaiting the set’s completion.
• The Dryadic Waystone: A squat, petrified wood monolith inscribed in Sylvan that answers to touch by tearing the air into a portal.
• Usog: A lurking power whose lair holds the great shaft linking the cave’s levels; more rumor than presence this session.
• Z (Drow Correspondent): An unseen drow who penned the terse directive, “The gears are below. Find them or die,” leaving only an initial.

ITEMS:

• Book of Morcal: A treacherous grimoire that twists its bearer’s will even as it offers catastrophic sorcery.
• Drow Mithril Chain & Longswords: Black, eerily light mail and blades of the deep—excellent underground, but they crumble in sunlight.
• Drowslayer (Reforged as Javelin): A honey‑yellow, leaf‑serrated orichalcum weapon that bites elves twice as deep; cursed to draw blood once bared; reforged to a javelin for Arantha.
• Ivory Hooks (x4): Tusk‑long, piano‑key‑white hooks hacked from the fiends; valuable and macabre trophies.
• Mithril Cog: One of the bright gears needed to unlock the hidden library; light, rune‑etched, and precise.
• Note from Z: A terse drow missive: “The gears are below. Find them or die.” Signed only with Z.
• Orichalcum Coins (10): Dull yellow coins of a strange, ancient alloy; heavy with old magic and trade below.
• Spider‑Silk Rope & Crawler’s Kits: Sticky white cordage and delver’s essentials salvaged from drow packs—torches, hooks, and more.
• Staff of Frost: Jeffrey’s cold‑biting focus that hurled ice through fog and demon alike.

LOCATIONS:

• Duergar Refuge Ledges: Overlooks littered with the withered dead of a gray‑dwarf hold—women and children among them—plus their salvaged packs.
• Flower‑Scented Up‑Tunnel: A low, five‑foot crawl rising toward faint birdsong and the clean scent of flowers, leading to daylight.
• Fog Maw’s Lair: A level choked in corpse‑scented white fog until the clouded molar‑head demon was destroyed.
• Moist Gray Ledge & Dryadic Waystone: A fog‑wreathed ledge of damp stone and ferns, anchored by a squat, rune‑cut hunk of petrified wood that opens emerald portals.
• Runed Shaft and Brass Ladder: A 20‑foot‑wide vertical shaft lined in humming, unreadable runes with a brass ladder fixed to the east side.
• Runestone of Succor: A weathered stone in a surface gully carved in dwarvish: “Succor for true dwarves,” marking a safe exit.
• Starfish Gallery: A sheer‑walled cavern whose ceiling and walls are carpeted in massive gray starfish that fire siphoning tendrils at movement.
• The Great Tree: The party’s familiar surface point of reference overlooking the wilds and hidden holes below.
• Thunder‑Cube Hall: A corridor strewn with steel, dice‑sized cubes that detonate in stunning chain reactions when disturbed.
• Usog’s Lair (Surface Shaft): The broader complex whose great hole connects to multiple levels; a known landmark near the great tree.

FACTIONS:

• Drow of the Deep: Spider‑bound elves of the underworld, masters of silk ropes and shadow‑chain, locked in ancient war with the duergar.
• Dryads & Their Ways: Keepers of living stones and green portals that stitch far‑places together.
• Duergar (Gray Dwarves): Grim dwarves of the depths; a local hold was starved and slain when drow sorcery loosed the fog maw.
• Local Temple (Town): A small, influential clergy whose priests can be generous—or glib—depending on the coin and the cause.
• Lords of Chaos (Whispered): Unseen patrons answered by the hook‑fiends’ battle‑cries; a creed of bloodletting and anarchy.

QUESTS:

• Collect the Four Cogs: Gather the mithril gears needed to unlock the hidden library; one lies with Strel, one in the Shipwreckers’ hands from this delve, and one from the spider before—leaving one still below.
• Find the Hidden Library: Locate and access a lost repository of lore once the mechanism can be engaged; the path likely lies through the depths and portals.
• Lay the Duergar to Rest (Completed): Avenge the gray dwarves slain by the fog maw; their spirit’s blessing confirmed the deed.
• Map Safe Routes In and Out: Establish reliable entries, including the flower‑scented tunnel and runestone exit near the great tree, to speed the final push for the last cog.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

• Arantha: A nimble, fey‑tuned skirmisher with a flair for acrobatics and cold iron. She darted through chaos to finish the first fiend, sensed the cave’s strange flower‑scented air, and ultimately claimed Drowslayer—having it reforged into a javelin to suit her deadly, mobile style.
• Grimdar: A companion swept away by the portal’s whim, separated from the others at the outset. Though absent this delve, his fate and whereabouts weigh on the Shipwreckers as they press deeper.
• Jeffrey: A quick-thinking arcanist whose caution and curiosity often collide. He wielded a frost-wreathed staff to hammer the fog-maw and accepted a Dwarven spirit’s plea for vengeance, earning a stroke of luck. Pragmatic under pressure, he also marked the new exit and kept the light where it mattered.
• Cadabra: A steady healer and scholar of troublesome tomes. He mended mortal wounds in the opening ambush. When the air turned sour, Cadabra endured and kept allies standing.
• Patick: A stalwart oath‑keeper who makes a wall of one. He planted his shield, absorbed the worst the dungeon could throw, and cut down the cloud‑maw that had choked the level for ages. Bold enough to take calculated risks, he anchors the line whenever the fog thickens.
• Wulf: A hard‑charging front‑liner who trusts momentum and muscle. He opened the way with reckless courage, shoving a hook‑fiend off a sheer drop, then braved the starfish gauntlet alongside Paddock. Between bouts, he kept the crew grounded and the trophies coming.