The party returned to the sixth floor and went straight for unfinished business. A heavy wyvern-carved door stood ajar; when Yuri pushed it open, a zombie was waiting. Blarney’s mace caved in rotting bone, Adder’s crackling blast finished it, and when more staggered forward Blarney raised a booming denunciation that burst two into foul mist and sent the last reeling. The group put the dead down for good and picked the corpses clean before turning to the other wyvern door.
Beyond lay a battlefield: shattered constructs, slain troglodytes, and hundreds of throbbing crystal dodecahedrons strewn like sinister caltrops. Loud noise made them detonate, but Junie’s steady hands and a borrowed limb let her quietly sweep a safe path. At the far redoubt they found three mounted crossbows, more bodies, a mithril longsword with a maker’s mark, and a cloak of blazing scarlet plumes. They claimed the prizes and reached the central shaft, where a sun-bright sphere hung from three flexible metal cables.
They decided to steal the sun. Adder sheared a cable with a precise blast as Yuri cushioned the swing with a cloak; Junie cut the last, and together they hauled the burning orb up by its tether and carried it like a lantern. Its light dwindled as they moved on, but it was enough to probe a peephole into a sealed guardroom where desiccated gray dwarves slumped behind a black curtain—no door in sight.
Down slick stairs glistening with oil and rendered fat—dissolved by Junie’s solvent—the party entered a broad cavern of ledges. Two gray-scaled troglodytes watched three halfling farmers trussed in spider-silk. A long exchange of thrown spears and blasts left the group bruised and retreating along the switchbacks. Deeper in, a higher ledge held a fourth halfling bound to a pillar above a stone cauldron of bone-colored, boiling sludge. A white slime tendril climbed toward the captive as five more troglodytes converged.
The reek made stomachs heave, but they dug in. Yuri held the line in rattling plate as Blarney wavered between life and the stone, Junie slung salves and oil, and Adder’s lightning lanced the frilled reptilians. They shoved one troglodyte into the sludge—which ate wood and metal but spared flesh—then cut the last two down. The white pudding oozed free; fire sputtered out on its surface and fine blades softened at a touch. The party retreated in good order, pelting it with stones and blasts for an exhausting five minutes until it finally slumped into stillness.
After, Junie’s solvent freed the halflings, who spoke of a ruined harvest and a long road home. The party shared coin and grim nods and turned back through the caltrop hall with their dark crystal and unanswered questions: a sealed guardroom, a fading sun, and stairs that wound still deeper.
OUTLINE:
Return to Floor Six and the Zombie Door
- Party starts at sixth floor wyvern doors; first door is ajar.
- Opening triggers a close-quarters zombie fight; Blarney smashes, Adder blasts, Yuri hacks.
- Blarney’s rebuke explodes two undead and panics another; the last is finished off.
- Loot recovered from bodies: 15 gp, 67 sp.
The Spicy Dice Hall and Crossbow Redoubt
- Long hall strewn with wrecked constructs, troglodyte dead, and hundreds of throbbing crystal dodecahedrons.
- Noise triggers detonations; Junie quietly sweeps a safe lane using corpse pieces.
- Three mounted crossbows and bolt-riddled bodies discovered; party finds a mithril longsword and a vivid scarlet feather cloak.
- At the shaft, a radiant sphere hangs from three metal cables.
Heist of the Radiant Sphere and the Sealed Guardroom
- Adder severs a cable with a blast; Yuri cushions the swinging orb; Junie frees the last tether.
- They haul the blazing orb by its cable, taking minor burns; its light soon diminishes.
- A peephole view reveals a sealed chamber with two desiccated gray dwarves and a black curtain; no door is found.
Oiled Stairs, Captives, and First Clash with Troglodytes
- Stairs coated in oil and fat; Junie’s solvent strips the trap.
- Two troglodytes watch three halfling farmers bound in spiderweb ropes on lower ledges.
- Spears fly; Blarney drops and is revived; the party withdraws down to a broader cavern.
The Ledge, the Cauldron, and the White Pudding
- A fourth halfling is tied to a pillar above a cauldron of bone-colored sludge; a white slime tendril climbs for the captive.
- Five troglodytes attack amid a nauseating stench; brutal melee with multiple near-falls and clutch heals.
- A troglodyte is shoved into the cauldron; wood and metal sizzle while flesh slips free.
- The cauldron spawns a white pudding; fire fails, metal melts, and the mithril sword is ruined.
- The party executes a fighting retreat, pelting the pudding with stones and blasts until it collapses.
Aftermath and Freed Halflings
- Junie’s solvent dissolves webbing; halfling captives freed and given coin for the road.
- The radiant orb dims fully to an inert crystal as they leave.
- Open threads: the sealed guardroom without a door, troglodyte presence, and deeper stairs below.
NPCs:
- Desiccated Gray Dwarves: Two withered dwarves with gray skin slumped in a sealed guardroom behind a black curtain. Their post suggests a deeper dwarven story beneath the floor.
- Halfling Farmers (three): Local smallholders taken by troglodytes and bound in spider-silk. Shaken but alive, they spoke of a stolen harvest and a hard road back home.
- Mesmerized Automaton (distant reference): A lone construct left entranced by a mirror on an upper level, reminder of the war between machines and troglodytes above.
- Troglodyte Warriors: Gray-green, frill-crested lizardfolk who reek of carrion and fight with spears and teeth. Guardians of the ledges and the slime cauldron.
ITEMS:
- Alchemical Solvent: A practical oil-cutter that stripped the stairs and burned away spider-silk bonds.
- Bone Spears (spares): Crude troglodyte weapons stacked along the cavern wall, serviceable and ominous.
- Cockatrice Feather Cloak: A short cloak of vivid scarlet plumes, fancy enough to cushion a stolen sun without catching fire.
- Exploding Crystal Dodecahedrons: Dice-sized, throbbing caltrops that blast at noise and impact; best moved with utmost care.
- Healing Salves: Junie’s quick-brewed restoratives that repeatedly dragged friends back from the brink.
- Mithril Longsword (maker’s mark): A fine blade that counted as silver—claimed at the redoubt and later ruined against the white pudding.
- Mounted Crossbows: Emplacements that once swept the hall with bolts, now silent amid the wreckage.
- Radiant Sphere (now inert crystal): A crystalline orb once blazing like a sun, stolen by cable and carried as a lantern until its light finally died.
LOCATIONS:
- Cauldron of White Sludge: A stone cauldron of bone-colored boil birthing a white pudding whose touch melts metal and wood.
- Central Shaft and Radiant Sphere: A 20-foot-wide, sigil-engraved drop crowned by a glowing orb tethered on three cables—light and heat like a tiny sun.
- Crossbow Redoubt: A barricaded position with three mounted crossbows and a kill-zone piled with bodies.
- Crystal Caltrop Hall: Long corridor littered with throbbing crystal dodecahedrons primed to detonate at noise and impact.
- Ledge Cavern and Pillar: Broad, tiered cavern with ledges, bound halflings, and watchful troglodytes.
- Oiled Stair: Slick, fat-coated stairs winding down to the cavern; disarmed with Junie’s solvent.
- Sixth Floor, Wyvern Doors: A pair of heavy, ornate doors marking the level’s threshold and the site of the zombie ambush.
- Zombie Antechamber: Cramped entry beyond the wyvern door where the undead surged into the hall.
FACTIONS:
- Automata of the Tower: Construct guardians and wanderers, many shattered in their war with the troglodytes.
- Gray Dwarf Remnants: The dead and the hidden: gray dwarves whose sealed rooms and old defenses still haunt the level.
- Mutant Scavengers (upper levels): Warped folk from above who spoke of the deadly light and the deep shaft below.
- Troglodyte Tribe: Foul-smelling, gray-green reptilians entrenched on the lower ledges and tied to the cauldron of slime.
QUESTS:
- Breach the Sealed Guardroom: Find an entrance to the peephole-viewed chamber with the gray dwarves and the black curtain.
- Explore the Sixth Floor: Map the wyvern doors, caltrop hall, crossbow redoubt, shaft, and ledge caverns while uncovering what happened here.
- Quell the Troglodyte Threat: Reduce troglodyte forces on the ledges and discover their purpose with the cauldron.
- Rescue the Halfling Captives: Free the spider-silk-bound farmers from troglodyte hands and the white sludge’s reach.
- Seize the Radiant Sphere: Detach and extract the sun-bright orb from the shaft and carry it out.
PLAYER CHARACTERS
- Adder: A shabti kineticist whose blasts crackle like engineered lightning, precise and devastating. He constantly pushes the edge of his own limits to land the perfect shot, sometimes suffering for it but rarely missing when it matters. Practical, sardonic, and the first to propose audacious plans—like stealing a miniature sun.
- Blarney: A dwarf priest whose mace and faith hit just as hard. He bellows blessings and banishments in equal measure, and when the dead rise, he makes them stay down. Stubbornly resilient—often knocked flat, often back on his feet—Blarney stands where the line is thinnest and dares evil to cross it.
- Junie: An Ifrit alchemist and consummate maker, more Home Depot than hedge-wizard. She brews salves and solvents on the move, dissolving traps, curing wounds, and improvising solutions with cool hands and a hot spark. Her satchel of oils and materials is a mobile workshop that keeps the team alive and moving.
- Yuri: A northern barbarian who fights up front with iron grit and stubborn courage. She wears rattling plate and doesn’t hesitate to throw herself between danger and her companions, even when spears and teeth are flying. Favours straightforward solutions, from smashing undead to cushioning stolen suns with an expensive cloak.
Dubious Heroes 
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