Belowdown Ep. 10

The Belowdowners ascended into a new level of the dungeon, emerging from the central shaft into a chamber filled with a billowing mist. Almost immediately, a grotesque, cloudy-faced creature, a fog daemon, materialized and attacked. The battle was strange and desperate; each successful ranged attack against the monster seemed to spawn smaller, stinking daemons from the mist. The fight raged on, with Wolf tanking a flurry of blows while the others desperately tried to damage the ever-multiplying foes. In a stunning display of strength, the dwarf fighter Chickadee managed to grab the main daemon and hurl it down the central shaft, only for the creature to fly right back up.

The party was pushed to its limits. Chickadee fell unconscious, but Wolf managed to stabilize her with a gruff, ‘Don’t die on me now.’ After a prolonged struggle, they finally felled the large daemon, causing the smaller ones to pop out of existence. With the mist cleared, they continued their ascent, finally reaching the familiar twelfth floor. Knowing the way out from there, they made a strategic retreat to town to heal, resupply, and sell their loot.

Refreshed, the party returned to the twelfth floor to explore its unmapped sections. They discovered a pair of stone doors leading to an ancient dwarven ruin, but a shimmering blue force field blocked the way. They took a rubbing of the door’s runes to their acquaintance Zortash, who dismissed the runes as an unsolvable mystery. Undeterred, the party found a narrow tunnel that led all the way to the surface—a potential escape route. They also investigated a malfunctioning glyph before exploring the central shaft of the eleventh floor, which was filled with an unnatural, light-swallowing darkness. There, they found a single, mysterious chest. Taking it back to town, Wolf impatiently kicked it open in the middle of the street, just as four innocent villagers were passing by.

QUOTES:

“Bye, bye!”
— Said by Chickadee’s player immediately after she successfully threw the massive Fog Daemon down the central shaft.

“Wolf yells, bring it on.”
— Wolf taunting the three Stink Daemons that chose to attack him simultaneously.

“Don’t die on me now. Damn it. I’ve known you for a whole three minutes.”
— Wolf’s gruff words of encouragement as he successfully stabilized the unconscious Chickadee during the battle.

“For Bufo, every hole is a goal.”
— A player describing Guffo’s enthusiastic and unwavering motivation to explore any tunnel or opening they find.

“That once was my chest.”
— The robot Zortash’s immediate and possessive reaction upon being shown the rubbing from the mysterious chest the party found.

“Wolf is pissed. He pushes him off the edge.”
— After discovering the Fog Daemon’s corpse had no treasure on it, Wolf unceremoniously shoved the body back down the shaft.

OUTLINE:

The Fog Daemon Ambush

• The party climbed up to a new level filled with a thick mist.
• They were attacked by a large fog daemon and several smaller ‘stink daemons’.
• Ranged attacks against the main daemon caused more smaller daemons to spawn.
• Chickadee threw the main daemon down the central shaft, but it flew back up.
• Chickadee was knocked unconscious and subsequently stabilized by Wolf.
• The party eventually defeated the fog daemon, causing the smaller ones to disappear.

Return to Town and Resupply

• The party reached the familiar 12th floor and knew the way out.
• They traveled back to town to fully heal and rest.
• They sold valuable loot, including mithril chains and orichalcum, for a significant profit.
• The party restocked on supplies like ammo and torches before heading back into the Belowdown.

Exploring Floor 12: The Sealed Ruin

• Returning to Floor 12, the party explored a new section.
• Tig picked the lock on a door leading to an ancient dwarven ruin.
• Their path was blocked by a translucent, indestructible blue force field.
• They took a rubbing of runes from the door to the robot Zortash, who claimed it was an unsolvable puzzle.
• They discovered a narrow tunnel leading from this floor all the way to the surface.

Descent into Darkness

• The party investigated a marred, reptilian glyph for necromancy.
• Wolf spat on the glyph from the floor above, causing a jade-colored skeleton to appear.
• Hag successfully used Turn Undead, making the skeleton flee.
• The skeleton was eventually banished after being cornered and attacked.
• The party explored the central shaft of the 11th floor, which was filled with magical darkness that nullified their light sources.

The Mysterious Chest

• In the unnatural darkness, the party found a large, locked chest.
• They decided to take the entire chest with them back to town.
• Zortash claimed the chest originally belonged to him.
• A magic-user in town confirmed the chest was intensely magical and potentially dangerous.
• Impatient, Wolf kicked the chest open in the middle of the street, with four villagers nearby.