~ SESSION 4 > SESSION 5 – (BRIEF RECAP) ~
Welcome back my friends:
When last we met with the party, they were stood on the surface inside the town of Tristram, and were deep in a discussion on what to do next.
Their most spoken about topics of interest were the poisoned water supply, and of course their recent harrowing experience… at the hands of the Butcher.
Once they had prepared fully, and decided on their next course of action, they departed for the labyrinth level two once more.
It took them a short amount of time to reach their destination, and upon setting foot off the stairway down to floor two, Cornan decided to go on ahead of everyone, and scout the area first.
Seeing that it was safe to proceed, the rest of the party caught up to him, and stood at the first split in the passage here.
One direction led them towards the closed bloodied doorway of the Butcher, and a bend around the room he resides in, will lead them to a group of idle Zombies.
While the other way led them along a long and strait passage, which had stone coffins lining the walls, and it too turned its direction sharply towards the right, further along towards the far end.
Opting to avoid going anywhere near the Butcher’s room this time, the party took the other passage instead, and turned the corner at the end of it, only to see a large cave mouth on the furthest wall they faced.
It wasn’t a stone wall like every other wall seen, no, this seemed like it was more of natural design altogether.
Guarding this cave entrance were two groups of enemies, a handful of Demons and a couple of Skeletons.
Cornan tried to get the jump on the enemy, and sadly failed, which resulted in the Skeletons targeting him with their bows, and loosing their arrows first.
Cornan took both the aimed arrows to the chest, as he tried to dodge out the way, and instantly fell to the floor… as he was left unconscious.
Lyra rushed to the side of Cornan, administering some aid in the form of a healing potion, then once he was on his feet again, the party quickly worked together and dispatched both groups of enemies.
Following the battle, they searched the entire area thoroughly, which revealed to them an unlocked — (and safe to open) — chest which was left nearby.
Moving on quickly from the combat area, toward the cave, the party traveled down a thin naturally shaped passage, which opened out into a dimly lit, but wider passageway.
Travelling along this new path toward the centre of the cave itself, they noticed small amounts of what seemed to be warm campfire light, shining out from areas on both sides of the underground passage.
Upon inspection, it was clear that Fallen Demons had made encampments within the cave, and were holed up on either side of the main passageway.
Without being seen or detected in any way, the party set up their ambush on the first camp, and with combined attacks, wiped out the Fallen there in mere seconds.
Exploration of the first camp revealed a small section of it tucked away behind a wall that divided the far end of the camp itself, and very conveniently there two chests found within that small alcove.
Cornan and Dorian both took a chest each while Lyra searched the tents, and whilst Cornan opened his chest safely with very little effort, that’s more than can be said for Dorians performance.
He instead attempted once more to kick the lid open, and in the process triggered a Lightning Nova trap, that hit everyone in range, and left both Lyra and Dorian with the ‘shocked’ condition upon them.
However, the treasure found inside the chest was worth the initial pain, and so they all scooped up what they could, and moved back to the main passage to prepare their ambush on the second Fallen encampment.
Once again, they made very short work of the Fallen within the camp, and passing through this one they once more discovered yet another chest hidden towards the rear of the encampment, within a small alcove… Which through possibly feeling paranoid, and not wanting to risk another blast to the face of static energy… Cornan opted to open the chest they found there, and made it look easy.
They all collected the treasure once more and headed back to the main passageway, and with only one direction left open to them, they boldly stepped forward into the darker third passage, and were soon heading towards the back of this cold and damp cave.
Carefully, they approached a turn in the path up ahead, and listened carefully whilst stood near to a connecting wall – They were sure they could all her the gentle trickling sound of natural running water… and it was definitely near by.
Eager to see the water source they so desperately sought out, the party turned the corner, and ran directly into a few on guard Flesh Clan goat-demons, carrying large sharp axes with them… who promptly attacked the party on sight.
The battle ahead was fierce and rapid, with favor seemingly heavily leaning toward the party, as very minimal effort was needed to rid the world of these beasts.
The moment that the final goat-demon fell to the overbearing power of the party, the quality of the natural spring nearby was noticeably improving by the second, until it was free from all of its impurities once again, and was fresh enough to drink there and then.
Using an old empty glass vial once used for a potion, Cornan reached into the water and scooped up a sample of the purified water, to show Pepin later on.
Then the whole party searched the entire area around the fresh water, the bodies of the goat-men had already began to fade away at that point… and with their mission completed, the party decided it was time to head back up to the surface.
They took the known route back through the cave and cathedral, and passed through the floors quickly without any delay.
Soon… they were all back in town.
Once back inside Tristram’s town centre – Cornan took the sample of the water he had collected, and spoke to Pepin, who thanked him and the rest of the party greatly, and as a reward he parted with a unique ring.
Meanwhile, Dorian visited the other townsfolk.
He visited Griswold for equipment repairs, and to trade spare weapons with him to make some coin and free up some inventory space.
Then he headed over the bridge to visit the witch Adria, in her secluded shaded hollow – where he purchased some items that would definitely be helpful for his adventuring.
Lyra on the other hand, had no need to visit any of the merchants at that moment, and so slowly headed to the Tavern, where she chose to await the others.
Eventually, after all business was concluded, all three of them ended up at Ogdens Tavern, where they sat down to a warm meal together.
They shared a few alcoholic beverages to wash it all down, and to take the edge off just a little — (Not as much as Farnham does) — whilst they enjoyed a short rest in each others company.
They conversed about recent events, and one topic of interest, was how they oddly all remember, very faintly, meeting a cloaked skeletal figure, carrying a large scythe… yet the details of meeting such a thing, and the reason as to why they would… eluded them.
Was it real?…. Or was it just a shared dream?… One that they all somehow experienced together, at the same time?
There were many possibilities – Maybe the Butcher had a special demonic ability to make people hallucinate, or maybe he uses a special dark magic power to infuse his cleaver, or just a substance placed onto it, like a blade venom, that can cause the same effect — Who knows!?
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We rejoin the party at the end of their short rest in town, Lyra and Cornan are ready to go, but Dorian is happy to finish his meal, have a few more drinks, and sit this next one out.
It’s here where we begin our next session of … Adventure in Sanctuary.
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