SoloDark: Pelor's Quest ep65

--/-- Welcome to SoloBickering! It's a solo rpg, which means I roll dice generate a story and decide outcomes, and lose arguments with myself as I portray the exploits of my adventurers. 

--/-- Join me on a journey into the game world I play face to face in, and it may sound vaguely familiar to you. Like many another DM I stitch my world together from any bits and pieces I fancy, adding them into a standard setting, Faerun's Sword Coast.  

--/-- AI and NSFW: For this possibly brief adventure the stars are young and moderately hot, and I'll be using CoPilot AI to buff my romance bar, because I'm useless at romance, and for side situations that need social interactions. Some of the situations the young protagonists find themselves in may turn out to be NSFW. I won't be deliberately aiming for that, but oracles are what they are. So if on either account you take an ethical stand against those, skip this episode and listen in to Rollohi, my other SoloBickering output. 

--/-- And having said that, let's get the game started. 

 --/--Music from Pixabay with thanks to: daynightmorning, Good_B-Music, JefWakeUp, LudoSoundX, makesoundmusic, Playsound, teodholina, and White_Records

--/--Selected tracks from "Ancient Realms" by Joel Steudler Music.

--/--The adventure *the Lurker Beneath Red Larch* by MT Black: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/184581/the-lurker-beneath-red-larch-adventure
--/--MT Black's 5e Vol i collection: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/198501/complete-adventures-of-m-t-black-vol-i

https://larrymannplayssolobickering.blogspot.com

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

Two days. Yes. That is reasonable. The breach will not widen in that time. And now that I have the scroll, I can't really afford to linger here myself. Every hour I delay is an hour the valley loses. But two days? Two days is the time I would have spent traveling with the survivors. I can give you that. If you strike at the threat beneath the red light and return in two days, I'll be ready waiting for you gladly. But no more than that. After two days, I will ride to Beliard with you or without you.

Speaker 1 0:45

Join me on a journey into the game world I play face-to-face in. And it may sound vaguely familiar to you. Like many another DM, I stitch my world together from any bits and pieces I fancy, adding them into a standard setting, Faerun's Sword Coast. For this venture, the stars are young and moderately hot, and I'll be using Copilot AI here and there to buff my romance bar because I'm useless at romance, and for side situations that don't really need tools. Some of the situations the young protags find themselves in may turn out to be NSFW. And if you're uncomfortable on either of those two scores, skip this and head over to the world of Rollohi. Otherwise, having said that, let's get on with this show.

Speaker 1 1:43

Last

Summary

Speaker 1 1:44

episode, our heroes laid up more treasure, ready for cashing in on their exploration of the dungeon lurking beneath Red Larch. They pushed on deeper into the dungeon, exploring the area around the gibbering mouther, and east of that area spotted what appeared to be natural mud spring and geyser. Nat scouted the area and proposed a quick transit, jumping across the mud, very close to the south wall. This everyone achieved, though not without spending the final luck token.

Action

Speaker 1 2:35

We pick up with Locinda and Nat each having a lit torch, and with the reaction of the mud mephits lurking in the bubbling mud. They have been put there as guardians, and thwarted of their initial plan, which is to ambush as people wade across the mud, they now begin their attack. Since the party is well aware that the mud could be trouble and are watching, it's up to initiative checks. Here we go. [d6] Party 6, Mephits 5. So as two mephits surface in order to make attacks, they are first attacked by Drum and Saqib. Drum rolls a 14, that's definitely a hit. Saqib rolls a 10, and with his huge strength thanks to his belt, that's also a hit. Yes damage. [d8, d10+d6] Saqib rolls maximum damage. And although Drum does not roll maximum, Shatterspike seems to do some kind of extra effect. The mephit that Shatterspike struck flies apart. The mephit that Saqib struck is severely hurt. And following its guidelines, it drops its intended attack and instead shifts to a blurred form using the mud as cover. [DEXd20] Drum does not save: a dodge against the explosion of the mud mephit when he strikes through it. He takes the damage. The mud explodes as Drum's Shatterspike cleaves through it, and although the sword is magical it can't protect him from that explosion. He yelps involuntarily as steaming hot mud splatters on his exposed face and hands. Next, Locinda attacks. It's a poor attack. She's misjudged. No contact at all. Nat makes no attack. She's there to make sure at all costs there is still a light going. In our theatre of the mind, we would place her further east than the other three. And certainly the mud mephits will attack the light. But the first thing to do is make a morale check. [2d6] Uncertain. They proceed with their initial plan but cautiously, making no attempt to tackle the creatures that have crossed their mud directly. There are still five available to make mud spit attacks. So let's roll through those. Spit attack on the torch. Success. Locinda's torch goes out. Spit attack on Saqib, still well shielded, strikes a shield. Spit attack on Drum misses. And the fifth is going to strike again at Locinda. Completely misses. Before we get to round two, I'm going to do an encounter check at Natalie's far east. Close, but no encounter. Natalie, who will be lighting a reserve torch this round, is very close to treading on guarded ground. Here's the initiative. [d6] This time the Mephits win initiative. Does the badly injured Mephit attempt to make a claw attack? [oracle d20] Yes. With that decided, it means all six Mephts will move to melee range and claw. All six Mephts move in to make their claw attacks. [6d20] A total of four successful claw attacks. [d6s] Drum receives special attention, taking two claws. For a total of four damage, that's a total of seven damage he's lost over the two rounds. Saqib suffers two damage and Locinda suffers two damage. Now it's the character's turn. Behind them, Natalie gets a second torch going, allowing plenty of light for the attacks of the three frontliners. Locinda draws her reserve weapon. [2d20,2d6] It's not of much use, but her magical shortsword does terrific damage. Did her battle sense allow her to spot the injured mephit? [WIS d20] Yes. The short sword finishes off that injured mephit and it explodes, endangering her and Saqib. [DEXd20s] Locinda easily dodges out of the way, but Saqib takes another three damage from the exploding steam. Next it's Saqib's turn. [d20,d8] He chops at a mephit doing a certain amount of damage, minimal really, with Goblin Grief. Finally let's see what Drum can do. [d20,d10+d6] Once again, Drum cleaves right through a mephit. That too explodes. [DEXd20] He's ready for the explosion, and this time does manage to dodge out of the way. And to finish the round, I make another encounter check behind that. Still no encounter. Round three initiatives. [d6] Mephits five, characters two. The first thing to test is mephit morale. [2d6] They are even less certain. If they were not bonded guardians of this area, they would definitely pull out. As it is, they still press the attack. The four that are left, one wounded, trying to make real claw attacks. [4d3] Locinda will have the attention of two mephits, Drum one and Saqib one. Here's the attack on Drum. [d20] Successful. Drum takes another two clawing damage and some steam damage. Here's the attack on Saqib. [d20] Easily shielded off. And here are the two attacks on Locinda. [2d20] She dodges both of them. Drum is really struggling now. He's lost a lot of hit points. On the other hand, Shatterspike is doing enormous damage, cutting down one mephit every strike. His blood is up and he wants more. [d20,d10+d6] He chops through a third mephit. [d20,d8] Saqib finishes his mephit and [2d20,2d6] Locinda wounds but does not kill a fourth mephit. Now dodges from the two lads. [DEXd20s] Drum dodges. Saqib now takes steam damage as he fails to dodge. And at the bottom of the round, I check for encounter again. Still no encounter. Initiatives for round four. Characters four, mephits one. This is Locinda's two attacks. [2d20,2d6] They are both successful and she destroys the Mephit that she injured last time. Here's her dodge. [DEXd20] Unsuccessful. She takes steam damage as it explodes. Here is Saqib's longsword attack. [d20,d8] A very good attack. The second to last Mephit is badly injured. Finally, here is Drums. [nat20!] He rolls a crit. He sunders both his Mephit and the one that Saqib wounded. Once again, the two lads dodge. Here are the rolls. [DEXd20s] Ten and ten, that is successful. The fight is over. And then the party retreats. It's time for a rest. They walk back to their baggage at the ascent to the above and eat some food while they discuss pulling right back to the inn. The four of them share their feelings about what lies east.

Reaction

Speaker 1 13:51 Speaker 4 13:56

I had a pretty good view, and I had a bad feeling about what lies beyond. It seemed like there were shifting lights. The cavern walls almost seem to be like a shifting barrier, Nat ventures.

Speaker 3 14:19

Locinda considers that and then says simply, Yeah, I had a bad feeling about it too. It's not something evil to tackle, just off the cuff. Saqib, what kind of spell was it you were saying?

Speaker 5 14:38

Well, I was thinking this might be the time for protection from evil. I'm not sure if it will work on all of us at once. It's something I've obviously never tried, the young priest muses. But yes, that I think would be the time to do it. It felt like we were approaching what's really behind this dungeon disturbance.

Speaker 2 15:10

Well, I would have said more mud, more geysers. Can't be just one mud pit, but yeah. I'll I'll go along with you. Either way, I really need a good rest.

Speaker 5 15:26

Turned out to be for the best that you did take that better potion, Saqib says manfully, trying not to feel too bad about the fairly serious damage he's taken. At the very least, I can pray for healing for us. Let's start there.

Speaker 1 15:46

Sakeb will attempt to do a dungeon heal, as opposed to taking the party back to the shrine of all faiths and making an advantageous prayer there. Let's see how he goes. First, himself. [WISd20] Rolls a 16. That's an easy success. Saqib's healed himself for 10 healing. Saqib's hit points are now 20 of 26. Next, Drum. [WISd20] It's a fail. But Drum earned a luck token by rolling a natural 20 during the fight. So he's going to use that for Saqib to have another go. [WISd20] I rolled an 18. Nice work, Saqib. Tymora smiles and Drum receives 14 hit points back, which has restored him to full health. It follows then that Drum's hit points are 31 of 31. Saqib next turns to Locinda, who's taken the least damage. [WISd20] Sadly, I roll the 5 and there are no more luck tokens. Unless there's further healing available, Locinda's hit points are 18 of 23.

Speaker 5 17:14

I'm sorry, Locinda. That's as far as it goes. We'll need to go back to the shrine and make an offering.

Speaker 4 17:24

Wait, Nat says excitedly, We have one more potion. Let's try it. Go for it, Locinda!

Speaker 1 17:32

Digging to where she last saw the potions, Nat uncovers that last potion. And Locinda takes it. [d6+1] There we go. I roll a five for a total of six healing. And so Locinda is fully restored to 23 of 23 hit points. Now Nat strikes while the iron is hot.

Speaker 4 18:00

Alright, we're pretty much fit. We've had a nibble. Now we should make sure we have plenty of torches and get going. The night's still young, and if we can turn in a good performance before supper, we'll have earned our adventurous wages, she says with a half laugh.

Speaker 1 18:22

They do not know it yet, but they are approaching the final leg of the dungeon. The tunnel beyond the Mephits' mud pool travels about 70 feet southeast and then dog legs sharply about 70 feet northeast. And all of that area is under the baleful guardianship of a thing which bridges the planes. Its watchdogs are phase spiders. As the four adventurers, two carrying well-lit torches, leap across the mud, avoiding the geyser in very much the same way that they did previously and track down the tunnel about forty feet distant from the mud, the phase spiders fall into echelon and begin their attacks!