Wiki of The Dungeoneering Crew

This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong.
Session 70, A Complaint for the Manager!

Paldegora

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Session 70 – 2026-05-23

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

**Summary**

After fighting through **ghasts** and a **thrall** in the foul-smelling lower tunnels, **Company Clandestine** paused to recover and reconsider the rooms they had already searched. **Eryn** became suspicious of an oddly placed stone in the room with the madmen and discovered that it concealed a secret door.

Beyond the hidden entrance lay a rough, man-made tunnel with digging tools, lanterns, and signs of recent excavation. The passage had partially collapsed, but **X’or** determined it could be cleared safely if they worked carefully. **He** and **Cassandra** spent about an hour moving rocks and opening the way forward.

Once through the collapse, **Eryn** discovered the tunnel eventually opened near the shoreline not far from the fortress entrance. The company realized the tunnel could serve as an escape route or a hidden way back into the fortress. **Symon** immediately suggested using it to evacuate the prisoners they had rescued earlier.

The party escorted the rescued prisoners, including **Mary** and **Jane**, back through the tunnel and safely to their ship. Although exhausted, they decided not to rest because they feared **Julia**, the missing woman they were searching for, might die if they delayed too long. They quickly returned through the hidden route and reentered the dungeon around midnight.

Back inside, the fortress proved even more dangerous than before. **Symon** accidentally triggered a hidden pit trap and fell in. **Eryn** then managed to fall into not one, but two separate traps while initially trying to help him. After pulling everyone back out, the company slowed down and carefully searched every section of floor before moving forward.

As they descended deeper into the fortress, an eerie voice called up through the darkness, inviting them to “join us for dinner.” Chains rattled below, and a heavy unnatural fog covered the lower level. Eventually the party reached a large chamber decorated with skulls, dark symbols of **Sahn**, and **black dragon** imagery. At the center, a woman was chained to an altar, bleeding from numerous bites.

The rescue attempt immediately turned into an ambush. Undead children armed with glowing curved swords dropped from the ceiling and attacked the company. **Cal-El** and **Eryn** were both paralyzed during the battle, while **Angelique** used **Mirror Image** and holy magic to defend herself and the others. **Captain Hurst**, **Cassandra**, **X’or**, and **Symon** all joined the desperate fight around the altar and back up te stairs.

The battle became even worse when a vampire known only as “The Manager” emerged from the surrounding mist. He attempted to charm **X’or**, but he resisted and engaged him directly in combat. While the others fought the undead **thralls**, **X’or** and the recovered **Cal-El** eventually brought the vampire down, though **Cal-El’s** magical **Scimitar of Speed** was destroyed during the fight.

After the battle, **Cal-El** finally freed the chained woman, **Julia**. Weak from blood loss but alive, she revealed that **Princess Seraphina** had indeed been held there briefly before being moved upstairs somewhere else in the fortress. **Julia** knew nothing about the upper levels, though she had overheard mentions of a password connected to gaining access there.

The company searched the chamber and recovered magical weapons, potions, gold, and a jeweled key taken from **The Manager**. Realizing they still had much of the fortress left to explore, including the mysterious upper level where the **princess** was likely being held, they prepared to escort **Julia** back to safety before continuing the mission deeper into the stronghold.

This is where the session ended.
 
Please start the recorder!
 
Experience: 4417 + 442 = 4859.

**Detail**

**Company Clandestine** had just finished fighting off **Ghasts** and a “Thrall” and the stench that came with them. The passage ahead continued to the southwest, where stairs descended into another lit section below. Before moving on, the company considered whether they had missed anything in the previous rooms. The small room with the two madmen seemed like exactly the sort of place someone might use to hide a secret door. The madmen would make perfect guards.
 
The company paused long enough for some healing. **Angelique** used the last of her “Cure Light Wounds” spells, and others used doses from their supplies. After that, **Eryn**, **Symon**, and **Cassandra** returned toward the room with the madmen while the others waited in the barrel room. **Eryn** quietly checked on the rescued prisoners and told them the company was going to look at one more thing before continuing the search for **Mary's** sister. **Jane** urged them to hurry, saying she was ready to get out of this place.
 
The unconscious man in the room had not moved. **Cassandra** went in first with her shield raised, checked him, and found him still unconscious. **Eryn** slipped in and examined the odd stone in the wall that had caught her attention. It was a secret door, slightly ajar. She could not believe they had missed it before, but they had been busy trying not to be killed.
 
The door opened inward and revealed a narrow passage. It was rough and looked manually dug out. It went about fifteen feet before turning east. It was not natural. A dim lantern glowed around the corner, almost burned out. **Eryn** went ahead and found a shovel, a bucket, and signs of digging. A passage leading north from there had partially collapsed in places, but there was another light beyond the debris. **Cassandra** went back for the others, and **X'or** examined the collapse. He judged that it could be cleared if they worked carefully. The roof looked shaky, but not likely to bury anyone if they were cautious.
 
**X'or** and **Cassandra** began clearing stones while the others waited. After about an hour, they opened enough of the passage for **X'or** to get through. Beyond the collapse, the passage turned north and came to an opening. Beyond, **Eryn** could hear sounds of the sea. She squeezed through and found that they were only a little west of the main gate. 
 
The company realized they had found a possible escape route. **Symon** pointed out that it could be used to move the prisoners back to the ship. They considered resting but decided not to yet. They did not know what condition **Julia** was in, or whether she was still alive, and in waiting she might lose her life. **Angelique** returned to gather the prisoners and told them the company had found a way out. They would take them to the ship for safekeeping and then return for **Mary’s** sister.
 
The prisoners agreed at once. They escorted them through the newly cleared passage, out to the shore, and back to the ship. The **company** and **Captain Hurst** then returned through the same route, back into the dungeon. By then, it was about half past midnight.
 
They reentered carefully. The unconscious man they had tied and gagged was awake and struggling, but still secure. **Eryn** checked ahead and found the nearby rooms and hallways as they had left them. She checked the trap at the top of the stairs and found that it was still locked in place. Then they moved back through the barrel room and through the door to the foul-smelling chamber toward the lower stairs.
 
**Symon** stepped on and triggered a pit trap. He dropped into it, took damage, and had to be pulled out. **Eryn** moved to help him but found another pit trap by falling in. She very quickly fell into another one. After that, the **company** slowed down. **Eryn** began checking each section of floor and each set of stairs before anyone moved forward.
 
The stairs continued downward through the stench and fog. The fog stayed low and seemed to come from nowhere. As **Eryn** checked the way, a **voice** called to her from below, inviting her to come closer, and saying that it was anxious to meet her. She asked whether there were any more traps between them and the speaker, but there was no answer. The **company** continued downward.
 
From below, they heard chains rattling, as if someone were struggling. The voice called again, saying they were just getting ready to have dinner and invited the **company** to join them. **Eryn** checked the next stairs and the floor beyond, then moved forward with the others close behind.
 
At the bottom, they found a large chamber lit dimly around an altar. The altar bore skulls, knives, and other objects. A huge skull motif marked the back of the chamber, and dark religious markings covered the area. The signs seemed connected to **Sahn** and dark magic, mixed with the **black dragon** markings they had already seen.
 
A **woman** was chained at the altar. She was gagged and struggling, with blood running from her neck and arms. **Eryn** moved toward her and saw that the woman was shaking her head, warning her away. **Cassandra** saw the girl indicating danger and began looking around. **Eryn** started working on the padlocks but then stopped. 
 
Then the attack came, from above.
 
Small, undead children dropped from the ceiling. They looked as if they had once been children, but no longer. They carried short glowing scimitar shaped swords made for their size. The creatures fell among the company and struck at them. The fight descended on them all at once. **Captain Hurst** joined **Angelique** in fighting of her attacker.
 
**Angelique** cast **Mirror Image** to protect herself. **Eryn** struck one of the creatures and interposed herself between the chained woman and her attacker. **X'or** and **Cassandra** pressed the attack with their weapons. **Cal-El** fought as well, but one of the undead children struck him and left him paralyzed. **Eryn** was later struck and paralyzed as well.
 
The fight became more dangerous when the mist around them gathered near big double doors to the east and began to take the shape of a person. The mist solidified into someone known as **The Manager**. There was no doubt what he was. He was a wicked looking **vampire**, and he moved into the fight that he’d sent his undead children into.
 
**The Manager** fixed his gaze on **X'or** and tried to charm him, but **X'or** resisted. **X'or** stepped forward and struck him hard. The battle continued around the altar. Angelique's images absorbed blows as she attempted to turn the undead. She managed to turn one of them and he scurried off, up the wall. **Cassandra**, **Angelique**, **Captain Hurst**, and **Symon** pressed the fight with the **Thralls** while **X'or** focused on the vampire. **Symon** used blink and popped in and out around the top of the stairs while supporting the others. The paralysis holding **Cal-El** wore off and he joined **X’or** in finishing off the vampire. Unfortunately, his **Scimitar of Speed** was broken and lost in the fight.
 
**Eryn’s** paralysis also wore off. She and **Cassandra** finished of the **Thrall** that had been hitting on her. The turned creature had last been seen moving along the ceiling to the southern end of the room. **Cal-El** went to free **Julia**. He removed her gag and then began trying to find the keys for the many locks that held her chained there. He found a key ring with ordinary iron keys and, in another pocket, a large-jeweled key. The jeweled key looked important, so they kept it.
 
**Cal-El** used the keys to unlock the woman from the altar. As soon as she was free, she asked whether her sister was okay. The **company** told her that her sister was waiting for her. The woman smiled, but she was weak from blood loss and nearly collapsed. **Angelique** gave her a potion and began bandaging her wounds. The bites were small and child-sized. From what **Angelique** could tell, the woman had not been drained to the point of death and was likely to survive.
 
The **company** searched **The Manager** and found a fancy longsword, scale mail, and a purse with about one hundred and fifty gold pieces. They also examined the weapons carried by the undead children. The short swords had a faint magical glow, and the **company** kept them to identify later.
 
**Eryn** asked **Julia** about **Princess Seraphina**. **Julia** told them that the **princess** had been there. She had been held downstairs only briefly, as if another place was being prepared for her. Then she had been taken away. When **Julia** last saw her, **Princess Seraphina** seemed to be in good condition. **Julia** believed they had moved her upstairs but was unsure if she was still here or not.
 
**Julia** did not know anything about the upper level. She had never been upstairs. She had heard some talk about a **password**, but she had not paid attention to it and could not tell them what it was.
 
The **company** considered how to reach the upper level. They remembered other entrances they had already seen: the locked door near the causeway, the cave side, and the main gate. They also now had the jeweled key found on **The Manager**. They decided the next step was to take **Julia** safely back to the ship and then return.
 
Before leaving the chamber, **Cal-El** checked the altar more closely. Behind it was a shelf or storage space with ceremonial items and many bottles. **Eryn** checked it and pulled them out. Most were empty potion bottles, but four still contained liquid. Three of them looked familiar. The fourth looked strange and unknown. They kept the potions so **Angelique** and **Symon** could examine them later.
 
The **company** had rescued **Julia**, learned that **Princess Seraphina** had been taken upstairs, recovered **The Manager's** key, and found more possible magical supplies. They still had the upper level of the fortress ahead of them.
 
This is where the session ended.
 
Please start the recorder!
 
Experience: 4417 + 442 = 4859.