Dungeon Crawl: part 1

Introduction

Solomon got back to the village with the adventurers, hired some lads to escort him home, then got on his way. 

The adventurers received unexpected help from Valthrun, the town sage. He told them about the history of the ruined keep near the town, how it was built to seal a rift to the Shadowfell, and how the resident paladin went mad due to the creeping influences of that evil realm. A villager let them know of goblins roaming around the ruins, so that seemed a good enough (indeed, the only available) lead.

A new party member

At this point, Thrall, the wilden shaman joined the party. He was sent by his master at the request of Solomon. The old man still had a trick up his sleeve!

Dungeon Crawling

The adventurers soon reached the ruined keep and descended into its halls. The adventure transitioned into an old-fashioned dungeon crawl. 

DM's note. A couple failed checks ensured that the wizard now had a crippling fear of enclosed stone chambers. When first descending into the ruins, she had a flashback of the dimensional prison, and perceived the paladin trying to shake her back to reality as a demon! He was rewarded with magic arrow to the face. (And no, I didn't just make it up. I asked the player in advance what her character would do in an enclosed space with a demon charging her. He he he.)

The adventurers first encountered a goblin guard room. The paladin and the warlord kept them back, while the druid tried a flanking maneuver. The rest of the party tried to help out the shaman, who fell into a pit trap enclosed by the four pillars (corks) and was being savagely attacked by a rat swarm.

The paladin expresses his viewpoint on how the party should proceed further on.

No more pictures about this level, although there were some highlights.

The adventurers came upon a torture chamber, where they were beset upon by a blood-crazed hobgoblin torturer. He just didn't seem to feel any pain. The rogue noticed that his armor drank his blood. One should obviously immediately put on any such armor, right? Of course! 

DM's note: This was a nice addition to the adventure. I had previously asked my players whether they want any special magic item for their character. The rogue gave me a picture of a black leather armor decorated with teeth. No matter what it does, his tiefling needs to wear that! So I adapted one of the items existing in the adventure for... dramatic purposes. Right up to the end of the adventure, the rogue was many times taken over by the malign intelligence of the armor, clouding his mind with bloodlust and forcing him to kill. Never did he truly figure out a way to control the armor.

Another interesting addition was a goblin found imprisoned in the torture chamber's cells. Splug, a cowardly cheater, was imprisoned for stealing food. He was very intimidated by the warlord, and had become her personal slave.

Further on, a part of the keep's floor was excavated by the goblins in search of treasure. The adventurers rushed onto the rickety planks (with the paladin obviously falling down) and quickly murdered them. The last one offered a trinket for his life, but the paladin struck him down, earning the wrath of his righteous god, Bahamut.

Finally, the party chanced upon the boss of the goblins. Splug uncovered a secret passage, leading straight to the sleeping quarters of the boss. The rogue neatly sneaked up to the snoring goblin, and cut open his throat, killing him instantly. The other goblins were then alerted, but the cramped corridors proved their undoing, as the druid's flaming seeds killed them in droves.

Resolution

The party soon discovered steps that descended down to the second level of the ruins and decided to explore further.