From https://smolderingwizard.wordpress.com/ ... der-cults/
PCs:
Frakus (Dwarf FM 2)
Osan (Elf F/MU 4/2)
Omes (Half FM 4)
Arro (MU 3)
NPCs:
Marnes (Cleric 4)
Toetag (FM 1)
Turmyr (FM 1)
Burdar (Dw FM 1)
Truck (charmed Ogre)
Hirelings:
Arvay (wagon driver)
Samtik (linkboy/porter)
Session Dates: 9/26/21 and 11/7/21
Session Notes:
The party returned to the dungeon on the hill as soon as they were rested and back to full strength. At the dungeon entrance, they found the same tent but this time staffed by an Ogre and eight Gnolls, but still demanding a toll for entrance. Judging from the bodies strewn about the ruins atop the hill, Arro surmised that this group had replaced the last one forcefully.
There was a tense negotiation which almost ended in blows, save for Osan’s charm spell. He was able to convince Truck the now-charmed Ogre to join them in the dungeon, and the group wasted no time. They made a beeline for the second level, to an area they had not yet explored.
The group descended a long stair, entering into a finished chamber where they saw six of the stone-skinned humanoids (Kamenni) they had previously encountered on the first level. These Kamenni did not know the party, and were not as friendly as the last group they had encountered – the Kamenni rushed and attacked as soon as the party entered the room (LL note – terrible reaction roll).
While the Kamenni were outnumbered, one of them was able to petrify opponents with a touch, and both Omes and Truck were stone statues by the end of the melee. On the body of that Kamenni, Arro found a pouch of gems and a vial of dark red liquid (LL note – basilisk blood). He decided to taste a small bit of the liquid, and felt his limbs briefly stiffen and then return to normal when but a drop touched his tongue.
Frakus hoisted the stone body of Omes onto his shoulder and the group started back to town, however after exiting the dungeon, and as they were walking down the hill, Omes returned to flesh form. Realizing the petrification effect was short-lived, they rushed back to the second level, intent on finding Truck the Ogre. They got back too late, however, and Truck was gone by the time they returned. In his place was a Kamenni woman, who demanded to know who had killed the men in her clan. Osan, thinking quickly, told her the party was searching for an Ogre and that the Ogre had most likely killed the six Kamenni men. The woman vowed to hunt and kill the Ogre, with the help of a pet lizard she called “Spot”.
She led the party east into a room with straw on the floor and a large leather harness hanging on the wall but otherwise empty. The female Kamenni said that Spot must have wandered again, and ran off to tell the other females in the clan what had transpired.
The party decided to leave the Kamenni for now, and headed north, with Frakus and his darkvision scouting ahead. Frakus soon came running back, telling the party that he had seen a large lizard, maybe a basilisk, in the corridors up north. They decided it was best to avoid the lizard and headed east, through a door into a large chamber.
This appeared to be a library, or was at one time. Inside they found a hidden strongbox with 50 gold spider-embossed coins, and several tomes with odd-looking writing. To the south was a smaller room with an altar, on top of which was a large spider frozen in an amber-colored, hard substance. Next to the spider in amber they could see a dagger and several more of the spider coins.
Frakus grabbed the dagger, and Omes went to gather the coins – but as he lifted the first coin from the altar, the amber exploded, releasing the spider. Both Omes and Turmyr were wounded by the amber shards, but the party made quick work of the spider. Inside a hidden compartment in the altar’s base was a dark metal amulet on a chain with a spider inscribed on its face. The party gathered their loot and returned to town.
LL Notes:
The players were disappointed they lost yet another charmed Ogre. They were never able to find him in the dungeon that day.
The Kamenni I made a bit tougher by having some of them drink basilisk blood, which gave them the limited turn-to-stone power. Other humanoids who drink basilisk blood are not immune to its effects, and can be turned to stone permanently by the smallest taste. Arro got lucky with his save after tasting the blood.
Back in Larm, Arro used a read languages spell to study the tomes recovered from the spider temple, gaining a “spider climb” spell for his spell books. The spider amulet worked as a general ward against spiders of all sorts, as long as the bearer was not themselves attacking.