Session 2: Frog Games - Scratching in the Dark - Part 2
General Summary
The party descended warily into the gloom of the damp tavern cellar, the noise from the street above instantly silenced as Martyn Fenns shut the doors behind them.
The silence was broken by the sound of slowly dripping water and chittering noises in the distance. As their eyes adjusted to the low-light they found an untidy cellar. It was clear that only the area around the doors to the street had been used much recently. The party found an open door to the north leading to a room containing broken up crates. Some of the crates had chicken-wire on them, seeming almost like a cage for something which escaped long ago....
Whilst Brother Tomas and Peasant were exploring this area they heard shouts from the main room. Rushing out quickly they found the rest of the party under attack by filthy and rabid rats the size of small dogs - their broken yellow teeth standing out in the darkness as they rushed hungrily to attack.
The party fought the rats off as best they could and finally bested the disease ridden creatures. Relived to still be alive and about to congratulate each other, the party became aware that Toothfairy had not been so lucky, sustaining a nasty bite to his throat during the melee. Carrying him outside and away from the damp cellar they steeled themselves and prepared to explore the cellar again....
On further exploration, stepping over the bodies of the rats, they discovered another door at the back of the cellar. This door had a large area missing bottom left which appeared to have been gnawed at. The door was locked but proved no obstruction to Peasant who smashed through the rotting door with one blow from his hammer. The party stepped through the door into a smaller holding area. A chest resided here and was found to contain some gold and 20 bottles of wine, an unusual brew however as each bottle contained the body of small spider. Snakehead took a swig but there seemed to be no ill-effect on him.
This room turned from smooth brick walls into a cavern tunnel stretching off into the darkness and the ominous smell of many, dirty and hairy animal bodies assaulted the nose, particularly repugnant to Peasant with his heightened senses. Toothfairy rejoined the party, catching them by surprise, Ma Bravel had patched him outside with her mixtures of pastes and unguents and he was ready to return immediately to the fight.
As the party delved deeper into the cavern complex they once again encountered large rats but were now prepared for these and dispatched the rats quickly. At one point the party came across a particularly large rat which they realised was actually a female rat with young. The party mercilessly slew them all standing shoulder to shoulder in the cramped, confined quarters of the small, dank and unpleasantly warm nest area.
The narrow path through the tunnels twisted and turned with only the magical light emanating from Peasant's shield to guide them.
As they continued on, the smell of rodent faded but instead the walls became covered in webs. In one large cavern the party found several human sized cocoons of woven spider-silk. As the intrepid band moved through the room one of the cocoons moved, the party investigated and found a human imprisoned within. Once cut free, Zalora introduced himself to the party quickly and quietly. He grimly grabbed a weapon, steeled himself against his hunger and followed the party deeper underground, eager to avenge himself on his captors.
The source of the webbing quickly become more obvious, more cocoons and a strange spider shrine were encountered. Snakehead was caught alone whilst exploring another cave opening and attacked by thousands of tiny spiders as they hatched out from eggs. He managed to escape back to the rest of the party, smarting from the many bites he received fighting them off.
The strange spider shrine was guarded by two hulking spiders, their mutli-faceted eyes glinting in the shield light and huge mandibles biting out at Peasant eagerly. But he stood firm, holding them off and with aid from the other party members the spiders were defeated. The crude shrine was found to house several good quality gems and some gold which the party removed. Brother Tomas gathered some samples from the bodies of the spiders as requested by Ma Bravel to aid in her treatment of younger boy, Theo.
Further on in the complex the smell of rotting meat became almost overwhelming as the adventurers discovered more cocoons who residents had long ago passed away. As they moved on again a creature inside a small cocoon groaned and the party discovered the missing boy, Mallic. As they cut him down, they suddenly realised they were being watched from lose-by by hundreds of small hungry eyes and a massive red spider surrounded by spider eggs.
Rushing to the attack Zalora threw a burning torch into the spider queen's lair setting fire to the many thick webs hindering their progress. A fierce fight then ensued with the queen and hatchling spider swarms attacking mercilessly. It was during this fight that the party lost one of it's members, Toothfairy. He had valiantly attacked the spider queen but was crushed and poisoned by her powerful mandibles. The party fought on with renewed ferocity, dispatching the queen. With heavy hearts they carried Toothfairy's body out of the caves....
The remaining party members and Zalora found their way back out of the caves and into daylight. The gathered crowd has dispersed and the party headed into the Tavern. Mallic was cured much to the relief of his mother and brother but Martyn Fenns seemed quite surprised to see the companions and even more surprised to see Zalora, whom he had sent into the cellar to investigate the caves several days before. Zalora made it clear how angry he was about being abandoned and Fenns bustled the party into his office to avid an embarrassing scene. It became clear he did not want the authorities to know about the caves and especially the spider wine bottles, he came to a deal with the adventurers to keep it all quiet and they left the inn considerably better off than when they arrived! Peasant kept the bottles but the party agreed not to tell the authorities.
The companions headed to the Temple of Vanitthu with heavy hearts to enquire about burial for Toothfairy. The High Priestess kindly agreed to hold his body until the next day when the party promised to return to collect him.
The party returned to the Hanging Rose Tavern for a well-earned rest.
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