Play Session 11/15/21 - Finding Varram

Finding Varram

After a night of fitful sleep in as dark a corner of the dungeon the group could find, they woke to the smells of Jilfaen cooking the group a quick breakfast. Several ate quickly and began readying themselves for the final assault into this temple/dungeon. This hadn't been as easy an affair as the adventurers had hoped it would be. The instructions were simple: find a dwarf named Varram the White who was headed to the serpent hills and question him concerning dragon masks. But ever since the attack by trolls at the entrance to the ruined temple, the challenges had been constant. Traps, demons, construct monsters from a tile mosaic, lizardmen, wraiths, and zombies. That's why the group was simply exhausted. They couldn't have gone further without recovering their health and some spells for the spellcasters. Jorn was too eager. But then again, he relied on his strength more than his companions who required study and rest to prepare their most potent attacks and defenses. Thankfully Jilfaen in dire wolf form had circled the way all canines do before slumping to the ground in sleep. She simply wasn't going to take another step, and therefore it was decided for the group. Wise move on her part. Jorn might have led them all to their deaths in his eagerness to finish the job.
Once the group was ready, Onyx and Robin took the lead and stealthily made their way down the passageways checking for traps and creatures that might impede our way to Varram. One of the casters heard Gojira and Jorn clanking around in their noisy chainmail and thankfully thought it best to cast a Pass Without Trace spell on the group. The adventurers continued down the hallway observing a branching hallway on the right and left and some doors which seemed to be impossibly closed (perhaps through magic) to the group. The hallway bent and some of the more observant of the party picked up on sounds within the doorway on the right. Andhero cast bless on several group members quietly under his breath. Robin eased around the doorway to see several more lizard men and women in the cavernous room along with an unconscious dwarf held at knifepoint. The group only had a few short seconds to talk over the situation and decide what to do. Jorn decided to make himself known and hail the leader to a parlay.
Jorn stepped into view and shouted,

"Halt! Let's talk!"

Jorn was not brandishing a weapon so as to hopefully engage in dialogue long enough to understand where the real threat was coming from. The Yuan-ti woman hissed a dismissive response,

"Sssshould you talk to food?"

That response was all Jilfaen needed to make up her mind what she should do. She stepped around the doorway and launched a call lightning spell on the leader. Negotiations were short.
Several Yuan-ti spellcasters were encircling the leader while a couple lizardmen were nearer the group. Jorn rushed in headlong toward the Yuan-ti leader who had the dwarf in one hand and a decorative knife in the other. He couldn't quite close the distance in one round, but his full attention was to attempt to save Varram at the cost of his own life if needed so that at least the information about what he knew of the dragon cult could be brought back to King Melandrach and the rest of the council in Waterdeep. Robin utilized his expertise with his bow and magical prowess to also cause mental pain to those unfortunate enough to become his targets. Jilfaen used her druid magic to great effect on as well. Onyx decided to find the biggest threat in the room and rushed headlong into a snakelike monstrosity who towered over him. It was a brave act but could very well have cost him his life. The snake creature's bite was poisonous and it could grapple its foes much like an anaconda can, and that's just what happened. Thankfully Gojira was there to help deal damage to the beast or things could have been much worse. Andhero cast spiritual weapon and attempted to keep everyone alive as a good dwarf healer should. Jorn made it to the leader and used his mace to bludgeon her to death before she could hurt the dwarf. The knife fell to the ground unused. Jorn tore into some of the other spellcasters once she was dispatched. After a few short rounds, the rush of battle was replaced with some hard breathing as everyone realized that they were victorious. Gojira rushed to the unconscious dwarf to administer a healing potion, but Jorn waved him aside instead using his divine power to push Tyr's healing into the dwarf who Jorn hoped would be Varram.
This concludes the session. Many thanks to Chris for DMing this whole dungeon crawl. It's been several weeks of great adventure! The next session will be more RP heavy. Talking to Varram, taking that information back to the council, and then leveling up our characters to level 9.