S01E15 - In the Caves Under Landro
General Summary
Session Recap: "Landro's Lockjaw and the Mutant Mayhem"
As the Stormbreakers crested a ragged ridge near Mount Ironrot, their breath caught at the sight of Landro—a titanic iron war machine half-consumed by the mountain itself. It loomed like a sleeping god, rusted but unbroken, a relic from the Day of Mourning. Kalyth, with the air of someone who has definitely seen worse, gave them the rundown: Landro wasn’t dead… just mostly dormant. A magical stasis field shimmered faintly around him, intact but puzzling.
Kanenas, never one to trust a nap that deep, activated his magical sight. “Yup, it’s sealed,” he muttered, squinting at the protective barrier like a disappointed locksmith. Discussion turned to tactics. Perhaps there was a crack in the armor. Perhaps it needed a password. Perhaps they should knock?
Before breaching anything ancient and possibly vengeful, the group took a more cautious approach. Kanenas asked about wildlife. Kalyth’s reply: “Oh, they’re still around. But if you meet one, it’s probably… wrong.” This was not comforting.
Tracking twisted critters in the moonlight, the party climbed toward a cave oozing gray sludge like it had the flu. Del, compelled by monkly curiosity (and poor impulse control), poked it with his staff. It came back slimy. Then he saw his own warped reflection staring back. Del responded as any reasonable adventurer would—he attacked it. His sword came away tainted, perhaps permanently cursed with poor fashion sense.
Inside the cave, they found a small pile of discarded weapons and armor—an adventurer’s equivalent of a "Do Not Enter" sign. Del, of course, entered. Naturally, the armor assembled itself into a murder construct. Del yelled down the tunnel for backup just as flying swords joined the fray, proving that gravity is more of a suggestion in cursed caves.
Ezra, ever the stalwart dwarven medic, jogged in muttering holy words and patched up Del mid-battle. Kanenas activated his Giant’s Might, shaking the cave floor like a tectonic toddler throwing a tantrum.
After smashing the steel attackers into scrap, the group took a much-needed short rest. Ezra, playing divine compass, used his magical rod to point out the safer of two paths—dry and unwelcoming versus wet and definitely trying to kill them. They picked dry.
A fork in the tunnels led them first to a seemingly empty cul-de-sac. Classic mistake. A BladeScout ambushed them with the subtlety of a falling piano, and a hulking Orange Warforged wielding a barbed glaive followed suit. Only Zith noticed them in time. He cast a ward, but even he couldn’t stop Glaive from opening up a veteran like a tin can.
Then, just as suddenly, the BladeScout vanished. Poof. Confusion reigned—some hadn’t even seen the attack. Was it real? Were they all hallucinating? Or had they simply been outpaced by a sneakier species of Warforged?
No time to wonder. Creaky metal sheets farther down the cave suddenly erupted as mutated horrors—the kind that would haunt a Warforged’s nightmares—burst through like deranged jackals.
Del squared up with one mutant and sent it sprawling. Kanenas, not to be outdone, took a psychic blast to the mind and mutated mid-fight. He didn’t just get bigger. He outgrew his armor, like a barbarian Hulk in mid-transformation, bursting plates and warping gear. Ezra thought maybe a monster had worn his friend like a coat. No—it was just Kanenas, now one size up and deeply inconvenient.
Ezra cast holy flame in every direction, attempting to protect Kanenas while tactically barbequing enemies. Kanenas tried to use Giant’s Might again, perhaps thinking his gear would catch up to his new frame. It did not. Now huge, he became more battlefield hazard than hero, bouncing off tunnel walls and blocking his allies like a walking terrain feature.
Ozus attempted to assist Del, but there was hardly room to breathe, let alone fight. Del managed a spell, but the cave—now filled with allies, enemies, and one overly enthusiastic Rune Knight—left little room for finesse.
Ezra Battlestorm
Deleitros Thrtreidi
Kanenas
Fighter 4
Warlock 3
19
12
16
14
10
13
Ozus
Cleric 12
15
17
15
8
19
12
Zith Zinyra
Assassin 4
Diviner 6
10
18
12
18
11
8
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