Session 58: A New Friend

The adventurers return to Rappan Athuk and make a new friend.

This write up is based on Kay’s notes from our June 8, 2025 session. (Played live, in person!) Thanks to Kay for the proofreading and JoJo for the photos.

Continued from: More Ogres

Location: Castle Calaelen, Eastreach Provence.

Date: Wednesday, June 14, 3517

6 AM
We were back at the castle. We had a breakfast discussion, where should we go next? Back to the ogres’ cave, where we know what to expect, or back past the spiker’s cavern into the unknown? We settled on known, it is ogres, then.

9 AM
We arrived at the entrance to the Mouth of Doom with no encounters along the way.

10 AM
At the Fountain of Pestilence we found roaches covering the floor, but they didn’t attack so we just stepped on them getting through. It took 10 minutes to get to the zombie horse stables in the Gut, and then we walked the 11 miles to the Last One Inn.

2:30 PM
At the inn, then going 15 miles SE toward the Weird Plantation; 6 hours later we arrived at the upper ramp of the plantation.

8:30 PM
At the plantation, we didn’t see any of the creatures that were here before. We took a break to have food at the top of the ramp; Elron used one of his goodberries instead of rations.

9 PM
Descended down the ramp to the lower level at the south end, avoiding the vegetation; walking east down the hallway for 10 miles (4 hours). 

June 15

1 AM
We arrived at the Gates of Gloom; Elron cast goodberries before we rested. Elron was on the first watch at 2:20 AM when 7 goblins came down the stream tunnel from the northwest; they looked like an adventuring group like us. Elron alerted the group, and opened fire with his sling; his first shot hit and killed the first goblin in line; his second shot missed, his third hit and killed the second goblin. Breena moved to the edge of the stairs and cast magic missile (3 missiles). Two missiles hit the third goblin in line who died, and the third missile hit the 4^th goblin in line. The rest of the goblins yelled, “What’s happening?” in Goblin and ran off up the tunnel to the northwest.

Elron began looting the bodies. 

Loot: 1 pp, 5 gp, 5 ep, 18 sp, 18 cp, a blood sausage, a bundle of twigs, a metal whistle (Blaze took it), a cloth game board with tokens in black and white, and a 5 lb iron ingot; we left the ingot and hid it on the stairs for pick up later. Elron took the coins and the game board/tokens. Sinis cast detect magic on all our loot but found nothing.

9:00 AM
We took the remainder of our long rest, and then, for 6 hours, walked 14 miles east down the hallway to the entrance to the ogres’ cave. As we planned, Blaze got into position at the end of the tunnel stairs, and held her action until the ogres were in the tunnel and lined up. Elron used stealth to go to the mouth of the cave.

3:00 PM
Elron’s sling hit the first ogre from behind for a respectable amount of damage; his second shot missed; his third shot hit an ogre wearing a backpack and got his attention. Elron ran back to Blaze’s position and waited for them to follow him.

Five ogres charged into the stair’s tunnel and Blaze cast lightning bolt, singeing all of them; she then moved up the stairs into the hallway. The first ogre swung his club at her but she blocked it. Elron ran up the passage into the hallway and ripped his sling when he tried to use it. Blaze cast witch bolt, hitting the first ogre in line and killed it. The ogre with the backpack came up the passage next; the rest came behind him. The ogre in front threw a javelin at Elron, but it glanced off his armor.

Breena cast magic missile and all three missiles hit the first one standing. Elron pulled out another sling and missed with the first shot; the second and third stones hit the ogre with the backpack and killed it. Blaze cast witch bolt on the ogre behind it and hit. There were now two dead ogres in the way of the rest, nearly blocking the passage to the hallway. Blaze’s witch bolt continued damaging ogre #3, which Breena then hit with Dragons Breath, finishing it off.

Now there were three dead ogres blocking the passage. The rest of the ogres advanced over their dead bodies and we heard another one coming around the corner from the cave. The first ogre in line swung at Blaze but missed. Elron used his sling on it; the first shot missed, the second one hit for a lot of damage. Blaze cast another lightning bolt on the three ogres in a line. The first and second died immediately, and the third took serious damage. It turned and ran. Breena climbed on top of the dead ogres and cast magic missile, all three hit the running ogre.

Artie cast fire bolt, but missed, hitting the wall instead. 

So now there were five dead ogres, and three live ones running away.

Elron looted the bodies. Loot: 13 gp, 5 great clubs, 5 javelins.

Going into the cave now, Blaze got a sense of wrongness. Artie was shivering in fear and stayed close to Blaze. Breena stepped into the room, and it felt wrong and scary to her; Sinis was frightened as well. Parahelia stepped in and figured it was due to an evil temple nearby, probably the priests of Orcus. We’ll look out for men in red robes. 

It is a large cave with a number of tunnels going off in several directions. Elron suggested that we put our right shoulders to the wall and follow it around, going down the side tunnels as we get to them. As we started off to the right, we noticed a small alley formed between two large pillar-like stone columns in the center of the cave. There seemed to be a row of sacks along the walls inside.

We investigated. There were 8 sacks, and Artie checked them for traps.

He only found bad smells.

Sack #1: Three dead giant rats, a large wheel of cheese, 140 sp, 3 full oil flasks, 1 large pretty rock.

Artie identified the rock as an uncut alexandrite worth about 1,000 gp. 

Sack #2: Half of a week-old dead elf wearing elven chain mail, a long sword etched with silver and a golden pommel and quillons (worth 200 gp), 6 silver arrows in a leather quiver, 230 sp.

Sack #3: A small cask of fine brandy, 1 heavy crossbow, a steel breastplate of dwarven manufacture, a ceramic pot with 6 doses of some kind of medicine, 325 cp, 120 sp.

Sack #4: A 2-ft-square silver mirror, a silver/sapphire ring (30 gp), a mummified human arm, a battered book by a halfling titled, “Wanderings of Helman Hairfoot,” with a rose pressed in it; and a rusted crowbar.

Sack #5: Breena checked and found an ivory scroll case (worth 10 gp) which contained a map; 44 gp, a silver helmet with a garnet, 2 dead giant rats and 1 dead stirge. 

Sack #6: Blaze found a body of a wizard with tattered robes and a silver dagger, 4 large rocks, a damaged spellbook with 2 spells still legible: dark vision and dispel magic; 340 sp, and 100 gp.

Sack #7: Elron checked that one and found 3 flasks of holy water, a case with 12 crossbow bolts, and 120 gp.

Sack #8: 5 dead giant rats, a severed halfling head with an earring, a mantle (clothing), 6 large rusty iron spikes, and a sack with 10 fresh oranges. Artie took the earring. 

… and a large pile of crap, probably from the ogres.

The book was written in halfling, so Artie took an hour and read it to us. It was a personal diary that stopped on day May 23, about 2 weeks ago. The descriptions appeared to be about a group of five adventurers, their journey that led from a town called Amrin Ferry, to the mausoleum, to this room, and then the entries stopped. Blaze wrote down the translation into Common for our reference.

The adventurers:

Helman Hairfoot, halfling rogue

Collette Earle, Paladin of Muir

Wikvaya, the Plainsman Wizard

Bariroum Graybelt, Hill Dwarf fighter

Undntilrmo Kaethar, High Elf Fighter (Blaze called him ‘Unpronouncable Kaethar’)

We appear to have found the remains of the halfling, the elf, and the wizard.
 

The map from bag #5 had directions written on the back:

“Follow the Old South Road to the Canyon River Bridge. There is a trail along the Canyon River, follow it for about 10 miles until you get to the remains of an old dock where there are three rotted pylons sticking above the water. Go due south until you get to the base of the hills.

 

THERE WAS ONCE AN ORCUS CULT FORT THERE, BUT IT WAS BURNED YEARS AGO. IF YOU FIND SOME BURNED WOOD YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT AREA. THE PRIESTS OF ORCUS EXCAVATED AN UNDERGROUND COMPLEX BENEATH THE FORT WITH TUNNELS LEADING INTO THE HILLS. THE CULT ABANDONED THE AREA AS THEY MOVED DEEPER AND GOBLINS MOVED IN.

 

BELOW THE COMPLEX ARE CONNECTIONS TO THE MAIN RAPPAN ATHUK.” 

Between the map’s directions and the halfling’s journal, we had a relatively complete description of how to get out of here from this location, back to the surface near the mausoleum, and overland back to a trade town called Amrin Ferry.

Elron thought the ogres went down stairs to the north, and we decided not to follow.

We continued on along the right wall; the next tunnel opening to the west, we found a hallway and door to the north and next to a hallway going west. Artie checked out a door on the south wall of the hall; he thinks it’s part of a trap and that it can’t be unlocked from this side; we left it alone, and went north down the hall to the end, a curved T-intersection turning right and left; it was more rough-cut to the left. To the right, stairs go up to the north. Left goes into a room carved into the wall; the floor was littered with human bones and junk. We looked through the junk on the floor; Sinis cast detect magic from the middle of the room but found nothing in the room, but he discovered that the mantle we took from one of the sacks has protective magic. Sinis cast Identify Magic on it and discovered it’s a Mantle of Hope, extremely rare.  While wearing it, undead creatures have a disadvantage on attacks. The elven chainmail was also magic and can be worn by anyone. The pot of medicine is six doses of an antitoxin for poison already ingested.

We had a discussion on who should get the mantle. Artie thinks it should be Breena because she has the lowest armor in the group. Elron thinks it should be one of the first line fighters, either Blaze or himself. Blaze says she has ranged weapons, so it should be Elron. She wouldn’t mind taking the elven chainmail though, as she’s out of shield spells until her next long rest. 

5 PM
It took 10 minutes to get back to the main cave and then we went around to the right into a large cavern filled with piles of garbage. We all puked our guts out and hurried back quickly to the main cave, then went around to the right into a tunnel that bends right back to the cave with the garbage. This time we responded better (no puking), and continued through the room to a tunnel on the right.

As we were leaving the room, Artie felt a slimy tentacle wrap around his chest. He yelled, “Something’s got me!”

Artie was at the end of our line and there was a giant tentacle wrapped around him. Behind him, a creature said, “Me friend! You kill ogres?”

“Yes,” we replied.

It said, “Bring them to me. I give you present.”

Blaze asked its name. “Max, I Max. Bring me ogres.” The creature was an otyugh.

6 PM
We got the bodies of the five ogres and the half-an-elf, and put them in a pile; it ate the elf in one bite. He picked up one of the ogres in one tentacle and said, “Not ripe yet,” and put it in one of the piles of garbage. He did the same with the others. 

The lair of Max was in one of the garbage piles. Max dug through the pile and pulled out a full set of plate armor including gauntlets, worth about 800-900 gp.

Max said, “Bring me more ogres and I find more presents.” 

Blaze asked Max about what types of creatures were down here. Max told us about little flying things, and red robed humans that dump their garbage in his cave. They came through the way we came from. Elron told Max we’ll be happy to bring you stuff.

We left his garbage room, took the west tunnel that turned north, went into the right-hand tunnel, where there’s a finished area, a hall that goes over the tunnel we were in.

 

Continued in Session 59 - Red Robes