Meet 84, Adv 5, 5/11/19

This pretty much wrapped up the tail ends of the Crackling Terror - introduction for the party to the lands around Erylond and how the Terror Dungeon operates. Xp was light and on purpose, with the group most likely training, realizing what they need to buy and equip on a going forward, and how the future delves should go.

However, for the first time in a long time (like 15-20 years), we had a person at the table that just didn't fit in with the rest of the group and I had to let him go. He was an earnest player who really wanted to fit in, but his play and conversation didn't mesh with the rest of the table. It sucks, but it does happen, and a good DM and Player recognizes this and without rancor or hard feelings, move on - because as we've all known, there will be other games and other tables and other adventures and the sweet spot will come around at another time. He was decent in his acceptance and we both parted as men without problems.

So I am going to NOT look for someone for a few months to give the party a break and just play - maybe July we'll look for the 6th player again although I have been told by a former player that he strongly anticipates returning to us before the year is up - so we shall have to wait and see.

Write up follows:

The Delving group emerged from the Terror Dungeon exhausted and low on hit points and spells, making their way wearily out of the antechamber and through Bork Keep to the Visitor’s Hall. Once there they removed what armor and filthy clothes they had and then made their way to see if Lord Corface Bork would be willing to meet with them. We were granted a short audience with the aged lord and caught the nobleman up with our exploits in the dungeon.

The larger reason for our conversation was to comment on the issue we had spied in our travels. There was a section of the ceiling that showed a crack in it, 60’ below the ground, in which a small but constant single drip of water was coming through and into the place. Since the Dungeon was not able to be entered anywhere else but the one entrance, this made the group concerned that there might be another way in or out.

Pacing estimated the crack to be north of the keep in the fields beyond, and although there were some wells there, nowhere was there a way in. In fact over the last 15 years, samples of digging and driving of long shafts showed no possible way to breach the dungeon itself – except for the place here within the keep. Lord Bork did inform us that there were at least 3 other small defacements to the dungeon that had appeared over the last year: one that had a bit of smoke coming through, one that had a faint movement of air as if from a breeze, and another ceiling crack that smelled faintly of soil and tilled earth.

By 4 we were done, checked in with Percy and Hjalgrim, and decided that on the morrow, Spiritmonth the 11th, we were going to have out walk back at long last to Erylond.

As for the Surface grouping, when they left Bork Keep on Spiritmonth the 8th, it was with Avulstein, Darius, Barb, Thalin, Merica, and Shim – with the necromancer keeping up a long litany of his anger at the situation, and his constant harping that going into the dungeon was foolhardy and stupid and we shouldn’t do it. What gain? Where is it? We’ve been bleeding health and equipment left and right with nothing to show for it except possibly dying at an inopportune time.

He was rude and condescending to most everyone save Thalin and Barb. The jibes were going back and forth and it was getting heated until at one point he was isolated and hit with a sleep spell while near Thalin (who was immune to it) and knocked out. Picking the half-orc up, we walked with him some time slung across Barb’s shoulders while Darius and Shim had a long conversation with Salarahadra about the fire mephit and her current ties to Avulstein.

She was not happy and wanted Avulstein to change his ways back to the way he used to be some months ago or get out of the bonding between the two of them. After the necromancer woke up, befuddled as to why he fell asleep and accepting of the fact that he was exhausted and worn out from being so emotionally charged, we continued on our way, the conversation not picked up again until we were near the walls of Erylond. Avulstein announced that he was going back to Sorton to train under Speaker for the Dead Payrlis and was contemplating what would occur after that.

We wanted him to reconsider, there is the Arcane Academy here AND 6 different Wizard Towers not to mention other untowered wizards who might want someone to apprentice under them. He was belligerent and suggested strongly we do the same. In the interest of keeping the peace we let the conversation linger and agreed to getting a room at the Flying Pegasus and discussing it tomorrow.

Once in the town we let Avulstein go while we took a circuitous route away from him and around the city to get to the Greater Rand Sellsword and Adventuring Guild. Once there we had audience with Pha-iyr Carom and presented him with the signed Letter of Credit from King Seljack. We discussed with the elven fixer what had happened, why we were delayed, and Seljack’s demeanor during the exchanges we had with him.

We did touch upon the issue that the “blow up” in the warehouse was possibly a plant and executed by one of Seljack’s people for the purpose of embarrassing the GRSAG, getting them to pay Seljack a large stipend (which we did), and more importantly – show a bit of strength and back and forth between the GRSAG and Canaslan’s newly formed adventuring group. In further discussion Pha-iyr conceded there was no clear path to winning for him no matter what tack he tried, and any solution would give King Seljack some sort of leg up over him.

We discussed sleeping here in the common room, and what the cost of a flat would be or a house that the GRSAG might own somewhere in Erylond. We were informed of a place on the south end of town that would most likely suffice for us – and at 45 nobles for the month rent – seemed cheap enough all things considered.

We opted to stay here tonight, avoiding the Flying Pegasus and Avulstein, and just relaxing after a week plus of back and forth non-stop frantic moving. At the end of our conversation Pha-iyr did want to know what our thoughts were concerning Peris and how he performed for the party. The group was…mixed. The grey elven wizard has been difficult to meld with the group and many times his statements and action were seen as grating and at odds with what we would have expected of the potential applicant. We decided to hold off on our final decision until the Delving Group returned from the Dungeon and gave a field report on his last actions down there and with them.

We rested and the next day, split up with Thalin standing online outside the Adventuring Guild to possibly buy some healing potions from Nythil, and the rest of the group heading to Julian the Sage to get some information from him. We learned a few things – Nythil’s potions always heal the same amount every time they are drunk and he was ANXIOUS to sell a case of TWENTY to Thalin for only 150 nobles. Excuse me?

Turns out they were addictive – and if hurt – you would want to drink one to feel better. The first case is really cheap – but after that the price does go up.

Ugh.

And Julian shared some information with the group about possibly a silvered steel weapon – and they can be found in the Terror Dungeon behind one of the Glyph Gates near Entrance 1 – and it has something to do with Lathandar, the elven god of the dawn and champion against undead. Nice – we want to do that.

He was a bit secretive and had locked up his house and on conversation learned that he was visited by an Ambassador from Emberia and Lord Emberwine who was searching for some relic and Siggurd’s father had been mentioned. Julian realized the being was a powerful psychic and got some information out of the sage before his own personal defenses and ward had kicked in and protected him from further prying. Since then he’s been keeping himself ensconced in his home for now and avoiding outside meetings if at all possible.

Meet 83, Adv 5, 5/4/19

The party finished up the "Chime" part of the Glyph Gates which will allow them to no longer worry about the 8 hour limit before the exits move - and should let them explore a bit away from the local rooms near the exits. There are 20 Glyph Gates in the Dungeon and some are common, others less so, and a few rare. They all require different material to open them and once opened, a smaller side dungeon and quest and reward is there.

Write up follows:

Looking into the chamber not one person in the group wanted to actually step in. Created from a dozen or so bipedal creatures all melted together, the figure was a piteous mess of moans and sobs. The smell was rank and it was sitting in a slurry mess of its own waste product. The cancerous wooden lump upon its combined backs and skulls was the zebrawood we would need to “harvest” and hack away – and it would require stepping in and getting close and personal with the beast.

The biggest relief was that the size of the beast made it impossible to step out of the room since the door, sizeable at 8’ by 4’, was still too small for it to navigate through. We tossed bits of food, some of it soaked in blood, and the figure at the offerings disgustingly and with obvious relish. Threats with a spear had it cover away, the beast moving in a wave of barely conflicting flesh. At one point we even managed to see it devour part of its own anatomy, sucking the flesh off its fingers in an orgiastic display of contentment.

We went through our options and the best bet was to have Dizzy and Negan alternate the summoning of creatures and hope we could get one that was capable of wielding one of Brading’s axes to do the job. We ended up with a kobold first, clad in leathers and seeming to be an engineer of so sort. With the axe in his hand he went in and began to hack at the beast.

The chimera sobbed and wailed and cried piteously. Each axe blow cause fresh blood to run down the carbuncle and even though the kobold was making good progress, as it was finishing up the second part of its cuts, it began to cry and sob, moan and wail. It staggered out of the room and curled up into a fetal position, begging not to go back in. We sent it in and it failed to finish the job, dropping its axe and lying on the ground in misery. Gryg stepped in to get the axe and the psychic miasma was almost too much for the dwarf who started to weep as well.

Connal then stepped in and dragged Gryg out before he was affected, the axe coming with them and the kobold was dismissed. Taking stock of the situation the cutting need to be finished and we would need another creature, hopefully one that wouldn’t be as mentally affected by the chimera’s cries. Another summoning occurred and this time – a clad skeleton appeared! Practically perfect!!

Giving the skeleton the axe, we sent it into the room and it had zero compunction in hacking the rest of the zebrawood out of the chimera’s back. Coming out it handed it to us and then, we sent it BACK in to get another chunk! It succeeded a second time and then the chimera finally reared up and tried to smother/absorb the skeleton. We had it toss the wood and axe to us, gathered them up, and then dismissed the creature, letting the door close.

Following the gnomes advice, we loaded the zebrawood into the machine, clamping it place. There was another clunk and the stones on the far wall fell off. The newest stone showed an “R” to go along with the C, A, V, and E we already had. The gnomes were pointing to the north wall and saying, “Per…Fec…Sea…”

A quick look of the letters gave us Carve, so after getting the hint “Cut”, we placed the letters and the last secret door opened. The smell of flowers and fresh earth came out. There was a hall area covered with increasing dirt and loam and wines until it opened to a larger room 30’x 20’ where lots of plants filled the floor and walls. There were firefly looking creatures flitting about slowly – at least a dozen, definitely more. And it seemed like a few pedestals barely a foot and a half tall were on the floor.

Bit by bit we looked around with light stones and tossing food. The fireflies ignored the light but did take what food we tossed in, dragging them slowly through the air and out of sight. Getting closer down the hall but NOT into the room (none of the fireflies ever made it into the hall even once) we could tell they were inch and a half tall naked male and female fairies, each of them illuminating light from their skin. All we heard were strange tinkling when they would get close and they did not seemingly reply to anything we said.

On the pedestals, five we could see, were bells – each of them of differing sizes, composed of brass and with zebrawood handles. We wanted to get a better look at the bells and Connal and Peris both entered with shields at the ready. But the fairies drew closer and eventually got close enough to sit on their ear – and this close, the two adventurers could actually understand them! One was Rose, the other Chrysanthemum, and they wanted the group to pick up the bells and ring the perfect “C”.

We looked under the two closest bells and one had a “3” on the underside, the other had a “4”. A look around the room at this point showed 2 other pedestals buried in the foliage also with bells. So we had 7 of them, which was the right one?

According to the fairies, the right one would have them all be fantastically happy and cause the birth of NEW fairies – the wrong one would drive them all deranged and they would whip around the room in a frenzy of flying burning bodies and some would die. Which is the right one? They don’t know – but they know it when they hear it.

We were leaning towards the 3rd bell since there were 7 musical notes, but we wanted the perfect C and what if they were octaves instead of notes? The only hint we had was the bells were VERY dissimilar in size so the party thought it was octaves instead. Which meant the 4th bell would be the Perfect C – the one in the middle. The gnomes weren’t looking for C, but Perfect C.

So with great care Connal lifted the 4th one and rang it. And it was correct. The room grew with new life and more flowers, the fairies all whipped around in graceful loops and song, and from some of the pods, 4 more fairies were born and were greeted to the room! We left the chamber with the right bell, the fairies remaining behind, and the door closed.

From there we added the bell to the tray and there was more clunks and the stones fell from the wall. The gnomes were now saying “Ack..Tih..Vate.” again and again, pointing at the north wall. Looking at the base of the machine, two more letter stones appeared and “A” and an “I”. We had C, A, R, V, and E already and we were stuck on the word until we touched the machine and the gnomes added the hint “Want” to their repetitions.

AVARICE.

With the letters placed on the wall, the room vented and cooled off a bit and the machine trundled and twisted and ground until there was a series of chiming noises and we had a wire wrapped wound set of chimes on a zebrawood handle that upon taking, had a faint flash of reddish light and we were back in the hall right outside the room of the Glyph Gate. Awesome!

We had Brading give us a guess of 2:30 as to the time (almost 3 hours so far down here) and we decided we were going to go back to the steps and out of the dungeon. Sybil and Dizzy were on point and as we came close enough to the south passage, our two scouts stopped the party and backed us up quick. At the extreme limit of their infravision range, they saw two almost 9’ tall heat sources down the hall. They think they moved back fast enough to avoid being seen but we have a problem – if the party tries to get to the south passage, they WILL be within infravision range of the assumed ogres.

We needed a distraction.

So once again, we summoned a monster and this time a giant rat appeared. Negan gave it explicit instructions to RUN at the Ogres and then if possible, KEEP running. The rat took off and within a few moments we heard excited calls in Ogrish as they tried to hit the rat, missed, and then ran after it giving chase.

Our chance and now.

We booked around the corner and kept going. Sybil thought at the side passage leading to the trashed furnishing room before the portcullis she saw the heat signature outline of a Grue but our approach and torches scared it off. We kept going, getting closer, and closer – close enough to see the portcullis was down.

And 4 goblins armed with light crossbows were on the other side, lying prone, and unloaded on a surprise round on the party. Sybil was missed, Dizzy fell, Peris fell, and the rest of the group was struggling to get out of the way. While they were shooting, the goblins were crying and shouting in their language, “Here! Here! They are here!!”

Crap.

As they launched more bolts at the party, withering more hit points and knocking hit points south, Gryg and Sybil tried to return fire with their own missile weapons, mostly ineffective as the goblins were lying prone and the bars were providing cover. We crept forward trying to close but with the gate down, whoever was going to work the chain was sitting duck.

And then we heard the Ogrish voices from behind us echoing back in our direction as the diversion we did earlier had apparently played out.

And then whipping around the corner came two goblin warriors clad in heavy armor and spinning battle axes into the group. Sybil, Connal, and Dizzy were at the front line as this combat was spiraling out of control. And then the Halfling let us know that MORE goblins and the FUCKING GRUE, with a bag tied to it head, were coming towards us from the furnishing room.

Negan called out for more summoned monsters and shot off THREE giant rats back down the passage to head off the Ogres and slow them down. Magic missiles stabbed out and weaved through the bars burning one of the goblins while missile fire took another. Connal was at the bars knocking aside bolts and trying to stab the goblins who were just outside of range. Brading shot off more healing and the group was trying to get a handle on the combat before the Grue was in the fight.

Peris used his scroll of Summon Monsters and got a hobgoblin…clad in platemail and shield, sporting a wickedly sharp long sword. Directing the militant warrior INTO the furnishing room it assaulted the two goblins their leading the Grue and cut the ropes dragging the blinded creature forward. No longer being guided the Grue sat down and tilted its head.

We needed the damned gate open NOW so Negan charged forward and hit the gates full force. The squealed under his impact and he bent low and LIFTED the 420 lb metal gate straight up WITHOUT the use of the chains, just about 6’ off the ground, arms quivering as he dared to stand in place.

The way clear we all tried coming down the hall, battle axes flailing, sling bolts flying, voices raised and screaming. Negan felt a pop and let us know we had only two giant rats left holding the ogres back. The prone goblins were unable to rise up in time and were dispatched quickly while the hobgoblin spun wildly about and slashed the bag OFF the Grue’s face.

Who went wild from the light and SMASHED one goblin, killing it, and then turning SMASHED another goblin, killing it…before running off into the gloom. Negan lifted the gate HIGHER, and pulled himself under it while he felt another distant pop, we were down to one giant rat slowing the ogre’s down. Peris called for the hobgoblin to RUN and it whistled around the corner and joined the rest of the group just in time for Negan to let the portcullis fall behind him and crash to the ground in a shrill clanking boom.

No longer delaying, we ran for our lives as the goblins and Ogres (last rat popped away!) were giving chase. We hit the stairs and climbed up swiftly, Peris letting the hobgoblin return, and emerged at 2:55 PM back out of the Terror Dungeon and safely once again up top and out of danger.

Meet 82, Adv 5, 4/27/19

Once out of the Terror Dungeon we made our way back to the Visitor’s Hall where Hjalgrim was given a chance to rest. His mortal wounding during the fight meant he was out of action for at least a solid day and should avoid travel as well. The group all agreed it was a good idea and we crashed for the night by 10 PM.

The next day, Spiritmonth the 10th, we awoke early and discussed our options for the rainy day. We were NOT going to travel back to Erylond for now as it was a long trip at this point and Hjalgrim needed the rest, so our earliest departure date would be the 11th. Instead we went back to the map Darius had been crafting and looked at it in depth. There was some information about heading to get the Chime somewhere near Entrance Two, and we knew which corridor we had to travel down to get to the correct Glyph Gate.

We decided that just before 12 when the entrances would shift correctly in our favor again, we would head into the Terror Dungeon and find the gate, getting the Chime if possible. Since Hjalgrim was out of the possibility of entering and Percy was going to administer to him, Brading offered to come with us so we would have a full complement of people to enter and explore.

It was Marketday and even though it was raining, Lord Corface Bork always allowed 4 hours of trading and bartering between 8 and 12 for those who came to sell their wares. We wanted the chance to get some more oil and before all that, Gryg and Negan needed their armor fixed and maybe some new shields as well.

We spent almost 2 and a half hours getting the scale and studded leather armor repaired, bought some clothes, oil, new shields, replacement weapons, and other needed supplies before we would chance another trip into the Dungeon. The fixed armor wasn’t new by any sense of the matter, but it was less likely to fall apart during combat especially since we knew Ogres were close to the area we were heading into.

It was 11:45 when the group of us returned to the Terror Dungeon and descended to the gloomy depths. The smells were foul and the room we were in was the same we had seen before – 4 obvious ways out of the chamber, two of them with archways of stone – one appearing to be a Ogre’s mouth, the other looking like a series of swords and daggers.

With 2 torches lit, Sybil went to look over the western of the two northern exits – the one with the Ogre’s Mouth carving. The archway of stone was just that – mere stone and the paint had been applied in the past and thick, giving it that monstrous look. Beyond it the hallway had painting on both sides showing some larger creatures eating smaller creatures but the paintings had been faded and chipped over time.

We proceeded with care until we arrived at a portcullis in the down position, braced about a foot and a half off the floor by a pair of heavy stones. Beyond it there was a side corridor to the right and the main passage continued north unabated. The chains ran on both sides of the portcullis and could be used to lift and lower the very heavy gate (we estimated a couple hundred pounds) but the amount of wear and rust also let us know to do so would risk making too much noise.

So we discussed options for a bit and decided on Brading hitting the area with a silence spell, the party lifting the gate, Connal chaining it in place, and Sybil inching ahead past the limit of the spell and seeing if she could hear anything else in the distance.

The plan worked without issue and Sybil did note that the side corridor to the east led to some chamber with some broken furnishings in it and BEYOND that, the distant sounds of Ogrish voices.

All together again, we made our way with care and silence beyond the side passage and further for another 20 or so paces until the passage “T’d” to the east and west, just past an area where dripping water was filling slowly from a crack in the ceiling and staining the floor of the dungeon.

At the “T”, to the right was gloom and darkness and somewhere beyond all that, a lone slow-burn torch. To the left the passage went off for 40 odd feet and ended at a doorway. We discussed it and decided the Glyph Gate might be to the left and went in that direction.

Our estimation was correct. There was a door here, 8’ tall, 4’ wide. Atop the lintel was an oversized red glassine gem with 4 pairs of “radiant lines” chiseled next to it and then with some writing around it, and the middle of the door (which had no handles or knobs) had a raised section where numerous hand and finger prints marred its surface. The writing (in whatever language the reader felt comfortable with) read “The Eddas Major Count of High Ones, Less Frigga’s Doomed Blessed Son. Composed of zincs and composed of coppers, Forges horns and bits and stoppers.”

We spent some time mulling it over and decided it meant 11…Brass…Bits. So most of us went back to the “T” and around the corner, Gryg and Sybil watching both passages, while Connal withdrew 11 Brass Bits, held it up to the Glyph gem near the lintel and pressed the worn section in the middle of the door.

The gem glowed bright and a ripple passed through the air as the radiant lines flashed white – and the bits in Connal’s hand faded away – and then the ripple shot down the hall as the radiant lines each grew brighter until it hit the corner where the party was and went past – but enough of the rippling distortion hit Sybil and Gryg, and all their brass bits in their pouch faded away as well.

BUT – the door opened and we all came down the hall quickly and made our way through while the gem seemed to be losing brightness from the top down in a steady pace – we guessed a count of 100 and then it would go out. Once everyone was inside the room beyond the glyph gate the light did indeed fade and the door shut. There was a handle to open it from this end so we assumed we weren’t trapped in here.

The room was huge, 50 by 30, dominated by a large brass and clockwork machine some 7’ tall, 30’ long and 8’ wide. A series of oversized chimes were firmly mounted to the center of the machine, the chimes being 6’ in height. There were broken bits of swords and daggers, spikes, and chewed up rocks as if someone in the past had tried to stop the gears in the machine from turning – the machine was currently dormant but had many open places and pinch points that a person no prepared could accidentally lose a finger or limb in the machine.

At the base of the machine on the east side were 3 large stone blocks, 2’x 3’, each with a carved letter emblazoned on the front: C, E, and A. The south side of the machine had 3 different apertures – the leftmost one had a spindle where wire would be wrapped around the center post and fed into the machine. The next had a pair of clamps that would hold something in place; currently the clamps had wood splinters only along the edges. And the last aperture had a receiving plate where something would be placed but was currently empty.

Finally on the south wall were 4 5’ tall clockwork looking gnomes composed of brass and other metals, faint light glowing from within them and some heat emanating as well. There were scrapes on the floor near their feet letting us know they did move at some point but for now were dormant.

No other doors in or out of the room. We decided to not fuck with the machine or gnomes at this time and after giving the place a once over, looked carefully for secret doors. And our search paid off as we could find THREE different exits from this chamber, one on the east wall, two on the west. But no amount of pushing, prodding, or anything had them budge.

So we went back to the machine and gingerly touched it. And all 4 gnomes become noisy and animated and stepped away from the wall. They pointed to the left most aperture and said in unison “Brass. Why. Her.” And then repeated it. The group mulled it over and deduced it was “Brass wire”. But we had none.

However on the north wall, a trough of stone had opened in the wall about 3’ off the ground, 10’ long. A trough big enough to lay something against it. The group went back to the stone tablets and sure enough, we could stack all 3 of them in place here against the wall like tiles. The thought was to try and match the cadence of the gnomes speech pattern and the party laid them out C, then A, and then E.

The gnomes all vented heat and steam with made the chamber warmer and a bit more moist for now. Then repeated themselves from earlier “Brass Wire” but this time added the words, “First Rate” right after.

With no venting in the room, the steam and heat had nowhere to go so we knew we could only made a small number of mistakes before the chamber grew too warm for us to work in. Looking at the letters we decided to change the order of them to A, C, E – Ace – something first rate.

And our guess was correct. The door all the way on the eastern wall opened up revealing the chamber beyond. Just on the inside of the door was the remains of a humanoid and a large chest; everything had been well chewed and splintered, leaving nothing of value behind. Past that the chamber was 20’ square with a molten pool in the center of the room of brass. An extrusion hand wheel was positioned around the pool, close enough to be hot and skim the top of the pool. A trough would lead the molten yet cooling metal down to a waiting spindle that would rotate and spiral up as the wheel circled the pool. It would take a slow, dexterous, and steady hand to operate this.

However, there was also a 400# clockwork mastiff in the corner with smoke and steam coming from its many orifices, watching the party. We discussed our options and came up with a working plan. Gryg and Sybil would be on sling and crossbow duties, Negan was going to hold the door open with his body. Dizzy and Brading were on spell duties for either healing or whatnot, and it would be Connal walking the wheel and extrusion machine around – with everyone watching the mastiff to see if it did ANYTHING.

It took a bit of doing before he realized how slow he had to walk before the brass wire cooled properly to firm up and adhere to the spiraling spindle. The Mastiff watched him as he walked SLOWLY around the pool and the wire amassed on the spindle. It was at the end of his 2nd circle when we had about 60’ of wire that the Mastiff began to growl and steam was venting from its opened mouth. He stopped and the molten metal separated the wire from the spindle. He picked it up carefully and watching the mastiff, walked out of the room and the door was closed behind.

Going to the machine at the first section of the receptacles was a similar spindle and the 4 gnomes were pointing at it. So he placed the coil of brass on the spindle and it whirred to life and a piece of it fed into the machine and then we heard a CLUNK. Dropping out of the east side of the machine was another stone tablet – this one with the letter “V” on it. As soon as we noted it, the trough on the north wall slid into the stone, dropping the other three tablets there, before popping back out, this time about 11’ wide.

Sybil noted that the A, C, E, and V all spelt Cave so we touched the machine again and the gnomes all pointed at the north wall and said, “Wood…Han…Dell.”

Wood Handle. Got it. A 2nd touch and placing of a single stone had them repeat the next step and this time add “Hollow” to their litany. Good job Sybil, Cave made sense.

We added the tablets to the wall until Cave was spelt and there was a crackling of stone and the secret door on the west wall opened. It was a larger room and the reek of rotting growth was strong. We peered in to see an oversized creature perhaps 10’ around like a melting chimera of dozens of types of beings moaning and sobbing. A carbuncle of wooden growth was on its back, patterned zebrawood, that showed numerous hacks and chunks had been carved out of it. But the piteous figure on the floor flailed its seemingly useless limbs about and cried with almost identifiable words through it dozens of ragged, twisted mouths.

And the gnomes pointed into the room and repeated, “Wood…Han…Dell.”

Great.