The party:
- Xull, orange F2 (JW)
- Ploikal, orange MU5 (TM)
- Aylin, orange NC
- Burak, purple rider
Treasure:
- 700 SP
- 210 GP
- Two diamonds worth 100 SP each
- Silver and rose-quartz signet ring (1,800 SP)
- Scroll with three spells (Lorloveim’s Creeping Shadow, The Effervescent Lights of Kwalish, The Call to the Unseen Servant)
- Three quartz gems worth 100 SP each
- Sapphire-studded gold nose ring (1,000 SP)
- Platinum and amber circlet (5,000 SP)
- Silver dagger toad-head pommel hilt (2,100 SP)
- Potion of Heroism
XP: 13,200
Casualties: Aylin and Burak, trampled by a herd of dolm titanotheres.
Report:
- Xull, orange F2 (JW), and Ploikal, orange MU5 (TM), hire Aylin (orange NC) and Burak (purple rider) once again. They set out for The Balok along the usual route through the Mirror Hills.
- Not far from Batbeng in the hills, they are surprised by a herd of 12 Titanotheres and fail to escape before they are upon them. Only Xull makes it out alive. Aylin and Burak are instantly killed. Ploikal only just evades death.
- Shook, they return to town and spend the next five days resting and healing.
- Ploikal uses Suggestion to get Dugalu to look into serpent man magic.
- They try for the Balok again, and this time arrive after an uneventful journey.
- They quickly pass through the lobby, wardrobe, reception area, and a second lobby to arrive at the stairs down to level 2.
- In the small reception area at the foot of the stairs, they head down the long hallway heading south, then through a storage area that they ransacked previously. They continue east through another door, a short hallway, and a locked door.
- The locked door is forced with help from a grappling hook. Here, they enter a large reception area with stairs they know lead down to level 3.
- They open a door north and see what must have been an indoor garden once. Treetrunks, branches, and leaves cover the floor in knee-high heaps. Underneath, things appear to be moving.
- Ploikal uses telekinesis to lift up leaves, revealing corpses and several large centipedes. The centipedes are easily dealt with by levitating them, too, and having Xull chop them to bits.
- They search the adventurers’ corpses and find a bunch of treasure. Coins, gems, jewels. Also, a scroll with several spells of the Ancients on it.
- They head further east through a corridor, which turns south at its end. The door here opens onto a circular room with stairs heading up.
- They head up the stairs and arrive in a small room which must be on level 1. From behind a door, they hear boogiemen speak. Ploikal uses clairvoyance to look behind the door and sees the late gremlin king Zaiden’s throne room now occupied by six boogiemen.
- They consider engaging the boogiemen for a moment but decide otherwise and head back down to level 2.
- They head south, see a long hallway, head east, and a door south. The door opens onto what must have been a dorm. A few beds appear to be occupied by shapes under sheets.
- From the corridor, a large group of centipedes approaches. They turn out to be attracted by the torchlight. Ploikal uses telekinesis to put a torch far back into the corridor. The centipedes leave them alone.
- They use telekinesis to lift up one of the sheets. A shadowy humanoid figure gets up from the bed and approaches, hissing. Xull fires his laser crossbow, and Ploikal uses a mental blast. The shadow is defeated.
- Two more shadows have gotten up in the meantime. Xull and Ploikal decide to flee. The shadows do not pursue.
- They return, hoping to surprise the shadows, but this backfires. The shadows get up again from their beds, and this time, when the couple runs away, the shadows give chase.
- They run until they reach the garden and make a stand. Xull blocks the shadows from attacking Ploikal, who manages to destroy both with magic missiles.
- They head back to the dorm and search it but find nothing.
- They head through a door west and enter a large dining hall. Several pigs are snoring away in a pile of debris. Several adventurers’ corpses are scattered about, too.
- They cast Sleep on the sleeping pigs just to be sure. They begin searching the bodies and recover many treasures. Coin, gems, jewelry, a silver dagger, and a potion from a drinks cabinet.
- One of the corpses explodes with a pile of centipedes. Luckily, they ignore the heroes.
- Here, they choose to leave and make it back to town without further trouble.