Introduction

Rhen, the tiefling rogue, and Okra, the half-orc paladin, met in an inn and bonded over their shared experience of being misunderstood by common folk. Rhen confided that she was bound for the dungeon, hoping to rescue her Nan, whose last known path had mysteriously led there. Okra deemed this a worthy cause for a paladin, and the two left the inn the next morning, setting out together.

On the road, the pair encountered Katsu, a high elf monk, outside a nearby village. After introductions, Katsu explained that his town had recently been attacked by unnatural creatures, and he believed the rumored dungeon might be the source. Driven by a desire to protect his family, Katsu joined the party.

The group later met Lia, a wood elf druid, in the forest. Drawn by rumors of the power and strength hidden within the dungeon, she was eager to join as well, reasoning that there was safety in numbers.

At the base of the mountain, the party spotted a dwarf preparing to make the ascent. He carried the gear of an adventurer, but wore the trappings of a well-rounded musician. This was Felicks, the dwarven bard. Eager for company, though mysterious in his own motivations, he joined the group.

After a brief climb, they encountered another dwarf, though one quite different from Felicks. Books, charts, and scrolls peeked from his backpack. Hansel, a dwarven wizard known as Hans to his friends, was making calculations to continue the ascent to what he called a library when the party found him. After some misunderstandings and cultural barriers were worked through, they agreed to travel together.

And so they climbed the mountain until they reached a plateau. There, set into the stone, was a massive cave entrance. Beside it lay an impossibly large dead man. The group discovered his journal, and Felicks deciphered the ancient language within. The writing suggested the man was likely a titan, one of the first living beings in the world, and possibly a guard, though whether he had been guarding against something entering or escaping remained unclear. The journal also hinted that there might be at least one other entrance to the dungeon, perhaps guarded by the titan's friend.

Deciding the cave was likely the entrance to the dungeon, or library, the group carefully descended into the depths and came upon a large stone-built chamber. It had two doors, but after some testing, one seemed barred from the other side. They opened the other door and found only blackness beyond its threshold. Anything that passed into it did not come back out. Finally, after a leap of faith, one by one, they disappeared into the dark.

On the other side, they found themselves in a room much like the one they had left. But when they turned back, there was no sign of the door they had passed through. Only stone.

The group soon encountered a band of orcs, at least one of whom seemed gravely ill. The orcs were defeated and despairing, exhausted by endless killing and death. They were waiting to die. Only after some persuasion did they speak of their leader, Orghar, whom they now despised. They had followed him to this place after being promised the power to defeat their enemies. Alongside kobolds and troglodytes, they had formed an unlikely alliance under the guidance of a "rat man", who claimed the dungeon would be their salvation. Orghar believed him, until the rat man disappeared. Then strange monsters began to appear and slaughter everyone. The alliance collapsed, war broke out, and every clan was left to fend for itself.

Important Information:

• Orghar, the orc leader who led a band of orcs to the dungeon. It seems that at least some orcs regretted their choices of following him, especially once the monsters started to appear and wreck havoc and kill the orcs.
• "Rat Man", mysterious alliance leader who convinced the leaders of the orcs, kobolds, and troglodytes to follow him to the dungeon. Once he disappeared, it seems the monsters began to appear, and the alliance failed, with the orcs going to war against the kobolds and troglodytes.

When Rhen asked whether they had seen her Nan, the orcs did not know. However, they pointed the group toward a room where they had stored the bodies of those who had died nearby.

Feeling some pity for the orcs, the party tried to cheer them up with a performance. Rhen sang songs of her people, accompanied and translated by Felicks. For a brief moment, it seemed to help. Then one of the orcs began coughing uncontrollably and suddenly died. The remaining orcs begged the party to stop and leave them to die in their own way. All but Hansel agreed, and Felicks helped drag Hans away, sparing the distraught orcs from his persistent questioning.

The party moved to the room the orcs had indicated. Inside, Rhen and Lia discovered several bodies: kobolds, troglodytes, and elves. They also found what appeared to be a secret door. Given the burn marks on the bodies near it, the door was likely trapped, but the party is still uncertain.

Around that time, Hans opened an adjacent door. Inside were two sacks: one spoiled and covered in fungus, the other still closed. The party examined the fungus and determined it might serve as a contact or ingestible poison, with possible medicinal properties if studied further. Lia opened the other bag and was met with a burst of black spores to the face. She choked and coughed, taking minor damage, but also discovered two orcish potions hidden behind the sack. Okra identified them as potions of vitality.

Loot:

• 2 Potions of Vitality
• Potent fungus that could be used to create poison

The party then entered the next room to the north and decided to close the door behind them. There they found enough dried goods to provide each member with 5 rations. Further in, they found pickaxes and shovels, which many of them added to their packs.

Loot:

• 5 rations per person
• Cook's utensils
• Optional: 1 pickaxe per person
• Optional: 1 shovel per person

The group cautiously continued down the twisting hallway to the east and discovered a crossbow mounted to the wall, apparently as part of a trap. Rhen attempted to take it, triggering the mechanism. The bolt struck her for minor damage, but she came away victorious with a usable crossbow.

Loot:

• Crossbow

The party examined the door to the south and confirmed their suspicions. A piece of wire had been nailed to the door and traced back to the crossbow at the end of the hall. They attempted to unlock the door, but it proved difficult. After several tries, they finally opened it and entered what was clearly a tool storage room or workshop.

Loot:

• Sharpening stone, well used, 1 good use remaining
• Woodcarver's tools
• Carpenter's tools

Inside, the party discovered a secret door to the west. When opened, it led back into the room with the sacks. Then they heard a terrible noise through the wall to the east. They tried to remain silent, but whatever made the sound may have detected them. After a short time, the noise faded, as if the thing had moved away.

The party retraced their steps, passing the winding corridor, the dried goods, the sack room, and finally returning to the room where they had met the orcs. There, they discovered the orcs had been killed by a massive swarm of rats.

Loot:

• Healers kit, 5 uses remaining
• Silvered battleaxe

What might have happened if the party had not closed the door to the room where they found the dried goods? Perhaps it is best not to ponder such things.

Simple AI generated video of the adventure so far

Session Notes

After the party finished searching the orc camp, they thought they saw a shadow approaching through the darkness. For one tense moment, weapons rose and breath caught.

It was only a trick of the dark.

A7. Former Sleeping Quarters

The party pressed deeper into the dungeon and entered what had once been sleeping quarters. Destroyed straw mats lay scattered across the floor, and old blood splattered the stone in dark, ugly stains.

A brief breath of fresher air drew attention to a hidden door. After some searching, the party found it, though it appeared to be one-way. It could open into the room, but not from the room outward.

Then the dungeon trembled.

A small earthquake rolled through the chamber, knocking Rhen to the ground. Fortune, however, favored her fall. From her new vantage point, she spotted two pearls hidden among the debris.

Loot:

• 2 pearls, valued at 200gp

A8. The Orc Corpse

The party continued onward into a room where an orc skeleton lay sprawled across the floor. A trail of blood led from the corpse toward the northern doorway.

Searching the remains, the party discovered a modest cut diamond tucked away in the orc's pockets.

Loot:

• 1 diamond, valued at 50gp

A9. Death from Above

Following the blood trail, the party moved into the next room.

Lia was the first to discover that something was waiting.

A shape dropped from the darkness above the doorway. Magical darkness swallowed her vision, and in the black she felt something swoop down and strike from above.

When the darkness faded, the attacker was revealed: a fiendish darkmantle, a living nightmare of leathery wings, grasping tentacles, and too many teeth. Unfortunately for the creature, it had chosen its meal poorly.

The party tore into it. The final blow came from Katsu, who leaped up, grappled the thing, and punched its literal lights out.

As the creature fell, Lia noticed a small rat sitting in the northern doorway, watching the fight with unsettling stillness. A moment later, it scurried away.

A10. The Rat Swarm

As the party entered the next room, they heard a tremendous sound: hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tiny nails scratching against stone.

The party had only moments to discuss what to do before a massive swarm of rats flooded into the room like a tidal wave of fur, claws, and teeth.

Soon they were covered in biting rats, fighting them off by the dozen. Rhen swept several up in a cloth and bashed them against the wall, while Okra chopped, Katsu kicked, and Lia skewered. Felicks delivered the final blow with his warhammer, scattering what remained of the swarm.

After the frantic violence ended, the party took a quick breather and tried to recover from the traumatic encounter.

A11. Bones in the Hall

The party then entered a long, winding hallway. Just outside the doorway, they found a skeleton that did not appear to be orcish.

Lia detected magic on the skeletal corpse lying in the hall. After searching the remains, the party discovered a silvered masterwork dagger, though it badly needed sharpening.

Then Felicks heard a scream from somewhere to the north. The dungeon's stone walls twisted the sound, making it impossible to tell exactly where it had come from.

With paths leading west, south, and toward two doors to the north, the party first scouted south. Rhen and Katsu unlocked the reinforced door leading into the next room.

Loot:

• 1 masterwork +1 dagger, silvered

A20. Orghar's Quarters

The party entered what they discovered to be the personal quarters of Orghar, the orc chieftain. Though he had not been here for some time, the room still held traces of its former occupant.

Katsu searched the table and found a few personal items. Lia discovered a small leather pouch hidden inside one of the bed legs, containing powdered silver.

As Felicks stood guard and the rest of the party investigated the room, they received just enough warning to avoid being fully consumed by a massive swarm of centipedes. The creatures came pouring down the hallway at frightening speed.

The party made quick work of the nuisance.

Afterward, Okra discovered two secret doors. One led south and could be opened. The other led west, but would not open from this side.

Loot:

• Kobold skull
• Back scratcher made of bone with the words "To Orghar" on it
• Powdered silver, worth about 50gp

A21. The Secret Room

The party pushed open the southern secret door and found a room filled with dusty tables and chairs.

Lia discovered ruby dust on one of the tables and carefully collected it into a cloth provided by Rhen.

The room also contained a door to the east. Upon investigation, the party saw that it was trapped. Rhen did her best to disarm it, but when the door opened, the trap still triggered. A blade snapped out and gave her a small cut.

Beyond the door was a long room that had collapsed, perhaps during the recent earthquake. Frustrated that the room led nowhere after all that effort, Rhen selected a large rock and put it in her pack.

Lia shouted "Hello" to see if it would echo.

It did.

The sound carried throughout the dungeon.

Then the party noticed suspended dust shifting in the air, disturbed by faint currents. Following the movement, they found another secret door. It was the same one-way mantrap door that led back to the room with the grass mats, though they chose not to enter through it.

Loot:

• Ruby dust worth 50gp
• Large rock selected in anger

A19. The Stinking Hallway

With no obvious way forward, the party backtracked to the hallway with the skeleton, then headed west and north.

The smell grew steadily worse until, at the end of the hall, they found a latrine.

Katsu wanted to try to close the opening, but there was not enough stone available to do so. Hearing this, Rhen tried to help by tossing her angry rock down the latrine, where it made the kind of splat that surprised no one.

Rhen then decided to test the latrine personally, much to the discomfort of everyone else, who were now far more familiar with her than they had been before.

Lia and Felicks slipped on the foul, slick floor and were covered in bodily fluids until Felicks used his magic to clean them both.

Having reached another dead end, the party turned back and decided to try one of the northern doors in the hallway.

Loot Lost:

• 1 angry rock

A12. Hallway with Four Doors

The party returned down the hallway and headed east, finding themselves looking north into a hall with four doors, two on each side.

With Felicks standing guard near the back, the rest of the party crept forward butt-to-butt, ready for whatever might greet them.

The first room on the left reeked of rat urine. It was obvious this had been the nesting ground of the rat swarm they had previously faced.

Lia and Okra braved the rat funk and discovered a 5-foot chain and a soiled small leather pouch. Katsu cleaned the pouch with his own magical tricks. Inside, the party found fine gold dust.

Loot:

• 5' chain weighing 15 lbs.
• Fine gold dust worth 25gp

A14. Quarters

The party crossed the hall into another room and found it ransacked, with broken furniture scattered throughout.

Under one of the beds, they discovered a small tin box and a brown leather satchel. Inside the tin box were two healing potions. Inside the satchel was a poisoner's kit.

Loot:

• 2 potions of healing
• Poisoner's kit

The party decided to return to Orghar's quarters for a long rest, believing it to be a defensible position with a strong, locked door.

After closing and locking the door, Felicks used his sharpening stone to restore the silvered masterwork dagger. Lia then gave the dagger to Rhen.

Katsu watched the secret door that opened into the room, and the party took their first long rest since entering the dungeon only eight hours earlier.

Where had that scream come from?

Who was screaming?

And more importantly, why?

Perhaps the party will soon find out...