The Sweet Breath of Freedom

Not content to say in one place, particularly with the ongoing tremors, nor wishing to explore the pool just yet to see if it has an outlet to the surface, the adventurers pressed ahead. Farther along some of the other tunnels, they encountered a tall fungus that screeched as they approached it. It was situated in a sort of crossroads with a broader area heading off in one direction. The heroes, of course, decided to investigate that direction.

It turned out that the wider area was a small network of interconnected kobold lairs and the shrieker was their early warning system. To one direction, a set of kobold defenders were up a small incline and sent a slurry of fish oil cascading down the slope. In the other direction was a knot of defenders behind a small barricade, led by the kobold chief. The heroes set the fish oil on fire (very smoky with both Lees and Bob Arby having some trouble with coughing and choking) in the one direction and fought their way through the other direction. The kobolds tried to put up a spirited defense with their mostly stone-age weapons but fell before the onslaught. The kobold chief was defeated with his one prized possession, his metal short sword, now in the hands of the adventurers. A quick exploration of the network of lairs showed they were linked in a ring-shape. Kobold children and women were found in a couple of places, but not harmed. The kobolds who had spread out the fish oil were found to have already succumbed to the smoke.

Pushing on farther, the adventurers found the lair of a large badger (a dire badger) of considerable temper. They dispatched it, however, fairly quickly before exploring further. Later, in their explorations, they found a large cultivate garden of mushrooms that was defended, seemingly, by zombie creatures including a fire beetle, giant ants, and kobolds. The heroes, perhaps wisely, decided to give that area a wide berth.

After a bit more searching for trouble, the band of heroes came into a larger chamber, rent by a crevasse. But these chamber had a slight difference: bats. For the first time, the heroes were finding bats, which suggested to them that there may be an outlet nearby. In order to do so, however, they had to get across the crevasse. Gil took the lead by climbing around on the cavern walls and avoiding the rent floor. As soon as he got across to the other side, he was attacked. A stringy filament shot out from a ledge farther up toward the cavern ceiling, striking him, and sticking fast. It started to slowly reel him in, off the ground.
Tesrae did her best, with a sling taken from the kobolds, to hit the creature that had fired off the filament at Gil. She managed a few very difficult shots from her vantage point, but she was unable to stop Gil from being reeled in alone. Bob Arby also came to her aid with his magical missiles. Kendrick, taking a bit of a risk jumping a 20 foot crevasse, took a running leap further into the room. He too was snagged by a filament by another creature on another ledge.

Eventually, a bit more pelting of the cave fishers from Tesrae and Bob Arby managed to free both Gil and Kendrick. All that remained was a final push through the cavern, a trip through some long but otherwise unbranching tunnels, and the light of day shone on the heroes' faces.

They found they were in a wooded area overlooking Suderham on the slopes of the old volcano. Apparently there was enough of an eruption going on to have set the woods on fire, caused tremors enough to damage much of the city walls and property, and otherwise generate a lot of chaos. To one side, came the sounds of screeching, possibly a beast in some pain or trouble. To another side, the edge of the grassland and fields beyond the woods beckon as that is the likely way to take to easily reach Suderham and possibly revenge on the Slavelords.

Coming soon...
So There I was in the Eruption of Mt. Flamenblut...

A Date with the Slavelords...

The party of heroes pressed on into the tunnels when suddenly a bolt, shot from an unseen crossbow, flew out of the darkness and skittered off the wall next to Tesrae. And what a bolt it was! Certainly larger than a typical crossbow, it would have left quite a mark. But a quick dash forward brought no sign of a hidden assailant.

Moving more cautiously now, the adventurers made their way through a series of sharp turns and bends, reminiscent of a maze, dodging the occasional crossbow bolt shot from beyond the range of their torch. Gil decided enough was enough (and that Tesrae was getting shot at enough) and switched to a hooded lantern. He kept the lantern hooded to be a surprise to any creature they might find shooting at them and find the creature they did. When Gil covered his light, they found they were facing a minotaur, wearing studded leather and carrying a large battle axe and crossbow.

The party began to move forward to engage, with Devdas getting the farthest, when the minotaur started his charge. Devdas managed to stop the creature's forward momentum, but only in a very painful way. A relatively brief fight later, and the minotaur's magic axe was theirs.

Tesrae again took the lead and this time found herself being dumped down a pit smack into a gelatinous cube. Fortunately for her, oozes of this sort aren't particularly tough, nor is their anesthetic slime. It took little time and effort to cut her free and for her to regain control of her body. A second gelatinous cube was no more successful than the first and the heroes were on their way again.

As they continued along, the air got noticeably more humid and the sounds of lapping waves could be heard. They found the shore of an underground watercourse. But it wasn't exactly undefended. As they moved through some large mushroom caps growing in the damp, they were attacked by what looked like a mass of vegetation, a shambling mound. It did quite a number on Rogord, nearly wrenching off his arm, before it was hacked into enough bits to stop. By this time, healing resources were being burned through with alarming rapidity.

Shortly thereafter, the heroes were traveling down another long corridor when a stone block suddenly dropped behind them, cutting off any further progress in that direction. They started to push forward again, into an area that appeared to be a chamber ahead, when they discovered that the very air ahead of them was as hard as a wall. In the chamber beyond, four men could be seen sitting at a long table... 4 of the Slavelords! But they had to get though the wall of force to get to them.

As if to make matters worse, one of the Slavelords made a motion to signal someone out of sight. Several vials dropped from a vent-hole in the ceiling over the heroes, breaking on the flagstones and releasing a gas. Feeling a little light-headed, Bob Arby made two attempts at bringing down the wall of force. When is attempt to dispel the magic failed, he resorted to his disintegrate scroll, a sure winner. The wall came down as Gil and the others made ready.

The heroes rushed forward to engage their foes, Eanwulf getting veritably swarmed by the end of it. But the Slavelords were not without their own plans. As Eanwulf kept the heroes busy, Lamonsten unleashed what appeared to be a fireball (later determined to be largely illusiory), Ajakstu fired off a few magic missiles, and Brother Millerjoi did... something... to dominate Kendrick and turn him against his friends. Lamonsten's fireball brought Bob Arby down. Tesrae was felled by an adept stroke from Eanwulf, as was Rogord. Ohtar, not fully understanding his actions, thought Kendrick had betrayed her and her husband after all, and she fought against him tenaciously. Gil was finally brought to ground by two volleys of magic missiles from Ajakstu and Lamonsten and a few well-placed blows from Eanwulf. The heroes knew no more for some time...

Eventually, they all found themselves in a dark cavern, with none of their equipment and wearing naught but their underwear. Tesrae and Kendrick, whose memories were the most intact, were able to fill the rest of the heroes (now consisting of just Gil, Bob Arby, Tesrae, and Kendrick... Rogord and Mendel's old bodyguards being missing) on recent events. For some days, they had been prisoners of the Slavelords and badly abused in that time. Gil and Bob were being treated as magicians and kept on drugs and potions to the point that they could barely think straight. Both were only able to harness the more feeble of their powers and their memories of the last days particularly spotty. It was apparent from Tesrae's and Kendrick's stories, that they were in these dark tunnels to serve as sacrifices to the Earth Dragon. It seems the dragon is restless and has been causing tremors on the volcanic island.

They soon found they weren't alone. A young woman, Leese from the Sign of the Rose, had been tossed in as well for her collaboration with the heroes. She was terrified and certain that they were soon to die, sacrifices to the Earth Dragon. As if to punctuate the situation, a tremor would strike periodically, dropping dust and debris from the ceiling and walls. Gil did what he could to comfort the girl with his optimism and they did their best to start to find a way out.

Gil found a stone that he could use as the focal point for a light and they were able to get some bearings. There was a large shaft in the center of the room, so far missed thanks to little moving around. But, with a little silence, it was clear that there was some form of ... creature... moving about in the shaft. The heroes decided it was time to move out. They also, as they were leaving, found a scroll tube with some arcane in it as well as a note directing them to make their way to the Sea Dragon as best they could, where the Slavelords would be.

In one tunnel, before reaching a dead end, they followed what appeared to be a source of light in the distance, only to find themselves attacked by some form of sand creature. They used what remained of their chains to bludgeon it to death and moved on.

Another set of turns found them face to face with giant ants. Unfortunately, the ant tunnels are too small to use as an escape, but there was the curious sight of a bridge over a chasm made up of dead ant husks. Kendrick checked it out carefully and found it was startlingly sturdy and strong.

Keeping moving, the heroes found a variety of raw materials in the tunnels including deep tap roots, a bit of old wood, some oily, flammable goo (used to make torches), a thigh bone, a skull, and some small rocks. They also found an entrance into a small pool. The pool, besides being a source of lake fish (NOT underground varieties) was also the home of a giant crab who did not like the intrusion. It too was successfully defeated with the heroes trying to decide what to do afterwards.