Studded Plate: The Forge of Fury #4: Even the Rocks Want to Eat Us

Our heroes for The Forge of Fury include:

Raven Flare, female tiefling rogue 4 (assassin, urchin)
Kalitni, female human ranger 4 (beast master, hermit) with Daikitsu, wolf companion
Xuri, female blue dragonborn sorcerer 4 (wild magic, sage)
Sir Dain (NPC/guest-PC), male hill dwarf paladin 4 (oath of devotion, knight)
Erky Timbers (DM-run NPC), male forest gnome cleric 3 (life domain, acolyte)

(Warning: Spoilers for The Forge of Fury follow.)

Last time, our heroes tracked a troglodyte into the Glitterhame, a large cavern named for the shiny bits of rock in its walls and ceiling. They found the troglodyte lair and slew most of the tribe, but spared the young and the handful of adults forming their last defense. They then retreated to their outpost in the upper halls to rest and recover.

After a long rest, the party returned to the Glitterhame, and investigated the last few chambers that they had not yet seen on that level. The first was off a side branch near where they had fought the bear and first couple of troglodytes. In this cave, two skeletons were covered with yellow mold, which Dain recognized. After warning his companions, he took a torch and tossed it at each body in turn, safely destroying the fungus. The first skeleton, a dwarf, held a longsword with Durgeddin's smith-mark. It was still bright despite the long time it had spent in this damp room full of rot, so they guessed it was a magical blade. Dain was keenly interested in this dwarven-made sword, but he already possessed a magic sword (Shatterspike, given to him by Sir Braford), so agreed to let Kalitni wield this one.

In the Glitterhame proper, the party investigated the high ledge along the north wall. As they approached it, Kalitni spotted two worm-like creatures [gricks] hiding in the rocks of the 20-foot-high ascent to the top of the ledge. The heroes quickly dispatched these creatures, though one took a bite out of Dain. A short passage at the top of the ledge led to the monsters' lair, which held the remains of past meals, and a scattering of coins.

The party then investigated the metal door that they had spotted at the far eastern end of the cavern. Dain was able to determine that this iron door was designed to pivot on a central point, but it was locked. After a couple tries, Raven was able to pick the lock. Beyond was a short worked passage that led to steep stairs going up--to the lost forge they sought, they hoped. However, after some discussion, the party decided to investigate the rest of this level of the cave network before exploring this passage. With some difficulty, Raven relocked the door until their return.

The high ledge on the southern wall was free of dangers (or much of interest), so the party then proceeded to the long cavern to the south, where an underground stream plunged into a large hole. Near it was a narrow passage leading downward, but Xuri insisted on peering into the big hole first. She secured a rope to both herself and some pitons in order to cross the slick floor safely, and Dain held the rope just in case. The dragonborn sorcerer lit a torch and dropped it down the shaft. Even with the torch, she could not see too clearly due to the mist thrown up by the waterfall, but she was able to see enough to conclude that the water fell about 60 feet into another chamber below.

The heroes then entered the twisting stairway, which led to the cavern where the waterfall ended in a pool that fed a fast-moving stream going down a passageway to the south. The east end of this chamber held a wall of worked stone, and two wooden doors swollen shut by long exposure to moisture. They listened at both doors, and even knocked upon them, but heard nothing. They chose to explore further south and come back to these doors later.

A passage parallel to the stream's channel led them to a long, narrow cavern stretching a long way to the east. At the nearer, western end, another underground stream joined the one from the north, then exited the cave through an opening fully beneath the water's surface. The heroes quickly realizing that falling into the fast-moving water would quickly sweep them into this airless passage--a potentially fatal fate. They crossed a small bridge over the river, and followed the bank upstream. After a short distance, they found a short flight of stairs gong down to a door in the south wall of the cave. These stairs and the room beyond appeared to be flooded with stagnant water that would be over the head of all party members except for Xuri.

The party returned to the doors in the northern chamber, and opened one of them. The rooms beyond were empty except for useless detritus. When they opened the other door, they saw that the room held vast heaps of rotted foodstuffs. A gray ooze, which appeared to be a puddle until it moved, lurked just inside the door. It reared to attack, but Raven and Xuri quickly destroyed it with a rapier thrust and an eldritch blast. However, Raven's rapier (her old blade, not her shiny new magical one) was corroded by the ooze's acid. It remained usable, but in need of repair.

The adventurers found nothing of value here, so returned to the half-flooded stairs and door. Xuri, as the tallest member of the party, reluctantly volunteered to investigate what lay beyond. She submerged her everburning torch in order to see what lay in the water better. After searching of the flooded, rank-smelling rooms, she found an orc skeleton with a rotted pouch holding a couple of potion vials. The party took a short rest so that Xuri could use prestidigitation to clean herself with compulsive thoroughness. Meanwhile, the others determined the contents of the potions, and confirmed that Kalitni's new longsword was magical [a +1 weapon].

To the east, the cavern narrowed until it ended in a narrow passageway that crossed the river again, and led to another cave. Here, a strange stalagmite stood on the opposite side of the river, and an albino cave fish lay flopping on the bank next to it. There was also a half-open door set into the north side of the cave, opposite the strange rock formation. Raven, who cares a great deal about all animals, wanted to help the fish get back to the water, so Dain led the way into the chamber.

That's when the stalagmite came to life and shot a tendril at Dain, grappling and restraining him. Erky summoned a spiritual weapon, but the spell failed to hit the the creature [a roper]. Raven jumped across the narrow stream and kicked the fish into the river, but missed the monster. She then jumped away, trying to stay clear of the thing's tendrils. The roper then grabbed Xuri and pulled her and Dain closer. It missed Raven and Kalitni with its other tendrils, and failed to bite Dain. Erky used his sacred flame cantrip to much better effect than his spiritual weapon's continuing misses. Dain tried once to break free but failed, so started trying to strike the roper with his sword (with little success). Xuri cast a very well-placed witchbolt and inflicted a critical hit on the monster. Raven managed to dodge the roper's tendrils, and decided that staying close to the thing would allow her to do more damage with sneak attacks due to her allies being next to it, too. The roper finally grabbed Kalitni, pulled her and Xuri closer, and bit Dain hard. However, it soon fell to Raven's punishing sneak attacks.

After the fight, Dain immediately used his lay on hands power to restore most of his lost health. Kalitni had the thought to cut open the roper, and found a half-dozen gems and a ring in its gizzard. The party stopped for a short rest so that Xuri could study the ring: a ring of spell storing. Her companions agreed emphatically that she should wear it.

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The party now just one more location on this level to explore before they return to the iron door in the Glitterhame.

Erky received enough XP this session to reach 4th level. He is taking the Healer feat, so that he can provide more healing to the party without using up his limited spell slots as quickly.