Scourge of the Slavelords X: Spelunking underneath Suderham
Real life has been extremely busy over the summer, so there has been a bit of a gap in our sessions, plus I still need to write some posts about what we were doing earlier. So here is one we did previously...
Marion's hunch about information in the archives of Suderham's mages' guild is a good guess. The partially burned documents that were somehow salvaged from the fortified manor of the hidden volcano island's previous leader turn out to be a useful resource indeed. Sifting through them, Marion pieces some information together about the lava tunnels that riddle the place, or at least enough to place three possible entrances. These are mentioned as the locations to various 'pits' or equivalent into which old Olarek threw anyone who annoyed him, and sometimes just because he felt like it. Marion's reasoning is that these deep tunnels might provide a link to the basement of the slave lords' citadel that could be exploited.
The map below is the one from the module; the three main entrances are highlighted in yellow:
I've orientated it so that the large caverns at the top left as you look at it will lie directly underneath the slave lords' complex in the city. Basically, as GM I decided that the insight of Beth (Marion's player) that deep caverns might lead to the citadel was a great idea, so I riffed off that - it also allows me to run the caverns, although not in exactly the way intended by the module designers. Waste not, want not, after all.
If you look at the map of the under caverns sideways, each of the entrances lines up with a location on the map of Suderham Island:
If you orientate it this way, they line up with the island as follows:
Well, more or less - it's enough for my purposes. In my version, the location marked as exit 10 on the island map is a submerged cave entrance at the cliffs; number 19 is on a hillside rising above the farmlands; and no.21 is in the middle of the forest.
Marion takes this information to her friends Destiny and Sir Blanque, and the three confer. They decide to avoid the two entrances that are more on the inside of the island, rejecting those because of the danger involved in travelling to them; they might be spotted. Instead, they make their way to the underwater cliffside entrance; Sir Blanque will be (literally) in his element here.
They spend a full day resting, safely hidden in the guild headquarters, and then mingle with the crowds of workers as they leave at dusk for the miserable shanty town before the gates are closed and curfew begins. Slinking into an alleyway, they wait until nightfall proper and then pick their way along the cliffs at the edge of the island, moving steadily towards the cave entrance. Their (correct) guess is that this area is less likely to be patrolled than the city proper.
Once they arrive, Marion uses her earth elemental grapple to lower everyone to sea level. Sir Blanque goes first, relishing the chance to use his gills for the first time in positively ages. His dark vision comes in really handy too, as he weaves along a tunnel leading into the island. At one point his superior reflexes allow him to avoid an attempted ambush by a mutated large crab thing, and as the others follow in an air bubble created by the Runestaff, they see it dart back into its hiding place. They all emerge onto subterranean land proper.
They move along the corridor marked 9 on the map and come to a junction. They take the lava tube to their right, eventually emerging into a large nest of giant ants (area 8), which is reached via a bridge made from the bodies of previous generations all linked together to form a bridge, sealed by mortar made from their own fluids and saliva. Intriguing as this is, it's not why they came here, so they retrace their steps to the junction.
This 'corridor' leads to another junction, and again they take a right. Ultimately the end up in area 1, which is the place where the captured adventurers are supposed to be dumped, in the original module scheme. This is the point right in the middle of the complex warrens, tunnels and tubes, although of course the characters don't know that. There is a flickering light in the route to their right, but they recognise it as some sort of untrustworthy lure, so they decide not to follow it. They are well aware of legends about wisps of light that seduce travellers to some nasty form of doom. So they take a left and keep moving, this time ending up in the area noted as 12 on the map. This large cavern has a ledge next to a suspicious looking dark pool, so they tiptoe across the ledge so as not to disturb anything that might be lurking in there.
Area 15 is a mushroom garden, with signs of someone (or something) having tended it. They follow multiple rather unformed footprints to an enormous underground garden, with a village of bioluminescent domes; vaguely people-shaped things are moving around those. Rather than disturb the inhabitants, the three adventurers move to the entrance to a large cavern (16c). Here they are 'greeted' by a very large mushroom man thing, who comes forward to offer them some spores with its handlike appendages. Marion shrugs and steps forward, and as the spores touch her skin she is able to communicate telepathically with the King of the Myconids (at least, that's what he calls himself), and her two friends join in the "conversation".
The fungus king guy explains that his people have been growing down here for lots of time, although he is a bit hazy on how long. He asks politely why they are here, so Sir Blanque tells him about the people like them who live above the caverns, although not all of them are nice; the three of them are here to stop the bad ones. The Myconid Lord smiles, which is rather unnerving, and orders the fungus covering the ceiling of his private cavern to move aside, revealing a trapdoor. The characters think this leads up to the area directly underneath the citadel...
Marion's hunch about information in the archives of Suderham's mages' guild is a good guess. The partially burned documents that were somehow salvaged from the fortified manor of the hidden volcano island's previous leader turn out to be a useful resource indeed. Sifting through them, Marion pieces some information together about the lava tunnels that riddle the place, or at least enough to place three possible entrances. These are mentioned as the locations to various 'pits' or equivalent into which old Olarek threw anyone who annoyed him, and sometimes just because he felt like it. Marion's reasoning is that these deep tunnels might provide a link to the basement of the slave lords' citadel that could be exploited.
The map below is the one from the module; the three main entrances are highlighted in yellow:
If you look at the map of the under caverns sideways, each of the entrances lines up with a location on the map of Suderham Island:
Marion takes this information to her friends Destiny and Sir Blanque, and the three confer. They decide to avoid the two entrances that are more on the inside of the island, rejecting those because of the danger involved in travelling to them; they might be spotted. Instead, they make their way to the underwater cliffside entrance; Sir Blanque will be (literally) in his element here.
They spend a full day resting, safely hidden in the guild headquarters, and then mingle with the crowds of workers as they leave at dusk for the miserable shanty town before the gates are closed and curfew begins. Slinking into an alleyway, they wait until nightfall proper and then pick their way along the cliffs at the edge of the island, moving steadily towards the cave entrance. Their (correct) guess is that this area is less likely to be patrolled than the city proper.
Once they arrive, Marion uses her earth elemental grapple to lower everyone to sea level. Sir Blanque goes first, relishing the chance to use his gills for the first time in positively ages. His dark vision comes in really handy too, as he weaves along a tunnel leading into the island. At one point his superior reflexes allow him to avoid an attempted ambush by a mutated large crab thing, and as the others follow in an air bubble created by the Runestaff, they see it dart back into its hiding place. They all emerge onto subterranean land proper.
They move along the corridor marked 9 on the map and come to a junction. They take the lava tube to their right, eventually emerging into a large nest of giant ants (area 8), which is reached via a bridge made from the bodies of previous generations all linked together to form a bridge, sealed by mortar made from their own fluids and saliva. Intriguing as this is, it's not why they came here, so they retrace their steps to the junction.
This 'corridor' leads to another junction, and again they take a right. Ultimately the end up in area 1, which is the place where the captured adventurers are supposed to be dumped, in the original module scheme. This is the point right in the middle of the complex warrens, tunnels and tubes, although of course the characters don't know that. There is a flickering light in the route to their right, but they recognise it as some sort of untrustworthy lure, so they decide not to follow it. They are well aware of legends about wisps of light that seduce travellers to some nasty form of doom. So they take a left and keep moving, this time ending up in the area noted as 12 on the map. This large cavern has a ledge next to a suspicious looking dark pool, so they tiptoe across the ledge so as not to disturb anything that might be lurking in there.
Area 15 is a mushroom garden, with signs of someone (or something) having tended it. They follow multiple rather unformed footprints to an enormous underground garden, with a village of bioluminescent domes; vaguely people-shaped things are moving around those. Rather than disturb the inhabitants, the three adventurers move to the entrance to a large cavern (16c). Here they are 'greeted' by a very large mushroom man thing, who comes forward to offer them some spores with its handlike appendages. Marion shrugs and steps forward, and as the spores touch her skin she is able to communicate telepathically with the King of the Myconids (at least, that's what he calls himself), and her two friends join in the "conversation".
The fungus king guy explains that his people have been growing down here for lots of time, although he is a bit hazy on how long. He asks politely why they are here, so Sir Blanque tells him about the people like them who live above the caverns, although not all of them are nice; the three of them are here to stop the bad ones. The Myconid Lord smiles, which is rather unnerving, and orders the fungus covering the ceiling of his private cavern to move aside, revealing a trapdoor. The characters think this leads up to the area directly underneath the citadel...
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