Session 12

The Syndicate of Swords (S.O.S) decide to pursue rumours in the sewers below Threshold

This session was played on Wednesday, March 17, 2011.

Featuring the PCs:

Vith and his dwarven man-at-arms Thurdir and his human henchman Hillgax
Binford and his dwarven man-at-arms Morag
Scratch and his human man-at-arms Ulix and torch-bearer Mungo

The newly-named Syndicate of Swords (S.O.S) decided to take a break from the caves of chaos and send their DM scrambling check out rumours in Threshold proper.

They awoke from their recent bender at the The Flaming Troll to the raised dwarven voices and the ringing of Hammer on anvil. Spring had come to Threshold and the dwarven community was performing a yearly ritual called Hammermeet, wherein they group together around the forge at Mikko's The Broken Buckler smithy and recall their lost dwarven homeland of old. As they sing Mikko strikes the anvil to the beat as two dwarven clerics (known to exist, but rare to see two in one spot) blessed the proceedings with prayers from the dwarven Creator God.

Scratch and Vith spoke to Mikko after the proceedings and learned that the spring ritual marks the beginning of the "war" season and the sending of expeditions to the lost dwarven mine to search for King Duncan and reclaim the halls. Mikko said that if the Syndicate wanted to adventure there he would pay them well from the recovery of artifacts. An expedition would be leaving within days if the party was interested.

Scratch, Vith, and Binford returned the the Flaming Troll to find a public execution being held in the square. A large crowd had gathered to see the proceedings and Scratch noticed several almost imperceptible hand communications between two cloaked figures. As soon as they noticed Scratch, they fled down a side alley and disappeared! Scratch checked an old sewer grate and noticed a ladder extending downward - the clocked figures descended into the sewers.

The party decided to head down, but not long after they ran into a group of City Guards who immediately took the motley crew of adventurers as thieves and opened fire with their longbows.

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They considered throwing down their weapons, but thought instead to kill the guards outright. With the help of their stalwart men-at-arms, the Syndicate made quick work of the guards but didn't bother to revover the bodies…

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Further into the sewers the money-grubbing thieves adventurers ran afoul of a flight of stirges. Vith decided to blow his wad with his sleep spell. At this point the party needed to rest, and decided to lift tail out of the sewers rather than rest in the darkness and run afoul of another random encounter.

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The party continued to search the sewers and found a cave that lead under the waterfall that runs through a portion of the city. Continuing their exploration they found a spiral staircase with signs of recent activity. At the bottom of the staircase they found a hall with a small guardroom. From the guardroom they noticed the two cloaked figures who pointed to the adventurers and yelled, "Kill them! Kill them now!" and a horde of giant rats streamed from behind the men and attacked the party. As the battle wore on the two cloaked figures suddered, convulsed, and changed into ratmen! They fled north while the giant rats covered their retreat.

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Thurdir, Vith's dwarven man-at-arms was reduced to zero hit points. Before the rats could coup de gras him, Binford pulled him back away from the front line. the party was very slow to use flaming oil and the men-at-arms were not well-equipped with pole-arms. This battle lasted longer than it should have.

[Further exploration included the first four party members running into a colony of yellow mold. All three made their save versus death, except Hillgax. Technically he was dead but the players argued a technicality on my part, so, I caved. Hillgax barely escaped death as the players left the sewers and ran to the Temply of law for healing. While resting Scratch used his local contacts to determine that a non-union group of thieves was openly competing with the established thieves guild in Thresgold. Moreover, there were also rumours of children, who play in and near the sewers, going missing in the city.]

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After the Hillgax debacle, the Syndicate rested and then returned the next day to continue exploring (funds are getting low). After setting off an alarm trap, they found an underground complex within the sewers. Around both sides of the building raw sewage meandered it's way from right to left. In the center was a small complex with at least two doors they could see.

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The party entered and were immediately attacked by another wave of giant rats commanded by the two cloaked wererats. Not liking the idea of fighting in the open, they nonetheless formed a skirmish line and duked it out.

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Hillgax and a wererat trade blows.

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Wounded, the two wererats again fled through a door and closed it before the party could follow. The group began to open and search the doors.

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While doing so they left Vith the magic-user and Mungo alone. The two wererats had opened a secret door and attacked them from beind! Vith took two mighty blows (9 HPs) and barely survived (1 HP remaining)

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The Syndicate managed to kill one wererat and futher wound the other. It decided it couldn't flee and threw down offering information for its miserable life. vith tied him up with the magical rope. He eventually changed into a rat and escaped moments afterwards

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In the meantime the ever inquisitive Scratch was further exploring the complex on his own and opened a door with a giant cheeky wererat and a room teeming with giant rats. He took one look and fled with several wounds.

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Further, another large group of giant rats, led by two wererats, turned the far corner and set themselves against our lowly mighty adventurers.

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At this point the Syndicate decided they were ill-equipped, ill-prepared, scared-shitless, and outclassed in this engagement, so they decided to lift tail and run away use flaming oil to make-good their tactical withdrawl escape.

Que the Mood Music!:

Let's Flee!!! (click to enlisten):

Flash Player is no longer supported! Use https://snippets.wikidot.com/code:html5player instead.

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So Hillgax, Vith, and Thurdir almost bought it, and a total of 16 silver pieces looted during this 4 hour session. Yikes!

This was a fun session lasting 4 hours. I think the Syndicate needs to up their game or they'll be signalling S.O.S in the near future.

Totals to Date:
PCs Killed: 1
Hirelings Killed: 16
PCs/Hirelings Reduced to Zero HP: 17
Goblins Put to the Sword: 58
Wererats (non-union) Exterminated: 1
City Guards Slaughtered: 4
Stirges Destroyed: 12
Yellow Molds put to the Torch: 1
Kobolds Dispatched: 14
Hobgoblins Killed: 25
Orcs slaughtered: 21
Owlbears De-Clawed: 1
Ogres Downed: 1
Skeletons Destroyed: 70
Zombies Destroyed: 35
Ghouls Killed: 7
Giant Spiders Killed: 2
Giant Centipedes Exterminated: 3
Gray Ooze De-Slimed: 4
Brigands Killed: 19
Giant Rats Exterminated: 34
Plundered Goods: 13334 gps of value
Days in Campaign: 59

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