Arcade’s Journal – Winter’s Glade It is well that Tom-Tom looked before he leaped. The octagonal cavern at the bottom of the shaft was covered with icy stalagmites. We made it down without many mishaps. I shall have to practice descending a rope. Side still aches.... ...never cared for spiders before, less so now. Being knocked unconscious is most unpleasant. Thank goodness for clerics.... ...apparently Nolin hates giant rats more than I hate giant spiders. He went nearly insane trying to get away. Suspect a traumatic encounter in his past. Grundo continues to prove his worth in combat. It was Maddoc’s turn to be wounded nearly unto death, as several rats tried to burrow into his chest. Just as we finished with the rats we passed back through the archway and were attacked by 5 goblins with polearms in the corridor. They definitely were not there (!) a few minutes before. I managed to take one down with a dagger, but when they charged things got messy. Tom-Tom took a single shot to the belly, dropping him. I had already been badly wounded by the rats, and Nolin and Maddoc were both out of commission. Needing a distraction, I managed to wrest away a pole arm and slipped by them on the wall while Cadrienne saw to Tom-Tom. I then had to flee down the corridor with a slavering goblin in hot pursuit. Ran for the octagonal cavern and managed to slide to the ground horizontally across the room entrance just as the goblin arrived. As planned, he tripped and landed hard on a stalagmite, impaled. Luck is with me. By the time I got back to the party Grundo had gone berserk and finished the other 3 goblins. The dead goblins seem to vanish. Are they illusions? It’s a good thing we have so many tinderboxes (took some dandies from the tasloi), as we really needed a fire and some rest.... |
AnnotationsPicture the scene. Nolin is in the far corner trembling from shock, horrified by the recent presence of so many rats. Grundo is methodically getting drunk on Gutshaker. Maddoc is on the floor with a gaping wound in his chest, gasping for air, being ministered to by Tagkris who is humming a paean to his Goddess, asking Her not to take this warrior to Her breast...just yet. The rats, like the spiders before them, have disappeared in death, leaving the party mystified. Tom-Tom, Cadrienne and Arcade turn back through the archway to return to the bivouac in the shattered armory, planning to light a fire. Arcade has 1 hp, and has already used both of his spells while fighting the rats. As they enter the corridor they come face-to-face with a snarling group of five goblins, polearms extended at the ready. They seem to have appeared out of thin air. Arcade flings a dagger into the throat of the nearest goblin, which drops to the floor spitting blood and vanishes. The 1st level party has never heard of Monster Summoning, and decides that these creatures must be illusions. Disbelieving fails, as a goblin thrusts a polearm into Tom-Tom’s gut and drops him to -2 hp. Cadrienne turns to work on Tom-Tom, leaving Arcade to face the four remaining goblins. Arcade briefly considers fleeing, but realizes Cadrienne and Tom-Tom would be impaled in seconds. He grabs the polearm of the goblin closest to the wall, takes it from his grasp (with a 1 on a 2nd Ed. STR check) and slips past them against the wall, sprinting down the corridor. Chaos ensues as the goblins become entangled trying to turn with their polearms in the narrow hallway. The disarmed goblin gives chase, claws and teeth bared. The other goblins finally get their weapons pointed towards Arcade as Grundo, spiked helmet lowered and bellowing a dwarven battlecry, crashes into them from the other direction. The goblins succumb...messily. I hadn't enjoyed a combat so much in years of gaming. You can't believe how pleased I was that the stalagmite trick worked. |