Adventuring in 4AD - part 2

Once again heroes have answered the call for help in the town of Silverpines.  The four adventurers have recuperated from their last trek into darkness, coming back with lost treasures and stories of lurking dangers.  Now they have steeled themselves to journey once more into the unknown.

Ulrik, brave barbarian from the Ten Bear Tribe; Vondal Frostheim, stalwart dwarf of the Silver Citadel; Sariel Moonpetal, she-elf of the distant Starlight Forest; and Cailie Reedgage, female Halfling from the Emerald Hills; have gathered their gear and approached the depths of the dungeon they had only recently escaped.

• The entrance to the dungeon once again looms ahead, with paths heading north-east and north-west.  They had already ventured eastward, so to the north-west they travel.

1. A long corridor stretches into the distance before turning west.  A door lies along the eastern wall of the corridor.  Sariel motions the party to follow the corridor first.  Her sharp ears and eyes detect nothing amiss in this seemingly vacant tunnel.  (Empty, Search empty)
2. They enter a room with a door on the western wall.  Immediately they hear odd croaking sounds.  Five bloated vampire frogs are squatting over the remains of some past victim, blood staining the floor and their hungry mouths.  Sariel fires her bow in quick succession, felling two of the demonic toads.  Vondal and Ulrik launch into the fray finishing off the remaining three.  Cailie dug through the gory ruin and found 5 gold.  Sariel suggests they should back-track to the door in the previous corridor.  (Vermin)
3. In this room the party was surprised to see it was empty.  Sariel searched in vain, but it was Ulrik who found a loose stone on the wall.  He pulled it and was struck as a spring-loaded blade sliced his hand.  With the trap disengaged the barbarian found a small pouch containing 72 gold.  As there were no doors in this room, the team headed back to the room where they killed the vampire frogs and through the door on its western wall.  (Empty, Hidden Treasure, Trapped)
4. The short narrow corridor headed west and branched north.  Sariel could not detect anything awry at this juncture, but she thought she heard sounds from the north.  Ulrik and Vondal readied their weapons and headed north.  (Empty, Search empty)
5. A room opens up before them with a door to the north.  However, they have other concerns.  Three drooling trolls have heard the heroes and turn to them in anticipation.  Sariel’s bow claims one of the monsters, as does Ulrik with his large war-hammer.  But then both trolls stand back up, their wounds regenerating swiftly.  The trolls attack, knocking back Cailie and Vondal, despite their racial familiarity in avoiding larger monsters.  Ulrik smashes aside another troll.  Cailie uses her dexterity to bash the knee-cap of one troll, cave in the skull of the next, before burying her mace in the initial one she clipped.  Sariel and Vondal chop up the trolls to prevent them from recovering.  The elf finds a mysterious wand kept by the trolls; she senses it to be a Wand of Sleep.  The group opens the door to the north.  (Minions, Halfling exploding 6 attack)
6. A narrow corridor ends in a large room with another door to the north.  To the side is a treasure chest.  Greedily the Halfling tries to pry open the chest.  Instantly a cloud of poisonous gas is ejected, filling the area.  Ulrik, Vondal, and Sariel were far enough back to avoid the venomous trap, but Cailie fell back, coughing and vomiting as she breathed in the full force of the toxins.  With the trap released they find a measly 12 gold inside the chest.  To the north they go once more.  (Treasure protected by a Trap, Poison Gas)
7. This room has a door heading north and a door to the east.  The party is confronted by eight fungi folk, moldy and rotten like the ones they had fought in their first dungeon run.  With so many, Sariel did not want to risk these monsters’ toxic touch.  She used her Wand of Sleep.  Amazingly seven of the fungi folk collapsed!  Cailie used her sling to drop the last one.  Ulrik and Vondal finish off the sleeping forms to be sure and find a magical scroll, which they hand off to Sariel.  The elf now had another Scroll of Lightning Bolt.  The group chose the door to the east.  (Minions)
8. A corridor stretches to the east, with a branching path heading north and south.  A gang of eight goblins just reached the intersection.  They were completely surprised to see a group of adventurers entering this far into the dungeon.  Sariel conjured forth the winds of magic, feeling arcane energies swell within her, and she unleashed a mighty fireball.  The resulting explosion rocked the dungeon walls and floor, threatening to knock over the heroes.  But as the smoke cleared, there were no goblins remaining.  They sifted through the ashes and charred remains.  Vondal’s dwarven sense of smell found only 5 gold.  This time they went south.  (Minions, Elf exploding 6 twice with Fireball)
9. The southern corridor ended in a room with a door to the south.  Ten rats with gleaming red eyes scurry from the darkness.  Cailie smiled with glee and began a macabre dance, a grisly ballet punctuated by stomping on the rats with each of her Halfling-sized feet as she hopped about the room.  The Halfling had squished eight of the rats before Sariel kicked aside the last two.  Vondal looked at the surprising Halfling before opening the southern door.  (Vermin, Halfling exploding 6 attack)
10. A short narrow corridor headed south with a branch to the east.  Sariel detected nothing in the squat intersection.  So they head south.  (Empty, Search empty)
11. The path turns to the east into a dead-end room.  But a large form was lounging in this room.  A giant ogre stands up from his pallet of skins and furs.  Sariel uses one of her Scrolls of Lightning Bolt, striking the behemoth in a flash of blue-white.  Vondal rolls between the ogre’s legs, hacking both knees from behind, dropping the ogre lower.  Ulrik immediately follows behind the dwarf to slam his war-hammer up into the jaw of the monster, shattering teeth and the jaw into shrapnel of bone.  The ogre toppled over with a loud thump.  Among the ogre’s possessions Vondal was able to sniff out jewelry worth 60 gold.  The dwarf smiled avariciously, feeling excited about a wealthy future.  The group headed back north out of the ogre’s lair and headed east.  (Boss, Dwarf exploding 6, Barbarian exploding 6, Dwarf leveled up)
12. The room before them has a door to the east and a tunnel further north.  Except, all eyes are drawn to the massive beast dwelling in this chamber.  This chamber was home to a monstrous wyrm, a crimson dragon.  Its reptilian head rose up to stare menacingly down on these mortals that would dare enter its lair as smoke began to billow from its cavernous maw.  Sariel quickly read the arcane words of her last Scroll of Lightning Bolt, striking the mighty drake with an instance of brilliant energy.  Vondal leapt in with his two-handed battle-axe, carving a couple scales from the dragon.  This grand red drake struck at the heroes in quick succession, smashing aside Ulrik and the dwarf.  Sariel danced in to stab the dragon, scoring only a minor cut.  Then Ulrik, powerful barbarian of the northern tundra, let forth a raging howl of fury and caved in the skull of the once proud dragon.  The dragon collapsed, shaking the chamber with his death throes.  Cailie had not been idle, as she leapt to avoid the wings and tail of such a gargantuan creature, she fell upon the treasure belonging to the dragon.  The Halfling had found gems worth 35 gold, jewelry worth 170 gold, and a magical sword!  Cailie gladly handed the sword over to Sariel.  Vondal hacked off the head of the dragon to keep as a trophy and proof of their exploits.  With the death of this epic beast, the adventurers headed back the way they came to leave the dungeon.  (Boss, Final, Barbarian Rage exploding 6, Barbarian leveled up, Halfling leveled up)

• The final corridor to the dungeon entrance stretched before them.  Suddenly a diabolic monstrosity flew into the trailing members of the group.  A Chimera!  Sariel shot the beast, burying an arrow deep into its chest.  But the Chimera braced itself and spewed flames, scorching Ulrik and narrowly missing the others.  Cailie desperately hacked at the beast as the dwarf and barbarian could only watch in horror from behind.  The Chimera swiped its deadly talons, slicing the Halfling.  Sariel had a magic sword now and once more channeled the Goddess of War, carving the beast into chunks of seared meat.  Cailie was able to spot 8 gold from the opened entrails of the Chimera.  With this last encounter, the group exited the dungeon.  (Wandering Monster, Weird Monster)

They were bloodied, sweaty, tired, but also victorious and considerably wealthy.  Now they could present themselves to the mayor of Silverpines and receive the accolades they deserved.  Vondal plopped the head of the dragon at the feet of the mayor.  Cailie climbed atop the draconic skull and began the tale of the four adventurers that dared the depths below.  

Final dungeon, having taken the north-west road this time around.

Final party sheet after completion of the dungeon.