Session 05: Snakes in the Grass Report

General Summary

The party decides to take Rittoro to their personal brig on The Rancor. They plan to keep him prisoner until they get a chance to turn him and the others over to the guards. The party then heads towards the Black Gull. The seedy dive bar is quite spartan in appearance and the food and drink are quite revolting to say the least. Here they are to meet with the man who was suppose to meet with Rittoro and the rest of his Yellow Shields mercenary group. They spend an hour or so waiting around resting and having some drinks to pass the time.   A small nervous looking man then enters the bar. Clearly out of place in the rough cliental bar, he quickly approaches the party. He is quite not all there and ends up revealing quite a bit to the party. That he works for someone called "The Master" and that he is apart of a brotherhood that he wishes to join. The party quickly are able to convince him to take him to the hideout of the brotherhood as they have yet to receive payment. The young man leads them into the eastern district to a bricked up house. Here he unlocks the door. Ganbold snatches the key from him however, as he does not trust the poor man who is quite off.   The party ventures forth inside here they find a building that has seen better days. They find a trap door in the main room. It appears to be used often as the area is not as dusty and dirty as the rest of the building. Traveling down within they find a room full of wine casks that have been here for quite sometime. Diala and Ganbold search the room, thinking a hidden door must be within. Their guess is correct as they discover one of the wine casks is a cleverly concealed secret entrance into a cave system beyond! The party inches forward keeping an eye out for any dangers. As they round a corner at the bottom of a set of stone stairs they are met with what appears to be a T-Intersection. Jorin, Rothgar, and Diala creep up along the edges. However Ganbold walks directly down the middle and ends up triggering a pit fall trap. However with his quick reflexes he is able to jump to the side before the floor breaks away. Below is a 10 foot drop. The party then decides where they should go next. The door to the north or the door to the east.   They choose to go east, inside they find a strange room completely painted black with a large depression in the middle of the room. It gives off a odd feeling. The party can't help but think something magical happens here as they quickly discover ritual tools on the altar on the other side. Diala thinks they are for a summoning ritual but the ritual is far beyond anything she has ever read or heard about. With the odd feeling they are having while in this room they decide it is best to push on and head through the north door next after a quick check for any hidden doors.   They are met with a long stone hallway that seems to bend towards the right. They also see two doors. The one on the left closest to them, and the one on the right that is a little further away. The door on the right also seems to have light within the room as it slightly seeps out of the cracks of the door. Feeling the door on the left is probably best to explore first the party pushes in. Here they discover a room dressed in purple curtains and four chests laying in the room. They also find four skeletons! They fight their way through the undead fairly easily. As two of the party members employ bludgeoning weapons on the skeletons. An apparent weakness. As they finish the battle they decide to check the other room before coming back to loot. However the battle seems to have drawn in something far more dangerous.   As the party is about to leave multiple Snake People seem to burst through one of the purple curtains. These are large monstrous creatures wielding spears. They quickly surround Jorin who is closest to the hidden entrance and begin to assault him with their spears. The party quickly turns around and begins their attack on the creatures. It is a very tough battle as the Snake People seem to begin to spray poison on the party! The party is ultimately victorious in the end. However with a bunch of new wounds to show for it.   Diala can't help but recall something she read in a travel journal once upon a time. The Yearning Expanse was once home to a race of Snake People that use to call this area their home. With the fall of their civilization decedents of this civilization now stalk the ruins of old, attacking anyone who dares to trespass on their land.   The party now must decide where they wish to go next. Investigate the next room? Or explore the now revealed cave beyond.