DIDx2

The Players

• Zero (played by Ashley) - Forgeborn Cleric
• Shein (played by Nate) - Vesperkin Ranger
• Scarf (played by Sherif) - Lynoxi Rogue
• Rainer (played by Tim) - Human Paladin / Sorcerer

TL;DR

The highlights of the session were:

• The party returned to the surface and collected their payment for the escort job, getting paid 125 darr. They told the guild warden, Siran, about the job and the dead adventurers. They're told this was the fourth attack this week.
• As Zero and Scarf turned to leave the Delver's Guild, they're approached by a Vesperkin man named Toban Gadress, who tells them of his party who had been slaughtered while he stepped away for a moment and how he wanted to contract them to investigate the murders, saying that he would pay them. When Rainer and Shein later joined the conversation, it was agreed that to investigate and find information about who was perpetrating the murders, he would pay them each 250 darr. The party agreed.
• Scarf pickpocketed a nice looking dagger from a random adventurer on the streets.
• The party was led by Toban through the Grotto's winding passages to an underground lake with a waterfall. Scarf found another nice dagger with a wavy wind pattern in the groove through the hand of a skeleton, and pocketed it. After hopping down the waterfall, they witnessed Troglodytes feasting on the remains of yet more adventurers. They were spotted, but dispatched the 8 Troglodytes without much issue.
• Scarf found a writ from the Delver's Guild under one of the bodies detailing a job to hunt the Troglodytes, but oddly enough the writ had no client listed, despite that being mandatory. Despite the torn flesh from the feasting Troglodytes, Scarf found some blade wounds on the bodies.
• After continuing down the passage, the group was taken by surprise by a falling metal net that subdued them, and a group of Deepfolk emerged, telling them in broken Myrian to not resist, and that they were coming with them.

Full Summary

After pondering the situation with the dead adventurers for a bit longer, the party decided to head back to the surface. Upon reaching it, Denthe quickly thanked the group and head off to go about his business. Scarf decided to stop in a general store to buy supplies, and purchased three Healer's Kits, which she tried to haggle the price of with the owner, a Vesperkin woman, who became very annoyed, insisting that Scarf pay what she asked. To diffuse the situation, Rainer silently mouthed to the woman that he would pay the rest to appease Scarf and the woman. Scarf also purchased some better armor, and then left with Zero to head to the Delver's Guild to collect their payment; meanwhile, Rainer and Shein decided to look for a tavern. On the way to the Delver's Guild, Scarf spotted an adventurer walking past with a rather nice looking dagger at his hip, and decided to bump into the man and subtly relieve the man of his dagger. As the man angrily yelled at Scarf to watch where she was going, Scarf pocketed the dagger. As they reached the door to the Delver's Guild and opened the door, Scarf overheard the man in the background calling out, demanding to know what happened to his dagger. Scarf smirked and pushed her way into the guild.

Inside the Delver's Guild, among a number of tables meant for adventurers to gather and greet each other, Zero and Scarf saw a pair of bulletin boards with a number of writs posted on them flanking a counter with a Vesperkin woman named Siran, who the pair spoke to, telling her of the results of their escort. Siran was saddened to hear of Garol's death, but seemed accustomed to hearing of such news, and offered an additional stipend of 50 darr on top of the fee of 75 darr for the job for Garol's share. They also told Siran of the dead adventurers, and she lamented that it was the fourth attack this week, suggesting that the group go to speak with the Marshals if they get the chance, as they're trying to put a stop to it. She gave them directions to the Marshal's Headquarters just north along the mountain. Afterwards, the two turned to leave and as they left, they saw a Vesperkin man they hadn't noticed before approach them, asking to speak to them.

The man introduced himself as Toban Gadress, and inquired about their job, seeming to know about the encounter with the Umber Hulk, even though the two hadn't mentioned it to Siran. He explained that he was a friend of Denthe's and had bumped into him at the tavern and put two and two together when he heard them speaking to Siran. He asked about the dead adventurers they found before relaying a story of his own, about how a few weeks ago, he had been exiting Obscurus after a successful raid with his party, and they had decided to camp out for the night rather than make the several hours trek back to the surface. Toban said that he went to take a piss and got distracted by a funny looking mushroom, and when he returned to his party, he found them all bleeding out, throats cut and their valuables taken. Not being one for face-to-face combat, he decided to flee. He said that he would be willing to pay them and their party if they could investigate and find who was responsible, suggesting that being new to Dolenna, they could perhaps provoke an attack to get a look at the ones responsible. Zero and Scarf seemed unsure, but agreed to speak to Rainer and Shein about it. With that, they went to go find the other two. Fortunately, they had been on their way to collect their own payment and ran into the pair in the courtyard. They went back inside to speak to Toban and agreed to help after negotiating that Toban would accompany them into the Grotto to show them the way to where the ambush happened. After collecting their fee from Siran, they agreed to meet Toban at the guild the following morning to set out. With that, they set out to find an inn for the night.

In the morning, after having breakfast, they met with Toban at the Delver's Guild, which was crowded and full of activity of other adventurers gathering to set out on their own jobs. Being hailed over to a table by Toban, they briefly discussed the terms of the arrangement and Toban explained the path to the area, after which the group set out with him, heading deep into the Ludranna Grotto. After following twisting winding passages for a good four hours, the group came to a large cavern with a lake with a number of rocky platforms jutting out of it, and the sounds of a waterfall in the distance. Concerned about rust and getting stuck at the bottom of the lake, Zero cast a Water Walking spell to allow the group to simply walk over the surface of the water, after which they slowly walked across the lake, exploring the cavern. Finding a larger outcropping on the opposite side of the cavern, Scarf spotted a skeleton hidden behind a stalagmite, and upon investigating, they found a dagger stuck through its hand, which had an interesting gust of wind pattern carved through the groove of the blade, looking pristine despite the obvious age of the skeleton. Scarf decided to pocket this dagger as well, and the group pressed on, coming upon the top of the waterfall. Looking below, Toban said that they should be careful, as there were some stalagmites in the water below, and he hopped first to show them where to land. Following him down below, Zero quickly spotted some sort of short-necked reptilian creature in the distance on an island. Zero tried to point it out to their teammates, but they seemed unable to see the creatures and went to an island ahead to get a better look. They saw the reptilian creatures -- what they would later learn were called Troglodytes, feasting on the remains of another party of adventurers. Unfortunately, they did not react quickly enough to put out the light Rainer had cast on himself before another off to their side spotted them and alerted its companions. At that, several more emerged from the water and began to charge them. The Troglodytes charged, diving into the water making it impossible for the party to track them, and jumping out onto the cramped island the party was standing on and thrashing them. However, Toban, Shein, and Scarf got the jump on the ones standing on the next platform, decimating their numbers quickly. Fortunately, the creatures proved no serious threat and were dispatched without too much trouble after a short scuffle, leaving eight dead Troglodytes on the island.

Heading over to the group of dead adventurers, Scarf investigated the bodies and despite the heavy damage from the Troglodytes' feasting, she found a small number of blade wounds. These adventurers seemed to be missing all their belongings as well, but looking closer, she found what appeared to be a Delver's Writ hidden under one of the bodies. Presenting it to the group, they read it and learned that these adventurers had apparently been contracted to hunt the Troglodytes here about five days ago. But what alarmed Toban is when the group pointed out that the writ had no client recorded on it -- a precaution the guild takes for any job, as they document their jobs thoroughly. Unnerved by this, he suggested that they press on, and they pocketed the writ to show to Siran later. Pressing on further down the passage, they came to a smaller cavern where Shein could hear a dripping sound in the distance. As they cautiously moved through the cavern, the dripping sound suddenly stopped, which Shein noticed and thought was odd. Almost immediately afterward, a large heavy net with a metal mesh fell on top of the group, restraining them, and a group of humanoids that Toban identified as Deepfolk emerged with weapons drawn. Advancing towards the party, a burly Deepfolk woman approached them and, in broken Myrian, ordered them not to resist, saying that they would be going with them.