Stone Hell Play Report - Session Five

 

 

Stonehell Play  Report - Session Five - The Lady of The Black Pit

This week we continued our open table Mega dungeon Campaign into Stonehell using OSE advanced. We returned to our favorite venue the recently reopened Tower Bridge Arms and had one of the best sessions our group has enjoyed to date.

Back in the cave!

Real World Date Date: 23/06/2026 

Game Time: 21st Mordred 1023 

The Party: 

Brandon - Level One Halfling Bard (Sergey) RIP

Mithrandir Level One - Human Mage (Cian) RIP 

Perseus VI - Level One - Human Fighter (Renan)  

Naugrim -  Level One - Dwarf Fighter (Cian)  

 

This week we met an entirely new party of daring delvers,  desperate for the gold and glory to be found in Stonehell. The bard, the mage and the fighter became fast friends the previous evening in the Nag's Head after sinking many pints of stout. They picked up some men-at-arms: Carl, Kendrick and Keith, and set-out along the track leading to the canyon,  a little bleary eyed from the night before.

Upon arrival, the party inspected great gatehouse which stretches across the canyon floor and stumbled upon ominous list of fallen adventurers who previously met their fate in this perilous place. The group squeezed through a portcullis and made for the open doorway leading deeper in to this seemingly abandoned fortification.

The first room they explored was a large chamber featuring a long burnt out fire pit, scattered bones and the odd shovel and 10ft pole. Five ghostly figures sitting around the burnt out fire were startled by the arrival of the group.  The ghosts were cautious, until the straight talking Brandon, informed them of their fates, and even offered to bury them on consecrated ground. After some deliberation,  the ghosts yielded to the Halfling's offer of a safe burial in return for information: how they all shared a vague memory of an ambush which happened in this room couldn't say how long ago this happened.

The party traveled onward, searching two mostly empty rooms and then ascended the spiral staircase to the second level of the Gatehouse. While searching the upper floor Mithandir and the hirelings stumbled on a fetid nest of blood-red bird-like creatures with sharp, needle-like beaks nesting above a   cloths rail. The insects swooped down and made quick work of the poor mage as well Keith the hireling, both drained of their life force by the hungry, blood-sucking monsters. Carl and Kendrick took one look at the corpse of their fallen employer and scarpered back down the spiral staircase in flight,  leaving poor Perseus VI and Brandon to deal with the creatures. One of the creature latched onto Perseus (with his 2hp max!) and would have done for him if it wasn't for brave Brandon charging in with his axe and removing the creatures stinger from the rest of its body. Perseus struck next, swatting one of the stirges with his shield like a fly. As soon as the last bug fell, Perseus and Brandon ran to the arrow slits and rained arrows down on their fleeing retainers who stumbled in flight back to the safety of the keep.

In the next room the party met a new friend, Naugrim, a dwarf  fighter who had was waylaid on the road by a band of hobgoblins. Naugrim explained how he had camped here the previous night after an attack on his caravan. After some inventive rope trickery to navigate a unstable, rotten part of the wooden floor. The party continued north, into a room buzzing with wasps. Naugrim threw some oil to smoke them out then the party looted some useful equipment and a decent barrel of wine before descending down a ladder to the first level of the north side of the gatehouse. 

Brandon led the way into the next room. He stumbled upon a bunch of goblins lunching on deer. The goblins were as shocked as the party to have their repast disturbed. Brandon, pulled out his guitar and his long hair flowing, began to sing power ballads in Hobgoblin. Two of the gang were fascinated by the dissonant. rousing, strangely romantic music (there are twenty words for 'love' in Hobgoblin.) The rest of the band were less impressed, but before they could reach for their blades, Brandon led the two into the hallway where he and Naugrim battered the living daylights out of them.  Perseus slammed the door shut on the rest of them.

The goblins tried to beat down the door, to no avail against  hardy Perseus who held firm. Naugrim threw a flask of burning oil and quickly the goblins were slain.  The rest of the group licked their wounds and then were free to continue exploring the gatehouse.

They searched through a room with a desk and a ruined bed.  Brandon discovered- four Giant Centiepedes lurking underneath the bed. He recoiled in fear from the insects just as Naugrim's ears began to twitch, hearing more voices speaking goblin Goblin. "They must be here somewhere! They can't of gone far." Before long the party were sandwiched between Centipede and a small group of Goblins. The centipedes nibbled on Naugrim poisoning the dwarf and weakening his stout limbs while the goblins slashed from the doorway.  Perseus manged to wrestle one of the centipedes and direct IT towards the attacking goblins. Despite this resourcefulness,  Brandon was the first to fall. The bard managed  to slay a centipede before being jabbed on a goblin blade. He met his end but his bravery had an effect as it caused the large insects to flee. As Brandon fell, Brandon slumped to the floor in a faint, weak with the centipede's poison. Only Perseus remained against three goblins, his dual shields parrying their gnarled blades. The sickly dwarf, too weak to even hold his longsword, grabbed one of the green skins by the ankle  cursed him in the goblin tongue, pretending to be a prophet for the Lady of The Black Pit. The image of this pale-faced dwarf, looking like death itself was too much to bear for the already shaken goblin who fled quickly. With luck on his side, Perseus (with 1hp!!!) managed to block the many blows from the remaining goblins and crush both of them with his blood-stained shield.

 

Perseus' Shield Build must be nerfed!
 

When the dust had cleared, Perseus, with the deathly-sick Naugrim at his side managed to escape the gatehouse and made their way back home to the keep. By the evening the pair returned safely back to the Nag's Head where they spied their cowardly hirelings gingerly sipping cheap ale by the fire. Naugrim, still dazed by the centipede's poison stumbled towards their table and vomited liberally into their flagons.

 

If  you like the sound of our game and happen to be in the City State of the Invincible Overlord (AKA London) our game is Open Table which means any one can join just hop on our discord. Join the server and RSVP for the next session!

https://discord.gg/JEZNMW7wb   

Or next session is on the 6th of July at the Tower Bridge Arms.