It's the second day that Dorn, Exie, and Aele have been together. They have arrived on Level 3 of Arden Vul and are currently dealing with a shakedown attempt by Phlebotomas' halfling thugs.
Dorn has just shot his mouth off to Roskelly: ""How do you do? Where are your parents? We'll speak to them." There is a non-zero chance that one or more thugs will fire on him for this insult. Oracle says nah.
"Ah, the brash adventurer speaks," says Rosk. "My fellows and I are halflings, as I think you likely know quite well. My fellow halflings, if the bald one here doesn't tame his salty tongue, fill him full of crossbow quarrels. Now, back to business. Nobody goes any further into Arden Vul without an explorer's license, and that is twenty-five gold coins for each of you. Oh, and if you want to use this route to exit the dungeon — assuming you live long enough to exit &mash; there is a tariff of 10% on your treasure haul."
Options: considering what coinage Dorn has stolen from the Blackfist Mercs, not to mention the treasure the party acquired from the goblins, the party can afford this. Dorn is seething, Exie is anxious, and Aele's expression denotes thoughtfulness.
"How long are the explorers' licenses valid?" Exie asks.
"Why, until the next time we meet each other, of course," says Rosk with an evil grin.
"We cannot possibly afford that," Aele lies. "But I am a priest of Cromm. If you have any vials or flasks, fill them with water and I will turn them into healing potions."
"A generous offer," Rosk concedes, "and healing potions are in very high demand here. However, given the loss of immediate income, we would have to charge you 20% of the value or any treasure you may seek to exit Arden Vul with; is that acceptable? But I will first need proof that you can do what you claim." He produces a canteen of water, and an empty vial, then fills the vial with water.
Moving up to the priest, he hands him the vial and says, "Let me see your hand." When Aele complies, the halfling takes his dagger and slices a small cut on the back of the priest's right hand. "Now, turn this vial into a healing potion, then drink it."
"Very well," Aele agrees, taking the vial. "Cromm, aid your servant, that healing may come," he says, passing his other hand three times over the vial, which he then turns up and quaffes. After a couple seconds, Rosk sneers. "Aha! A charlatan, I se—"
"A few moments more," Aele advises. And then before everyone's eyes, his hand heals.
"Hmppf!" says Rosk. "Very well, then. Three vials of water turned into healing potions, and we will let you pass. Only you owe us 20% of the monetary value of any treasure when you come through our territory to leave the dungeon. And believe me, this is the only safe ingress and egress."
"Twenty percent the first time we come back through here, then the standard ten percent after that. You said yourself that healing potions are in high demand," Exie counters.
"And I myself get to select our 20% cut," Rosk adds.
"Agreed on one condition," Dorn says. "If we cannot agree on what constitutes a twenty percent cut, you will accept one hundred gold coins instead of a cut."
"One hundred twenty five," Rosk counters.
"One hundred fifteen. Final offer," Dorn growls.
After the space of five hearbeats, Rosk says, "Agreed!" Coinage changes hands, and all three companions contribute their remaining carried wealth to come up with the agreed upon sum. Aele is now truly broke, but Exie manages to keep the 10-gp value blue quartz hidden. Dorn has a gold coin hidden in the tongue of each boot.
"Well, shit!" Dorn says, after the party has left Rosk and his halfling thugs behind. He begins to say more, but catches a hand movement by Lexie and dampens the amount of light coming from his lantern. Lantern Usage Check: 3 (all good). Lexie is no longer anywhere in sight, but then she comes back into the lantern light, frogmarching a halfling ahead of her, a dagger to the thug's back.
"Truce!" the halfling cries. "I mean you no harm. I am Sulla. Sulla Tradewell. Rosk sent me to offer my services as a guide. I know the dangers on this level pretty well, and I would welcome the chance to stretch my legs."
"And to report back to him later on everything we've said, everywhere we've gone," adds Exie coolly.
"He will ask, yes; and I will tell him, but a halfling facing the dangers of Arden Vul cannot remember every detail," she says, coyly. "And one who seeks more out of life than a base career of thuggery might prove herself loyal and valuable, no?"
Dorn looks from Sulla to Aele, and the latter arches an eyebrow to accentuate a shrug.
"What's to say you're not just trying to insert yourself into our group in order to lead us to our doom?" Exie asks.
"I understand your distrust. But given that distrust, would it not be better to have me with you where you can keep an eye on me, instead of me following your trail, which is what I must do if I do not join you? Give me three hours to prove my worth."
Dorn waits until Exie shares a look with him before saying, "All right. Performance is the prover. But you will fight for us, you will not abandon us, and you will have only half a share in any loot after we get first pick."
Sulla smiles. "Agreed! And here is a flask of oil for your lantern." She hands it over. The brings extra oil up to four lantern-refills.
Sulla apparently takes her duties as guide seriously: "If we encounter beastmen, don't freak out. Just stay calm and follow my lead."
"Calm, yes. But following? You'll have to prove yourself to us, first," Dorn says.
"Beastmen have shaggy fur and their heads usually resemble a wolf but sometimes might be a cat's head, or that of a ... what do you call them on the Surface? The four-legged creatures that produce milk?"
"Cows," Aele supplies.
"Hmm, no, not cows..."
"Goats," Exie says with confidence.
"Yes! The goatses, right. The beastmen have a truce with u— um, with Rosk, so we usually leave each other alone. But it is an uneasy truce. It would not take much for it to—"
"— 'go sideways', as we like to say on the Surface." Exie grins, simultaneously chiding herself and trying to hold on tightly to disliking this short woman.
"There could be goblins. We know some went out this morning on patrol. They probably will attack us if we come across any — the halflings and goblins have been ambushing each other a lot lately. They won't hesitate to kill me but would probably try to capture you, hoping to take prisoners to their king. And then there are skeletons, and sometimes blood-birds. We can probably take them. Now follow me," she says, and taking her torch she heads east.
You stand in a great hall carved out of the limestone. This two- or three-story hall is filled with broken pillars and strange statuary. "Follow carefully, there is much crumbling stone here." And she leads the heroes through the hall, west to east.
Exie approaches Dorn. "Let me borrow the lantern a minute? I need to relieve myself." True to her word, she is only gone a minute, and comes back with a cherubic smile and — though nobody notices — a slight bulge in her pack.
As the foursome reach the end of the great hall, Sulla says, "Okay, we can begin angling southeast and will wind up in the mushroom forest. It's a good source of food, but there are myconids. Or, if we move north, we will enter a section of the level that was once home to priests of Thoth. It has rotting murals, statues, and some crypts, most of which were looted long ago. So, what'll it be?"
"Nort—" Aele ejects.
"—Southeast!" both Dorn and Exie say speaking over Aele.
Dorn turns to his old friend. "Let's visit the forest and acquire food first, and maybe other useful things, then we'll head north and explore thoroughly."
Aele nods. "Makes sense."
Ask the (Playing Cards) Oracle: Does the party have an encounter enroute to the Mushroom Forest?
Result: Yes! 
— 9 skeletons suddenly converge on the party, drawn by its hateful positive energy! Hp 3, Ac 12, Atk +1 Dmg 1d4
Dorn shouts, "Aele, can you banish them!?"
"No, I'm not strong enough yet in my faith!" And with that, Aele pulls his mace from his belt and prepares to do battle.
"Shinker's Scabies!" Exie curses. "I don't have a blunt weapon!"
"Use the flat of your sword, like a club!" Sulla shouts, and then the skeletons are upon the heroes.
"Well shit on a slick stick," Dorn curses under his breath, limbering up his sword arm.
Rnd 1: Dorn misses, Exie hits and destroys a skeleton. Sulla misses. So does Aele. Three skeletons attack Dorn. The first one crits him for 4 damage (he's at 7/12 hp). The second and third fail to hurt Dorn. Two skeletons attack Aele: one of them hits him for 4 points (he's at 3/7 hp). Two attack Sulla, who dodges both attacks deftly. The remaining skeleton attacks Exie: a miss!
Rnd 2: Dorn misses, burns a Fortune Point to re-roll his attack, and misses a second time! He burns another FP and re-rolls: a crit, and that skeleton goes down! Exie's attack hits and another skeleton goes down. Sulla attacks, shattering a skeleton. Aele uses a Surge, 2d6 equals six, and directs that positive energy at one of the remaining skeletons, obliterating it. Four skeletons remain. Two hit Dorn, one critically, and staggers (1 hp left). One attacks Sulla, the other Exie. Their armor saves them.
Rnd 3: Dorn lashes out with fading strength, shrewdly targeting the skeleton north of Aele, destroying it. Exie targets the skeleton southwest of her position: a hit and she destroys it. Sulla steps north and helps Dorn down a healing potion. Dorn's eyes widen as his wounds close. And Aele uses his second Surge of the day to heal himself.
Rnd 4: The two remaining skeletons attack Dorn: a hit and a miss, and Dorn is 8/12 hp. His companions make quick work of those two remaining foes and combat ends.
| PC | HP | Surges Left | FP Left |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dorn | 8/12 | n/a | 1/3 |
| Aele | 7/7 | 1/3 | 3/3 |
| Sulla | 7/7 | n/a | 3/3 |
| Exie | 8/8 | n/a | 3/3 |
As the party scans nearby quickly, following defeating the skeletons, they luck out and happen upon a false section of flagstones slowly sliding into place again. "Block it. Don't let it close!" Sulla says forcefully. Aele manages to prevent it closing completely with his mace. Then his and Dorn's combined strength manage to reopen it. While they ensure it stays open, Exie and Sulla go down crumbling stone steps and lug up a heavy chest. Sulla gets a cut while assuming the risk of opening the chest. Luckily, if it once had poison on the trap, it has long since lost its potency.
Exie is smiling like a chesire cat when she emerges and explains, "There's a mechanism down there that can open the trapdoor. We can use this as a safe place to rest!"
"Test it!" Dorn says, peering down into the space while Aele tends to Sulla's cut. Sure enough, after letting the trapdoor completely close, Exie waits a full minute and then, faintly her voice can be heard, muffled even though she's yelling, "I'm going to try it now!" It works!
"Did you know this was here?" Dorn asks Sulla.
"No, Dorn. I swear, I did not. And I'm confident none of the other halflings know of it."
"It's a chance we'll have to take. Everybody inside," Dorn barks. "Let's rest, eat, get some sleep, and then make some plans..."
*Defeating skeletons, obtaining food, obtaining makeshift torch material, forging an ally in Sulla: 1,000 XP. No level-ups. Total treasure value in the chest:
The bulk of the treasure is loose, spilling out of a rotted leather sack resting atop the chest:
- 2,400 cp: Tarnished and green-edged, featuring the profile of a forgotten tyrant.
- 800 sp: Polished and bright, minted by a mountain dwarf clan.
- 450 gp: Heavy, square-cut coins known as "Beholders," stamped with a central eye.
2. Objects of Art & Curios
Spread around the base of the chest are items used in forgotten rituals:
An Ivory Drinking Horn (Value: 150 gp): Carved with scenes of a Great Hunt. If used to drink wine, the user feels a momentary surge of unnatural bravery (+1 to Saves vs. Fear for 1 turn).
A Silver Filigree Mask (Value: 250 gp): Shaped like a weeping face. It is cold to the touch and weighs more than it looks.
Three Blue Spinels: Small, sparkling gems worth 50 gp each.
3. The "Main Attraction" (Magic Items)
Hidden inside the chest, wrapped in moth-eaten velvet: a small, spiked shield +1 ("The Sun-Blinder") made of polished bronze. Once per day, the wielder can command it to flash; all enemies within 10 feet must Save vs. Spells or be blinded for 1d4 rounds.
Potion of Gaseous Form: Contained in a fragile glass vial shaped like a cloud. It tastes like wet fog.
Deep within the humid gloom of Arden Vul’s third level, the Mushroom Forest unfolds like a fever dream of alien biology. Towering, shelf-like caps of colossal Agarics reach toward the vaulted ceiling, their stalks thick as ancient oaks and slick with a pale, weeping nectar.
The air here is heavy and sweet, shimmering with a suspended haze of bioluminescent spores that drift like embers in colors of toxic violet and neon emerald. Underfoot, the floor is a spongy carpet of mycelium that sighs and yields with every step, occasionally rupturing to release puffs of pungent, mustard-colored gas.
A rhythmic, low-frequency hum vibrates through the damp air, seemingly pulsed from the gills of the largest fungi. Clusters of fist-sized puffballs line the cavern walls, glowing with a rhythmic internal light that mimics a slow, steady heartbeat. Every surface is coated in a fine, slippery dew, and the silence of the halls is replaced by the unsettling, wet "thwip" of distant fungal growths expanding in the dark.
The party stuffs their packs with edible shrooms, as well as some sort of greenish plant that might be Underworld asparagus or hogweed. And Sulla shows the party a dark, oily vine that can be wrapped around a stick or club and makes a decent torch.