Dragonbane: Alone in Deepfall Breach Session 2- The Spoils to the Victor

Aleric continues his first delve into Deepfall Breach! His mission is to rescue the Orc taken by cultists deep into the Breach for some demonic ritual...

Aleric begins searching the room, hoping to find some sort of clue that might lead him toward the correct sarcophagus leading to the next room. He sighs, thinking about all the time he’s already spent moving through the previous corridors with such care. Every second he wastes means it's more likely that the band of goblins finds him before he completes his mission. 

 
Roll: Spot Hidden (5): 15; Failure- Aleric’s search bears no fruit. Threat increases from 2 to 3 of 6 for the time he spends searching 
 

Aleric examines each of the stone coffins with care, but in the end he comes up with nothing. To his eyes, there is no difference in these sarcophagi. One of them will lead him onward, yet he cannot risk any more time searching. “Too long I’ve spent examining these damned stone boxes! The risk is greater if I spend any more than just start opening them up at random!” With that he moves towards the first of the Sarcophagi, placing his hands on the edge he pushes the lid off. 

 
Roll D6: On a roll a 1 Aleric chooses the correct Sarcophagi. Otherwise he may face whatever is left buried in this tomb!: 6; Aleric chooses poorly… 
 

As Aleric shoulders the lid off of the sarcophagus, a scraping sound comes from within as something begins to stir. The lid of the stone coffin falls to the ground. Aleric leaps back and draws his sword and shield from his back. From within the sarcophagus, a bony hand reaches out and grabs the stone side. Pulling itself up from its resting place, an armored and sturdy looking skeletal champion rises, staring towards Aleric. The wolfkin growls under his breath and grips his broadsword tightly, readying for the fight as the champion pulls itself free of the coffin. Raising a longsword and hefting a large shield, it slowly advances towards Aleric!

COMBAT

Round 1

Initiative
 Aleric (army of one: Draw 2 initiatives)- 1 & 9
 Champion: 4

Aleric closes the distance and brings his broadsword down on the champion quickly before it can rally for an attack
Roll: Aleric- Swords (14):  4;  Success
Damage (3D6): 8

As Aleric’s sword comes down, the champion attempts to block the wolfkin's strike by raising its shield up high to intercept the blow

Roll: Skeleton Defensive ability (-3 WP; 12/15 WP)- Parry with longsword(16): 18 Failure; The skeleton takes the hit! Its chainmail blocks 4 of Aleric's damage, taking it from 24 to 20 HP

Aleric’s sword makes contact with the Skeletal champion's body as it attempts to block the attack with its shield. Smashing it in the ribcage, Aleric hears the rattling of the creature's chainmail, but there's definitely some chips of bone falling to the floor as he dances back to prepare for the skeleton’s attack. 

Just as expected the Skeleton returns the swing with a slash of its own. It brings its longsword down on Aleric in a hefty attack.
Roll: Skeleton- Swords(16): 9; Success
Damage (2D8+1D6): 19

Aleric sees the blade coming directly for him and attempts to block the attack with his own shield!

Roll: Parry w/shield using Swords(14): 1; A Dragon!; Critical success; Aleric knocks the blow aside, returning an attack of his own!

Damage (3d6): 13; Unable to evade this blow, the skeleton takes the full brunt of Aleric’s return attack. With 4 damage blocked by its chainmail, it goes from 20 to 11 hp!

Though Aleric was able to block the devastating blow from the champion’s longsword, his shield has been dented badly. He throws it to the ground, knowing that it won’t be useful until he’s had a chance to beat out that dent. 


Round 2

Initiative
Aleric (Army of one: Draw 2 Initiatives): 1 & 6
Skeletal Champion (Veteran -1 WP; 11/15 WP: Retains previous initiative ): 4

Aleric glances down at his blade, recognizing the large chip that has been taken from its edge by parrying aside that devastating blow. He doubles down, attempting to cut the skeleton’s head from its bony body!
Roll: Aleric- Swords (14): 8; Success
Damage (3d6): 16

Again the skeleton attempts to block Aleric’s strike, bringing its shield up to block the sword

Roll: Skeleton Defensive ability (-3 WP; 8/15 WP): parry w/ longsword(16): 17; Failure: The skeleton is again too slow to block Aleric’s sword. The blade cuts into the skeleton’s chainmail. Even with 4 points of armor, the skeleton takes 12 points of damage reducing its HP to 0!

END COMBAT


Aleric’s sword makes contact with the skeleton, avoiding the heavy shield that it attempted to interpose between itself and the blade. With all the might he could muster, Aleric forces the blade through the skeleton’s neck. The edge cleaves through the bony spinal column that holds up the champion's head. A clattering sounds out in the cavern as the skeleton’s skull falls to the ground, shattering into pieces. Moments later the rest of the skeleton’s body falls to pieces into a heap at the wolfkin’s feet. The magical energy holding the dead remains together having vanished, bones clatter and scatter across the ground. All that remains of the foe is the chipped bone fragments, an ancient suit of chainmail, and an ancient looking longsword.  Aleric takes a moment to sift through the bony remains. He quickly tosses the armor aside, as the rust and wear makes it practically unusable. “No better than what I’ve got on anyways…” He pauses for a moment, looking at the longsword. Though it looks to have seen battle beyond its usefulness, the weapon seems to gleam as if it was just polished and sharpened yesterday. “Now this. This will come in handy.” He takes the weapons hulking sheathe from the skeleton’s remains, slinging the strap over his back so that it hangs with his broadsword on his back. As he continues to sift through the remains, Aleric hears the soft tinkling sound of metal bouncing on stone. After a moment, Aleric finds the source. A small golden ring had fallen out of the skeleton’s tattered clothing. The wolfkin tucked this in his pocket, hoping that it might fetch a pretty penny once he was able to make his way out of the Breach. 

Aleric sits down, appraising his shield. The gash would be hard to repair without more time spent, but he thinks he can at least bang the steel back into place where the skeleton’s attack had dented it inward. He set about smacking the back of the shield to do just that. 

Roll: Crafting(14)- 5; success

With a bit of time, Aleric is able to beat the shield back into a usable shape. He slings it over his swords on his back and sets about finding the exit out of this room. 

Roll D6: On a 1 Aleric is able to find the correct sarcophagus without spending more time in this room and advancing the threat. 1

Aleric began to push the stone covers off of the remaining Sarcophagi one by one. Inside the very next sarcophagus that he opened, Aleric found a dark hole with a ladder trailing below into the darkness. He sighed to himself. “Of course. Couldn’t have been the first one I found, could it? My luck, always just slightly off its mark…”  He sighs before lowering himself onto the ladder and beginning the climb down into the darkness. 

3. ???

Stone-Gaze was unable to identify the next room. Aleric climbs down into the depths of the sarcophagus with a nagging worry in the back of his mind. He’s unsure what stands before him

Roll: Inspiration Tables- 9/12/19; Hunt Secret Treasure

Aleric lowers himself from the ladder into a dimly lit room. As he turns, he stumbles over a pile of junk that is haphazardly left at the foot of the ladder. As he steadies himself he looks around the room to find that it is completely filled with stacks of junk. Books, chests, old rusty suits of armor. “Gods, this place is a damned mess! Surely there's plenty useful hidden within the piles of junk, but I don’t think I have the time to sort through it now. Mayhaps on my return if I’m in less of a hurry…” Scanning the room, Aleric finds a tunnel leading out of the room. He carefully makes his way towards the exit, hoping there aren’t any more dangerous surprises hidden beneath the piles of junk. 

On his way out, Aleric might find something out of chance. 

Roll: Fortune Chart- Does Aleric find anything? 1- Extreme no

He carefully makes his way out of the room, navigating the piles of junk but keeping his eyes peeled for anything that might be valuable, or in a worse case any kind of trap. He navigates the stacks with care but reaches the exit finding nothing, neither boon nor bane. He shrugs his shoulders, “Well I suppose nothing is better than finding a bear trap with my foot.” He shoves his way past the final pile of junk and exits the room of junk onto his next objective. 

4. ???

Stone-Gaze was again unable to identify the next obstacle that Aleric would find. He draws his new longsword and holds his shield out in front of him, ready for the unknown. 

Roll: Exploration Tables- Area (13); Location details (1, 3); Contents (2); Oddity (15)- A narrow staircase with a blood trail and shifting architecture

Aleric moves through the doorway to find a narrow stairway that winds down deeper into the breach. Eerie light is cast from the lit torches in wall sconces that line one side of the wall. Aleric is thankful for the light, but as he descends the stairwell, it seems as if the way ahead shifts ever so slightly before him. He rubs his eyes and shakes his head, “These damned lights are playing tricks on my eyes! I swear it was just curving to the left and now it makes a hard right!”  Hesitantly he continues down the stairwell until it opens up into a large room. The room is filled with staircases zigzagging across from either side. Each staircase leads to and from an open archway in the walls. Aleric looks down to find that the floor is completely gone, instead finding a drop down into darkness that he would rather not find out how far down it goes.  He curses under his breath, “A damned puzzle! Ugh I was never the best at solving these things growing up! This could take some time…” He follows his stairwell down into the room and exits through the doorway ahead of him. He walks through the archway and finds himself at a landing with two different doorways. One leads to a stairway up, and the other leads to a stairwell down. “Uhhh… Best keep going down I guess. That seems to be the way this is leading me anyways.”  He exits through the doorway leading to the descending stairway. Traversing the narrow stairs for a few moments he finds himself facing an opening. He steps through and finds himself in the same room with the many stairwells crossing left and right in front of him. He growls a low rumbling growl as he makes his way across the room yet again… He comes to another room with two doorways. One leading to a stairway up and another down. He sits and thinks for a moment, hoping he can find his way out of this maze of stairs.

Roll: A thin trail of blood leads towards one of the doors. Does Aleric spot this obvious sign?- Spot hidden (5)- 13; Failure

Aleric is frustrated as he moves towards the ascending stairwell this time.  He has chosen the incorrect stair yet again and finds himself facing the same room with the criss-crossing stairs and endless doorways. Out of sheer stubbornness he continues choosing the doorways at random. After what feels like hours, Aleric finally walks up an ascending stairwell, moves through the stairway filled room and enters a room with only one doorway. The exit does not contain stairs this time, but instead a narrow passageway that slopes gently downward. He sighs, but the frustration of the time spent stumbling through the stairways has left him feeling angry and impatient. He presses forward, hoping to find the final room where Stone-Gaze had said the cultists and their prisoner would be held.

GM NOTE: (Because Aleric was unable to spot the blood trail, he wasted several hours traversing the different stairwells that kept leading back to the same room. The threat die increases from 3 to 4 out of 6!)

5. Fiendish Altar

The tunnel winds deeper into the depths of the breach. Aleric feels like he’s been traveling for over an hour when finally around the next bend he spots the flickering of a well lit room. Feeling ready to finish this mission quickly, Aleric pulls his longsword and shield off his back and charges forward. Turning the corner, he bursts into a large room lit with countless candles around its perimeter. At the center of the room sits an altar with strange demonic symbols scrawled into its surface. Atop the altar is tied a male orc. Though the man looks strong, he appears to be sedated with some sort of drug. The man’s eyes blink drowsily as his gaze meets Aleric’s. At the other end of the room, two cloaked and hooded figures quietly bicker about something. One holds a wicked looking dagger, while the other seems to hold some sort of staff. At the sounds of Aleric’s booted feet charging into the room, the two figures spin hastily to face the entrance. Before either have a chance to react, Aleric is already halfway into the room charging with his sword held high into battle!


Next session, we'll get to the conclusion of this first mission that Aleric has undertaken to rescue the prisoner Orc from the fiendish cultists!

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