Elf-log day 20 of Lacysnows, but the humans calls it Sunsebb. We were in the dungeon of the moat house, still reeling from our recent battle with a group of zombies. It was a strange place, where things seemed to blink in and out of existence, like our companion, JT, who vanished into thin air.
We took some time to regroup and plan our next move. As the party's designated spellcaster, I had to consider how much magic we had left. While I had a sleep spell and burning hands, Azra had used all her spells for the day.
We began discussing our options and marching order. The party was concerned about JT, but he is likely fine, just in stasis somewhere. The party was trying to figure out who should be in the front, middle, and back. It was decided that Zorla and Fietje would take the front, Jensen and Mark the second rank, with me and Crassus in the third, and Azra and Opellle in the fourth rank with Farro and Contristo in the rear.
We debated whether to head back to town or explore deeper into the moat house. I was for pushing forward and clearing the rest of the moat house. We wanted to be sure we weren't leaving anyone behind who could cause trouble later. The others mostly agreed, so we moved to discuss how to proceed. We decided to explore the area south of our current location, then head west where we had encountered some gnolls and then finally check the area where Grug had died.
As we discussed our strategy, I noticed that both Zorla and Fietje had taken some damage. Zorla was able to get a potion from Opelle and heal. Zorla also got a potion from Opelle and felt the healing power coursing through her body.
We got our marching order straightened out, and I told everyone to let me know their thoughts. We discussed that we had previously explored to the east and that we had come down some stairs to get where we were. I thought we should keep going deeper into the moat house, but we knew we had to assess the damage and make sure that everyone was ready for another fight.
We went over what we saw in the previous exploration. We remembered the room where we had all been trapped and where some of us were injured. I thought the middle door was probably the one that had been trapped, but someone else thought the southeast door was the trap. We were sure that there were more enemies down here as we had not yet found the necromancer we were seeking. I hoped that we would find Elmo's stuff.
After a short discussion, Farro went ahead to scout. Afterwards, we moved down and entered a room where we had previously fought. There was still blood everywhere. Zorla used a 10-foot pole to explore the room. We all had trouble seeing the doors due to the dimness, despite our torches. After a bit, we were able to figure them out. After that Zorla moved and we looked around a bit. We noticed some beds in one area, but it was otherwise empty and quiet.
I thought we needed to investigate an area of the floor that looked like it had been repaired. We called for Crassus to come and investigate the floor and the door because he was our party's thief. He was confident the door wasn't trapped, but when he investigated the floor, it was just dirt and not treasure.
After a thorough search, we moved to the next room to the west, where we found a lot of waste. We decided it was time to push on and see what was behind the other doors. Zorla opened one door which revealed a small chamber. Then Adam opened another door which turned out to be where Grug died, and we saw dried blood on the floor.
We went through another long passageway and reached a fork in the road with a passage to the west, stairs going down straight ahead, and a passage to the southeast. The group voted to take the stairs, but I was concerned about not clearing the rest of the area before moving on. We decided to go west first, and then we started smelling rot. We heard an unnatural noise, and then suddenly we saw ghouls.
We quickly retreated, with Contristo dropping caltrops behind us. The caltrops hit some of the ghouls, but didn't stop them. Zorla fired a crossbow but missed. The ghouls engaged our party, and one of the ghouls attacked Zorla but missed. Opelle threw oil and burned one ghoul. A ghoul attacked Fietje, and he was paralyzed. Another ghoul attacked Zorla and she was also paralyzed. Azra tried to drag Zorla back but it was too risky. Another ghoul attacked Mark, and he also went down.
I pulled out my holy symbol and tried to turn the undead, but failed. Farro moved to attack the ghoul, and Jensen also joined in. Jensen attacked but missed. We continued our desperate combat. Opelle threw more oil and took out another ghoul. I tried to use my bow to hit another ghoul, but missed. Crassus attacked but missed. Another ghoul attacked and Mark was reduced to zero. Crassus was able to attack it and kill it. The last ghoul attacked Opelle and she was also knocked out.
Contristo threw daggers but missed. The ghoul turned to attack Jensen. Azra bandaged Opelle, and I tried again to use my bow but failed. Contristo moved again to attack the last ghoul, but also missed. Jensen attacked, but also missed. I tried an arrow one more time. And then Farro moved and failed to hit. Finally, Crassus was able to flank and kill the last ghoul.
I was relieved that the ghouls were all dead. Mark was paralyzed for five minutes, Fietje for ten, and Zorla for five. Mark and Opelle had taken severe damage and Mark will need several weeks of bed rest to recover. Opelle, fortunately, was able to recover with little lasting effect. We discussed what to do with Mark, and Jensen volunteered to take him to Melissa, which would take about 30 minutes.
I began to think about healing. We were low on potions and I wondered about Opelle's healing potions. We rifled through her bag and found her other potion. Zorla gave a potion to Mark. I gave my potion to Zorla. We then remembered that we had received some potions from the druids earlier. We did an inventory and found some more potions. We all took stock of how many potions we had left and decided we had two St. Cuthbert potions and one druid potion left.
We were all very tired and frustrated at that point, but we were alive, and we could not let our focus stray from the task at hand. It was then that we heard a mysterious rattling to the south. We decided to keep the doors closed. Jensen returned with word from Melissa and Mark that they strongly felt the force was to the east and we should not waste resources exploring to the west. I was ready for the fight to end, and I knew we all needed to regroup and gather our strength. I felt that despite being exhausted we were still in this fight and we would find a way to make things right.
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