Delves 10 & 11 - Caverns of Thracia

 DELVE 10

In which Nox (fighter), Nieven (warlock), Iados (monk) and Aspa (rogue) drove off some Dark One cultists from investigating a possible door to their god, and met Aatsyh the rebellious gnoll.

• On the 1st level is a stone slab, blocking a corridor that leads into magical darkness. A plaque (now removed) warned people not to enter the place, for it is the domain of Thanatos, and those that enter never return. Cultists of the Dark One (aka Thanatos) had taken an interest to this entry, and had set up guards while they ponder on what to do next.
• The party had set themselves the task of destroying them. It was a pretty easy battle, as a shatter spell killed many of the hoplites and the officers well to the fighters. One tried to escape and was cut down, while a wounded hoplite shoved open the stone door and ran into the corridor. The warlock sent their familiar through the corridor to have a look, getting a glimpse of the other side of the dark corridor; a room covered in black drapery, and several robed kneeling people faced an undead being of sorts. Then the familiar was torn asunder.
• Continuing down to the 2nd level, they met with Aatsyh at the guard post previously cleared of lizardfolk. She gave them some gold as a thanks for killing the cultists, and a gnoll in Iados' service (taken as a prisoner, and who fought for him as a sort of mercenary) was released of his service to now serve as the go-between for the players and the gnolls. Code words were set up, and the delve ended.

DELVE 11

In which Nieven, Athoz (fighter), Iados, Fang (cleric) and Nox took part in the biggest battle I have perhaps run so far.

• Enter the caverns, the party ran across the zombified remains of the Dark One cultists they had previously thought (bodies lying around a door to a god often associated with death, to be expected I'd say). They destroyed them and disposed of the bodies so they would not rise again.
• As they were ensuring the bodies would stay down, a group of gnolls spotted them. A lucky reaction roll meant they turned out to be allied to Aatsyh, and so the party and the gnolls began the wander down to the 2nd level. However progress was halted when the gnolls, who had been leading the way, turned around and fled from a "large undead alligator". The party also ran and set up an ambush.
• The party found themselves almost ambushing the Immortal King. He was in a good mood, and thanked the party for awakening him, as his people had just returned to him, so his ambition to rebuild his empire could continue. He also mentioned he had been talking to Thanatos, and took his leave.
• The party continued to the 2nd level. On their current path, it opened up into a large cavern. They had always crossed the western part, and to the east could see a dim glow. They knew it was guarded by gnolls, and some gnolls had referred to it as the "way down". They hatched a plan to assault the eastern part of the cavern, and convinced the gnolls they were with to join them in the assault. The gnolls would enter the guard post, attack, then the party would join in the melee.
• What ensued was a rather large battle. 5 player characters +1 retainer, 9 gnoll allies, battling against about 18 enemy gnolls who also had 2 brown bears trained for war.
• The allied gnolls began the assault, quickly overrunning the guards and headed east, forming a shieldwall and hurling arrows and javelins at the enemy gnolls. The enemy gnolls hurried to return fire as they waited for reinforcements from below and a nearby barracks. Unfortunately, while Iados and Nox ran very far ahead (even in front of the shieldwall), the rest of the party were being left behind. Iados took a couple of arrows and ended up at 3 hit points, while Nox went down after being mauled by a bear.
  (I've played a lot of Battle Brothers and other tactical war games to know that you stick in the shieldwall!)
• The allied gnolls stood firm, waiting for the party while harassing the enemy with arrows. The enemy gnolls formed a shieldwall themselves. The bears were slain, and the two lines hurled missiles and war cries at each other in preparation for the melee.

Allied gnolls and players are to the left, enemies to the right. The "1" are dead bears. Yellow squares are pitfall traps, and the teleporter can be seen in the top right.

• The allied gnolls surged forward into melee to try and smash through the enemy. They hacked down two foes, making good headway. I made a morale check for the enemies at this point; total rout! The enemy gnolls broke and fled, initially towards the teleporter but alas, the reinforcements were also allies of the party (There was a 2 in 6 chance of them being gnolls under Aatsyh, which they were). The enemy were taken captive and Aatsyh was sent for.
• Dog sister Aatsyh had a mixed reaction; while she was happy they had succeeded, she also knew this event would be practically impossible to cover up. Essentially, they had declared war on the Minotaur King, and only a miracle would ensure that Aatsyh's betray was not discovered (20 odd gnolls don't just disappear).
• Iados tried to convince Aatsyh to allow him to take some captives so that he could "train them", which she strongly refused; the gnolls had been slaves to and revolted against the Thracians in the past, and she didn't like Iados idea of "captive soldiers to reform them". She told them they could take the plunder, and she would take on the prisoners (to give them a chance to join her, or let them leave the dungeon). The party took the 2000 or so gold coins in loot from the gnoll barracks, and the delve ended there.

Recent delves have really shook things up in the Caverns of Thracia; wihle rolling for restocking, I rolled that G'ruk (the leader of the lizardfolk) was in the lizardfolk temple, meaning he's now also discovered that the Immortal King has returned. If the players can capitalise on their most recent victory, they essentially have a straight path from the top all the way down to the 3rd level, where the Minotaur King dwells.

Of course, the Minotaur King might not just sit on his hands, for the teleporter is the only way he knows to the surface (well there is another way but that's perhaps a secret for himself and his closest officers). He also needs a victory, as the other troops under his command might start doubting his ability to actually lead warriors. The Dark One cultists have also abandoned their chapel (for now), though Thanatos hasn't, and his influence slowly grows.

Now I just need to actually prep the lower levels...