Chapter 3 / Episode 73 – Gruumsh Toppled

Chapter 3 / Episode 73 – Gruumsh Toppled

Date: Planting 4, 576 CY
Weather: Steady winds from the west; salt spray on the air. Night falls clear beneath a full, watchful moon.

Players

• Dog, Ranger of the Gnarley Forest

• Irving, the Reluctant, Paladin of St. Cuthbert

• Slash the Bard

• Oleg, Half-Elven Cleric/Magic-User/Thief of St. Cuthbert

• TerryOr, Cleric of St. Cuthbert

• Tiger Wong, Monk of the Eastern Lands

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Narrative Recap

The torchlight flickered across the massive idol of Gruumsh, the one-eyed god of orcs. Its baleful gaze seemed to follow the adventurers as they circled the dais, debating how best to bring it down. “Ropes and pulleys,” Oleg suggested, his half-elven hands sketching patterns in the air. Irving, white-knuckled on the haft of his mace, growled, “Better to break it at the knees and let St. Cuthbert judge the fall.”

The plan became a mixture of both—Dog bracing the ropes, Tiger tightening knots with precision, while Irving and TerryOr hammered at the statue’s legs with righteous fury. With a groan of stone, the idol of Gruumsh toppled forward, crashing upon the temple floor. The echo was like thunder, a sound that seemed to ripple into the very bones of the place. As dust settled, a fiery gleam caught their eyes: a massive fire opal, pried from the god’s single eye, pulsed with inner heat. Oleg studied it, his thief’s fingers turning reverent. “It resists flame,” he whispered. “An eye that protects against fire itself.”

In that moment, Oleg felt the weight of St. Cuthbert’s unseen gaze. The god’s displeasure, long pressing upon his soul, seemed to ease. A chain broken, a judgment lifted. He was still bound to the work of thieves—but only for the good of the fellowship. His companions saw the relief in his eyes, though he masked it quickly.

With the idol sundered, the party pressed deeper into the dark. Oleg led the way with infravision, guiding them down a foul-smelling corridor that sloped into blackness. The stench of wet stone and mold heralded a hidden sewer, where trickling water whispered of unseen things. At a crossroads, faint scraping echoed from the left. “Ants,” Oleg hissed, hand to the wall. They moved cautiously, lanterns hooded, Slash murmuring cantrips to keep the light at bay. TerryOr reminded them of his remaining divinations: “Two spells to find traps yet, and I’ll need both before long.”

The first skirmish came swiftly. Worker ants lunged from the dark, chittering mandibles gleaming. Tiger struck with a flying kick, crushing one instantly. Dog and Irving pressed forward, steel and mace meeting shell. Slash’s voice carried over the clash, defiant even as poison-laced mandibles snapped near his arm. The soldiers followed—towering brutes with armored carapaces. One fell to Dog’s critical strike, a sword through its heart, while Irving and TerryOr battered down the other with holy wrath. In the aftermath, Oleg staggered, a red line marking where venom had grazed him. He lived, but the poison’s burn lingered.

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The Insectoid Cavern Battle

The sewer tunnel widened into a cavern alive with the sound of chittering mandibles. Torches hissed in the damp air, their glow falling upon four insectoid horrors — each with four arms, two broadswords flashing, shields raised like a wall of chitin. Worker ants scurried at their feet, the ground a shifting carpet of legs.

Above, a weighted rope net dropped from the ceiling — but Oleg, ever watchful, loosed his dagger in a snap throw, cutting the rope and sending the trap crashing harmlessly to the ground. “Not today,” he muttered, retrieving the blade with a grim smile.

Slash lifted his hand, chanting. “By thorn and root—be bound!” Roots burst from the earth, twisting around insectoid legs. Worker ants squealed as they were snared, and even the hulking drones staggered, slowed by the spell.

“Now!” Irving roared, charging with mace raised. TerryOr surged beside him, holy light gleaming at his brow. Their weapons struck in unison—Irving’s blow caving in a mandible, TerryOr’s smash ringing against carapace with bone-shaking force.

Tiger Wong was a blur of motion, fists and feet striking in deadly rhythm. “Four arms, four blades?” he taunted as his heel crashed into a drone’s chest. “You’ll need eight to keep up!” His elbow followed, shattering another’s guard.

Slash drew his sword, shouting, “Time for the bard to play loud!” His blade cut deep into a rooted foe, green ichor splashing across the cavern floor.

Dog planted his feet, bowstring taut. “Smile for me, ugly,” he growled. The arrow flew true, piercing through a drone’s eye and pinning it against the cavern wall. It writhed once, then fell limp, roots tightening around its corpse.

The insectoids shrieked and thrashed, but they could not break free. Slowed by Slash’s spell, surrounded on all sides, they fell one by one beneath steel, mace, fist, and arrow. As the last drone collapsed, Tiger spat on its twitching form. “Four arms, four swords—and still not enough.”

The cavern grew silent but for the drip of ichor pooling at their feet. Lanternlight flickered over the broken bodies, their forms twisted among Slash’s roots.

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Outcome Notes

• XP Earned:

  • Believers of St. Cuthbert (Irving, TerryOr, Oleg): 2,000 XP each (for toppling Gruumsh’s idol).

  • Non-believers (Dog, Slash, Tiger Wong): 1,000 XP each.

  • Additional 550 XP each for battles against the ants and insectoid drones.

• Treasure/Artifacts Found:

  • Fire opal from Gruumsh’s eye (enchanted, grants resistance to fire).

  • Net trap disarmed, no further loot recovered.

• Deaths/Injuries:

  • Oleg poisoned but survived.

  • TerryOr and Irving both wounded in combat but healed by clerical prayers.

• Narrative Cliffhanger:
  The idol of Gruumsh lies in ruins, its fire-opal eye now claimed. Yet deeper in the sewers, the air grows hotter, rank with unseen life. The Rod of Six Parts whispers faintly, warning that chaos is near.

• Monsters:

• Giant worker ants (AC 3, MV 18" ( HD 2, hp 9 each, *AT 1, D 1-6) 
• Giant soldier ants [AC 3. MV 18", HD 3, hp 14 each, *AT 1 and 1. D 2-8 and poison sting if the first attack hits — D 3-12, or save vs. poison for 14)
• The drones (AC 2, MV 15", HD 6, hp 44.36,20,34. * AT 2, D by weapon type) will each attack with two broadswords (D 2-8) and defend with two shields.