SOTDL CAMPAIGN DIARY: THE MINES OF MADNESS - PART 3, 6/13/17

The Heroes:

- Ecna Lubma: dwarf priest grudgebearer
- Gruntbelly: dwarf magician sorcerer
- Kane Arroway: human warrior fighter
- Mathias: jotun jotun juggernaut

The heroes continue their trek through the mines, fighting more of the small bug creatures and burning their nests.  They come upon a series of chambers that contain resin cocoons and within they find the missing dwarf miners, still alive, but very emaciated, thirsty and hungry.  The heroes chip them out of their cocoons and provide them with rations and drink.  One of the miners says that he was taken to another chamber before being cocooned and that chamber had a huge bug creature that must be the queen, for she was attached to an egg sack.  He says there’s also a pile of treasure in that room.  That was all the heroes needed to hear, so they continue onward with this dwarf leading them to the queen chamber, but when they get there, they find the queen awaiting them.  The dwarf that led them there says, “they are yours my queen,” then hundreds of small bugs pour out of his mouth and his body drops to the ground, dead.  The queen casts a spell, causing the tunnel the heroes are in to collapse behind them, which traps Bruk.  The rest of the group go into the large queen chamber and fight as she summons her drones to protect her.  The queen casts spells and her drones focus mostly on Mathias, but some move to attack Kane and Ecna as well.  Gruntbelly takes on the queen, spell for spell and through the combined efforts of the heroes, they manage to kill the queen and most of her drones.  Some escape through side tunnels.  The heroes gather up the treasure, take the surviving dwarves out and then, with their help, set up explosives to seal the bug chambers.

The heroes take the dwarf child with them as they leave the mines to meet up with Fiona, their druid guide.  Their find includes a few weapons, which they try out along the way.  When they get to the Dark Waters lake, their steam boat awaits and they leave to return to Crossings. They arrive in the morning to find Crossings under martial law and when they question brown cloaks about it, they are informed that Sixton, the capital of the Northern Reach, has been sacked by an orc army that crossed the Shield Mountains. Refugees are flowing in from the south and the town has increased its alert level, is training more militia and bolstering the town’s defenses wherever possible.

The heroes go into town this is where the session ended.