Tyranny of Dragons - Session 10

After quite the surprise encounter with some violet fungus, the group healed with a couple potions and spells, opting not to linger for a short rest, and proceeded deeper into the cave. The ceiling, dotted with stalactites, began to rise gradually to a height of 20 feet above their heads as they advanced from the west into the room. At the same time as the ceiling rose, the cavern opened up and darkened. Using their darkvision (well, everyone except Lou), the group saw several dead bats on the floor of this area. Glancing up, they found that the ceiling was absolutely carpeted with bats.

Duckie went ahead to scout the area, making a stealth check with advantage from her Boots of Elvenkind. She found a spear with a pitted blade at the top of a set of stairs to the south. The stairs declined steeply and seemed to end next to a leather curtain of some kind. After returning to the group, they decided to go investigate that passage first. Attempting to sneak by unnoticed by the bats, Adolphus, Moki, Gwen, and Thamior were all trying to guide Lou through the dark and ended up running into the pillars and bumping into each other causing a cacophonous amount of noise (they all rolled below a 5 on stealth checks).

The bats, alarmed by the noise, drop from the ceiling and fly through the cavern in a blinding cloud of flapping and squeaking rodents. You can't see more than 5 feet in any direction around you. The bats tend to fly around you, but many of you feel sharp, needle like things try to penetrate your necks, arms, and shoulders.

Since they all rolled so low, I went ahead and gave the monsters a surprise round.The monsters also rolled very well on initiative and managed to cause Duckie, Thamior, and Moki to fall unconscious early in the first round of combat. Gwen used Lliira's Favor to cast prayer of healing bringing everyone back to consciousness and provide much needed healing to the rest. Because they were obscured by the bats (and looked similar to them), I didn't give a description until one of the players asked to see what was attacking them, which took longer than I thought.

Turns out they were surprised that it was not the bats, but these other things that were being hostile. Initially I thought that I hadn't been clear enough as a DM to the players, but then I realized that the characters might have been surprised too. So mission accomplished! The battle resolved quickly since these monsters weren't hard to hit. Notably, Lou cast web on the swarm of bats that was subsequently immolated by Moki's firebolt cantrip. Those, poor innocent bats were just startled. Moki also cast light so the group could see. After the fight was over, the group descended the stairs that Duckie had scouted earlier and investigated the curtain.

At the base of these steeply descending steps, a curtain hangs across the passage. It is made from hundreds of heavy leather strips, each about the width of a human hand. The strips are fixed to the ceiling and are long enough to drag on the floor. The curtain extends from wall to wall. The leather comes from a variety of local animals and is badly cured. The curtain is several layers thick with no gaps, so you can't see through it at all. Hidden in fur patches still clinging to the leather are hundreds of metal barbs, the size of large fishhooks.

Pushing back the curtain with Duckie's crowbar, the group managed to avoid the hooks.

The first thing you notice is the temperature. It's probably only a few degrees above freezing in this room. The second thing is the smell of old blood, which assaults your nose as you enter. The floor is covered with dried puddles of it. Four floor-to-ceiling columns are spaced across the chamber and chains have been strung between them like clothesline. Animal carcasses hang on hooks from the chains. You see gutted and skinned antelope, deer, goats, what might be big cats, and even a few small bears. Some of this meat has been here for a while if the smell is a reliable indicator.

Inspecting the room for any traps, Duckie and Thamior found nothing, but did find that there were a few carcasses, rabbits and deer mostly, that were skinned only one or two days ago. Lou guessed that this might be a place where the cult stores dragon food. Thamior, deciding they had spent too much time in this room, led the group back out to inspect the eastern side of the bat cave.

To the northwest of where the bats were, you see two ledges each dropping about 10 feet. Throughout the lowest tier, you see all sorts of normal refuse such as broken pottery, rotted baskets, and mouse-chewed rope. But you also spot some items that appear like they could be useful to someone: some discarded clothes, worn boots, cracked lamps, and so forth. Amidst all of that you spot the occasional tantalizing glint of metal and parchment. A foul smell hangs in the air as well.

Finding a stalagmite, Adolphus rigged up a rope so that the group could descend and investigate the shinies. A few characters spotted bits of movement from under the refuse, possibly a "garbage-monster" or possibly just trash settling after the bat swarm earlier. The glints of metal turned out to be things like loose belt buckles, stirrups, and other things you'd likely find in a trash pile. Adolphus, however, found 6 of the "garbage monsters" that ended up attacking the group.

After dispatching all but one, who ran away into the trash pile, the group retreated back up into the bat cave ready to explore the passage to the north. And that's where we ended our 10th session.