7.2 The Gilded Hollows

SESSION DATE: October 12, 2024
PRESENT: Rory, Freya, Hathesni, Lim Dul

Deep Dive

![[Rory - 7.2 The Gilded Hollows.wav]]

Adventure Photos

Adventure Song & Lyrics

![[The Gilded Hollows.mp4]]

World Anvil Journal

sooo... thinthe we hepd the glided iwon git thith nu tauer they akthed uth to cweer owt a cave thomewher neerby cuz thome peepl have gon mithin a buncha yeerth ago. they thaid ith a cave that cowapthd a wong tiem ago and nobody hath gon patht jutht tha entwanthe of the cave. they awtho thaid thay want thome muthwoomth thath thupothd to gwow ther cuz yolanda tawkd abowt them in that jurnel we fownd watht tiem. i gueth they r powrful or thomethin.

well ith not vewy far fwom the tower tho we make it ther no pwobwem. but win we git ther we haf to find a way to git in. gud thing we hav hafethnee with uth cuz she fownd a way in ith kinda hawd but we maik it inthide. ith thuper dawk in her tho hafethnee wit up a towch tho she cud thee. ith vewy quiet at firtht but thin we thtawt heewing voitheth comin fwom inthide and ith windy in hewe. ath firtht onwy hafethnee can hewe it but it kept gettin wowder and wowder the deepr in the cave we git. ther ith all kindth of wike moth and gwath gwowin on the wallth and they r wet and dwipping and ther r bugth and thtuff wunnin awownd all over the pwathe.

n e way we keep goin and dum dum taketh the weed. he fownd a woom to tha weft and wath wike howd on im gonna wook awound the woom firtht tho we wet him wook awownd and all of a thuddin won of the thtalticeties... thtawaktits... pointy thingth on the theewing thtawth movin. we r not awone. thith thing ith big and it hath tinticalth. dum dum got pikd up by it and he wath all wike EET ME CUZ IM GOOD AND DED and im jutht thinkin to mythelf yah u mite be wite u mite be ded thoon if u keep wettin thingth hit u but thin i figgurd owt wat he wath doin. it wath askhuwawy a gud idea cuz he wanted to be up thew tho he cud hit it bettr wike iv dun befor. i thee wat u did dum dum. and thin thomethin made the witeth go owt in hear and im jutht wike WHO TURND OFF THE WITETH I CAINT THEE NUTHIN and tho fwaya wath wike i got u and boom did her fierball and that kinda hurt but at weatht now we can thee. turnd owt their wath a buncha thothe guyth who cud turn off tha witeth tho that wath awthom fwaya. the woper cweechur puld me up there with him and dum dum tho i towd dum dum to be weddy for a fall cuz im bowt to taik thith thing down and shur nuff i git a weewy thtwong hit on him and down we go. that kinda huwt a wittle but it wath fun.

hafethnee thaid she hurd that voithe agin wile we wath fitin the woper but the wetht of uth dint heer n e thing. tho we jutht kept goin down tha wittle wike hallway thing but win we got to tha water dum dum thaid ther wath thomethin in the water bewow uth tho we jutht wint bak the way we caim. thath win hafethnee thaw a bakpak on top of tha wok pile and she uthed her thown wip and puld it down but that maid a wok awmotht hit me. i had to git owt of the way befor it hit me and im wike hafethnee man u gotta tell me win ur gonna do that tho i can be weddy and she thaid thowwy and it wath all gud. and no we can heer that voithe gettin wowder agin it thaid pweethe dont hurt me tho i tell the otherth we gotta go help him.

ath we thtawt to maik are way toward the voithe a cuppel wurmth come owt of tha gwownd and i thaw thomethin pop up that jutht thtawted makin a thuper wowd thcweemin thownd it wath vewy anoyin. i thot it wookd kinda wike a muthwoom tho mabee we shudnt kill it but it wath jutht too wowd and anoyin we had to kill it. fwaya took it out pwetty quik. thethe wurmth wer kinda anoyin to cuz they jutht kept goin into tha gwownd agin after they pop up and atak uth. i kinda wemembew pwaying a gaim in thkool cald wak a moe or thomethin. it kinda weminded me of that gaim it wath fun but kinda anoying. dum dum wath fitin one and all of a thuddin ther wath a huje onkeg that comed fwom a hole in the wall. thomehow that big thing wath eethier to take owt than the wittle wurmth thath cwazy. but we got em killd and we moovd on fwom ther. but we took a wittle wetht firtht to git our thtwength bak a bit.

we wint bak to the entwanthe of the cave to take are wetht and i thaw that we dint go up the wamp at the entwanthe yet tho im wike u no mabee we shud go up ther and thee whath up ther. we did but it wath kinda hawd to cwimb up ther because it was tho thwippewy but aftew a bit of wurk we git up ther. ith kinda high up the wamp. win we go awownd the wittle corner ther ith a thkeweton hand thtickin up owt of tha gwownd with a wether powch in it. that powch hath theen bettr dayth but we git it n e way and it hath a buncha cointh in it and they thpild owt on the gwownd a bit cuz it had thome hoeth in it but we got them to.

we hed bak down tha wamp but inthted of walkin down it i thit down and thwide down it. i put my handth up in the air cuz it wath fun. that weewy made me wemembew bein a kid at thkool and pwayin with my fwindth and thwidin down tha thwideth and thtuff. i bwot bak thome gud memowieth and maid me mith my famiwy and fwindth evin mowe. i dont no if n e body thaw me wipe away a teer but if they did hopefuwy they dont make fun of me fow it. fow a few thecondth i felt wike a kid agin. i wish i cud go bak to that. but we hav a job to do wite now tho i keep goin.

in the nektht awea dum dum theeth a woom with a buncha webth and thpiderth. fwaya catht another fierball and jutht abowt tuk evwything owt at once that wath awethom. i dint haf to work vewy hawd on that fite i jutht tuk owt a wittle thwarm of thpiderth. after the fite wath over we fownd that mithin finger fwom tha hand and it had on a nithe wing. we tuk it.

we keep goin and find thome mowe of thothe wittle gwownd wurmth but thith tiem they dont pay uth n e attinshin cuz they r eeting cointh on the gwownd awownd them. we jutht walk awound them and keep goin.

thith woom ith a wot colder and ther ith a shawwow pond in hear with a wittle iland in the midel of it. dum dum goeth awong the edge of the woom into anuther woom and findth the muthwoomth we r wookin for tho thath cool dum dum. get gith thome to take bak with uth.

wile were tawkin abowt were we r goin to go fwom hewe thomethin up abov uth moovd. turnth owt thith ith were the voithe wath comin fwom. dum dum wath wite. the voithe wed uth to a fite. thith thing ith calld galmek the wotht and he atakd uth tho we haf to put it down now. thath eethier thaid than dun becuz thith guy thtinkth weel bad and he hath maggitth cwawing awond and thtuff. it wookth wike win we hit him thome of hith woondth cwothe up after a few thecondth. wookth wike my thord ith jutht wat we need to keep that fwom happenin. dum dum got pulld up to him jutht wike win we fot the woper tho he wath kinda hapy abowt that. i jutht fwew up to him with my wingth and towd dum dum to be weddy fow anuther fall. both dum dum and me git thome weewy gud hith on him and yep he wint down wike a hevy wok into the water. but jutht then he thaw a majik wune thing on hith forhed wite up and thith guyth woondth heeld up imdiate... imeditate... vewy quikwy and now we haf to fite him all over agin WAT THE HEK Y CANT U JUTHT THTAY DED U UGWY DOOD. n e way we git him down weel gud and jutht keep at it. hafethnee did a gud job keepin uth up and fwaya got the kiwwing bwow on ol galmek. we finish off the wittle fish in the pond that kep poppin up win we wud walk thwu the water but they wer eethy peethy.

the majik wune on galmekth hed thtopd gwowing but it weft a mawk on hith hed. dum dum cut galmekth forhed thkin off to keep that thimbol and show it to the glided iwon win we git bak. turnth owt fwaya and me both no thith thimbol we thaw it win the mane gliden iwon bathe at care fewik. it ith a thimbel of korn. thith cant be gud.

Private Notes

• The Gilded Hollows: The Iron is busy building and modifying the tower to suit their purposes. Laborers and apprentices have gone missing, and the Iron has tasked you with clearing out a nearby location. This cavern collapsed just under two centuries ago, and it is believed to have tragically killed a beloved adventuring party who was exploring it during the time of the collapse. No one who has gone much further than the entrance of the cavern has returned, and many of the Iron have speculated what may lurk within those tunnels.
• Based on Yladhra's journal from last session, the Iron would like us to look out for a particular kind of mushroom she had written about. It supposedly has some powerful characteristics.
• The face of the cavern is completely destroyed. Looks like nothing but a pile of rocks on the hillside. As we stand at the entrance, it's eerily quiet. Nature refuses to come near it. Frigid air rushing by is all that can be heard from within.
• Hathesni notices just a small gap allowing us to pass, and also three long shallow grooves scratched in the boulders ahead. Although she knows a ton about nature, she has no idea what could've made these.
• We find ourselves in a long, cramped tunnel with jagged rocks that pile up to the ceiling. Once past it, the tunnel opens into a larger room.
• Lim Dul takes the lead.
• Suddenly, we feel a chill go up our spine, leaving us feeling as though we're being watched.
• We hear a faint noise emanating from within. Hathesni hears what sounds like a faint voice calling from within the cavern. She said the sound becomes a little more alert and desperate, though still faint. It echoes so much that it's hard to tell exactly where it's coming from.
• We continue around the corner to the left. The walls are wet and covered in moss, bones litter the floor. A few intact limbs from creatures, some humanoid, remain attached to the bones.
• Lim Dul hears the same voice sound coming from the north, but clearer this time. It's a male voice, but quickly fades away.
• As Lim Dul continues toward a narrow passageway in the north of the western cavern chamber, one of the stalactites comes alive. INITIATIVE!!!
  • Lim Dul allows himself to be grappled by the roper. During his turn, he begins chanting "Eat me 'cuz I'm good and dead!"
  • Suddenly a Darkmantle reveals itself and casts Darkness around itself.
  • Freya casts Fireball into the room, catching all of us in it as usual. Ouch. But she does take out FIVE Darkmantles. Nice! We didn't even know they were there!
  • During the encounter, Hathesni hears the same voice as before, but this time there's no echo, as though it's coming from this very room.
  • Freya is on FIRE tonight with her crits! She nearly takes out the roper all by herself as the rest of us can't seem to find purchase on this thing.
  • Rory warns Lim Dul to be prepared for a fall if he gets a good hit this turn. Turns out, it was a great hit as Rory crits the roper, taking it down, literally and figuratively. Combat over.
• We continue north into a tight passageway. It leads into a deep pool of standing water. It's murky, but we can see there are many holes dug out under the water. No easy way to climb up the large 20' walls. We notice two shadows in the water below us. We retreat into the room we just came from.
• On top of the rock pile, Hathesni notices an adventuring pack. She uses her Thorn Whip ability to yank it off the top of the rocks. On doing so, Rory has to quickly dodge a rock that she pulled off with it. Close one, but he dodges well enough not to get hit.
• As we venture forth deeper into the cave, we hear a voice calling out "Please, don't hurt me!"
• Just then, as Hathesni moves forward a bit, an odd worm creature appears at her feet. We begin hearing a loud, piercing shrieking sound coming from near Rory. He thinks it looks vaguely mushroom-shaped, but isn't sure just yet. INITIATIVE!!!
  • Freya quickly takes out the Shrieker.
  • Seems like the Rock Grubs are resistant to slashing damage at least.
  • At the end of each of the Rock Grub's turns, they burrow.
  • At the start of the next round, an Ankheg comes trotting into the encounter. The fight's on now!
  • Turns out the Ankheg was easier to take out than the little guys. Odd. Lim Dul is able to handle it with ease
  • Lim Dul gets the killing blow on the final burrowing worm. Combat over.
• We decide to take a short rest before continuing. We go back to the cave entrance to take our rest. Rory suggests checking out what's up the path to the right of the entrance to see what's up there.
• TRGBU.
• Rory checks out the ramp to the right. It's slippery. Rory and Hathesni make it up easily enough. Lim Dul and Freya slip, sliding back to the bottom. Lim Dul tries again, and makes it. At the top, the skeleton of a hand loosely clutches a brown pouch. It has lost one finger. A small amount of flesh is still attached, but the majority has been stripped away. The leather pouch has slits that cause coins to spill out. Hathesni gathers it.
• Rory sits and slides down the path back the way we came, hands in the air. As he stands up, he wipes away a tear as a memory suddenly comes rushing back to him, as he is taken back to his school days, sliding down slides with his friends before being forcefully removed. He doesn't remember everything that happened since, but he remembers having fun as a child. He longs for those days.
• Lim Dul leads the way into a webbed room. There's a purple creature walking about, feeding the spiders that are scattered around the area. Freya says she can cast some fire spells to try to rid the area of the webs and maybe at least deal some damage to the spiders in the room. BOOM. INITIATIVE!!!
  • With that Fireball, Freya takes out nearly the entire encounter. Awesome!
  • Combat over.
• Inside the room is a bony finger wearing a beautiful silver and amethyst ring worth 250g.
• We continue through the northern path found in the web room. Lim Dul leads the way and finds a greatsword set with a red ruby worth 150g and some gold.
• As Lim Dul reaches the end of the tunnel, he finds a wide open chamber sprinkled with coins all over and large stone-like maggots slopping up as many pieces of those coins as they can. They don't seem to care at all that we're here at all. They just seem focused on eating these coins.
• Just as we go to leave, we hear the voice again quite clearly this time, screaming out "HELP ME!"
• We come upon a chamber that is far colder than the rest of what we've encountered. Stalagmites and stalactites can be found in here. The ice cold water is about 3 feet deep. Bodies lie submerged under water across from the entrance. There is one island peaking out above the water's surface. Across the way is a tunnel.
• Lim Dul finds a room adjacent to the entrance to this water and deftly makes his way into it along the edge. Turns out he found the mushrooms that we need. He's able to gather 11 of them.
• As we decide what we're going to do, a creature called Galmek the Lost descends from the ceiling and attacks, surprising us. INITIATIVE!!!
  • Galmek infests Lim Dul with maggots. He also has a stench aura. He has grappled Lim Dul and is dragging him up the nearby cave wall.
  • It seems that at the start of Galmek's turn, he's able to regenerate some of his health.
  • We take him out, but as it and Lim Dul fall to the water below, a rune appears on Galmek's head. He pops back up, all his wounds fully healed, and he says "You fools. This isn't even my final form!" And on we go!
  • Freya gets the final blows on Galmek the Lost.
  • Rory finishes off the quippers. Combat over.
• The burning red rune mark on his forehead after his transformation fades. The brand itself stays, though.
• Lim Dul cuts the forehead skin off the creature's head. As he does so, Rory and Freya both recognize the brand from the old lands they hail from before he found himself here. I don't remember the symbol, but Rory does. It's a symbol of Khorne. He explains how they came to find it before.
• We fast forward the rest of the adventure as it's late now. There was a druid woman protected by a Shambling Mound who gives us a mushroom recipe. She's barely alive, so Hathesni gives her a couple goodberries to heal her. She's one of the beloved adventuring party. She was in love with the party leader, who ended up becoming Galmek the Lost. She feels bittersweet about his loss, but she's thankful to have been rescued after nearly 200 years! We also finish off the Rock Grubs around the cash on the cave floor. And the last thing we left was some tentacle fish in the other bit of water we declined to explore before.
• We head back to the Iron and tell them all about it.

Adventure Loot

• Spoiled rations
• 2x severely scratched swords
• Silver & Amethyst ring worth 250g
• Greatsword with ruby inlay worth 150g
• 11x Mushrooms
• Mushroom recipe
• Scroll of Catapult (1st Level)
• +1 Ammo
• Potion of Heroism
• Boots of Striding and Springing (Lim Dul)