Heroes of Mystara - Chapter 12
by Jesper AndersenPygmies in the dark
It was less than a day's trekking into the jungle before the party found the lake, which marked the entrance to Dardreth's lair. Supposedly, the wizard-pirate and his crew were hanged decades ago but who knew what dangers would be lurking inside?
To get to the entrance they had to lower themselves down a steep cliff side using their only rope. They found a narrow passage and had to proceed single-file into the darkness. Petja was the first to reach a cavernous chamber filled with strands of web. Suddenly, a large arachnid figure dangled down in front of him from the shadowy ceiling and he struck it with a short sword he was carrying.
The spider figure was a trap and when Petja struck it a cloud of choking dust was released into the air. Most of the party managed to cover their mouths and noses but Ikaros was unfortunate enough to breathe a lot of it in and had to return to the cave entrance above the lake before he choked completely. While he rested the others continued to explore the dungeon. It was filled with primitive traps such as crisscrossing strings with barbed hooks on and crudely dug pit traps. Not exactly what you would expect from a wizard's lair. In the end, the party discovered that a tribe of jermlaine, who had claimed the dungeon as their home, was the cause of all their torment. The evil little critters tried to put up a fight against the 'invaders' but the party went about exterminating them with ruthless efficiency.
Further into the dungeon the party faced some magical traps and riddles before they finally stood in the treasure chamber of Dardreth himself. They found the pearls and some other minor treasure but when they started to gather it all up the pile of coins animated and took the shape of a dragon's head and neck. It breathed a cone of coins and wounded Wulfgar badly before the party managed to kill it with spells and weapon blows.
After two days in the jungle they returned to the Singing Mermaid and on the next day they set sail aboard the Moon to Ierendi.
Next time: Experiencing the city