Stubbornness for the Door that was not There

So the great band of unnamed adventurers set out from Innsbruck for the Dungeon of Ruins.  The path across dirt wagon path through the meadows and snow of the region found them only one bit of brief company.  A large Mithral Hauler crossed their path for a few brief seconds as it thundered the trail from Van Guard to Innsbruck and beyond.


From the tales of the Alternate North:


"Land pirates, some people call them.  Dwarven gypsies.  Bullette trains.  Rumble wagons, as the gnomes call them.  These dwarven freight caravans are used exclusively for the transport of mithral across Faerun.  Developed by Dargo Heavyhammer, Mithral Haulers are an oddity of transportation.  They consist of a long set of mithral rods, interconnected with mithral chain and finally hooked on the front and back to massive yokes.  The mithral rods are then run underneath of huge caravan wagons that they are attached to.  The caravan wagons may be set up for cooking, quarters, or, most likely, hauling mithral.  The yokes are then attached to massive and rare domesticated bullettes which provide the pulling and pushing power.

Mithral caravans can be up to 40 caravan wagons in length and have a crew of anywhere of 30 to 60.  At any given time, 4 dwarves direct each of the bulletes.  Additional crew rides atop the wagons with melee, ranged, and magic weapons, protecting the valuable mithral from raiders, bandits, and other dangers.  At full speed, the wagons can reach over 20 mph, stopping for almost no reason.  Flexible wooden mats / walkways are draped between the caravans to allow the crew to change positions to rotate shifts and jobs.

Mithral haulers are never allowed into cities, save for dwarven Mithral mining areas, after an incident in which a hauler took out several buildings on the edge of Luskan.  Heavily guarded wagons are usually sent out to the edge of cities to accept deliveries and pay for incoming Mithral, usually partially in traditional currency and partially in goods (including supplies for the haulers).

Mithral haulers set out from Mirabar and Van Guard several times a year.  Mithral Hall also sends through a hauler twice a year in spring and fall.  Innsbruck traditionally has not sent out haulers, since they are only a passthrough for the major mining cities.

To date, a mithral hauler has never been captured by enemy forces, though one was lost to a massive road collapse and one was lost on an iceberg that broke away from the mainland.

Because of their heavy construction, dwarven caravan wagons for use on Bullette trains go for 10 times the price of a normal caravan wagon.  Domesticated bullettes are available only from a single source:  Tarvan Shieldhammer, a dwarven ice druid in the north with a knack for capturing and training bullettes.  A single bullette, depending on sex, age, and weight can fetch a large pile of gold pieces in even the worst circumstances.  Mithral yokes and spines are custom made by the hauler operators and often require a ton or more of mithral to construct."

After much drooling by the Rogue at the piles of mithral ore moving past, the party continued its uneventful journey to the Dungeon of Ruins. The area was within view of the trees of the Lurkwood and the Mountains harboring both Van Guard and Mithral Hall. There was standing water in the surrounding marshland. A fresh firepit indicated that someone or something had been in the area perhaps the night before. A quick search of the area showed only a few stray walls and floor stones mixed among a field or large cracks in the surface. A single 4 foot by 4 foot tunnel lead below.

The group slept the night with only the stirrings of a wolf pack nearby. Refreshed with the arriving morning, the group scouted for a second entrance. Upon finding none, the dwarven fighter/rogue stripped his armor and started moving rocks out of one of the large cracks. With help from the others, he moved enough stone to find a floor stone made of thick, thick granite that he was unable to move or do much more than chip at. With the sorcerer using expeditious excavation, they found the edge of the rock and dug through. A blast of water appeared and suddenly a virtual gushing river in appeared to flow from the medium sized hole.

Meanwhile other peer into the deep alternative entrance. It appears to be a room or cavern below. Is that floor tile I see?

The dwarf throws caution to the wind and jumps into the hole, fighting to swim down, his armor helping to carry him. After a struggle through, he pops out in a room. The ranger not knowing where the dwarf went, ties a rope around himself and dives in as well. With the group hanging onto the rope waiting for the come on through or pull me back signal, the ranger pops out.

The room is filled perhaps 5 feet of water, but various debris allows the dwarf to pop above and grab air and see the 4 bullywugs (frog men) glaring at them. The ranger signals for the rest to follow, pulling fiercely on the rope to get his party through, while the dwarf attempts to hold the bullywugs at bay.

Each bullywug in turn uses a terrible 'terrifying croak' that dazes the victims for up to 4 rounds. The ranger is dazed and things look bad, but the bullywugs turn out not to be so tough. The gnome argues with the rogue over going through the tunnel, and the tiger seems a lot less fearless as it thrashes through the watery tunnel. Eventual the group appears and fights and defeats the frog men, stuffing their corpses back out the drain.

The dwarf, having a breather, notices that the whole dungeon is askew with this end of the dungeon dipping down into the source of water. As they exit the room and search farther ahead, the water begins to drop in depth.

The rogue peaks into the next room, not quite stealthy enough as luck would have it to avoid startling the champions, shaman, and cheif bullywugs of the tribe standing in their tribal center. The room has two large huts built on floating bookcases with a firepit, altar, and even a large chest.

The dwarf and former paladin (who has lost his deity's support after unleashing the quasit) gather in the room in the water, slashing above at the bullywugs on the bookcase. The ranger, in heroic fashion, holds the gnome above the water, allowing her to use fire breath to burn the frog men. The rest of the group (save the bard who is was not present) easily finish off the frog dudes, while in some previous room the soggy tiger cowers on a barrel trying not to fall in.

The booty in the chest: adamantium, mithral, jewels, and a scroll of desert that eliminates all water in a 1/4 mile. Should we read it or not?

Searching about reveals a blocked corridor and a blocked set of doors, perhaps intentionally blocked. The dwarf desperately wants to dig through but has no luck. The scroll gets read, and the sorceress decides that she needs to rest, pulling the group into making a makeshift camp in hostile territory.

Now, having just read this article (http://www.campaignmastery.com/blog/over-resting-pcs/) I realize that camping in hostile territory needs to have a cost. In this case, it is simple, as the group rests, the other half or more of the tribe (which the PCs have figured out are probably there) decides to come looking for the water that disappeared. 9 bullywugs descend upon their position.

This time, the rogue takes charge and hurries the group into an ambush position. He, however, underestimates the ranged capability of the bullywugs and doesn't adjust for line of sight in the slightly off-center hallway and door. The sorceress tries to split the bullywugs by using entangle, but their tribal natured community has them helping to get each other loose before moving on, so the spell is essentially wasted, since the party will not leave their ambush sight to engage them.

9 attack and the rogue finds himself in a bad position as they attack. He doesn't move back to let the length of his spiked chain do the work and ends up dead. Luckily his ambush room allows for the sorceress to easily step in behind him and heal him. Terrifying croaks leave the group intermittently dazed as all the approaching frog men croak, but it wears off quickly.

Just as the end of the time approaches, the first bullywug falls and so the ambush is underway. Will the bullywugs stupidly wander into certain death? Will they retreat and force the adventurers to hunt them? Is there some weapon of unknown bullywug power that will smite the adventurers? We won't know til next time.