Expedition 20: Rise of the Blood Olms

 

Expedition Party: 

• Gregor
• Scrivener, Aspiring Postmaster and Devotee to the Church of Mither  
• Stram
• Marchguard, trying to make a name for himself   
• Feodor 
• Bonekeeper, the forgotten middle child of a Nobel House  
• Jack
• Farmhand, hireling trying to earn some extra money for his family

On a grey overcast afternoon in late fall the party arrived at an abandoned camp, sheltered beneath a rocky ledge. They were there to look for a few missing folks as well as a relic that had gone missing with them. While the team was well equipped for the expedition, they asked few questions in town and headed out before getting many details about who was missing and what they may have been doing in these parts of the wilds. 

After arriving at the camp they picked through the few scattered items and crates, quickly discovering a tunnel with a rope ladder leading down into a dark cavern smelling of fish. They also found digging implements and an unknow fruit. Gregor grabbed a pickaxe and a small hoe, but they decided to leave the fruit in the crate where they had found it. They made camp for the evening and took turns keeping watch during the night. 

The next morning they packed up camp and took turns traversing the rope ladder into the darkness. Jack carried a torch as the party's source of light, but they had Feodor lead the way. At the bottom of the ladder they discovered a room with a few dead fish tucked into a muddy floor with bat droppings here and there. The room had two exits. They did their best to remain quite and check both exits to get a sense of what may lay beyond. Gregor cranked his crossbow preparing it to launch a bolt in case they were attacked. Hearing the faint sound of bats to the north they decided to head that way. 

They entered a narrow hallway like tunnel, not long after they heard something coming their way. They saw it was an eyeless humanoid creature charging toward them. Feodor raised his shield to brace for impact while Jack and Stram dropped low to allow Gregor a clear shot. At Gregor's call Feodor dropped too, allowing Gregor a shot at the creature. The bolt found its target and lodged itself in the shoulder of the charging thing, but it did little to stop it. While this was happening Gregor noticed that the creature seemed focused on the torch being carried by Jack.  

Feodor pulled his shield back up just in time to block the figure crashing in to him. It slashed at him with his claws but Feodor was able to block the blows. Stram prepared to thrust his sword forward at the attacker and gave a signal for Feodor to drop low once more. Feodor dropped low causing the figure to topple over him and make room for Stram to drive his sword into the blind thing, finally killing it. 

The group examined the thing and talked about what it could possibly be, unsure of what it was or why it attacked they decided to keep moving north. They entered a room dappled in guano and could hear the chitter of bats above. They saw another tunnel leaving to the east and strange fungus covering the wall to the west. Ever curious about all things mushrooms the party decided to investigate the pale rope-like fungus on the western wall. They collected some to take to their friend who is a Fungal Forager and in doing so notice a room beyond. Curious they advance into the room.

They saw a strange green-skinned figure sleeping on a stone slab in a circular stone room. Seeing no reason to assume he will be hostile they decide to wake the figure and are pleased to find that not only is he not hostile but he is willing to fill them in a bit on what's been going on. He introduces himself as Rusal and explains that the previous expedition that arrived here has dammed up a river that provided water for a tree, which acted as the home for the bats and the food source for the strange blind creatures that live in these caves. He draws a map of the cave system and explains that the Olms are not inherently aggressive, but have turned that way after having to seek food other than the the fruit of the tree. Eager to help, they offer to try to undam the river and try to get the bats to return to the tree. Rusal promises to offer them a single boon in return which the group decides is good enough reason to help the strange, but friendly, man. 

The party returns to the bat room and then quickly presses on to the tunnel to the east. They soon find themselves in an impressive room with an enormous tree hanging from the ceiling, its roots dangling exposed in the air. Below the tree there is a small pool of water, and elsewhere in the room they find two corpses face-down. They examine the bodies and assume they must be two of the folks they are looking for. Before doing much else they hear the snarls and movements of something to the north, they decide its best to investigate those noises before whatever is making them decides to come investigate them. 

The move north and find another room that they realize is the location of the dam but it also contains two more Blood Olms as well as a decent amount of carnage from their kills. Not trusting the Olms they charge into the room. Feodor lights a torch and tosses it to the opposite side of the room, fate is on his side and it lands on one of the few dry patches of floor burning their and distracting one Olm who runs toward it to quickly put it out. 

Unfortunately, the other Olm seems focused on their torch-bearer: Jack. It rushes him striking him with the claws of one hand before thrusting the claws of the other in a brutal uppercut. It lunges at him and bites at his throat tearing out a large chunk of flesh. Jack drops to the floor lifeless, as does the torch he carried, it splashes into a puddle and causes the room to descend into complete darkness. The party goes into a brief panic but Gregor keeps his wits about him just long enough to drop his crossbow and get a new torch lit.

They remaining three all take some serious damage and eventually Stram decides to use a relic, he found previously, a cloak made from the skin of a dire wolf, to transform into a wolf. With Stram in wolf form the party is able to fight back against the remaining Olms but not before each suffering some serious wounds. Now concerned about their weakened state and dead hireling, they rush to destroy the dam and try to get out of there as quick as possible. They decide they don't have time for a proper burial and instead take a clay whistle to give to Jack's widow as a token and a promise that they will come back to retrieve his body.

With Stram digging furiously as a wolf and Feodor and Gregor using the tools that Gregor collected they make short work of the dam, and water begins gushing out into the room. They each manage to swim to safety and then run back to the rope ladder. Once there they realize a new issue. Stram is stuck in wolf form for a few more hours and their planned exit was a rope ladder. Unsure of what to do they decide to enter the tight corridor to the east.

There, Feodor narrowly doges a falling stalactite dropped from above and they spot another person that they assume was part of the original expedition. They see his blood-red eyes as he screams at them. They tell him the river is flowing again and that it may not be safe to stay here, but he begins to throw small rocks at them so they decide to leave him there to his fate and return to the room with the rope ladder. There Feodor and Gregor use some rope in their packs to tie up and haul up wolf-Stram through the opening. Its not a graceful process but they manage to pull it off and once on the surface they begin to make their way back to town. 

Once in Strotherhine they collect more information about the relic, and the original expedition who sought out the cave. They inform Jack's wife of his passing and give her the whistle, as well as 50 gold. They promise to retrieve his body and begin to make plans to return to the cave. They hope that upon returning the Olms will have be peaceful and that will hopefully make their work easier, but they worry about just how flooded the caves may be with the river flowing once more. In addition to wanting to find the relic and any remaining expedition crew, they are also very curious about the possible boon that Rusal offered. For now they need rest, but they start talking with others to try to put together a team to return to the cave.