The Fearless DM

After a certain amount of discussion (and hiring a cartographer, whose main job would be to allow the Dm to correct mapping mistakes)  the group decided to delve down to the 2nd level of the Black Key.

They picked their way down through the (now cleared) 1st level and then wandered through a hall of 7 heads, each with a different expression, and eventually came to a fungus-filled cave where they discovered shriekers. I think this group may not have realized the danger of shriekers before, but as they drew close- the shriekers keened, and soon a red-skinned ogre and a cadre of demons appeared to ambush the group. During this battle, Johann the cartographer was killed. Ah, so quickly. And the demons involved infected one of the porters with a disease the party hasn’t quite diagnosed yet. But the ogre and his demons were killed fairly quickly. They now have a sense of who is patrolling the level, at least.

They continued on, and found the beginning of a large river cave (blocked off by a dam and a sluice gate). There was a sack on a small island at the middle of the river, and the party came up with ways of cherry picking it, when a pair of mutant eyeless crocodiles lurched outof the water to attack. They were contained before they could do any real damage, however.

Backtracking away from the river (and after a brief view of the dam, they could see the river extended into a new series of caves) they came back to the shrieker caves and delved a bit deeper to find some treasure. Then ended up in a room full of keys.

These were the (infamous) cursed keys of the Black Key dungeon. Most of them are more or less just bad news, but a couple of them have some beneficial effects. The party picked up all of them and suffered through every single curse, I think just to figure out what they all were.

Heading out of this area, they came upon the brain of Belial. Belial is a giant-sized demon that is wandering around further below, but mindlessly, while his mind is being tortured in an operating theater on this level. When the party appears and actually gets to the area where they could help him, he appeals to a random PC for help. But no help was forthcoming. They tortured and hacked at the poor defenseless brain until they finally (accidentally) released it, aka “killed” it… back into the body of Belial. Belial is on the 8th level, so it will be some time before they meet him. But he never forgets.

Continuing on, they surprised a strong-point held by more demons in the employ of Naberius, and wiped the rest of that demon group out, before breaking back out into the larger river cave.During this battle, Hamel the cleric was infected with the same disease as the porter. His is a much milder infection, though. We will see.

Finally back into the river cave that spanned the level- splitting the north end of the dungeon from the south on the 2nd level- and separated by a simple bridge. Here they encountered the Charonite. The Charonite is an undead spirit- a sort of incorporeal reaper guarding a bridge that crosses the river.. and he has a deceptively simple requirement for passing him, but unfortunately, the party couldn’t meet his rather stringent requirements. In a surprise move, they attacked him, and the clerics managed to force him backwards off of the bridge via turning. But it became clear that incorporeal spirit of the Charonite was not going to be killed so easily, so they fled.

I guess we will find out next week if the Charonite is the forgiving sort, or if Belial can find his way up from below.. or cares to.