Darkmantle Delve: Ruptured Respite (Ch 5)

On the third level of the abandoned Darkmantle Mine, our party of exhausted adventures finally arrives back at the burned-out guardroom.

They have fought the mine's namesakes—darkmantles—as well as goblins and oozes. And, while they've not yet given up on their quest to find the ancient library rumoured to lie within its depths, they need respite.

Having finally reached the guardroom, they settle in for a hard-earned rest.

Note: In previous chapters, I included the 5e Mechanics but doing so took so long that it dissuaded me from publishing these writeups. So, I have abandoned adding them because sharing the posts without them is better than not sharing the writeups at all.

Mechanics and GM notes are not for everyone. If you don't care to read these annotations, you can collapse them all by selecting this handy button.

Scene Premise: The party arrive at the guardroom where they plan to rest and recover after their battles so far.

Chaos Factor: 5

• Modify Scene?
  ❌ 6, No.

Arriving back at the guardroom, Tillo busies himself gathering scraps of kindling to start a fire while Vulkar methodically skins the darkmantle. The deminkin's blade makes a wet shick-shick sound as his hands move with precision.

After Kara finishes patching Caelum's wounds, they all settle down for a meal. The small fire casts faint shadows against the room's burned walls.

Tillo gnaws on a piece of charred flesh. "Not bad, if you can manage not to think about where it came from." 

"Good eating, I say," says Vulkar.

• Is the party interrupted at all during the rest? (50/50)
  ✅27, Yes.
• Creature: Goblins. Condition: Starving, Adult. Goal: Recover from a battle. Activity: Practicing.
  • Encounter Difficulty: Easy

Ok, so these goblins are perhaps returning from where the oozes came from and they have no hit die. They smell the meal and assume it's for them.

The party eat in silence for a time, accompanied by the subtle crackle of a dwindling fire.

Suddenly, Kara's head snaps up. "Goblin voices. Move."

The party quickly take positions to ambush the goblins. Through the door, Kara catches the faint glow of torchlight. She and the others wait, tense and poised, until the goblins are well within their midst.

Caelum moves first, lunging with his rapier, but he doesn't anticipate the shield the goblin is holding and his rapier sticks into the wooden board.

"Gwark!" the goblin screeches.

Tillo tries to flank the goblin, but in the dim light, he misjudges the goblin’s position and his strike goes wide.

The other three goblins, now fully alert, rush to defend themselves as the ambush closes around them.

Vulkar swings his warhammer with misjudged force, allowing the goblin he targets to deflect the blow with its shield.

"Greeeee!" it screams at him

Kara—put off by her compatriot's total botch of this ambush—loses concentration and sends her shot wide.

Ho. Le. Chit. This is how you stuff up an ambush. The heroes opening D20 rolls were...

7, 1, 5, 7, 4, 7, 3, 7, 2, and 3.

That's an average of 4.6, and the odds of rolling that bad 0.04/100

Caelum recovers and attempts to channel his divine magic through his blade for another strike, but he’s too slow. The goblin swats his sword aside with ease and tumbles towards Vulkar, trying to get behind the demikin.

Tillo darts in to assist Vulkar. One of his daggers finds purchase in a goblin’s shoulder, the other skids harmlessly off its armour. The goblin hisses in pain and slashes Tillo across the neck before darting out the door and vanishing into the darkness.

The goblin with the torch slams the door shut, leaving one of its own trapped inside with Vulkar and company.

As the escaped goblins retreat into the mine, Vulkar attempts to pin the one remaining with his warhammer, but the goblin is too quick and stabs him in return.

"I can't see in the dark," Kara complains.

Caelum moves up and finds the goblin through the gloom, his feyling eyes guiding him. He finally lands a blow, marking the goblin for death with a divine sigil.

The goblin swipes back but misses badly, losing blood fast.

Now truly angry, Vulkar charges the trapped goblin. He swings his warhammer down but the goblin raises its shield at the last moment and deflects the blow.

Tillo frantically pulls a torch and tinder from his pack, sparking the torch to life.

"Thank you," Kara says. She sinks an arrow through the goblin's head.

• Encounter ends.
• 0.5 TP Earned.

"We need to get out of this mine. Now," she insists.

"Agreed," Caelum says, wiping his blade clean. Tillo nods in silent accord. 

"Go," Vulkar urges.

Without further hesitation, the party makes a break for the exit, their footsteps echoing through the dark, twisting corridors of the mine.

• Does anything impede them on the way out? (Very unlikely)
  ✅✅ 3, Exceptional Yes.

End Scene

What a useless series of rolls! What should have been a walkover nearly ended the party.

There are no new Threads, and the goblins already have their third and final entry on the Characters list, so the lists stay the same.

Characters

1. Sir Draven Ironcrest
2. Orm's Crossing
3. Darkmantle Mine
4. Goblins (3)
5. Monsters in the Mine (2)

Threads

1. Uncover the reason for the mine's closure
2. Find the ancient library

This scene was totally out of control, so I have to lower the CF.

Chaos Factor: 4

Thank you once again for reading! I hope you've enjoyed it so far. As always, if you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it in the comments or on Reddit.

The next part of this adventure continues in Breakout. For a full list of chapters, see Darkmantle Delve.