C2 E31

We go deeper into the mine with our new ally Dahlia Woodford-Blackwell-Stovitch-Garrison. We learn a lot about R’Orc, T’Chuck and the world around us.

## **Story**

### Long Story

Another secret tunnel, and another secret door at the end. These Knockers really have a theme, huh? T'Chuck is able to find and open this door, revealing four Knockers all sitting around a table. Like last time, these Knockers have "swirly eyes", suggesting they've been possessed. They fight, and make short work of the creatures. Dahlia slays two of them, and Lucee a third. T'Chuck knocks the last one out, and then wakes it to interrogate it. It points to a door to the south, ignoring the door to the east. Inside is a hallway, which, 20 ft down, leads to a turn going off to the east. But before they go that way, Rick the Knocker taps on T'Chuck's helmet, and reveals a secret door to the west. It's booby-trapped with a poison dart, but this is more of an inconvenience. He kicks the door open, and finds a chest. It bears familiar symbols, seemingly religious in nature. Dahlia uses a *Mage Hand* to open it, springing a trap, but harming no one. And inside that chest is a mace. A strange mace with a "highly carved handle". It seems to depict a forest nature scene of some sort. Dahlia dismisses this as garbage and tosses it to T'Chuck, who, upon taking it, recognizes it a Mace of Regnier.

They return to the tunnel, and head east, eventually coming up to a four-way intersection. Rick seems to be in a real chatty mood. Previous, when Big Petey told them his name, he made a strange unfamiliar sound, which R'Oarc now tries to emulate. She's so bad at it, that Rick refuses to speak with her now. Presumably, she said something super offensive. Rick again points to the east, and then at his watch. They seem to be in a hurry. T'Chuck uses his Mace in an attempt to divine where to go next, and it also points to the east. So, to the east they go. Along the way, the group attempts to fill Dahlia in on what's been going on, but it's a bit hard to explain, and even harder to believe. She ends up walking a few paces back from them, just to be safe.

The tunnel appears to be getting bigger, which is good for T'Chuck's back. Up ahead, the sound of crunching, rocks breaking, can be heard. The source of this sound soon reveals itself in the form of an abominable horror from the deep emerging from the wall before them! It has massive mandibles emerging from a face that "doesn't make sense" to look upon. Giant claws on either hand hint at its method of "swimming through" the rock like water. Its hide is armor, and appears to be bug-like, but bi-pedal. Scary stuff. It attacks, and a brutal fight ensues. It slashes and bites at them, doing a ton of damage. Lucee is able to help with that, though. They ask R'Oarc if she trusts them. She does, so Lucee aims their crossbow at her, and fires it! The crossbow bolt bursts into a beam of light, and heals R'Oarc, instead of harming her. Cool!

The creature, revealed to be an Umber Hulk, continues slashing on them. It doesn't have any metal on its body for which to *Heat Metal*, so Dahlia corrects this by stabbing it with her rapier, and leaving the blade inside. R'Oarc and Dahlia focus on this and casts *Heat Metal* on it, cooking it from the inside. This is able to take it out, but not before it slashes at T'Chuck and nearly kills him! After the battle, Lucee uses another "healing" crossbow bolt on T'Chuck, waking him.

This creature must have been what was causing the instability in the mines. They've solved it! T'Chuck cuts off the creature's head, and Rick feasts on the corpse.

### Short

The group again finds a party of possessed Knockers, which attack them. They kill all but one, which points to the next door they should go through. Behind a trapped door, T'Chuck finds a +1 Mace of Regnier. They continue exploring, and eventually fight an Umber Hulk, which is the creature causing the instability in the mines. They kill it, and T'Chuck takes its head.

## **Trivia**

* Day 8 of the campaign.
* Tim is still burnt from getting their loot stolen by Niles Blackwater all those years ago.
* Michael reveals that the bi-pedal bug-like creature is an Umber Hulk

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - T'Chuck
* Nika Howard - R'Oarc
* Diana Dimicco - Dahlia Woodford-Blackwell-Stovitch-Garrison

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Lucee
* Rick

### **Locations**

* Drunkeros
	+ Whispering Peaks
		- Rimeford
			* The Mines

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [Active] - Investigate the mysterious goings-on in Rimeford
	+ [Complete] - ~~Rid the mines of the Tommy-knocker "threat"?~~

### **Quotes**

* **"My stomach rumbles, against its better judgment."** ~ *Tim/T'Chuck*

* **"You're doing great, dad!"** ~ *R'Oarc*
**"You could be doing better, dad!"** ~ *Dahlia*

* **"No, we just found it. It was an old wizard's laboratory, with, like, a goo guy, and a Metal Kyle... You know, it really just took another person to be here, for me to say things out loud. Everything sounds insane!"** ~ *T'Chuck*

* **"I take my reaction to SOB!"** ~ *Dahlia/Diana*

## **Rolls**

*Combat Begins vs 4 Knockers*

* Initiative
	+ **T'Chuck** - 19
	+ Lucee
	+ Knocker 1
	+ Knocker 2
	+ Knocker 3
	+ Knocker 4
	+ **Dahlia** - 11
	+ **R'Oarc** - 10

*Round One*

* **T'Chuck**
	+ Casts *Word of Radiance*, requiring a Constitution Saving Throw from all 4 knockers
		- Knocker 1 - Nat 20
			* Success - 1 damage
		- Knocker 2 - Nat 20
			* Success - 1 damage
		- Knocker 3 - 13
			* Fail - 2 damage
		- Knocker 4 - 10
			* Fail - 2 damage

* **Lucee**
	+ Ranged Attack (Crossbow) - ??
		- Miss

* **Knocker 1**
	+ Melee Attack (Bite) vs T'Chuck - ??
		- Miss

* **Knocker 2**
	+ Melee Attack (Bite) vs ~~R'Oarc~~ T'Chuck - 19
		- Hit - 4 Piercing damage

* **Knocker 3**
	+ Melee Attack (Bite) vs T'Chuck - 18
		- Hit - 4 Piercing damage

* **Knocker 4**
	+ Melee Attack (Bite) vs T'Chuck - 16
		- Miss

* **Dahlia**
	+ Melee Attack (Rapier) vs Knocker - 23
		- Hit - Activates Psychic Blades - 17 Psychic/Piercing damage - *Kills It*

* **R'Oarc**
	+ Melee Attack (Rapier, Non-lethal) vs Knocker - 16
		- Hit - 5 damage

*Round Two*

* **T'Chuck**
	+ Casts *Word of Radiance* again, requiring a Constitution Saving Throw from all 3 knockers
		- Knocker 1 - Nat 20
			* Success - 1 damage
		- Knocker 2 - 16
			* Success - 1 damage
		- Knocker 3 - 5
			* Fail - 3 damage
	+ Gives *Help* to R'Oarc - 3 temp HP

* **Lucee**
	+ Ranged Attack (Crossbow with flaming bolt) vs Knocker - ??
		- Hit - One bursts into flames

* **Knocker 1**
	+ Moves to Lucee, but gets hit by an opportunity attack from T'Chuck - 16
		- Hit - 5 damage
	+ Melee Attack (Bite) vs Lucee - ??
		- Hit - Some damage

* **Knocker 2**
	+ Melee Attack (Bite) vs T'Chuck {x2?} - 20, 16
		- Hit, Miss - 4 Piercing damage

* **Dahlia**
	+ Casts *Dissonant Whispers* on Knocker 2, requiring a Wisdom Saving Throw - 8
		- Fail - 16 Psychic damage - *Kills it*

* **R'Oarc**
	+ Melee Attack vs Knocker 1 (non-lethal) - Nat 1
		- Miss

* **T'Chuck**
	+ Melee Attack vs Knocker 1 (non-lethal) - 17
		- Hit - 4 damage - *Knocks it out*

*Combat Ends*

* **Dahlia** casts *Tasha's Hideous Laughter* on the surviving Knocker, requiring a Wisdom Saving Throw - Nat 20
	+ Success, not laughing

* **Dahlia** casts *Tasha's Hideous Laughter* on Rick the Knocker, requiring another Wisdom Saving Throw - 13
	+ Success, but still laughs

* **T'Chuck** makes a Constitution Saving Throw after getting stuck with a poison dart - 20
	+ Success - Not poisoned

* **T'Chuck** casts *Cure Wounds* on himself for - 11 HP

* **Dahlia** rolls *Sleight of Hand* to pick the lock on the chest - Nat 20
	+ Success - The chest pops open

* **Dahlia** rolls *Investigation* to see if there are any other doors in the room - 20
	+ She doesn't find any more doors

* **R'Oarc** rolls *Performance* to repeat the Knocker sounds back to them - Nat 1
	+ They won't talk to R'Oarc anymore

* **T'Chuck** rolls a d20 (with Advantage) to attempt to divine which direction where to go, by spinning a mace - 18
	+ The mace points to the east

* **Dahlia** rolls *History* to see if she knows anything about the etching on the wall - 9
	+ She doesn't recognize anything

*Combat Begins vs Umber Hulk*

* Initiative
	+ Umber Hulk
	+ **R'Oarc** - 20
	+ **Dahlia** - 10
	+ **T'Chuck** - 7
	+ Lucee

*Round One*

* **Umber Hulk**
	+ Melee Attack (Claw) vs T'Chuck {x2} - 22, 12
		- Hit, Miss - 9 Slashing damage
	+ Melee Attack (Bite) vs R'Oarc - 24
		- Hit - 14 Slashing damage

* **R'Oarc**
	+ Gives *Bardic Inspiration* to T'Chuck
	+ Casts *Sleep* on Umber Hulk - 22
		- Fail, not sleeping

* **Dahlia**
	+ *Phase Steps* next to it, dealing 2 fire damage
	+ Melee Attack (Rapier) vs Umber Hulk - 21
		- Hit - 19 Piercing and Psychic damage, and leaves the rapier stabbed into it

* **T'Chuck**
	+ Grants *Emboldening Bond* on R'Oarc and Dahlia
	+ Casts *Spiritual Weapon* to create a beetle-shaped weapon
	+ Spiritual Weapon attacks Umber Hulk - 14
		- Miss

* **Lucee**
	+ Healing Crossbow Bolt to R'Oarc - 10 HP

*Round Two*

* **Umber Hulk**
	+ Melee Attack (Claw) vs Dahlia {x2} - 23, 25
		- Hit, Hit - 18 Slashing damage
	+ Melee Attack (Bite) vs T'Chuck - 11
		- Miss

* **R'Oarc**
	+ Must make a Charisma Saving Throw - 20
		- Success - Nothing happens
	+ Casts *Heat Metal* on the rapier for - 13 Fire damage

* **Dahlia**
	+ Casts *Heat Metal* on the rapier for - 13 Fire damage
	+ *Phase Steps* away from it

* **T'Chuck**
	+ Must make a Charisma Saving Throw - 6
		- Fail - Can't take reactions until the start of his next turn
	+ Spiritual Weapon attacks Umber Hulk - 11
		- Miss
	+ Melee Attack (Regnier's Mace) vs Umber Hulk - 11
		- Miss

* **Lucee**
	+ Must make a Charisma Saving Throw - ??
		- Fail - Can't take reactions until the start of their next turn
	+ Ranged Attack (Crossbow) vs Umber Hulk - ??
		- Miss

*Round Three*

* **Umber Hulk**
	+ Melee Attack (Claw) vs T'Chuck {x2} - 19, ??
		- Hit, Hit - 18 Slashing damage - *Downs him!*
	+ Melee Attack (Bite) vs R'Oarc - 11
		- Miss

* **Dahlia**
	+ Casts *Words of Terror* on Umber Hulk, requiring a DC 13 Wisdom Saving Throw - 9
		- Fail - It is frightened
	+ It runs away, provoking an opportunity attack from Dahlia - 18
		- Hit - 22 Piercing and Psychic damage

* **R'Oarc**
	+ Also gets an opportunity attack - Nat 1
		- Miss

* **Lucee**
	+ Also gets a Ranged opportunity attack - ??
		- Hit - Entangles the creature in a bunch of thorny vines

* **R'Oarc**
	+ Heat Metal damage - 7 Fire damage
	+ Melee Attack vs Umber Hulk {x3} - 11, 14, 14
		- Miss, Miss, Miss

* **Dahlia**
	+ Heat Metal damage - 11 Fire damage - *Kills It*

*Combat Ends*

* **Lucee** uses a Healing Crossbow Bolt to heal T'Chuck for - 8 HP