Mord Mar - Session 6

We weren't able to play Mord Mar last week, due to a family funeral. This week we played on Monday for the first time, due to kids returning to school and Scouts. As it was our first delve on a new day (and a player needing a ride and getting home late,) we had a short session. It was just one encounter, but it was a doozy.

The party this week:
Moira, the Magic-User
Radovan - Human Cleric (of Odin?) now of Marshield Ironbeard
Khazgar Stonehand - Dwarf Fighter
Boris - Dwarf Fighter/Thief
Seed - Human Fighter
Red - Human Ranger
Firban Brighthand - Halfling Thief
Dustin's Brother - Human Wizard

A new paladin hireling
A magic-user hireling

The party is working on making good their promise to Ander, making their way toward the Forge. A step in this direction, they decided, was taking the bounty on the hydra. The talked with Tammerick Alebeard (the head of the Adventurer's Guild) about the bounty. He offered 15,000 gp. They asked some questions. Where's the hydra? What else is in the area? That kind of thing.

3 potions of healing were available this week, and bought by the party. The magic items for sale were extremely powerful, but the only one bought was a Ring of Protection +2 (by Firban.) He is paying through the nose for it, over time.

What they didn't ask is how to get there. So they headed into the dungeon, looking for the hydra, knowing where it was, but not how to get there. They found Inkweaver's Wall, a written legend of how the dwarves transitioned from runes and stone to parchment writing. They followed the Wall to the first intersection. They looked for street signs, and found that the dwarves carved the road names in the center of intersections, diagonally. So, without knowing which road was which, they realized they didn't know where to go, so they headed back home.

They went to purchase a map from the local cartographer. They bought a map of the entire Forge District for 1000 gp, and headed back in.

Following their map, they headed near the hydra's lair. Blocking the way, orcs and gnolls were having a battle in the street. They stayed back a bit, and watched. Seeing a couple of trolls on the gnolls side, and the same ogre-creatures from session 4 on the orcs side. They waited and crossed the intersection, avoiding attacks. Then they heard the rumbling, from the direction they were travelling. Khazgar looked for a quick way off the street, and kicked open a door to an apparent old records office. He made a save as he stepped inside. Most of the party followed, just as the hydra charged down the street at the battling humanoids.

Hydra battle!

The hydra breathed fire on the combatants! The remaining gnolls turned to face the creature, while the orcs fled. The party stepped out to surround the hydra, but as the paladin hireling stepped back to prepare bowshots, he noticed 3 little hydras too!

The mommy hydra continued to engage with the humanoids, while the party dealt with the little ones. They all breathed fire, killing the new paladin. Almost everyone in the battle group took damage. (Moira was smart enough to be off to the side, as was Dustin's Brother.) Khazgar killed a hydra-ling, and mommy was enraged. She breathed fire, and charged. A few party members managed a couple of hits in the meantime (including magic missiles from the both magic-users.) As she stepped up to breathe again, Seed delivered a mighty blow (max damage!) to bring her down. Somewhere in the chaos, the other hireling also dropped.

Searching her lair, they found lots of scrolls. Protection from Elementals (double duration), Protection from Drowning (2 targets for 3 days!), hold moster, teleport(!), detect invisibility, lightning bolt, magic missile (x2), bless, and Raise Dead!

Four gnolls remained alive. They parlayed, and the gnolls have agreed to become henchmen (!) to the group. They're not sure what to do with them, yet, so they left them in the records office, and said they would return in a week.

They claimed their 15,000 gp reward and the session ended. We will see what happens next week. Khazgar's player won't be available, so that may change the dynamic. We'll see...