Old-School Essentials: Stonehell

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
"This some idiot trying to scare us off I imagine" Hildegard says quitely to the others.

She takes a closer look at the statue's mouth.
 
"Nothing helps the dead rest like a good fire. Shall we burn the place down?"
 
"Can't hurt. If no dead start flailing about I suggest we enter and have a look at that head and have a conversation with the liar I suspect is underneath or inside it trying to scare us off"
 
"Nothing helps the dead rest like a good fire. Shall we burn the place down?"
"There doesn't seem to be much around to burn," notes Copperhand. He addresses the head. "What is your purpose here?"
 
OOC: Okay here goes... :ooh:

Hildegard, thinking the mist is surely harmless, enters the room.
 
"How is it in there?" Egare asks
 
"Seems fine!" she says back.

She leans in to have a closer look at the mouth, to see if there are any openings or gaps.
 
It’s hard to peer past the mist without illumination, but Hildegard’s dark sense tells her that the mouth seems to be a fist-sized hollow with no other aperture.
 
"Just give it a few moments to see if this mist affects me"

If the others agree Hildegard will wait five minutes.
 
As Hildegard bathes in the cool mist, Tessa winces from her swelling leg. The skin is very taut and sensitive.

Hildegard experiences nothing unusual.
 
Tessa had few illusions about her chances of making it out of the dungeon under her own power. It was almost certainly just a matter of time before the venom coursing through her veins would overpower her for good.

If it was just her, she would find one of the monsters here and attack, just to go down fighting. But she wasn't alone, and drawing unnecessary attention might also bring doom upon her comrades. Best to pick her battles if she could, and perhaps she could at least help the chances of the others being able to leave this hellhole alive.

"Let's keep moving," she grunts, following Hildegard into the mist.
 
Egare makes a grin observation and whispers to Copperhand. "It's a bit moribund but Tessa might be the right person to test some of the more questionable situations. She isn't looking likely to survive anyway."
 
When Tessa enters Hildegard nods at her and begins to look for other exits from the current room.
 
There are no obvious exits to the room besides the one that you came through. It's pretty cramped as the room is fairly small and the head is fairly large.
 
"Any way to move the head?" Egare asks the folks in the room.
 
The head is the size of a large boulder, and it seems attached to a broad and squat slab of stone that sits flat on the floor.
 
"Alright..." Hildegard says while looking at Tessa "...we need to think about how much longer we can stay down here this time. What's the torch situation?

Also I think we either go back to that room we lit the garbage fire in and try to press on or we head back to the statue holding the basin with silver coins, grab them, get out and then use the funds to come back better equipped"
 
Ingri perks up. “We’re both on our third, boss lady, with three more to go. No worries at all.”

Ruul looks uneasily are Tessa. “If we leave soon, we might catch the ferry before it leaves. Maybe those boys know something about, you know, snake bites. I don’t know...” he trails off.
 
"Then that makes pushing on a good option. How do you feel about that Tessa?" she says eyeing her injured leg.

"First though, can anybody appraise this weirdo's crystal eyes? Valuable looking?" she says gesturing at the head.

She'll have a go herself at judging them.
 
"Those eyes, and the silver in that bowl, might be a good enough haul to at least cover expenses for a few days while we heal up," Tessa says.
 
"If we go back for the silver," Copperhand muses, "it might not be a bad idea to take another look at that room with the well in it. I've heard tales of other pools in places like this that were magic, even healing injuries." This last is addressed mostly to Tessa.
 
She'll have a go herself at judging them.
The crystal eyes are rather large with many facets, although you can also tell that they haven't been well cared-for and have many scratches. They are very deeply set, and probably require chipping off some stone to get them out.

In terms of value, you're not an expert, but you imagine they're neither worthless nor particularly expensive. That's about all you can determine, especially from what you can see.
 
"Backs not a bad idea. Mind if I wet a rag and stuff it into the heads mouth and see what if any effect that has?" Egare asks.
 
"Be my guest" Hildegard says to Egare and then gets to work on chipping out the eyes.
 
OOC: My apologies! As you know, I've been sort of distracted. Don't think I lost interest, though; to be honest, I thought it was "your move," as I had forgotten the latest post. Mea culpa! Anyway, back to the game at hand...

Egare shoves the moist rag into the statue's mouth. Nothing immediately happens. Meanwhile, Hildegard proceeds to chip away at the stone around the eyes...

OOC: What is she chipping with?
 
OOC: Forgot to say!

Hildegard asks Copperhand for his crowbar or asks him if his willing to try prying it himself.
 
Copperhand removes the crowbar from his baggage and hands it to Hildegard.
 
OOC: Make a Dexterity check for Hildegard.
 
The right eye cracks badly as the crowbar chips of the stone socket more easily than Hildegard anticipated. Split into three large pieces and a bunch of smaller shards, it’s probably worthless or nearly so.

OOC: Want to try the left eye?
 
OOC: Yeah I'll go for the left.

I got a 15 this time around.
 
Even though Hildegard is new to gem-prying, her steady hand manages the feat of prying the other crystal eye. It's a large rock even if it's a bit scratched up where it was exposed.

Tessa starts to feel a bit short of breath, and her eyelid droop although she is not tired. That bite is really throbbing.

The torchlight grows wan as their pitch is nearly expended. A quarter hour remains, as most.

Obvious exits:
  • Exit the room and turn to the left. This leads to a T-intersection after 20', branching right and left.
  • Exit the room and turn to the right. This leads into a room after 30', although it also branches to the left immediately before that.
 
Last edited:
"The fastest way back to the room with the silver," Copperhand says, admiring the intact gem, "is probably to return to the stairs and take the door to the south."
 
"The fastest way back to the room with the silver," Copperhand says, admiring the intact gem, "is probably to return to the stairs and take the door to the south."
"Agreed, it probably reconnects. I think it's worth a shot. If we do it the way we originally did it, we have that pit the Kobolds sprung on us to contend with"
 
The party returns to the initial entry room to Stonehell, passing through the two Devil Gates in succession. It remains apparently unchanged, with the same signs of traffic and debris without anything of apparent significance.

Upon entering, Ruul notes "Oh, there are two exits on that side of the room. Which one?"

Obvious exits:
  • Back through the archway you came by, flush with the right wall.
  • Back down a corridor flush with the leftmost wall.
    • It ends at a door after 10'.
  • Spiral stairs leading back up
  • Closed door on the left wall.
  • Across to archway directly opposite the one you entered.
    • It leads to a hallway that ends in 10' at a closed door.
  • Across to archway on the opposite side of the room but flush with the left wall.
    • It branches to the left after 10' but also continues straight.
 
Last edited:
OOC: I seem to have badly misunderstood how this original room was laid out. However, the door I think I was referencing with this one:

  • Acrossto archway directly opposite the one you entered.
    • It leads to a hallway that ends in 10' at a closed door.
If it's agreeable with everyone else, Copperhand will go attempt to open it.
 
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top