Four Against Darkness Session 1: The Cave of Nyeth

Averil the Paladin, Viranus the Cleric, Tallus the Wizard and Lynuvei the Elf arrive at The Cave of
Nyeth. Averil was tasked to recover gold to give to the local church. The door to the caves were shut,
flush against the stone cliff face. Averil and Viranus pushed against it, and the door slowly creaked
open.

The party stepped in, using Tallus’ lantern to illuminate the cavernous room. It was an expansive
chamber littered with broken tables and shelves. Two trolls, hunched over a late afternoon meal,
glanced toward them with heavy grunts. Averil quickly pulled her arming sword free and cut down
one of the trolls.

The party scattered, quickly surrounding the second troll. Lynuvei drew her curved elven blade and
dispatched the slowly regenerating troll. The other raked its dark talons against Averil’s shield. The
party pulled away, looking for advantageous position.

As they surrounded the troll, it struck Averil with a heavy fist. A malicious laugh followed by a sinister
grin on its face. Tallus seized the moment and drove a dagger into the troll’s back. The troll fell to the
floor where Lynuvei plunged her short blade through its neck.

Whatever the trolls had been eating, a paltry trio of gold coins lay next to its roasting carcass. It was
a small step closer to completing Averil’s Quest. The chamber had three doors, but the one on the far
right was locked. The party took the simpler path and opened the door to the left.

The door led to a four way intersection. An immense orc with ash grey skin seemed surprised at their
appearance. Viranus charged forward, his mace struck the orc brute on the shoulder. The orc
unsheathed a rusty blade and turned to Viranus.

Not as experienced in combat as Averil, the tarnished hooked sword cut into Viranus’ flesh. The orc
continued forward and struck Averil’s shield. Perhaps it was some divine guidance, the Paladin’s
riposte sliced neatly across the brute’s neck. The orc’s decapitated body fell to the floor.

Searching the orc, Lynuvei recovered a scroll. Written on the parchment were the sigils to summon
a fireball. With four possible route to take, the party again chose left. Stepping from a door at the
end of a hall, a figure wearing a dark coat of plates slammed the door shut resolutely.

Averil channeled divine might, her sword becoming a Holy Avenger, but the chaos lord’s shield
stopped the blade. Tallus attempted to put the chaos lord to sleep but failed. The chaos lord
burned and surged with dark energy. Its rapid slashes cut into Averil, Viranus and Tallus.

Averil retaliated, stabbing under the chaos lord’s helmet. The chaos lord slumped heavily to the
floor. Tallus searched the corpse and discovered a handful of gold and a scroll with a sleep spell
written on it. Averil and the others turned to the shut door and stepped beyond.

They were met with a long corridor with a door to the right. Ahead, the corridor opened into
another room. A pair of orcs were coming from the room, unsuspectingly heading toward the party.
Lynuvei pulled back the string of her bow, the elven animosity pushing her to act.

Two arrows flew across the span and struck each orc in the eye. The only sound from the orcs were
the heavy sounds of bodies falling to the floor. The room beyond was empty except for one door
ahead. The party opened the door and walked through the twisting corridor behind it.

As they marched down the corridor, the party searched the floors. Within the darkened recesses of
one corner, they spied a pile of gold. Collecting the pieces of treasure, the party disturbed a series
of thick webs. A giant spider fell from the ceiling and attacked Averil and Viranus.

Averil and Viranus blocked the poisonous fangs with their shields. Tallus stabbed into the back of
the giant spider. Thick green ooze dripped to the floor, and it reared in pain before crawling back
into its dark den above. The spider’s retreat dislodged another treasure, and a small ruby clattered
across the floor.

The next room had no other exits. Inside, a large bison like creature with a warthog’s head squealed
at being disturbed. The room filled with a horrid stench. Though most of the party were able to
ignore the noxious fumes, Lynuvei burst into a series of sharp coughs.

Averil ignored the poisonous gas and slashed into the monster’s hide. Tallus stabbed into the other
flank. The noxious gas began to dissipate. Lynuvei recovered and ended the beast’s life with another
volley of arrows from her bow.

The creature’s makeshift den was filled with refuse. Beneath it all, Viranus found a scroll with a
blessing from the Morninglord and a staff that could create fireballs. The single exit beckoned.
The party retraced their steps to the door next to the pair of orcs.

The door led to a corridor which, in turn, led to a large room. A young red dragon lifted its head
and glared at the party’s intrusion. Averil focused divine wrath into her swing. The sword hammered
futilely against Nyeth’s scales.

Noticing the thickness of the scales, Lynuvei released an arrow into a softer target, the dragon’s eye.
The single arrow inflicted a mortal wound. With an angered anguished roar, Nyeth’s clawed into
Averil and Viranus’ shields then gnashed sharp teeth into Tallus’ chest. Averil saw her opening and
stabbed the arming sword into the dragon’s neck.

The fatal wound brought Nyeth down. Its small trove offered a scroll with an escape spell, an opal
and sapphires set into a silver necklace. Nyeth was defeated and, more importantly, Averil’s Quest
was complete. As the party returned to the small town of Nesmé, a silver light flowed thickly down
Averil’s weapon.