4-11 Klarmont - The sweet smell of being crushed by predatory plants

 Broneslav leaves the room he was in and heads back to the corridor with the sweet smell coming from it. The smell gets stronger as he goes down the corridor and there is some vegetation or root matter on the walls that appears to glow faintly. The light gets stronger the further he goes down the passage. Suddenly, he realises that the vegetation has moved. The passage is blocked in both directions. As the roots swing closer to him, he swings, severing several (2 DAM), but it is not enough to stop the others closing fully on him. They begin to crush him (1 DAM). He cuts again but his movement is too restricted and the plant continues to squeeze (1 DAM). His next attempt is better and several of the squeezing roots are severed (2 DAM). This eases the pressure temporarily, but his desperate attempts to cut free are not yet enough and he feels a rib snap (1 DAM). The pressure continues and he starts to weaken badly as the roots crush the breath from him (6 DAM cumulative). Finally, he manages to get a better grip on his sword and slices hard. The roots fall away and he falls to the ground, his breath coming in tight painful gasps. The damn plant had nearly done for him where warriors and monsters had failed!

He binds up his wounds and heads back up the passage towards the meeting hall. It is now empty, and he is able to search the area. He finds two secret doors. One leads to the passage that Anton Radu had followed to his doom. The other leads to a cell where an elf is chained to the wall. The cell stinks and is unlit apart from the light from Broneslav's shield. The elf looks half dead, but his eyes open and blink hard in the light that Broneslav brings.

Broneslav quickly learns that this Elf is Estaish, a member of the Duke's Elvenguard and a witness to the evil perpetrated by the Veiled Society. With Broneslav's help, he is able to limp back to the room where Zweis Radu lies bound but no longer unconscious. There Estaish reclaims his gear before he and Broneslav make their way outside with Zweis as their prisoner. Battered and bruised, the pair take their captive to the nearest Watchhouse. The pair are soon telling their tale to a Tribune of the Watch, while Zweis looks on them with hatred in his eyes. Unfortunately, the testimony of a member of the Elvenguard and the papers that Broneslav has brought with him are more than enough to condemn anyone, even someone as wealthy as Zweis. The verdict is clear and is confirmed when watchmembers have searched the underground meeting room and its associated rooms.

Broneslav (Level 4)

Epilogue

A week later, most of the Veiled Society members have been arrested. Some escaped, but their power is broken and the most important members of the Society are dead or in irons. The court case will take a while, but there is little doubt that even the surviving members will soon face the headsman's axe. Moreover, the entire Radu family has been declared anathema for their leadership of the Veiled Society and their incitement of the riots in the city. Their wealth has been confiscated and those that could not be proven to be directly involved have been exiled with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

A week later, Broneslav has recovered from his fight thanks to the ministrations of the family healers and a week of total rest. Milka, she of the white skin and rose red lips, has been round to see him several times, her eyes wide with wonder at the change wrought in him in just four months. It was clear that she believed he was now a man and not the boy she had challenged to take the Shearing Ceremony. Unfortunately for her, he had changed in other ways too, and the soft pleasures of her prattle were no longer for him. He had a goal in life now. He saw that he could make a difference and that his interest lay with those who sought to do likewise, rather than those who chattered about how the neighbours wore last year's fashion. And he was going for a drink with the Tribune of the Watch this evening. Who knew where that might lead?

Postscript

That's the end of B1-9 In Search of Adventure. I really thought the Sirenflower was going to do for him just as he had succeeded in taking down the Veiled Society! However, Broneslav got out of its clutches and saved the day. I can't believe it took me this long to get back to these adventures, but I just stumbled over a mapping issue and it stopped me in my tracks. I finally just ignored the issue, so the maps in the last few posts have not been precisely what I wanted but they are serviceable. Perfection is the enemy of done, as I am wont to say, and it is true.

So, where next for Broneslav? Answers on the back of a £10 note to the usual address please. I'm currently thinking of moving on to the X-series adventures with X1 The Isle of Dread being the first. I'll need to spend a bit of time putting together the maps for this, but it particularly appeals because I still have my original copy from when I first got D&D but I do not recall ever playing it. The other option is to head off to The Temple of Elemental Evil. I recently got the Goodman Games reprint of ToEE that comes as a 2-volume hardcover set in a slipcase with a reprint of the original adventure plus a 5th edition updated version. It is glorious and makes me want to run the whole thing, although I feel like it is a campaign that I should begin with a new character from level 1 so that I can experience it properly. We'll see which option I feel like, when I stop being swamped at work and have a brain to think with again.