the Old Delve

A rattling skeleton patrol holds the room (attack 5, health 12). The party must decide how to get past it. It will not face the cleric: undead take holy damage ×1.5. A portcullis hangs raised above the passage, on a chain that still turns. Shelves sag under books nobody has audited in a century.

They might have chosen to stand and fight, or fall back — Tycho Brahe made the case: "Danger pay. Emphasis on pay." The party chose to drop the portcullis on it.

🚧 The winch lets go and a raised portcullis comes down across the monster: 6 damage. ⚔️ The party kills a rattling skeleton patrol in 1 round, taking 0 damage. 🔪 Six knives arrive before the party does: 4 damage before the first round. 💥 The Reckless finish the fight with style: +5 score. 🎒 2 more preparations hold besides — the ledger keeps them.

🛡️ Tycho Brahe takes the front of the march, and the rest fall in behind.

A shrine. Resting here heals the party; the gold leaf on the altar could be stripped instead. Pillars break the room into aisles — something to fight behind. A sarcophagus stands against the wall with its lid slightly wrong.

They might have chosen to rest and heal, or strip the gold leaf — Robert Fludd made the case: "My fingers itch. That means gold, or a rash." The party chose to pry the sarcophagus open.

⚰️ The party pries the lid off a stone sarcophagus: 20 gold. ⚰️ The occupant objects: 4 damage before it is put back down.

✚ Tycho Brahe is opened up badly enough that the delve will keep it: 11 is as whole as they get until town. The Devout tend what the dungeon opens: fewer blows leave a mark that stays. The Reckless do not stop to bind anything, and more of it stays with them.

A gelatinous horror holds the room (attack 4, health 15). The party must decide how to get past it. Plate and chitin cover it: the party's blows do 2 less damage each round. It flinches from the cold: weak to frost (frost damage ×1.5). A brazier burns in its bracket — nobody has been here to feed it, and it burns anyway. A bed of rusted spikes stands out of the floor, most of them still upright.

They might have chosen to stand and fight, or fall back — Johannes Trithemius made the case: "Every door is a suggestion." The party chose to put it onto the floor spikes.

🔻 The party drives the monster back onto a bed of rusted floor spikes: 12 damage, and it has to pull itself off them. ⚔️ A gelatinous horror is finished before it can strike back. 🔪 Six knives arrive before the party does: 4 damage before the first round. 💥 The Reckless finish the fight with style: +5 score. 🎒 2 more preparations hold besides — the ledger keeps them.

A connecting corridor. Nothing blocks the way; the party moves through.

They might have chosen to reconstruct the mosaic from memory, or recognize the mosaic — Paracelsus made the case: "Everything in this room fits in my satchel if I believe." The party chose to break through the wall.

💥 The wall yields to force and the ceiling comes with it. 3 damage, a march of oil spent clearing the rubble, and what is left is a hole the party can only go through one at a time.

🕳️ Robert Fludd finds a hidden door into the barracks wing. Behind it: bunkrooms and a picked-over weapon rack. Its rooms join the route.

A gelatinous horror holds the room (attack 4, health 15). The party must decide how to get past it. Plate and chitin cover it: the party's blows do 2 less damage each round. It flinches from the cold: weak to frost (frost damage ×1.5). A portcullis hangs raised above the passage, on a chain that still turns. A brazier burns in its bracket — nobody has been here to feed it, and it burns anyway.

They might have chosen to stand and fight, or fall back — Tycho Brahe made the case: "A fight you skip counts double." The party chose to drop the portcullis on it.

🚧 The winch lets go and a raised portcullis comes down across the monster: 6 damage. ⚔️ The party kills a gelatinous horror in 1 round, taking 0 damage. 📐 The party meets it standing as the last room left them. 🔪 Six knives arrive before the party does: 4 damage before the first round. 💥 The Reckless finish the fight with style: +5 score. 🎒 2 more preparations hold besides — the ledger keeps them.

A connecting corridor. Nothing blocks the way; the party moves through. An anvil sits under a dead forge, still true.

They might have chosen to move on — Robert Fludd made the case: "Doors, guards, promises — all pickable." The party chose to put an edge back on at the anvil.

🔨 The party works a cold anvil: anvil-set edge on Tycho Brahe's weapon (+3 attack).

A hidden vault, stacked with treasure. Vaults always hold something beyond coin. Shelves sag under books nobody has audited in a century.

They might have chosen to inspect it first, or leave it alone — Johannes Trithemius made the case: "There's a wire there. I noticed it while planning my retreat." The party chose to loot the treasure.

🦷 The chest is a mimic. It bites for 5 damage before the party kills it, recovering 59 gold.

✚ 2 wounds on Tycho Brahe, and the ceiling with them: 9, and no more.

A connecting corridor. Nothing blocks the way; the party moves through.

They might have chosen to repair the gears, or correct the orrery — Paracelsus made the case: "Don't burn the carcass — half my income is in the glands." The party chose to divine the unstable motion.

🔮 The dangerous motion is named before it completes. The party crosses untouched, and forewarned of the next snare in their path. +15 score. 🎓 Everything this asks for, the party happens to have brought: +25 renown.

The dungeon itself turns hostile. The party must brace together or scatter. Half the ceiling is on the floor, in pieces worth stepping around. A crack runs the width of the room, wide enough to matter and too wide to jump twice.

They might have chosen to brace together, or scatter and regroup — Tycho Brahe made the case: "Danger pay. Emphasis on pay." The party chose to sift the rubble.

🪨 The party sifts a fall of rubble: 13 gold.

A library. The party can study here to learn spells. Pillars break the room into aisles — something to fight behind. Shelves sag under books nobody has audited in a century.

They might have chosen to move on, or strip the shelves — Robert Fludd made the case: "I disarm faster when it's already ticking." The party chose to study the shelves.

📚 The party studies the shelves and learns 1 spell.

A treasure chest sits in the room. It may hold gold; it may be a mimic. A sarcophagus stands against the wall with its lid slightly wrong.

They might have chosen to loot the treasure, or leave it alone — Johannes Trithemius made the case: "I've counted the exits. There are three. I love them all." The party chose to inspect it first.

🔍 The party checks for mimics and curses first, then takes 37 gold safely. 🔍 The Cunning eye found everything: the full gold taken, nothing missed. 📜 Also in the hoard: a scroll of Hoarfrost, added to the grimoire.

The boss chamber. The Ogre King Under the Stair waits at its center (attack 12, health 32); killing it clears the dungeon. Plate and chitin cover it: the party's blows do 2 less damage each round. A bed of rusted spikes stands out of the floor, most of them still upright. A sarcophagus stands against the wall with its lid slightly wrong.

They might have chosen to stand and fight, or fall back — Paracelsus made the case: "Measure twice, pour once." The party chose to open with a combat spell.

🔥 Fireball opens the fight, softening the monster before the first blow. ⚔️ The Ogre King Under the Stair is dead before the party closes: it never gets a round. 🔪 Six knives arrive before the party does: 4 damage before the first round. 📜 Also in the hoard: a scroll of Kindle, added to the grimoire. 🎒 23 more preparations hold besides — the ledger keeps them.