the Old Delve

The dungeon itself turns hostile. The party must brace together or scatter. A pit takes up a third of the floor. The bottom is not visible. A boulder sits at the top of a slope, held by a wedge of rotten timber.

They might have chosen to scatter and regroup — Michael Sendivogius made the case: "My shield has a saint on it. She's watching. Form up." The party chose to brace together.

🌋 The party braces together and rides it out: 5 damage taken. 💚 Balm of Hours heals 13 as the dust settles.

🛡️ Michael Sendivogius takes the front of the march, and the rest fall in behind.

A chittering rat swarm holds the room (attack 8, health 20). The party must decide how to get past it. It is a swarm: spell openings hit it ×1.5. It keeps clear of the torches: weak to fire (fire damage ×1.5). A gargoyle spout drips something that is not water into a stained channel. Half the ceiling is on the floor, in pieces worth stepping around.

They might have chosen to speak with whatever wears the armour, or name the armour by its heraldry — Giordano Bruno made the case: "The safety margin is where the good magic lives." The party chose to read its movement and walk around it.

🎯 Eleven paces, a turn, eleven paces back. The party crosses in the gap and comes out the far side abreast and unhurried. +18 score. 🎓 Somebody checks the work who is qualified to: +10 renown.

A cold-eyed wraith holds the room (attack 16, health 24). The party must decide how to get past it. It is ethereal: weapons do only 60% damage unless a cleric blesses the blades. It will not face the cleric: undead take holy damage ×1.5. A pit takes up a third of the floor. The bottom is not visible.

They might have chosen to stand and fight, or fall back — Giordano Bruno made the case: "Knowledge is treasure, but treasure is also treasure." The party chose to open with a combat spell.

🔥 Chain Lightning opens the fight, softening the monster before the first blow. ⚔️ A cold-eyed wraith is dead before the party closes: it never gets a round. 📐 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 Silvered Hand-Mirror catches the ethereal thing where it truly stands: weapons do full damage. 🎒 7 more preparations hold besides — the ledger keeps them.

The dungeon itself turns hostile. The party must brace together or scatter. A pit takes up a third of the floor. The bottom is not visible. Half the ceiling is on the floor, in pieces worth stepping around.

They might have chosen to sing the third harmony, or attune the resonances — Simon Forman made the case: "Grace favors the well-prepared." The party chose to scatter and regroup.

🌋 The party scatters; 2 members guessed wrong and took 3 damage each.

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 font holds water that has been still a long time and is somehow clean.

They might have chosen to bring the fever down, or diagnose and treat the fever — Michael Sendivogius made the case: "Plan? I'm the plan." The party chose to push through and take the hit.

🤒 Michael Sendivogius is carried rather than treated, and the fever takes its price in full: 6 damage, and the party files through the next passage strung out around the litter.

✚ Michael Sendivogius takes a wound that will not close down here. Healing can bring them back to 11, no further, until town. The Reckless do not stop to bind anything, and more of it stays with them. The Devout tend what the dungeon opens: fewer blows leave a mark that stays.

A chittering rat swarm holds the room (attack 8, health 20). The party must decide how to get past it. It is a swarm: spell openings hit it ×1.5. It keeps clear of the torches: weak to fire (fire damage ×1.5). Pillars break the room into aisles — something to fight behind. Half the ceiling is on the floor, in pieces worth stepping around.

They might have chosen to stand and fight, or fall back — Giordano Bruno made the case: "There's a cheaper way to do this. There always is." The party chose to open with a combat spell.

🔥 The caster opens with Fireball, chosen precisely for the monster's fire weakness: spell damage ×1.5. ⚔️ A chittering rat swarm is dead before the party closes: it never gets a round. 📐 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. 🎒 5 more preparations hold besides — the ledger keeps them.

A trap blocks the corridor. The party must disarm it, avoid it, or take the hit. A tripwire runs up the wall to a bell: an alarm trap. Little damage, but the next monster will be warned (+2 attack). Half the ceiling is on the floor, in pieces worth stepping around.

They might have chosen to search for a way around, or bypass it with a utility spell — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "The light goes first. I merely follow it, loudly." The party chose to push through and take the hit.

💥 The party pushes through the trap, taking 2 damage. 🔔 The alarm rings through the dungeon: the next monster will attack with +2.

🕯️ The wick is well down the oil. 2 more marches of light, then none.

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

They might have chosen to solve the progression, or read the dust — Simon Forman made the case: "Tithes flow both directions, technically." The party chose to cross in order.

🎯 One at a time, weight where the weight has already been tested. Slow, sound, and the party is in single file at the far end. +18 score. 🎓 Not done alone, and better for it: +10 renown.

🕯️ The lantern is burning low: oil for 1 more march.

A library. The party can study here to learn spells. A brazier burns in its bracket — nobody has been here to feed it, and it burns anyway. Shelves sag under books nobody has audited in a century.

They might have chosen to reconstruct the mosaic from memory, or imagine what the image should be — Michael Sendivogius made the case: "Everything down here is carrying something. I collect." The party chose to strip the shelves.

📚 The wizard strips sagging shelves: a scroll of Shelf-Found Working for the grimoire.

🕯️ The last of the oil goes. From here the party walks in the dark.

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 pit takes up a third of the floor. The bottom is not visible.

They might have chosen to brace together — Giordano Bruno made the case: "I asked permission for this spell. Twice." The party chose to scatter and regroup.

🌋 The party scatters; 2 members guessed wrong and took 3 damage each.

🌑 The party gropes through the dark and pays for it: 3 damage to everyone. The Covetous will not leave a room unsearched, even blind. It costs them. The Bold walk the dark like a road they know. It costs them less than it should.

The boss chamber. The Ogre King Under the Stair waits at its center (attack 28, health 77); 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 portcullis hangs raised above the passage, on a chain that still turns.

They might have chosen to stand and fight, or fall back — Giordano Bruno made the case: "Transmutation started as a hobby. It's a livelihood now." The party chose to open with a combat spell.

🔥 Chain Lightning 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. 📐 The party meets it standing as the last room left them. 🔔 The alarm tripped earlier warned it: the monster attacks with +2 this fight. 🔪 Six knives arrive before the party does: 4 damage before the first round. 📜 Also in the hoard: a scroll of Sunder, added to the grimoire. 🎒 12 more preparations hold besides — the ledger keeps them.

🛡️ Giordano Bruno steps into the gap Michael Sendivogius left, and the party re-forms behind them. 🌑 Another march by touch alone. Walls, edges, and things underfoot take 3 from each of them.

☠️ Michael Sendivogius falls. The party's fighter is dead; the 3 still standing march on.