the Old Delve

A gelatinous horror holds the room (attack 8, health 27). 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. Pillars break the room into aisles — something to fight behind.

They might have chosen to stand and fight, or fall back — Kenelm Digby made the case: "Traps are just puzzles with stakes." The party chose to sneak past.

🗡️ The rogue leads the party past a gelatinous horror unseen. No damage taken; +15 score. 💡 Dancing Light revealed the watcher's position: +1 to the sneak roll.

🛡️ The order settles with Michael Sendivogius at the head of it: whatever comes, comes to them.

A chittering rat swarm holds the room (attack 6, health 15). 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 bed of rusted spikes stands out of the floor, most of them still upright. A font holds water that has been still a long time and is somehow clean.

They might have chosen to accept the duel, or negotiate the terms — Michael Maier made the case: "Shake it and see." The party chose to bless the font and drink.

⛲ The cleric says the words over a stone font of still water and the party drinks: 12 health healed.

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). A pit takes up a third of the floor. The bottom is not visible. A bed of rusted spikes stands out of the floor, most of them still upright.

They might have chosen to disarm the trap, or push through and take the hit — Kenelm Digby made the case: "I confess in advance. Saves time." The party chose to bypass it with a utility spell.

There is nothing to fight and nothing to take. The party keeps going.

A cold-eyed wraith holds the room (attack 12, health 18). 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 boulder sits at the top of a slope, held by a wedge of rotten timber. Somebody stacked supplies here and never came back for them.

They might have chosen to stand and fight, or fall back — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "Candles first. Then courage." The party chose to topple the boulder onto it.

⚪ The party topples a boulder on a bad slope down the slope onto the monster: 5 damage. ⚔️ The party kills a cold-eyed wraith in 1 round, taking 0 damage. 🗡️ The daggers land before the argument starts: nothing comes back in the first round. 🛡️ Aegis of Ash goes up before the first blow: 2 less damage every round. 🪞 The Silvered Hand-Mirror catches the ethereal thing where it truly stands: weapons do full damage. 🎒 5 more preparations hold besides — the ledger keeps them.

The dungeon itself turns hostile. The party must brace together or scatter. A boulder sits at the top of a slope, held by a wedge of rotten timber. Half the ceiling is on the floor, in pieces worth stepping around.

They might have chosen to attune the resonances, or link the three frequencies — Michael Sendivogius made the case: "I read a treatise on this maneuver. Chapter three. Brace." The party chose to sing the third harmony.

🎵 A perfect voice finds the third harmony. The three frequencies lock into a single, beautiful chord. The walls settle and the front-rank member feels renewed. +18 score. 🎓 Everything this asks for, the party happens to have brought: +25 renown.

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

They might have chosen to speak with whatever wears the armour, or name the armour by its heraldry — Michael Maier made the case: "Run first. The reaction can finish without us." The party chose to strip the insignia off it.

🗡️ The binding is three rivets and a sealed strip of vellum. Out they come, and the plate is only plate again — with a strip of very old vellum worth keeping. +8 gold, +20 score. 🎓 Three disciplines on one problem, none of them guessing: +25 renown.

🕳️ Kenelm Digby finds a hidden door into the burial wing. Behind it: burial niches, most of them open. Its rooms join the route.

A shrine. Resting here heals the party; the gold leaf on the altar could be stripped instead. A font holds water that has been still a long time and is somehow clean. Pillars break the room into aisles — something to fight behind.

They might have chosen to rest and heal, or strip the gold leaf — Kenelm Digby made the case: "Even locks answer to providence. I just expedite." The party chose to fill the waterskins.

⛲ The party fills its waterskins at a stone font of still water: 3 health healed.

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 strip the gold leaf, or move on — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "The commentaries disagree. I don't." The party chose to rest and heal.

🕯️ The party rests at the shrine: 9 health healed per member.

A hidden vault, stacked with treasure. Vaults always hold something beyond coin. A portcullis hangs raised above the passage, on a chain that still turns. A sarcophagus stands against the wall with its lid slightly wrong.

They might have chosen to inspect it first, or leave it alone — Michael Sendivogius made the case: "Footwork is just grammar for the body." The party chose to loot the treasure.

🦷 The chest is a mimic. It bites for 5 damage before the party kills it, recovering 47 gold.

✚ 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 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 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). A bed of rusted spikes stands out of the floor, most of them still upright.

They might have chosen to read the dust, or ask which square is safe — Michael Maier made the case: "I keep my hazards bottled, thank you." The party chose to push through and take the hit.

💥 The party pushes through the trap, taking 2 damage. The Craven spotted the tripwire first: 1 less damage. 🏮 The Everburning Lantern showed the pressure plates: 1 less damage. 🪶 Feather Step takes the party's weight off the floor: 3 less damage from anything underfoot. 🔔 The alarm rings through the dungeon: the next monster will attack with +2.

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 his rounds, or question the ghost gently — Kenelm Digby made the case: "I confess in advance. Saves time." The party chose to scry for the map.

🔮 The map is under the flagstone he has been standing on for two centuries. He takes this news hard. +20 score, a march of oil saved. 🎓 Near enough to the discipline to try, not near enough to be paid for it: 10 renown short.

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. Somebody stacked supplies here and never came back for them.

They might have chosen to observe every detail, or divine what is hidden here — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "The god forgives. That's the whole strategy." The party chose to search the room methodically.

🔎 Systematic searching reveals a cache in the oldest stones. Not as rich as it might have been, but real. +20 gold, +14 score. 🎓 Everything this asks for, the party happens to have brought: +25 renown.

🚶 The party looks into the barracks wing (bunkrooms and a picked-over weapon rack) and keeps to the main route.

A shrine. Resting here heals the party; the gold leaf on the altar could be stripped instead. A sarcophagus stands against the wall with its lid slightly wrong. A brazier burns in its bracket — nobody has been here to feed it, and it burns anyway.

They might have chosen to bring the fever down, or diagnose and treat the fever — Michael Sendivogius made the case: "I read a treatise on this maneuver. Chapter three. Brace." The party chose to pry the sarcophagus open.

⚰️ The party pries the lid off a stone sarcophagus: 55 gold.

The boss chamber. The Ogre King Under the Stair waits at its center (attack 21, health 58); killing it clears the dungeon. Plate and chitin cover it: the party's blows do 2 less damage each round. A sarcophagus stands against the wall with its lid slightly wrong. 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 — Kenelm Digby made the case: "Traps are just puzzles with stakes." The party chose to shove it into the brazier.

🔥 The party drives the monster into a brazier still burning: 16 fire damage. ⚔️ The party kills the Ogre King Under the Stair in 3 rounds, taking 20 damage. 🩸 Michael Sendivogius takes the worst of it: 11 of the party's 20. 🔔 The alarm tripped earlier warned it: the monster attacks with +2 this fight. 💢 Sunder reminds the plate it was ore: it stops turning blows for the rest of the fight. 🗡️ The daggers land before the argument starts: nothing comes back in the first round. 🛡️ Aegis of Ash goes up before the first blow: 2 less damage every round. 🎒 7 more preparations hold besides — the ledger keeps them.

✚ Michael Maier takes a wound that will not close down here. Healing can bring them back to 10, no further, until town. The Reckless do not stop to bind anything, and more of it stays with them. 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.

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