hard · 13 rooms · did not come back · seed log-hard-102
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.
The line this delve would be retold by.
12 of 12 values met. A reading, not a grade — the score exists to sort logs, not to judge them.
| Value | What the log shows | |
|---|---|---|
| met | A delve should be about somebody. | Isabella Cortese carries it (5 mentions against 5); 4/4 named |
| met | Rooms should be in the order they are for a reason. | 2 of 13 rooms answer an earlier one (15%) |
| met | Something must go wrong, and it should be legible when it does. | 8 rooms cost the party something |
| met | If every room is a beat, no room is. | the loudest room runs 2.0× the median (peak 6, median 3) |
| met | A choice reads as a choice only when the alternatives are named. | 12 of 13 deliberations name a road not taken |
| met | A death is only worth reading if the dead had a line first. | 7 deaths, each of somebody the reader had met |
| met | Name the thing and state the number. | 12 of 13 resolutions state a number |
| met | The party should not argue in one voice. | 4 distinct voices across 12 deliberations |
| met | No sentence should appear twice in one delve, verbatim. | every effect line is said once |
| n/a | The boss should get to be a boss. | the party never reached the throne room |
| met | A resolution should be readable in one breath. | every resolution inside its budget |
| met | The back half should cost more than the front half. | front half 5, back half 15 |
| met | The ending should answer the delve it ended. | the epitaph names somebody who went down |
A library. The party can study here to learn spells. 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 reconstruct the mosaic from memory, or imagine what the image should be — Isabella Cortese made the case: "If it smokes, it works. If it screams, it works better." 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.
✚ Tycho Brahe is opened up badly enough that the delve will keep it: 11 is as whole as they get until town. The Reckless do not stop to bind anything, and more of it stays with them.
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. Pillars break the room into aisles — something to fight behind.
They might have chosen to rest and heal, or strip the gold leaf — Tycho Brahe made the case: "Last one in buys the ale!" The party chose to fill the waterskins.
⛲ The party fills its waterskins at a stone font of still water: 3 health healed.
A treasure chest sits in the room. It may hold gold; it may be a mimic. Somebody stacked supplies here and never came back for them.
They might have chosen to open it with Knock, or loot the treasure — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "Heal fast, ask later." The party chose to leave it alone.
🚶 The party leaves the treasure untouched and moves on.
A trap blocks the corridor. The party must disarm it, avoid it, or take the hit. A bed of rusted spikes stands out of the floor, most of them still upright. A pit takes up a third of the floor. The bottom is not visible.
They might have chosen to read the dust, or ask which square is safe — Johannes Trithemius made the case: "I've studied every trap in the codex. This one's new. Wonderful." The party chose to solve the progression.
📐 Every third square, then every fifth: the safe path is a sequence, and once it is written down the rest of the mechanism is legible too. The party crosses dry-shod and reads the next snare off the same logic. +30 score. 🎓 Everything this asks for, the party happens to have brought: +25 renown.
🛡️ The order settles with Tycho Brahe at the head of it: whatever comes, comes to them.
A connecting corridor. Nothing blocks the way; the party moves through.
They might have chosen to answer it in its own tongue, or identify the disputed thing — Isabella Cortese made the case: "Shake it and see." The party chose to negotiate with it.
🤝 The grievance is real, old, and settleable. It stands aside, and pays 20 gold out of a hoard it says was never the point. +25 score. 🎓 It is answered from three directions at once and stays answered: +25 renown.
A trap blocks the corridor. The party must disarm it, avoid it, or take the hit. 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 disarm the trap, or search for a way around — Tycho Brahe made the case: "Footwork is just grammar for the body." The party chose to push through and take the hit.
💥 The party pushes through the trap, taking 5 damage. 🔮 This is the snare the party was told about: half the damage it would have done.
🕯️ Someone checks the reservoir and does not like the answer: oil for 2 more marches.
✚ 2 wounds on Tycho Brahe, and the ceiling with them: 9, and no more.
A cinder imp wearing a snowball like armor holds the room (attack 9, health 17). The party must decide how to get past it. It flinches from the cold: weak to frost (frost damage ×1.5). 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 accept the duel, or negotiate the terms — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "The commentaries disagree. I don't." The party chose to pry the sarcophagus open.
⚰️ The party pries the lid off a stone sarcophagus: 20 gold.
🕯️ Someone checks the reservoir and does not like the answer: oil for 1 more march.
A fire vent meets the cavern ice: a scalding steam blast fills the room. The party must brace together or scatter.
They might have chosen to sing the third harmony, or attune the resonances — Johannes Trithemius made the case: "I disarm faster when it's already ticking." The party chose to endure the discord.
🔊 The discord tears at the ears and nerves, and the party comes out of it well apart, each of them having walked away from the sound in a different direction. 3 damage, and no line to speak of.
🕯️ The flame stands up, thins, and is gone. The party is out of oil.
✚ 3 wounds on Tycho Brahe, and the ceiling with them: 7, and no more.
A trap blocks the corridor. The party must disarm it, avoid it, or take the hit. A bed of rusted spikes stands out of the floor, most of them still upright. Half the ceiling is on the floor, in pieces worth stepping around.
They might have chosen to disarm the trap, or search for a way around — Johannes Trithemius made the case: "I've studied every trap in the codex. This one's new. Wonderful." The party chose to push through and take the hit.
💥 The party pushes through the trap, taking 9 damage.
🌑 The party gropes through the dark and pays for it: 3 damage to everyone. 🧭 The Scholarly wanted the shelves: the party turns off into the archive wing. Its rooms join the route.
✚ Isabella Cortese is wounded again — 2 scars now, and nothing can heal them past 9 before town.
✚ That one leaves a mark on Marsilio Ficino. Their ceiling drops to 12 for the rest of the delve. The Reckless do not stop to bind anything, and more of it stays with them.
✚ Johannes Trithemius is opened up badly enough that the delve will keep it: 9 is as whole as they get until town. The Reckless do not stop to bind anything, and more of it stays with them.
☠️ Tycho Brahe falls. The party's fighter is dead; the 3 still standing march on.
An ice crawler with too many pick-shaped legs holds the room (attack 9, 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 crack runs the width of the room, wide enough to matter and too wide to jump twice. 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 — Isabella Cortese made the case: "Peer review can wait. The flask can't." 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. ⚔️ An ice crawler with too many pick-shaped legs 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 daggers land before the argument starts: nothing comes back in the first round. 🎒 7 more preparations hold besides — the ledger keeps them.
🛡️ Somebody has to stand where Tycho Brahe was standing. Isabella Cortese moves up. 🌑 Another march by touch alone. Walls, edges, and things underfoot take 3 from each of them.
✚ 2 wounds on Marsilio Ficino, and the ceiling with them: 10, and no more.
✚ 2 wounds on Johannes Trithemius, and the ceiling with them: 7, and no more.
One of the thawed dead, steaming gently holds the room (attack 11, health 21). The party must decide how to get past it. It is venomous: even a won fight leaves poison working, unless a cleric cures it. It will not face the cleric: undead take holy damage ×1.5. A bed of rusted spikes stands out of the floor, most of them still upright. A boulder sits at the top of a slope, held by a wedge of rotten timber.
They might have chosen to stand and fight, or fall back — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "The god forgives. That's the whole strategy." The party chose to open with a combat spell.
🔥 The caster opens with Radiant Lance, chosen precisely for the monster's holy weakness: spell damage ×1.5. ⚔️ One of the thawed dead, steaming gently is dead before the party closes: it never gets a round. 🔪 Six knives arrive before the party does: 4 damage before the first round. 🗡️ The daggers land before the argument starts: nothing comes back in the first round. 🎒 5 more preparations hold besides — the ledger keeps them.
🛡️ With Isabella Cortese down, Marsilio Ficino takes the front. The next thing through the door meets them first. 🌑 The dark is telling now. Everyone is bleeding somewhere they cannot see: 3 damage each.
✚ 3 wounds on Marsilio Ficino, and the ceiling with them: 8, and no more.
✚ Johannes Trithemius is wounded again — 3 scars now, and nothing can heal them past 5 before town.
☠️ Isabella Cortese falls. The party's alchemist is dead; the 2 still standing march on.
A library. The party can study here to learn spells. Pillars break the room into aisles — something to fight behind. A brazier burns in its bracket — nobody has been here to feed it, and it burns anyway.
They might have chosen to move on, or bless the font and drink — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "Heal fast, ask later." The party chose to study the shelves.
📚 The party studies the shelves and learns 2 spells.
🌑 They have stopped calling it a march. 3 damage to everyone, again, and the hill goes on.
☠️ Johannes Trithemius falls. The party's rogue is dead; one of them is still standing.
A suit of plate has been standing in the corner, and is now standing rather closer. Nothing is wearing it. It has not attacked; it is waiting to be addressed.
There is no light left to decide anything by.
🌑 They have stopped calling it a march. 3 damage to everyone, again, and the hill goes on. The last of the party does not get up.
☠️ Isabella Cortese falls. The party's alchemist is dead; the 3 still standing march on.
☠️ Tycho Brahe falls. The party's fighter is dead; the 2 still standing march on.
☠️ Marsilio Ficino falls. The party's cleric is dead; one of them is still standing.
☠️ Johannes Trithemius falls. The party's rogue is dead, and there is nobody left to carry them out.
The party is wiped out in the Ice Caverns of the Mad Pyromancer. The dead: Isabella Cortese, Tycho Brahe, Marsilio Ficino, Johannes Trithemius. Rooms cleared: 12. Trophies lost with them: 2 (latest: 🪙 a frozen soldier's pay).
Regenerate this exact delve:
npm run simulate -- --seed log-hard-102