nightmare · 14 rooms · did not come back · seed log-nightmare-119
🌑 The party works the monster to the edge and puts it into a crack across the floor: 13 damage on the way down.
The line this delve would be retold by.
11 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. | Marsilio Ficino carries it (6 mentions against 5); 4/4 named |
| missed | Rooms should be in the order they are for a reason. | 1 of 14 rooms answer an earlier one (7%) |
| met | Something must go wrong, and it should be legible when it does. | 6 rooms cost the party something |
| met | If every room is a beat, no room is. | the loudest room runs 2.5× the median (peak 5, median 2) |
| met | A choice reads as a choice only when the alternatives are named. | 13 of 14 deliberations name a road not taken |
| met | A death is only worth reading if the dead had a line first. | 6 deaths, each of somebody the reader had met |
| met | Name the thing and state the number. | 12 of 14 resolutions state a number |
| met | The party should not argue in one voice. | 4 distinct voices across 13 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 0, back half 8 |
| 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 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 study the shelves, or move on — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "Candles first. Then courage." 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.
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 pass a plan through the stone, or speak mind to mind — John Dee made the case: "Grace favors the well-prepared." The party chose to send something under the slab.
🪄 Something small and borrowed goes under the slab with a message tied to the idea of it, and comes back with an answer. Slower than thought, faster than digging. +22 score. 🎓 It is answered from three directions at once and stays answered: +25 renown.
🛡️ The order settles with Tycho Brahe at the head of it: whatever comes, comes to them.
A shrine. Resting here heals the party; the gold leaf on the altar could be stripped instead. A silvered mirror leans against the wall, and it shows the room more honestly than the room does.
They might have chosen to strip the gold leaf, or move on — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "The god forgives. That's the whole strategy." The party chose to rest and heal.
🕯️ The party rests at the shrine: 9 health healed per member.
A connecting corridor. Nothing blocks the way; the party moves through.
They might have chosen to read the correspondences, or work the planetary sequence — Robert Fludd made the case: "I've counted the exits. There are three. I love them all." The party chose to reconcile the traditions.
☯️ Two traditions are quarrelling on one door; reconciled, they agree to open it. +15 gold, +35 score. 🎓 Three disciplines on one problem, none of them guessing: +25 renown.
A rattling skeleton patrol holds the room (attack 12, health 28). The party must decide how to get past it. It will not face the cleric: undead take holy damage ×1.5. Half the ceiling is on the floor, in pieces worth stepping around. Somebody stacked supplies here and never came back for them.
They might have chosen to negotiate the terms, or recognize his school — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "We are exactly where we are meant to be. Regrettably." The party chose to accept the duel.
🤺 It is a real bout and a close one, and he loses it grinning. The party goes through with its blood up and its front foot forward. +30 score, and a wedge into the next fight. 🎓 Near enough to the discipline to try, not near enough to be paid for it: 10 renown short.
🕳️ Robert Fludd finds a hidden door into the burial wing. Behind it: burial niches, most of them open. Its rooms join the route.
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 push through and take the hit, or search for a way around — Robert Fludd made the case: "Traps are just puzzles with stakes." The party chose to disarm the trap.
🗝️ The rogue disarms the trap. No damage taken; +20 score. 🗝️ The Masterwork Lockpicks add +1.5 to the disarm roll.
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 strip the gold leaf, or move on — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "Grace favors the well-prepared." The party chose to rest and heal.
🕯️ The party rests at the shrine: 9 health healed per member.
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 disarm the trap, or push through and take the hit — Robert Fludd made the case: "There's a wire there. I noticed it while planning my retreat." The party chose to bypass it with a utility spell.
The party moves on to the next room.
🕯️ The lantern is burning low: oil for 2 more marches.
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 open it with Knock, or loot the treasure — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "Candles first. Then courage." The party chose to leave it alone.
🚶 The party leaves the treasure untouched and moves on.
🕯️ Someone checks the reservoir and does not like the answer: oil for 1 more march.
A rattling skeleton patrol holds the room (attack 12, health 28). 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. 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 — John Dee made the case: "The god counsels prudence. Loudly. Through me. Right now." The party chose to put it down the crack in the floor.
🌑 The party works the monster to the edge and puts it into a crack across the floor: 13 damage on the way down. ⚔️ The party kills a rattling skeleton patrol 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 party fights from behind a fall of rubble: 1 less damage per round. 💥 The Reckless finish the fight with style: +5 score. 🎒 2 more preparations hold besides — the ledger keeps them.
🕯️ The last of the oil goes. From here the party walks in the dark.
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 pit takes up a third of the floor. The bottom is not visible. Shelves sag under books nobody has audited in a century.
They might have chosen to stand and fight, or sneak past — Tycho Brahe made the case: "Plan? I'm the plan." The party chose to fall back.
💨 The party retreats, taking 2 damage on the way out. The room stays hostile; they will have to try it again.
🌑 The party gropes through the dark and pays for it: 4 damage to everyone. The Craven creep, and the dark takes its time with them.
✚ John Dee 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.
✚ 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. The Devout tend what the dungeon opens: fewer blows leave a mark that stays.
✚ Robert Fludd 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. The Devout tend what the dungeon opens: fewer blows leave a mark that stays.
The same room again. Whatever is in it has had time to think. It is a swarm: spell openings hit it ×1.5. It keeps clear of the torches: weak to fire (fire damage ×1.5).
They might have chosen to stand and fight, or fall back — Robert Fludd made the case: "Doors, guards, promises — all pickable." The party chose to shove it into the pit.
🕳️ The party shoves the monster into an open pit: 11 damage, and it has to climb back out. ⚔️ The party kills a chittering rat swarm in 1 round, taking 0 damage. 🔪 Six knives arrive before the party does: 4 damage before the first round. 🌐 There is room enough in the hall to fight spread out, well apart. 💥 The Reckless finish the fight with style: +5 score. 🎒 1 more preparation holds besides — the ledger keeps it.
🌑 Another march by touch alone. Walls, edges, and things underfoot take 4 from each of them.
✚ John Dee is wounded again — 2 scars now, and nothing can heal them past 9 before town.
✚ 2 wounds on Tycho Brahe, and the ceiling with them: 9, and no more.
✚ Robert Fludd is wounded again — 2 scars now, and nothing can heal them past 7 before town.
A connecting corridor. Nothing blocks the way; the party moves through.
They might have chosen to take one of the side passages — Marsilio Ficino made the case: "Grace favors the well-prepared." The party chose to dissolve the lock.
⚗️ The lock dissolves. The mechanism doesn't open the door, but it doesn't need to now. +15 score. 🎓 Done by people who do something near it: 10 renown less than a clean job.
🌑 The dark is telling now. Everyone is bleeding somewhere they cannot see: 4 damage each.
☠️ Tycho Brahe falls. The party's fighter is dead; the 3 still standing march on.
☠️ Robert Fludd falls. The party's rogue is dead; the 2 still standing march on.
The air thrums with conflicting resonances. Three different frequencies echo in the chamber, each slightly out of tune with the others. The dissonance is growing, and the walls show stress fractures. Silence would fail: something here needs to be singing.
There is no light left to decide anything by.
🌑 They have stopped calling it a march. 4 damage to everyone, again, and the hill goes on. The last of the party does not get up.
☠️ Marsilio Ficino falls. The party's cleric is dead; the 3 still standing march on.
☠️ John Dee falls. The party's cleric is dead; the 2 still standing march on.
☠️ Tycho Brahe falls. The party's fighter is dead; one of them is still standing.
☠️ Robert Fludd falls. The party's rogue is dead, and there is nobody left to carry them out.
The party is wiped out in the Old Delve. The dead: Marsilio Ficino, John Dee, Tycho Brahe, Robert Fludd. Rooms cleared: 13. Trophies lost with them: 2 (latest: 🐀 the rat-king's knot).
Regenerate this exact delve:
npm run simulate -- --seed log-nightmare-119