1. The Gates of Hell

Swan...keep quiet. We dont want to let anyone know we're here.

She approaches Swan and tells her what was seen. Then she says:

I think i should sneak down a little ways and poke my head around the corner to see what the red glow is and then report back. What do you think?

"Hmm. Let us find out." as she says it loud enough for the others to hear. Swan has drawn her sword and mounted a shield. Obviously, now she is expecting trouble. She is going to move to check out this red glow. Silence is not Swan's thing as she is wearing the second/third hand scale mail. That and she has that attitude of let's get this done. An obvious answer, No. She does care to have Tess scout ahead.

Druin will fall into step alongside Swan to offer support if the chamber proves less deserted than what they've explored so far.

Advancing slowly into the cool darkness, he immediately feels relief at stepping away from so much open sky and back under carven stone as the gods intended. The archway and design here implies to him that this was an intentionally planned piece of construction and not some stray scavenger's cave.

The party gathers outside the entrance to the chamber, Swan lights her lantern, and she advances through the archway alongside Druin.

Entrance Chamber
The 10’ long entrance corridor* opens out into a 30’ x 20’ room** in which the floor is covered with dirt and leaves. Immediately opposite the entrance is a mildewed door in the centre of the northern wall. There are two further exits:

- One in the northern half of the eastern wall. This heads east for 30’, before turning to the north.

- One in the west-most section of the northern wall (just to the west of the door). This heads north for 10’ before turning west. It is from this direction that you can see the very faint red glow.

(Yes, Druin’s infravision is messed up by Swan’s lantern).

* You can assume all corridors are 10’ wide, unless stated otherwise.
** I will always refer to room dimensions as (length west -> east) x (length north -> south).

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Day 1, 12:20
Druin, Dwarf 1: 5/5
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7
Ricard, Fighter 1: 7/7
Swan, Fighter 1: 6/6
Tess, Thief 1: 3/3

Ricard hurries to join the others and readies his spear as he takes a position in the second row...

Swan will make her way to the area where the red glow is and investigate that.

Tess stows her sling and draws her short sword, staying behind the better armored fighters.

Gabbro steps up behind the others. While Swan swans off down the northwest corridor, he takes a moment to look at the mildewed door. Is the mildew spanning the gaps between the door and the jam? Or is there any other sign that the door hasn't been used in a while? Do the hinges indicate that the door opens outward, or inward?

Druin takes a quick look around the chamber, he's also curious as to what may lie beyond that door, so he's glad to see Gabbro move to take a closer look.

But he decides its best not to let Swan wonder off alone, so he stays with her and goes to investigate the faint red light.

Since the dwarf was moving with Swan, Ricard decides to stay with Gabbro in case anything should suddenly pop out of the door they're examining...

Without hesitation, Swan strides across the entrance chamber and exits through the northerly corridor in the direction from which the red glow is coming. Druin’s little legs struggle to keep up with the fighter, whilst Tess tags along behind. After 10’ the passage turns to the west and Swan, Druin and Tess pause to take in the scene that confronts them.

Ahead, the corridor continues west for a further 10’ before opening out into another chamber. Within that chamber, 30’ ahead of you, you see the source of the red light - a large, 3’-long black beetle with two glowing glands above its eyes and a third towards the back of its abdomen. It’s feasting on an animal carcass, but your non-too-stealthy approach alerts it to your presence and it turns to face you. It rears upwards, flexing its mandibles in a clearly aggressive display.

Meanwhile, Gabbro and Ricard inspect the door in the entrance chamber. The mildew coverage is extensive, and it doesn’t look like the door has been opened recently. There’s a heavy smell of rot and decay coming from the other side. It appears that the door would open away from you, into the space beyond.

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Day 1, 12:20
Druin, Dwarf 1: 5/5
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7
Orelia, Cleric 1: 3/3
Ricard, Fighter 1: 7/7
Swan, Fighter 1: 6/6
Tess, Thief 1: 3/3

Swan was never one good on foresight. So much a now person. And can see now that there is a problem. Its hungry and probably can move faster than Druin here. It's going to follow us if we run. Swan puts down the lantern as there is plenty of light in here now and puts on her shield. She is going to need all the defense can muster against this monster. Still she is slightly fascinated by its many lights.

All that matters now is that it needs to die. Sword point first she is ready to kill it. "We have to kill it here."

Druin would have been happy to back off on the assumption the buggy is mainly defending its prey and wait for the others to come help squish it if it didn't leave. Not knowing whether the beetle is simply a scavenger or if it took down its meal, they'll need to consider it dangerous.

With Swan charging the thing, he's sure it'll get all agitated now and buzz all over the place, so he might as well help flatten it before it causes any trouble. He moves forward to attack.

"I'm sure I've swatted crawlies at least this big before in the mines."

The elf mutters, mostly to himself. "This doesn't seem like it's been opened for a while, but it sure smells bad..." Hearing Druin and Swan talking (they're only about 20' away from him), Gabbro straightens up from his examination of the door and then addresses his companions in a whisper. "Whoops! Sounds like they found something! Let's see what it is, Ricard and Orelia!" Gabbro heads north after Tess, toward the light (bug and lantern).

I'll be buggered Tess matters to herself, That thing is huge."

She let's the two warriors attract its attention and tries to sneak up behind it for a backstab attack.

Ricard grunts a laugh at Tess's joke,

"Well played" he mutters as he falls into the tight space with spear and shield at the ready.

OK, let’s pause briefly at this point to clarify a couple of points before proceeding …

Firstly, as she didn’t indicate otherwise, I’m going to assume that Swan "packed" her shield when she swapped it for her lantern (in order to preserve her 90’ movement rate). Therefore, it will take her 1 round to retrieve and equip her shield. Does she want to spend the time to do that, or is she going to initiate combat shieldless?

(I am going to be strict about encumbrance and inventory slots. It’s a key part of the game. Therefore @GeneCortess, I really think you’ll make life much easier for yourself (and me!) if you revert to an unmodified character sheet template in which you can easily cross-reference your movement rate with your item slots. Your slots will fill up with treasure and items as you adventure, and your movement rate will change. The slot-based approach allows you to see at a glance when that happens, rather than having to count items.)

Secondly …

As Swan advances up the northern corridor with the party’s only light source, the eastern side of the entrance chamber is darkened. As Gabbro turns away from the mildewed door, he spots something he hadn’t noticed before: a message on the chamber’s eastern wall. It reads:

R. -

As agreed, the jewels await you two levels down in the chamber past the acolytes’ cells. How you deal with the wasps is your own concern!

Gabbro wonders briefly why he hadn’t spotted these words previously until it dawns on him - infravision! The writing has been marked in such a way that it’s only visible through his infravision.

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Day 1, 12:20
Druin, Dwarf 1: 5/5
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7
Orelia, Cleric 1: 3/3
Ricard, Fighter 1: 7/7
Swan, Fighter 1: 6/6
Tess, Thief 1: 3/3