...Meanwhile back in the Dungeon

Back to Exile Island DnD (Octopi & Elfmaids variant rules)

Having leveled some of the gang were keen to go dungeon crawling.

Meh, The Blood Druid
Has been learning some new blood magic allowing him to stockpile bucket loads of healing berries. As he didnt exactly help the cleric when he died - only fair he be party healer now. Also learned to sacrifice dying foes during battle to enhance spell effects. Now may heal himself after battle by consuming slain blood. Yay for blood druids.

Emy, Lady Wizard from the tower of Birds
Keen to impress local necromancers she tried to learn scythe. Unwilling to go through effort of finding a new school, so she kept her formal school training going. Gone all gothic since her cleric friend died. It will be amusing to see how demented you can get as LG and do it sweetly. Emy has specialized her summoning spells to summon giant birds - axebeaks, eagles, owls. Her raven has developed full thought to thought link and has learned some cantrips. Shame she only has tween girly cantrips that make things shiny and sparkly.

A few followers have not returned since the death of the cleric but two came along

Nick the thief
shell shocked by undead and prone to cowardice since the death

Ulf the horseless horse nomad
likes the blood druid and is always keen to burn a town

So they climbed up the mountain to the secret entrance and walked in. They went the coldest scariest lifeless direction and killed some dwarf zombies and made some 90 degree turns. The Druid summoned two huge monitor lizards during one battle who tore zombies apart. Eventually they found a torchlit zone with garbage and bugbear musk. Emy was noting that as a rare wizard who could use a bow perhaps she should and stop chromatic-orbing monsters so much. Everyone seems very concerned about undead who need silver or magic weapons to harm. Good. Nick flees from several fights and returns. When looting an old body Nick discovers a lesser revenant who proceeds to strangle him while the party beat its regenerating body to crumbs and burned them.

Goblin and cult graffiti increased and dungeon lice, centipedes and those damn colonies of spiders that clutter up dungeons. Some mad cultists almost got the party in a trap but they got wary and backed off to their own trap point. The Druid sprouted some seedlings on a muddy floor then magically entangled the cultists in vines so the party could fill them with arrows. The Druid proceeded to collect blood in in bowl and dedicate the dungeon to fungus and the eradication of humanoids. The party stared at him gobsmacked when a door opened and hobgoblins, goblins  and bugbears charged out.

Emy called a cloud of blood finches from her robes swarming the corridors and  demoralizing all the low HP critters. Ulf kills 3 Hobgoblins with his awesome arrow fire, while Nick fights up close and Emy does her best to use a staff. Nick and The Druid halt the advance and a bugbear kills the sole surviving hobgoblin for fleeing. The finches scatter to the dungeon but totally forced away the goblin support. Nick and the Druid are badly beaten by Bugbears before Ulf's arrows mow them down to one Bugbear.

The Druid tried to Parley
"obay us and give us your treasure!"

The Bugbear quipped back something like:
"Begone outsiders! Keep back you haven't seen our worst!

Emy unimpressed at his lack of surrender started beating on him with the others and the bugbear was carpet in a few moments.

The Trusty Blood Druid dolled out healing berries as drums began to beat. He quickly led the party towards them ignoring 6 other passage and doorways to surprises a goblin drummer. Meanwhile from those passages came hobgoblins and bugbears aplenty. It was probably their toughest battle yet with everyone feeling lumps. Ulfs composite bow was destroyed with a hobgoblin critical forcing him into the role of light weak HP swordsman. Nick actually did some awesome blows on a bugbear redeeming himself a bit. Out of spells and wounded the party finished the last healing berries. They nabbed some loose chump change from corpses and resisted the temptation to go the unexplored short route out. They killed a freshly dead adventurer zombie they knew from town and even found a dungeon tribe territory map and a stonewall scroll while searching with detect magic.

So they hid in the woods with the Druid's pets (even though there is an inn only a few hours a way - this druid keeps everyone sober with his woodland hermit antics). They watched the Dungeon and noted new dwarf zombies sprouting from the forest graveyard and lumbering to the Dungeon to re stock it. The party after the first one started killing them and saw some living dwarfs. They had heard of a secret Dwarf town nearby and were keen to parley parley so they sent Nick as the negotiator as the dwarf speaker was on holiday. The dwarves liked Emy best as she was LG and liked their songs.

This got them invited them to Dwarftown in the middle of the Dungeon. The Dwarves warned them about evil Dwarves might harm the party but they welcomed the heroes to stay and trade. They invited the heroes to help solve the mystery of what curse is on these Dungeons. Cashing in the last of their Dark elf erotic sculpture, candelabras and odd magic doodads they repaired Ulfs bow and enchanted the Druids unique sword and Emy's staff. Nick and Ulf get interested in a brace of pistols but the technics are intimidating. They saw dwarves fill a machine with food then turn to grey predigested slurry and get canned.

A good session of looting in a few hours. Everyone has gone for simpler initiative system and even volunteered to roll once per battle (but terrain or other factors might re-roll). Some new spells were toyed with and one horribly abused so a good short session. They will probably crack the Dungeon next session then hit the city for next level up.