Trinkets and gold pieces are not the only rewards involved in clearing out a dungeon. Sometimes the dungeon itself is worth a hefty sum. A Living Forgotten Realms adventure set in Akanûl for characters levels 7-10.

DM: Chris (Kristoph)

Players:

• Mikal Rains – Human Cleric, Level 8 (Mike – DnDTeacher)
• Lorix Paumer – Human Rogue, Level 9 (Brett – khyron)
• Forrester – Human Ardent, Level 8 (Brian – Stylo)
• Grimjaw Skullcrusher – Dwarven Fighter, Level 9 (Craig – EvilRubberDucky)
• Aelar – Elven Ranger, Level 8 (Scott – ssevener)

The life of an adventurer can often times be quite random and unpredictable – one minute you’re rescuing a princess from an evil dragonlord, and the next you’re retrieving a lost artifact of unspeakable value from beyond the grave.  In this particular journey, our heroes found themselves in the employ of one Lander Thible, a real estate agent with a pest problem of sorts, although it wouldn’t be until they were deep into the belly of the beast that the party would know exactly his reason for seeking out a second adventuring party for this particular task…

The property in question seemed to actually be a great find – an ancient temple located in a prime waterfront location hidden behind a waterfall, ensuring both luxurious views and also privacy for one lucky buyer.  Unfortunately, its seclusion offered some challenges as far as the party even reaching the front door, between scaling the cliffs themselves to reach its entrance and then subsequently getting ambushed by a party of Drow shortly after reaching the summit.

[singlepic id=71 w=500 h=375 float=none]

After vanquishing the dark warriors that tried their best to hold back the group, they then proceeded in the same direction that their adversaries had just traveled – down a large drain pipe that Lander explained was actually a secret passage that lead towards the main entrance into the temple.  They fought a few more cave dwellers at the other end of the hole before finally reaching the massive, stone doors that prevented trespassers from gaining access to the temple’s interior.

Well, unless those trespassers happened to be expert puzzle solvers, that is…

[singlepic id=75 w=500 h=375 float=none]

Once inside, the party almost immediately walked out of one trap and into another, this time in the form of an inescapable room quickly filling with water in hopes of drowning any such intruders, however luckily the nimble ones within the group were able to work together to disable the trap before their fate came to that.  As they dried themselves off and proceeded to explore, they eventually found themselves in the main chamber faced with the temple’s true threat – its current occupants were trying to create a teleportation circle within its guarded walls to allow a protected point of entry for raiding parties bent on death and destruction to pour forth from the Underdark.

Upon interrupting the Drow priest and his beholder companion, they were quickly descended upon by two large spiders that would do whatever they could to protect their masters!

[singlepic id=78 w=500 h=375 float=none]

In the end, however, despite an initial bit of regret for opening the antechamber door in the first place, the adventurers were slowly but surely able to defeat the evil-doers one by one until they were left eye to eye with the beholder itself, with Lorix delivering the final devastating blow to bring an end to its devious plot.  Needless to say, after they were done their employer certainly had some explaining to do, as the group couldn’t help but notice the bodies of Lander’s previous employees amongst the rubble during the fray, however despite any omission of facts along the way, ultimately everyone got what they had wanted – Lander was finally able to flip the waterfall temple for a healthy profit, and our adventurers obtained a bit of coin for their efforts along the way.

Whether Lander recommended a homeowner’s policy that included Drow and beholder coverage to the new owners will continue to remain a mystery…

(Additional Photos Available Here)
_________________________________________________________________________
Living Forgotten Realms is a 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons shared-world campaign played Wednesday nights at Anthem Games, among hundreds of other locations around the world.

New players are always welcome! For more information or to sign-up for a future game, come check out our current schedule on Warhorn or visit our website at tampadnd.org.