1.10. The Gang Tempts Fate

While they slept, another 6’9”, 420lb half orc appeared from the desert plane! He introduced himself as Budular Hashmap, a groovy herb-smoking sorceror.

King Aelfric. Don't fuck with him.

King Aelfric then began to tell them his plan to retake the Empire. There were hidden passageways that ran all the way from the River Keep to crucial locations in the Imperial Palace, and— But then Baron Von Spiderman took a swing at the King with his axe, and Budular Hashmap joined in the fray. The King disappeared down a passageway.

The party took off in hot pursuit, and came to a room with three doors leading forward, each marked with a sigil. One was an eye, one was a crown, and one was a glaive. The room was also filled with giant spiders. Budular Hashmap tried to trap the spiders by filling the room with spiderwebs, but strangely that didn’t slow them down.

Fungi narrowly escaped death by spider by turning into a tiny spider himself, and the gang killed the remaining spiders. Then, before Fungi could get off the spiderweb, Budular lit the whole thing on fire. Killed in spider form, Fungi reverted to his regular, though hurting, self.

Turning their attention to the doors, Droog touched his glaive to the glaive sigil and the door popped open. After a few labyrinthine twists and turns, they found themselves in an ancient study with a rusty old cauldron in it. They found some dusty old potions, which Dr Sleaze sipped and felt slightly ill.

Fungi? Nope. Dead & de-eyed.

They continued out the study’s back door, and made their way to a triangular room with the same three sigils carved on the floor. The king awaited them, sitting on a throne above the crown sigil, which glowed green. When Droog stepped onto the glaive sigil, it glowed green as well. The King began to speak, but they attacked him again, and he gave them a minor beatdown.

Deciding to seek out the Eye, to activate the third sigil, they hustled up the Eye hallway. They encountered another Fungi Zarathustra, who attempted to confuse them as to which one was real. Droog hit the real Fungi with his axe. After a short pursuit, they caught up with the shapeshifter and killed it. As it died, it reverted to its natural one-eyed form. They took the eye.

Returning to the throne room, Dr Sleaze asked the King to swap crowns. Deciding to give them one final chance, the King agreed, and then the party attacked him for a third time. The King turned Budular Hashmap to dust, knocked everyone back with a terrific thunderwave, then gassed them all to death with 8d6 poison damage.

They really did it, didn't they? Dead.