Delve the Fourteenth

[mushgnome]

Franklin is wary of scouting too far ahead. Last time that happened, he got separated from the group! He returns to his friends, un-invisibles himself, and gives a detailed report of his findings. He concludes with the opinion: "The scorpion seemed agitated, so there is no element of surprise. I'm worried it's a trap: We move into the room, the door slams behind us, the scorpion is released. That seems exactly the kind of mad stunt Gorthaur would dream of. Uh, also there could be more than one scorpion."

[coffee]

"If there were no other exits from that room, and no obvious treasure, then it just seems like a waste of our time to even explore it," Rhod says.

[kipper]

"The scorpion could be guarding an exit," Maloof adds, "Or there could be a secret door."

OOC: I am fine with leaving this room alone if no-one wants to investigate further, but then we have to decide where to head next:
1) Continue investigating more unexplored rooms on this level? There is a secret door in "Room 9" we have not explored (I do not recall why we left this last time), and there is another door just slightly to the NW of that one (ditto).
https://campaignwiki.org/gridmapper.svg ... aurMadness (We are currently on Level 3 in the bottom-right corner)
2) Head down to level 4 (via the nearby elevator)?

[mushgnome]

Franklin opines, "Poison is a bad way to go... Maybe we should pop down to the 4th level and take a look? My old Gaffer had a saying about 'low hanging fruit.'"

My vote is let's postpone this encounter until we have a way to counteract the poison and/or a magic item that can defeat the scorpion(s) from a safe distance. Franklin has the party's best save vs. poison and even he is scared of the scorpion.

Franklin is at full-strength with a good supply of potions. He's itching to fight a worthy opponent and thinks going down a dungeon level would lead to higher stakes, but also greater rewards. If we did some careful scouting, located a tough opponent, and went into the battle fully buffed (for example Franklin and Rhod both drinking their Potions of Heroism) we could punch way above our weight class!

Looking at the party experience totals I think we should prioritize high-xp encounters. Also @kipper you just let us know when you want to level up Maloof. Franklin is always willing to accommodate that sort of thing.

[merias]

The 4th level sounds good, and maybe we can inspect the secret door on the way down?

[coffee]

The 4th level sounds good, and maybe we can inspect the secret door on the way down?

Both sound good to me.

[Makofan]

Go back to room 9 and the secret door, or just head down to level 4?

[mushgnome]

Franklin just remembered there's a potential wraith's lair behind that secret door! When we encountered the wraith in Delve 10, Aldbane turned it back into the secret room. I don't think we ever doubled back to destroy it, and it doesn't show up in the XP awards.

Franklin speculates a wraith could have some nice treasure!

viewtopic.php?p=32093#p32093

[merias]

"Wraiths are quite powerful. I could try to turn the wraith again, then we could attack it as it flees. I have four vials of holy water that could be handy for this. But do we have enough combined magic or silver to deal with a wraith?" Aldbane asks.

[coffee]

"I have a magic sword," Rhod says. "And I've been saving this Potion of Heroism for a while now; this might just be the time to use it."