The Party descended into the catacombs. They encountered several things, such as a mutant goblin with three arms, grotesque creatures called Sinspawn, and décor that just screamed “classic RPG dungeon.”

Amongst their spoils were a +1 Longsword and a Masterwork Handaxe, which went to Jyn and Chaka respectively. Jyn found a Masterwork Ranseur (kind of like a Trident capable of Disarming enemies) and a Wand of Shocking Grasp and gave both of them to Draco. Needless to say, the adopted NPC was ecstatic.

Early into their dungeon dive, they came across a large set of ornate doors. Chaka cast Detect Magic on them (I didn’t want to give too much away, since that was the room the dungeon’s Boss was going to be in, but apparently, Detect Magic is more OP than I assumed). I told him he could sense some sort of magical malice, and he described it to the rest of the Party as “a lot of bad magic.”  They decided to check the rest of the place out first.

Once they cleared the rest of the catacombs, only this room remained. I was so excited to watch them take on their first real “boss.” It was going to be so epic.

And then they just…left. They turned around and Noped out of the catacombs. Chaka’s “lot of bad magic” convinced them that they didn’t want anything to do with it. Sure, there was some concern about remaining health and spell slots, but they would have been fine. Yet, they still avoided the last room.

Unfortunately for them (and conveniently for me), choices have consequences. And because they decimated some of the cronies in the catacombs, the boss, a Quasit Witch (imagine a little demon fairy), summoned the rest of her forces and invaded the surface with more enemies than the Party would have faced if they confronted her right away. With a mixed bag of goblins and sinspawn, they threw the town into another wave of panic.

There were some good things that came out of the fight. The Party netted more XP than they would have if things went according to plan. That ranseur that Jyn gave Draco? Draco used it to one-shot a goblin that had backstabbed Jyn.

Chaka also pulled a fun combo move off with Draco. You see, the Quasit went invisible, and flying through the air made it difficult to track her. So, Chaka used his trusty Detect Magic again to pinpoint her. Draco then used his newly learned Ray of Enfeeblement to bring her Strength down to 0 and leave her unable to do any physical damage.

The Party cleaned house after, asked the town guards to watch the “hole” the Quasit’s forces came from, and returned to the inn to rest. And, for saving the Innkeeper, they earned unlimited free room and board.

So yes, they had some good things come out of it (Ciara is also more OP now because she fashioned a revolver in her free time), but the townspeople became more afraid of the goblin attacks they believed had been quelled.