Subterranean Starfield

Here's a little write-up based on a play-through of this game for Secret Santa 2017. Enjoy!


Session 1 - Tyrund:
We finally arrived at Dusk Garden today! There's bound to be lots of rare treasure in the dungeon that just opened up here, and I'll be there to snag it all! Well, that's my reason for coming. I have no idea what Sordis' deal is. He's a hard guy to read. It would not surprise me to find out that Natalie's here out of spite. I mean, she just seems to have a sore spot for everybody. As for Cirine, she seems to like spending time with animals, so, I guess she's here to make the Abyssal Forest safe for them?

Anyway, we heard about this old tree that's become evil, or whatever? Not sure what's up with that, but, we'll need to get rid of it to delve really deep into the dungeon. I mean, I really doubt I'll find anything really cool until we're in, like, ten floors deep, right? There's also a guy looking for Rainleaf Flowers. Sounds like they're only on a specific floor in the dungeon? I suppose we'll see how those go.

When we enter the dungeon, we come across this woman. I've never met her before, but, for some reason, she seems familiar? Weird how that works, sometimes. Anyway, she's lost, and looking for a friend of hers. I hope her friend's okay, and didn't take any of MY treasure. I suppose we'll find out when we meet her!

The rest of the day consisted of skirmishes into and out of the Abyssal Forest. You know, getting a feel for the place, and figuring out what kinds of things we'll be up against. Though, we got as deep as level 4, and found at least one Rainleaf Flower along the way. We eventually turned that in to that guy, but no evil tree. Not yet, anyway. Maybe tomorrow, we can find, and tackle the tree. For now? Rest.


Session 2 - Natalie:
So, that crystal we found on floor 4 is a teleportation device that not only takes us instantly to Dusk Garden, but can be used as a recall point into the dungeon. I guess that'll be useful.

Argh! That Tyrund! We're running around in stupid circles! It's so obvious he's got no idea where he's going! Not that I have a better idea, but still, we're as good as lost!

We're seeing the Great Old Wisdom tree up ahead as I write this. At least we got there, even if it was by sheer chance. Defeating it, however, will be something else.

The battle was hard fought, but, we managed. Sordis pulled some stuff that helped tremendously. He's still annoying as hell to figure out. We have retreated to a site Cirine noticed earlier that would make a good place to rest. Personally speaking, I'm sure as hell not going to go all the way back to that last teleport crystal. We'll never find our way back!

There was a goddamn teleport crystal right at the staircase on level 6!? Which means we just wasted a perfectly good camp kit!? God damn it.


Session 3 - Cirine
When we showed Lady Tahari the spoils from the Great Old Wisdom tree, it seemed to trigger a memory of a long-forgotten tale. A demon that sleeps underneath the city that may hold the Red Medal. Tyrund, of course, was very excited, and wanted to leave right then to hunt the treasure. I can't tell if Natalie's arguments to do it later came from still being frustrated over using that Camp Kit, or if she's merely relaying her usual displeasure. What we ended up doing some shopping, and took a light rest, before going back into the dungeon.

This Labyrinth of Penance has a number of one-way passages, thanks to large statues that act as a short-range teleport. The overall darkness, which has been ever-increasing each floor we descend, also makes navigation difficult. Perhaps we should have considered buying some torches when we were at Dusk Garden? Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.

Our strategy against these monsters needs to change drastically. Three deaths in one battle when we're not even facing the demon Lady Tahari spoke of? Not acceptable!

Our second skirmish into the Labyrinth of Penance was certainly better off as far as resources used. However, we still haven't reached lower than level 7 yet. Though, to be fair, we made a number of short skirmishes in the Abyssal Forest before we got to the teleport crystal on level 4.


Session 4 - Tyrund
We've been mucking around floor 7 for some time, and I'm starting to suspect that the floor has some magical property where it loops onto itself. I tried to ask Sordis to see what he thought, but, well, yeah, that didn't go very far! I also can't help but to notice that it's getting progressively harder just to get everyone on board for another skirmish into the dungeon.

Cirine and I have started to wonder if these flags we've been seeing on this floor have any significance. Maybe they're markers to direct adventures to the way down? Could be!

Yesssss! We made it to the eighth floor! That's good progress, make no mistake, but, we're not out of the woods yet. To be frank, I really don't want to use a Returner and do that maze all over again. Which means pushing forward to the teleport crystal that's on floor nine. How Sordius seems to know that is beyond me.

Ha! We got to the teleport crystal on level nine! Eat that, Natalie! Still, We don't really have a plan going forward against this demon on the next floor. Getting there is gonna be it's own problem, to be sure, but, I think we'll manage something!