Fiction | Game | Medium Adventurers League ⚔️

The Demon in the Mountain Tunnel

Part 1 of a quest

This is part of a story that works as an interactive game. You’ll need to have some paper and dice at the ready! Click here for the beginning of the Medium Adventurers League. Here is a reminder of the rules. You can also go back to the Adventurers League Headquarters, or return to the inn for a rest.

You set out from the Adventurers’ League headquarters, the information you recently gained still running through your mind:

Chibby Lorka here, from Pinetops Village. I transport logs from the mountains to the city, using an ancient tunnel. However, last time I went that way, I was attacked by a terrible beast — I can’t go back until it’s been dealt with!

There is no mention of a reward, but you feel fairly optimistic that as a merchant, Chibby will have enough money to toss a handsome reward in your direction if you slay the monster.

If not, perhaps you can search the pockets of its previous victims…

It’s still early when you hit the trade road that leads into the mountain. It’s a well-used route that loops south and then to the city, rather than going directly through the marshy area near the guildhall.

The way is wide and slopes gradually upwards. There are tall pines on either side, and a sweet smell from the thorn-bushes at ground level. You keep your eye out for edible fungi, but so far, nothing. Perhaps the route is too well trodden. There are plenty of footprints and the marks of hooves and carts. There’s even some litter, with empty ale bottles cast aside here and there, and discarded fruit piths.

No travellers, though.

Maybe this monster really is stopping all travel…?

The sun is high in the sky when you first catch a glimpse of the tunnel up ahead. It’s a spectacular structure, clearly built with great care by a large team of crafters. Or with magic. It seems to cut directly into an enormous mass of rock up ahead.

As you get closer, your heart starts to beat faster. Is there really a monster within, or are the merchants just getting anxious about nothing?

And if there is a beast, will it just be a wild dog… or something more deadly?

You step into the tunnel. Pausing at the entrance, you light a torch with your flint and steel, then hold it in your shield hand. Then you raise your weapon high, and proceed. There is a musty, dank smell, now.

Strike one torch off your character sheet.

At first, there is very little to see. At some stage, passers-by have daubed the tunnel walls with graffiti. You see images of demons, wizards, crocodiles and trolls.

Everything looks very ancient.

Just then, you catch a glimpse of movement from above, and pause, raising your shield. Something drops down in front of you. At first, it seems to be a giant spider. But then it transforms into a humanoid form, with bat-like wings, clawed hands, and huge pale eyes.

You recognize this as being a demon-imp. It’s a foe that is well beyond your combat or magical skills. But fortunately it seems confused and chaotic in its behaviour.

You pull back into the shadows and extinguish your torch, knowing your only chance is to sneak past to the far end of the tunnel. But there are still sixty yards to go…

(Here is a link to a dice-rolling app!).

Encounter: sneak past the demon-imp.

Challenge rating: Easy (roll 10+).
Roll using wits.

If you succeed, you move another 20 yards towards the end of the tunnel. You need to do this 3 times in total to evade the monster.
If you fail, the demon-imp lashes out with a whiplike tendril, forcing you to hide again. Subtract 1 from health.

• If you make it to the end of the tunnel and leave the demon-imp behind, click here to continue with the quest.
• If you are killed, click here.
• You cannot flee from this encounter.