I am a fairly new DM and I have been running a homebrew campaign for about 8 months now.
My players consist of a level 5 half-orc Barbarian named Mizolek, a level 5 dragonborn Druid called Xen, a level 5 Vedalken Sorcereror by the name of Matranko and a level 3 Cleric called Lander who was in fact brand new to D&D. Although the cleric would arrive at a later time
The party was on a mission that would take them deep into the jungle, their goal was to find information in an ancient ruin that could lead to them deciphering a text on a coin presumably written in abyssal.
After three uneventful days the party finally locate the ruin, the sheer size of the ruin is unlike anything the party has ever witnessed. It seems that the ruin was a former temple of some kind and it was most certainly not built for a benevolent purpose. No sane person would enter the temple but then again my players are far from sane.
Upon entering the temple they are immediately greeted by the foul sight of death. Barely 30ft from the entrance there were three dead bodies, the party could immediately deduct that the bodies have been dead for at least several years. The druid is the most cautious of the three and he immediately began to survey the area. He stumbled upon a journal that details the demise of the previous adventurers that entered the temple. The Druid tells the party to be on high alert.
They all pushed deeper into the temple until they happened upon a huge stone door, with engraved depictions of serpents.
The Barbarian proceeds to open the door, seeing as he is the party's tank. Once they entered the Barbarian could discern that there was a creature moving in the room and it was moving towards them at inhuman speeds. The other two party members lack darkvision so the Vedalken Sorcerer ignites his lantern only for them to see what they were up against… They were met by a pair of green eyes, and two razor sharp fangs, a 16 foot tall spirit Naga.
Initiative was rolled and the Naga rolled the highest, followed by the Barbarian, Sorcerer and Druid. The Naga seizing the opportunity immediately blasted the adventurers with a lightning bolt, unfortunately all three failed their dexterity saves and as such they took 31 damage. This put the sorcerer on 3 hp and the druid on 3 hp as well. The Barbarian was still relatively healthy at 20 hp left. The adventurers retribution was swift. The Barbarian rolled for attack with his Greataxe, a critical hit. He rolled for 34 damage in total. He leapt into the air and struck to Naga, slashing its face. It was then the sorcerer's turn, he decided to drink a greater healing potion.
The Druid did not take time to heal and instead opted for retaliation using flame blade.
It quickly became a battle of attrition, they burned through healing potions and the majority of their spell slots, but eventually they managed to considerably wound the Spirit Naga, the Naga sensing that its defeat was near retreated deeper into the dungeon using dimension door. This deeply angered the party and slaying the monstrosity was now personal. After licking their wounds they continued deeper into the temple. With an inferno of hatred burning in their hearts.
Upon proceeding into the next chamber they were met by 4 undead warriors. The undead warriors were never intended to kill the party, only to give the Naga time to recuperate. As expected the players annihilate the undead warriors and move forward.
In the next chamber the players faced tougher adversaries one yuan-ti pureblood and one yuan-ti malison both armed with scimitars.
The players won initiative. This time the Druid going first. The Druid charged the Yuan-Ti Pureblood seeing as this one was the weakest. He shouted "Die you affront to nature" as he struck the foul serpent. The Barbarian also attacked the Pureblood hoping to finish it off,but his rage blinded him and his strike missed.
The Malison capitalized on this moment and sliced the Barbarian across the back. The Pureblood then decided that engaging the barbarian or druid would be a death sentence and instead opted to attack the Sorcerer. What the Pureblood didn't know was that the sorcerer had taken the sentinel feat and the polearm master feat, a mistake that proved fatal. As the Pureblood was about to strike, the Sorcerer used his reaction to hit the Pureblood twice, once in the chest, which interrupted its attack and then the finishing blow which shattered it's skull.
Only the Malison remained. The Malison put up a fight but he was no match for three adventurers.
Although upon his death the Druid commemorated his efforts and wished him peace, unlike the other two mocked the now dead yuan-ti.
The adventurers were high on adrenaline, they were expecting even more danger. But instead of enemies they found a library.
The bookshelves were as tall as trees and they were filled with tomes containing vast knowledge. The sorcerer suggested that they scour the library to find anything about the inscriptions on the coin, and after about 1 hour they did.
Their mission was complete, they were free to return to the safety and warmth of the cities. But of course they didn't.
On the other side of the library was a gargantuan door like the one in the entrance. When the adventurers approached it they could hear the Naga's voice echo across the temple.
It said "You are formidable foes, and as such I give you the chance to leave, for here you will only find death"
The druid then whispered to the party "It might be wise to leave" to which the sorcerer answered
" We must kill this serpent so that it doesn't enslave others, ah just pulling your leg I want its collection of the arcane''
The barbarian then said ''And I wants it's head''.
The Barbarian and Sorcerer charged in, to which the Druid said ''Then let us slay the monster''.
"Very well warriors, your greed shall lead to your demise''
[zombify_post]
I really liked this story, will there be a part 2 because you named this part 1?