[game session] Continuing the perilous delve

 Resuming the game we started last week and using all of the increased difficulty rules, we went in for quite the epic struggle at the bowels of the Blackstone Fortress!

Our third encounter was an Ambush, but with only 2 easy hostile groups, meaning we dispatched them easily but did incur an extra grievous wound on our Kroot tracker Dahyak Grekh!

But the sixth level was where our mettle would be truly tested. With Grievous wounds all around the team, we had to face four hostile groups on the following floor.

The floor had a split at the very beginning, we had to commit to one direction and hope the exit elevator would be found that way.

Who desn't love the Negavolt Culstists! These guys are the bane of our adventures, ignoring the explorer defenses with their lethal electric prods!

Dahyak Grekh scouted early and placed a trap to block the lower tunnel.

That proved to be a perilous position as a single Ur-ghul managed to rush all the way to him and flank the explorer with the Negavolt Cultists, this resulted in the Kroot being severely wounded and in need of a helping hand from the destiny if he was to recover. 

Janus Draik on xenos cleaning duty, opening the way through the corridor.

The explorers decide to go with the top corridor and UR-205 covers the way.  Dahyak Grekh was eating through destiny dice in attempts to recover, but after eight failed attempts he was still winded down by not having action dice of his own!

Espern Locarno was deep in the topmost chamber and failed to summon the exit elevator, all the worst, the Blackstone Fortress itself stirred into action and the exit portal spawned on the furthest portal from the explorers.

Priorities shifted and Draik joined the sentient machine sanctioned automata on the rear to clear a path through.

Renegade guardsmen, screaming insults at the explorers, attempted to close off the escape route that Espern Locarno had. On another turn of fate the Blackstone Fortress trembled and rocked, littering the battlefield with debris and making every foot of progress hard earned.

Hope started to fade when the explorer was surrounded by four Negavolt Cultists with their crackling electrified rods out of the portal.

"Emperor protects!"

Locarno had hoped he had found the exit, he had to cross a debris laden field with a single exit easily blocked by his enemies.

He managed to squeeze through the entrance and used his Psychic powers to compel the enemies to move away from the corridor entrance. 

The path was clear, it was now a mad dash to the exit with enemies at our heels!

Janus led the way out of the corridor.

After a gruesome fight the explorers managed to make it to the elevator. Dahyak Grekh was out of action and had to be carried by UR-205 and they where all happy to leave this madness behind.

The most important, however, once making it back to the relative safety of Precipice, we had the clues needed for the next real challenge, we had opened the way into our next stronghold, Descent!