Nobody searched the stalagmite chamber once the pudding was dead — the fight ended, the party barricaded a tunnel, and everyone went straight to a long rest. That leaves a twenty-foot stalagmite riddled with dozens of holes, sitting in a room that something clearly wanted defended, completely unexamined.
The Logic
Black puddings don't usually post themselves as sentries for nothing. Whether it wandered in on its own or was left there deliberately, the stalagmite chamber is the one location this session that hasn't given up everything it has. A careful search now — with the party at full health and no time pressure, since the only other paths are a corpse-blocked tunnel and an unscouted one — costs little and might turn up whatever the goblins or the dungeon itself considered worth guarding.
It's also the option that risks the least. The chamber is confirmed clear of the pudding, and there's nothing so far to suggest anything else is in there.
Setup Before Searching
- Barzer's familiar checks the remaining holes first. A dozen more holes in that stalagmite never got the Fire Bolt treatment, and after this session's lesson, nobody should put a hand — or a spell — into one blind again.
- Theren rolls Investigation or Perception on the stalagmite itself and the surrounding floor. Acid damage from the pudding may have exposed or destroyed things nearby; worth checking before assuming it's just rock.
- Elaris uses her Lore Bard background to identify anything unusual. If there's carved markings, old goblin work, or something that doesn't look natural, she's the one most likely to know what it means.
- Someone watches both tunnel mouths the whole time. A search isn't a fight, but it's still not the time to be caught flat-footed if something wanders in from the unblocked tunnel — and with nobody in the party built to absorb a surprise round, seeing it coming is the only defence that works.
What to Look For
- Anything in the remaining holes in the stalagmite that isn't rock
- Signs of why a black pudding specifically was resting there — puddings don't guard treasure on purpose, but they do sometimes end up sitting on top of it
- Tracks, marks, or debris indicating whether goblins used this chamber for anything before the pudding moved in
Pros
- Lowest risk of the three options — the chamber is already confirmed clear of the one threat it had
- Closes out unfinished business from this session instead of leaving it behind unexamined
- Any information gathered here (about the stalagmite, the goblins, or the pudding's origin) informs whichever direction the party picks next
Cons
- Doesn't answer the bigger open questions: the barricaded tunnel, the soup, the silver lake
- Time spent searching is time the dungeon has to react further to the goblin nursery's destruction
- If there's genuinely nothing to find, it's a session spent standing still
Best If
The party would rather account for everything already fought over before pushing into new unknowns, and wants a lower-risk way to spend the first part of next session.