# Jodo Kast's Barrowmaze (spoilers!)



## Jodo Kast (Mar 28, 2014)

I'm running Greg Gillespie's excellent OSR, Labyrinth Lord compatible megadungeon _Barrowmaze_ for a group of 7 (though our average attendance seems to be about 4-5 players per session). If there is any chance you might ever play in a _Barrowmaze_ game, avoid this story hour like the plague. We hew close to the source material, although I have transplanted the dungeon from its haunted moor setting to the underbelly of a Lankhmar-inspired city. This story hour is drawn from session reports, so it's largely a just-the-facts style account (though some of my later session reports are more story oriented, and eventually the players took up the chore and have really done a great job with it, starting at Session 8). I hope you enjoy it.


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## Jodo Kast (Mar 28, 2014)

*Session 1 (Life in Death, eh?)*

Cast of Characters

*PCs*
Doc Dino (David) - Cleric 1 (Thar)
Thyle (Eric) - Magic-User 1
Wyvar (Austin) - Fighter 1

*Henchmen and Hirelings*
Duff - Man-at-Arms - cottar, pudgy
Thad - Man-at-Arms - kisses weapon after combat
Gump - Torchbearer - stable boy
Adney - Man-at-Arms - mercenary, ends sentences with "eh?"

*Day 1* 
Grael. A populous, cosmopolitan city, rife with corruption, decadent and squalid in roughly equal parts. Its bustling, labyrinthine streets rest atop the ruins of civilizations past. Here the treasures of lost worlds may yet be found. However, the ancients are jealous of their grave goods, and the work of prying it from their cold, dead grasp is not for the faint of heart. Nonetheless, there are those bold or desperate enough to delve the depths of the old city in search of wealth beyond their imagining. This is the tale of one such adventurous, foolhardy group.         

Doc Dino, Thyle and Wyvar met in The Yellow Fang, a seedy inn in The Paw, a notorious crime-ridden district in Grael. They soon found that they shared a common interest in the legendary catacombs beneath the city, and the treasures interred therein. Thyle set about methodically recruiting hirelings, paying the sallow, unsavory innkeeper Muncaster to round up likely candidates. Muncaster returned with the pudgy former cottar Duff (longsword, dagger, leather, shield), the ex-soldier Thad (light crossbow, dagger), the shield-maiden Fresa (warrior woman with a figure befitting a diva of the opera), the mercenary Adney (hand axe, dagger, chain mail, shield), and the stable boy Gump. 

All hired on with Thyle but for Fresa, who explained that while she may be desperate, she's not crazy. Doc Dino equipped Thad with chain mail, and bought studded leather and a mace for the stable boy-turned-torchbearer, Gump. Adney proclaimed that the new hirelings would be loyal to Thyle and fight for him, so long as "you don't ask us to do anything you wouldn't do yerself, eh." Thyle reminded Adney who was in charge by casting _sleep_ on him and his fellow men-at-arms. Upon being roused, the others were suitably impressed (if slightly unnerved), and Adney was duly chastised.  

A vaguely sinister teenager skulked into the bar and sought out Thyle. He introduced himself as Hemlock, apprentice to the apothecary Malfeasance. He explained that Malfeasance desired rubbings from a stone monument in a section of old crypts beneath the city, and that his master was willing to pay 50 gp. He provided a map of the crypts, indicating the monument (the so-called Standing Stone of the Chosen), as well as a chamber which he claimed contains an entrance into the catacombs proper. Thyle accepted the commission.

The would-be tomb robbers spent the night at The Yellow Fang – all except Wyvar, that is, who made his bed at a "festhall" called the Brazen Strumpet. There he was rigorously entertained by a very thorough young woman named Hemgrid. Wyvar left the Strumpet having spent all of his coin, and in debt to Hemgrid for an additional 7 gold pieces. The policy of the Brazen Strumpet is "Sorry, no credit. Don't ask." However, Hemgrid makes an exception for her "add-on" charges. She knows that her older sister, Fresa, will collect from any deadbeats.

*Day 2*
The next morning the party set out in search of the crypts and the monument. Following Malfeasance’s directions, the party entered a crumbling, abandoned church once dedicated to St. Ygg. There, they found stairs descending to a moldering basement, wherein they found a hidden trapdoor entering onto an abandoned section of tunnels.    

After about a half day of casting about and backtracking in the dark, damp, eerily quiet tunnels, the party found the section indicated on their map. Soon after, they were beset by 4 skeletons, which they dealt with swiftly. Wyvar noisily dispatched three himself, while Thyle remained judiciously out of the combat and Doc Dino healed a wound to the hireling Duff. Adney was also injured, but shrugged it off stoically - "flesh wound, eh." 

They soon came to an intersection of two tunnels, in the middle of which was a monument. It appeared to be the Standing Stone of the Chosen indicated on the map provided by Hemlock. Time had worn away some of the runes on the stone, but others could still be seen, and a great skull could also be made out atop the stone. Thyle deciphered the runes, which were written in the Black Tongue, the secret language of necromancers and the Underworld. The runes exalted Nergal, the ancient God of the Dead, and acknowledged his Chosen - a fanatical sect of Nergal’s faith. One remaining passage ominously read "Life in Death."

While Thyle was rubbing the stone, 3 more skeletons lurched forth from the dark. These skeletons proved a greater challenge than the last bunch. Wyvar was wounded, healed by Doc Dino, and wounded again. Doc Dino dropped a few skeletons with his spear. However, Adney was fatally wounded during the combat ("I'm dead, eh?!"). At Thyle's command, Duff and Gump dragged Adney back through the tunnels, and the party regrouped at Yellow Fang. Duff, the chubby farmer, shook so badly after witnessing Adney's death that he spilled beer all over himself. He resigned, prompting Thyle to ask for a refund of his advance. Duff dutifully returned two days’ pay to the magic-user and left, trembling and ashamed. Hemlock arrived and paid for the stone rubbing as promised. He also offered (perhaps too enthusiastically) to dispose of Adney's body. Thyle refused, and instead made arrangements for Adney’s burial at the Church of Mitra. He also stripped Adney’s arms and armor, selling them for a tidy sum.     

*Monsters Killed*: 7 skeletons
*PCs Killed*: None (!)
*Henchmen/Hirelings Killed*: Adney (eh)
*Treasure Recovered*: 50 gp for standing stone rubbings, 30 gp from sale of Adney’s gear
*Items of Interest*:  Standing Stone of the Chosen rubbings ("Life in Death!")
*XP per PC*: 35


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## Jodo Kast (Mar 28, 2014)

*Session 2 (Look Out Above!)*

Cast of Characters

*PCs*
Corum (Andy) – Thief 1 (dwarf)
Doc Dino (David) – Cleric 1 (Thar)
Meucci (Robert) – Thief 1
Thyle (Eric) – Magic-User 1
Wyvar (Austin) – Fighter 1

*Henchmen and Hirelings*
Thad - Man-at-Arms - kisses weapon after combat
Gump - Torchbearer - stable boy
Hemgrid – Shieldmaiden – former prostitute, seeks her sister Fresa, constantly mutters under breath when party dallies
Uts – Man-at-Arms – burly, half deaf

*Day 5*
With Adney in the ground and the party feeling recovered and emboldened by their survival, Doc Dino, Thyle and Wyvar plotted their next expedition into the catacombs beneath Grael. Muncaster, the unsavory master of The Yellow Fang inn, introduced the thieves Meucci and Corum to the party. An accord was struck, and the rogues signed on as full share members.

Meanwhile, Thyle sought out some replacement muscle for hirelings Adney (dead) and Duff (fled). He didn’t have to look far, as the prostitute Hemgrid sought out the party. Her older sister, Fresa, had signed on with a competing band of tomb robbers and did not make it back from the undercity. Two members of the outfit returned but could barely speak, and what blathering they could offer made little sense. Taking up shield and spear, Hemgrid joined the party as a hireling in hopes of finding her sister somewhere below. Besides, she figured, sewer crawling and battling the living dead couldn’t be much more revolting than her current profession.

Navigating long abandoned tunnels beneath the city, the party came to a labyrinthine section of ancient crypts. Finding one such tomb, they excavated fallen rubble and took sledges to the bricked up entrance. The noise drew the attention of nearby skeletons (4), who lurched out of the darkness to attack. The party vanquished these foes and entered the crypt. 

Inside they found a stairway descending steeply, and elected to explore (over Wyvar’s superstitious protestations about lower levels being a bad thing). On the stair, giant centipedes (6) dropped from the ceiling onto the party! Several party members were bitten (resulting in the sinister sound of dice rolls behind the DM screen) before the centipedes could be crushed.

The stair opened into a family crypt with four stone sarcophagi – a father, mother, son and daughter. The party plundered each sarcophagus, recovering two gold rings, a jeweled necklace, a gold circlet, an ivory comb, a silver ring, and a bone handled dagger for their troubles. Unfortunately, Corum and Thyle succumbed to the poisonous bites of the centipedes and became violently ill. The party was forced to quit the catacombs and return to the surface. Back in the Yellow Fang, the party rested until the dwarf thief and the magic-user recovered (10 days), checked their loot for magic items (none), and fenced the grave goods for a pretty sum (245 gp).

*Day 16*
At last returned to full health, the party was ready to rob more tombs. However, they could not find their resident strongman, Wyvar, who had grown impatient waiting for the “frail weaklings” to regain their strength and set out carousing. Thyle recruited a replacement, a hireling named Uts who was half deaf and short of brain, but long of brawn. And down they went.

The party put hammer to a bricked up crypt, again attracting unwanted attention from the shambling dead, this time in the form of a zombie. They rained blows upon the undead abomination, but it wouldn’t seem to fall. Instead, it clutched Uts’ neck in its foul grasp and ripped out his throat! The survivors were able to finish the zombie off. With a wary eye on the ceiling, they entered the tomb. A carved wooden funerary casket in the shape of a man rested on a dais in the center of the room. Shelves on the walls were lined with decorative amphorae (8), which the party bundled into their packs and returned to the surface. The amphorae fetched 35 gp each when fenced. 

*Monsters Killed*: 4 skeletons, 6 centipedes, 1 (peculiarly resilient) zombie
*PCs Killed*: None (!!)
*Henchmen/Hirelings Killed*: Uts
*Treasure Recovered*: 245 gp for grave goods from family crypt, 280 gp for decorative amphorae
*XP per PC*: Wyvar = 56; everyone else = 121


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## Jodo Kast (Apr 15, 2014)

*Session 3 (You're Going To Want To See This...)*

Cast of Characters

*PCs*
Corum (Andy) – Thief 1 (dwarf)
Thyle (Eric) – Magic-User 1
Xeniar (Ken) – Cleric 1 (Aglaos)
Xandar (Ken) – Ranger 1 (half-elf)

*Henchmen and Hirelings*
Thad - Man-at-Arms - kisses weapon after combat
Gump - Torchbearer - stable boy
Hemgrid – Shieldmaiden – former prostitute, seeks her sister Fresa, constantly mutters under breath when party dallies
Morfirth – Torchbearer – Gump’s cousin, stable boy, terrible acne
Kaldoon – Man-at-Arms – scimitar-wielding foreigner, fortune teller


*Day 17*
While Doc Dino, Wyvar, and Meucci attended to other matters (most probably involving new and inventive ways to spend their ill-gotten spoils in Grael’s pleasure dens and back alleys), Thyle and Corum returned to the dangerous but lucrative work of finding dead people and stealing their stuff. As usual, they commenced this endeavor in the taproom of The Yellow Fang, a seedy inn in the crime-ridden district of Grael known as The Paw.

The inn master, Muncaster, introduced the party to an armed man known as Xeniar. Xeniar bore the symbol of a torch with a blue flame. Xeniar explained that he was a cleric, and his holy symbol was the mark of Aglaos, god of torches and artificial light, a friend to adventurers and seekers into the unknown. Thyle and Corum exchanged glances – this guy might come in handy in the stygian depths of the undercity. And as their resident holy man, Doc Dino, was nowhere to be found, they quickly welcomed Xeniar into the fold. 

Thyle also recruited the man-at-arms Kaldoon, a mysterious, swarthy southerner who spoke with a thick accent and smelled of exotic spices. The man carried a wickedly sharp curved sword and told fortunes with bone dice. Alas, he was a dismal prophet and his dice wretched liars. Thus, Kaldoon did not foresee that joining the motley band would lead to his swift demise.

Delving into the catacombs, the party discovered a crypt that had already been opened. Surmising that other tomb robbers had beat them to the spoils, the party nonetheless elected to explore the tomb. It was empty but for a broken sarcophagus decorated in bas relief with skeletons dancing in the underworld. Gump accidentally depressed one of the skeletons, causing the sarcophagus to shift and revealing a slender staircase lined with dust, cobwebs, and distinct footprints – this stair was used recently!

The party set about blocking the sarcophagus so that it could not seal them in if they explored the stairs. Unfortunately, the horrible grinding sound caused by the shifting sarcophagus had attracted the attention of nearby monsters. “Master, you’re going to want to see this,” Gump called to Thyle. “Giant scorpions,” muttered Kaldoon, cursing his bone dice. “You said there would be fluffy bunnies.” That would be the last time the dice failed him.

The party engaged the scorpions at the entrance to the crypt, using the narrow hall to their advantage so that only one scorpion could attack at a time. Regrettably, the lead scorpion was a mighty foe. First Kaldoon, then Hemgrid, fell prey to the monster’s oversized claws and deadly sting. Xeniar charged to the forefront, his mace singing through the air. In an instant, the scorpion’s sting pierced his heart. As his vision went dark, he saw a blue torch in the distance, beckoning him. He went into the light, and was gone.

Thyle, meanwhile, had requisitioned Gump’s lamp oil and began hurling flasks of it into the hall. Corum and Thad set the oil ablaze and the scorpions were eventually charred. The survivors stripped their fallen comrades of valuables, deposited them in the sarcophagus, doused them in oil, and burned their mortal remains. Then they retreated back to The Yellow Fang, having lost three of their own and none the richer for the effort.

*Day 18*
Thyle had little luck recruiting men-at-arms to replace the group’s losses. Despite hiring a crier to spread word of the job openings, the best he could muster was Gump’s cousin Morfirth, a squat young man with terrible acne who could at best serve as a porter and torchbearer. Fortunately, the street urchin/crier did meet the half-elf ranger Xandar, and directed him to The Yellow Fang. After some discussion, Xandar joined on as a shareholder. Despite Thyle’s misgivings about returning to the undercity with the party weakened, they mustered their courage and set off.

The group opted to explore the secret stairway they had discovered beneath a sarcophagus the day before. Returning to the scene of that ill-fated outing, they found that the charred giant scorpions had been eaten by _something_. With Corum on high alert for traps and threats from the ceiling, they delved downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs they followed a narrow hall that opened into a wider passage, and soon found an opening into a small room. The room was mostly non-descript, and the party was about to move on when Corum’s discerning eyes spotted an irregularity in the stonework – a secret door! The door was partially blocked by a pile of rubble. Happily, the party investigated the rubble before attempting to move it and found that it was writhing with giant centipedes! They safely destroyed the nest and opened the door.

Behind the door was a larger room with two unique features. The walls of the room were lined with small, rectangular burial alcoves. In the center of the room was a short sealed stone mausoleum. It’s stone door was engraved with runes in Ancient Common, which Thyle read aloud: “Klexx the Maligned.” The area smelled of old death and rot.

The party took their time searching the alcoves and recovered some coin (131 sp). Before they could investigate the sealed mausoleum, however, Gump, who had been stationed as a lookout, called out. “Master, you’re going to want to see this.” The _this_ turned out to be a wandering band of skeletons (6). The party rapidly dispatched the threat, largely with precise ranged attacks and the liberal use of flaming oil. Still, disconcerted by the encounter with the walking dead, they opted to quit the catacombs while they were (marginally) ahead. They rapidly made their way back to the surface and The Yellow Fang, where Thyle pondered just who “Klexx the Maligned” had been, and whether his (or her?) tomb held a reward worthy of whatever challenge lay within.      

*Monsters Killed*: 2 giant scorpions, 6 giant centipedes, 6 skeletons
*PCs Killed*: Xeniar (Ken)
*Henchmen/Hirelings Killed*: Hemgrid, Kaldoon
*Treasure Recovered*: 131 sp
*Items of Interest*:  Secret staircase, sealed mausoleum of Klexx the Maligned.
*XP per PC*: Xandar=32; Corum, Thyle=184


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## Jodo Kast (Apr 15, 2014)

*Session 4 (Welcome To DIE, Population YOU!)*

Cast of Characters

*PCs*
Corum (Ken (for Andy)) – Thief 1 (dwarf)
Doc Dino (David) – Cleric 1 (Thar)
Meucci (Robert) – Thief 1
Thyle (Eric) – Magic-User 1
Xandar (Ken) – Ranger 1 (half-elf)

*Henchmen and Hirelings*
Thad - Man-at-Arms - kisses weapon after combat
Gump - Torchbearer - stable boy
Bartram – Man-at-Arms – refers to himself in third person as “The Captain”
Ralf – Man-at-Arms – makes ridiculous threats, brother of Remy
Remy – Man-at-Arms – facial deformity, mute, brother of Ralf
Ulf – Man-at-Arms – bastard of minor nobility from a warlike race of sea faring people

*Day 20*
_Here’s a riddle, friend. A pen is my voice, a mask my face. Who am I? 

I am the riddle, and the riddle is me. This pen tells the tale which my mute mouth cannot utter. The brave, stoic mask on my helm is a truer reflection of the man within than the deformed visage that is my face. I am a lowly hireling. (But I am not without ambition. I aspire to become a henchman – how my heart soars at the thought of henching and a share, if only half of one, of the treasure! O, to stand in for a slain character, if only for a session, until the player rolls a new character and I am again relegated to the familiar role of meat shield and DM puppet!) My name is Remy. This is my story.

My brother Ralf and I arrived in Grael without food, coin, or prospects. We traveled with Bartram, a popinjay of a man with a ridiculous plumed helm in the habit of referring to himself as “The Captain.” As he was slightly more amusing than annoying (though that balance was shifting with each passing moment in his company), and he tolerated even Ralf’s most vile insults, we stuck with him once inside the Great City’s gates. We could not buy into Grael’s better quarters, and so stole our way into the Paw, a rat-infested, plague-ridden district choked in equal measure by the black smoke of a thousand fires and the brutal grip of the thieves that hold sway there. 

We went unmolested, thanks to our strength of arms, obvious lack of anything worth stealing, and Ralf’s propensity to hurl absurd, violent threats at anyone who looked our way. He might shout, “I’m gonna pick my teeth with your face!” Other times, he would lovingly growl, “I’m gonna stroke your lifeless body.” I knew that Ralf was a gentle, misunderstood soul, but his outbursts kept the world at blade’s length. It was inconvenient and isolating at times, but in the Paw, I was thankful for it. It kept the watchful eyes and sharp blades in the shadows, and out of our path.

It was not long before a street crier alerted us to an employment opportunity. He sent us to The Yellow Fang, a public house adjacent to a recently burned out stables. Inside, we found what every hireling’s heart desires – a party paying cold coin for warm bodies! I observed carefully while Bartram worked out the details with a magic-user named Thyle, and Ralf made conversation with other bar patrons (“Look into my eyes when I stare at you!” “I’m gonna rip you a THIRD bunghole!”). Arrangements were made, gold changed hands, and soon we were off.

This party – the mage Thyle whom I have mentioned, the dwarf Corum, the cleric Doc Dino, the burglar Meucci, the half-elf Xandar, their man-at-arms Thad, and the dimwitted torch-bearer Gump – was in the business of tomb robbing. It was honest work for decent pay, and we were glad for it.

The group had recently found the mausoleum of one called Klexx the Maligned and was bent on exploring it. What could go wrong? We made our way beneath Grael’s thronging streets, through twisting tunnels, down a secret stair, and to the foreboding tomb. Our hammers rang out in the eerie silence, laying open the sealed crypt. Corum and Thyle entered cautiously, bidding Thad, Ralf and me to follow. Inside we found a sarcophagus, and the usual business ensued, to wit, a seemingly lifeless corpse arose as a flesh-eating zombie and attacked! We quickly drubbed it into submission, but that is when things took a turn for the weird – and deadly!

As the zombie lay dead (again) in its sarcophagus, the dwarf Corum approached with his axe to make certain the deed was done. Suddenly, the creature rose (again), pure hate blazing in its dead eyes! I do not know what came over me, but for the first time in my career as a hireling, I turned and fled in sheer panic. 

As I ran mindlessly through the benighted halls of the catacombs, some part of me was aware of the sounds of battle behind me. I heard Ralf screaming. “I will feast on your mother’s sweat box! Welcome to DIE,  Population YOU! Get on your damn knees and grovel for me, monster-bitch!” That last bit was choked off at the end, but I was still able to make out one of Ralf’s familiar and more frequently employed curses. It was the last time I would ever hear Ralf’s sweet voice.

When I came to my senses, I was at the top of the secret stair. Thyle, Thad, and Corum were with me, all looking as confused as I felt. We had no time to gather our wits, though, as we were met by six skeletons, probably drawn by the sounds of combat and Ralf’s echoing shouts. They fell upon us with ferocity. First Thad, then Corum, fell to their savage attacks. I myself succumbed, gashed by one skeleton’s ancient blade. As I fell to my knees, I thought of Ralf, and vowed to find him in whatever realm lies beyond this accursed world.

That was not to be, however. I was roused by the strange, bestial chanting of Doc Dino, who restored my vigor with his magic while shaking something that looked like a huge chicken bone at me. Before they said a word, I knew that Ralf was dead. Thad, a fellow hireling, had also been slain. For a fleeting moment I considered deserting. But then I realized that this party could have left me for dead. Instead, they had healed me. They gently informed me of Ralf’s demise. And one of their own, the dwarf Corum, had lost his life in the fray – these were not cretins content to cower behind their hirelings, but rather men of valor ready to risk their own hides for illicit monetary gain. I decided on the spot that I would see things through with this group of brave, well-meaning grave robbers.

We returned to the mausoleum below where I said my final farewell to dear Ralf. He would have been so proud had he but lived to see the party lovingly strip a golden crown and two jeweled bracers from the vanquished abomination. 

We retreated back to the surface and the sanctuary of The Yellow Fang. After several days of rest, and quaffing rivers of cheap beer to steel our courage, the party recruited another hireling. His name was Ulf, and he claimed to be a bastard of minor nobility among the seafaring people to the north. The pungent smell of dried urine about him, and the quick way he resorted to fighting words over the smallest slight, real or imagined, reminded me of Ralf. I was glad to have him in our company._

*Day 23*
_We once again ventured into the catacombs, where we retraced our steps. Near the site of Ralf’s death, three skeletons lurched forth from the dark and attacked, but we quickly dealt with them. 

Exploring farther, we found a large room filled with statues dedicated to long-forgotten gods and a broken altar along the southern wall. The room was otherwise empty, but Meucci and Xandar carefully explored every crevice of the room. Their thoroughness was rewarded, as behind one of the statues they found a secret door. The door opened onto a hall that stopped in what appeared to be a dead end, but was actually another hidden door.

We emerged on the arse side of a stone statue the height of three men standing atop one another. The statue was the likeness of a four-armed demon. In each hand it held a skull marked with an obscure symbol. While exploring the vaulted crypt antechamber, the half-elf Xandar managed to fall into a pit. Fortunately, it was a short drop and he was not badly hurt.

While we retrieved Xandar from the pit, the thief Meucci checked a door to the north. It was locked, and despite his best efforts he was unable to open it. Next he tried the door to the south. Regrettably, he was able to open this door. Peering into the room, he saw an entire family of ghoulish figures wearing strange masks. Meucci sounded the alarm, and Thyle coordinated our efforts as we ignited a barrier of fire outside the door and rained flaming flasks of oil into the room beyond. The choke point provided by the doorway was likely the only thing that saved our skins that day. Well, most of our skins, at any rate.

The fire was doing its trick, and we soon smelled the vile stench of roasting ghoul flesh. However, the flames could not hold back the monsters entirely. Some of them sprang from the room, vaulting flames to attack. Bartram and Ulf were laid low by these blazing ghouls. I myself was paralyzed by one of the creatures, but Doc Dino’s magic soon released me from the cold grip of the ghoul’s power. 

We turned that section of the catacombs into a furnace, hurling flask after flask of oil and loosing flaming arrows until the ghouls – eight of them! – were sent smoldering back to the grave. The death masks they wore turned out to be mithril, inlaid with electrum. Meucci was confident that they would sell for a king’s ransom, but Thyle was more interested in determining if they had any magical properties. 

Down two men-at-arms, wounded, and reeling from the epic battle, we quit the catacombs and headed back for the surface. On the way we stumbled across three hungry zombies, but they proved little match for our fire and steel. We limped back to The Yellow Fang and called it a night._ 

UPDATE: After the session, Thyle confirmed his suspicion that the death masks the party recovered from the ghouls were in fact magical. He consulted with the sage Toren, who agreed to attempt to identify the masks at a cost of 200 gp. It required a full day, as he consulted with the Sorcerous Cabal's libraries and wealth of knowledge regarding magical artifacts.

Toren shared the following information with Thyle: “Ages ago, when Grael was known as Asperia, the catacombs beneath the city were used as a place to lay the dead to rest. Before the arrival of Nergal's cult, death masks were an important part of ancient burial rites. Death masks varied in design. Some depicted the deceased, the gods, or ancient heroes. Others portrayed the faces of the seasons, animals, or the elements. They were as unique as the deceased. 

“Death masks are made of precious metals or alloys, such as copper, brass, silver, electrum, gold, platinum, and even mithril, although the latter are very rare. Other masks are carved from wood or bone. Select death masks are magical in nature and bolster the strength and power of the dead who wear them. They will not function for the living, however. Your masks are very rare and valuable, indeed.

“There are those who seek out artifacts such as these, and pay a premium for their acquisition. However, those who deal in such goods may not be trusted, and you may wish to avoid their attention. My inquiries alone risked drawing covetous eyes. I can put you in contact with an agent for such a collector, but I would warn that bargains struck with the one known as Scarab often carry an unseen price. Of course, the mithril alone is of great value. I can direct you to a dwarf who may be interested in your wares, and who has little regard for the Potentate's law. I'm no expert in such matters, but I imagine he would pay a small fortune for these masks.” 

Thyle sold the two least ornate masks to the dwarf, Ubrun, for 50pp each. He reimbursed his out of pocket expenses in identifying the masks and finding a lead to a buyer (200gp), leaving 800 gp remaining to distribute among the PC survivors of last session -- or 200 gp each!

*Monsters Killed*: Klexx the Maligned, skeletons (6), masked ghouls (8), zombies (3) 
*PCs Killed*: Corum (Ken (for Andy))  
*Henchmen/Hirelings Killed*: Ralf, Thad, Bartram, Ulf
*Treasure Recovered*: Golden crown (1,000 gp) and jeweled bracers (2) (1,400 gp each)
*Items of Interest*: Mithril and electrum death masks (8) [2 masks sold for 50 pp each]   
*XP per PC*: 1,108 xp each (Doc Dino, Meucci, Thyle and Xandar)


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## Jodo Kast (Apr 17, 2014)

*Session 5 (Scourge of the Scarab)*

Cast of Characters

*PCs*
Doc Dino (David) – Cleric 1 (Thar)
Durnik (Andy) – Thief 1 (dwarf)
Meucci (Robert) – Thief 1
Ottway (Elmer) – Ranger 1
Thyle (Eric) – Magic-User 1
Xandar (Ken) – Ranger 1 (half-elf)
Wyvar (Austin) – Fighter 1

*Henchmen and Hirelings*
Gump - Torchbearer - stable boy
Fletcher – Man-at-Arms - archer 
Lampy – Man-at-Arms – sword & lantern
Oaf – Man-at-Arms – big hairy oaf
Remy – Man-at-Arms – facial deformity, mute, brother of Ralf

*Day 25*
A new day found Doc Dino, Meucci, Thyle and Xandar gathered in the taproom of The Yellow Fang, along with their surviving hirelings, Gump and Remy. They were surprised to find Wyvar, who had not been seen by the party in some three weeks, already deep in his cups at the bar. With him was a tall, cloaked man of grim countenance. This was Ottway. A sniper by trade, Ottway accompanied crews of sewer workers, surveyors and engineers into Grael’s undercity and dispatched the monstrous vermin and occasional undead that lurked there. When he met Wyvar and heard his tales of riches in a forgotten section of crypts and catacombs, Ottway decided to join in the venture.

It was not long before the dwarf Durnik showed up in search of his brother, Corum. Alas, he was informed, Corum met his doom in the tunnels below. After “pouring one out,” a dwarf ritual in which a libation is poured upon the ground in tribute to a departed spirit, Durnik signed on to exact revenge against the haunted place that claimed his brother (and perhaps to extract some coin, as well). 

The party decided that their first order of business would be fencing their remaining death masks. After briefly flirting with the notion of selling them to the collector known as Scarab, they opted for the seemingly safer option of doing business with the dwarf Ubrun, to whom Thyle had sold two of the masks. In a brilliant bit of planning, Thyle carried all of the masks in his pack. What could go wrong? 

When they arrived at Ubrun’s shop, they quickly discerned that something was amiss. The door was kicked in, and inside were signs of a struggle. Ubrun’s lifeless form oozed blood on the floor, and a vault in the storeroom had been opened and emptied. Meanwhile, Ottway observed guards rapidly approaching! The party split up and scurried away.

Thyle and Gump were intercepted by rogues in an alley. While Thyle managed to neutralize the first wave with a _sleep_ spell, still more materialized. Thyle was forced to surrender his pack. During the exchange, Thyle and Gump managed to flee, _sans_ masks, and darted back to Ubrun’s shop, where they reported the rogues to the guards and suggested that the rogues had been responsible for Ubrun’s murder. The guards, with Thyle and Gump in tow, investigated. The rogues that had fallen to Thyle’s spell were no longer simply sleeping – their throats had been cut! Honor among thieves, indeed. 

In response to questioning by the guard, Thyle indicated that he was staying at an inn called The Secret Serpent, and promised that he would remain there until the investigation was complete. Thyle booked a room at the Serpent to corroborate his story, and found the place to be a house of assignation where men of status could discreetly sate their appetite for manflesh.

The party seethed and stewed over the filching of the masks, but after a bit of investigation decided that there was little they could do about it for the time being.

*Day 26*
Having had their fill of urban intrigue for the time being, and their ranks swollen with the addition of Wyvar, Ottway and Durnik, as well as newly recruited hirelings Fletcher, Lampy and Oaf, the party decided to head back to the friendly confines of the dungeon! They initially set out for the secret site that Doc Dino had dubbed “Demon Schlong” after a 16 foot tall, four-armed, ridiculously well-endowed demonic statue. However, remembering their deadly encounter with the masked ghouls, they decided to change course and seek out lower hanging fruit. 

Venturing in another direction, they came to a room with a broken and defaced statue on the floor, where they did battle with a group of giant carnivorous flies (5). 

Entering another burial chamber, they heard a low snarl echo from nearby. Investigating, they saw shadowy humanoid figures down the corridor. Their movements were bestial and savage, unlike the lurching, unnatural manner of the undead they had encountered so far. The party poured flasks of oil onto the floor and lit them to keep this new threat at bay. The figures retreated into darkness. Exploring the circular alcoves in the burial chamber, the party found chewed bones and some coin (51 ep).

The next room the party explored contained 72 square burial alcoves choked with dust, bones, and cobwebs. As the party entered, six skeletons in tattered black robes dragged themselves out of alcoves. Though unarmed, the touch of these terrible dead was lethal. The hireling Oaf fell prey to their touch, and Doc, Ottway and Wyvar were injured and later realized they had been afflicted with a hideous flesh eating disease at the location of  their wounds. The party earned a hard-fought victory, and recovered a pouch with three gems (worth 10gp, 1,000gp, and 1,200gp) from one of the undead abominations. Thyle deduced that the creatures had been low level priests of Nergal, the ancient god of the dead, in life. Looting the alcoves, the party found a pair of earrings (worth 30gp) and a small bag that improbably held 123gp.

The party elected to return to the world above and lick their wounds. On the way back, however, they were surprised by a stirge that swooped down out of the shadows and alighted upon Fletcher’s shoulder. Before they could vanquish the thing it had drained the hireling of a huge amount of blood, and he died along with the creature.

Upon arriving back in town, Doc Dino and Ottway sought out a priest who was able to cure their disease, albeit at a steep price. Wyvar dismissed the flesh eating disease – after all, he had contracted worse in the Brazen Strumpet and it hadn’t done him in. He surmised that sufficient quantities of alcohol would probably neutralize it. Alas, he was reduced to a rotten, festering corpse within a day. Curiously, his brawny brother Guyvar showed up at The Yellow Fang shortly thereafter…  

*Monsters Killed*: Giant carnivorous flies (6), huecuva (6), stirge (1) 
*PCs Killed*: Wyvar (Austin)  
*Henchmen/Hirelings Killed*: Fletcher, Oaf
*Treasure Recovered*: Gems (x3, 2,210 total gp), earrings (30 gp), 123 gp, 51 ep
*Items of Interest*: Small bag that improbably held more gold coins than its apparent volume would suggest possible … magic?   
*XP per PC*: 492 xp each


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## Jodo Kast (Apr 18, 2014)

*Session 6 (They Are Coming!)*

Cast of Characters

*PCs*
Doc Dino (David) – Cleric 2 (Thar)
Meucci (Robert) – Thief 2
Thyle (Eric) – Magic-User 1
Guyvar (Austin) – Fighter 1

*Henchmen and Hirelings*
Bubba – Man-at-Arms -- farmer
Gump -- Torchbearer - stable boy
Lampy – Man-at-Arms – sword & lantern
Leeroy – Man-at-Arms – LEEEEEEROY JEEEEEEEENKINS!!!!
Remy – Man-at-Arms – facial deformity, mute, brother of Ralf
War Dogs (3)

*Day 28*
Meucci recruited a pitchfork-wielding farmer named Bubba to join the crew as a hireling. Doc Dino purchased three trained war dogs, and recruited his own hireling, the man-at-arms known as Leeroy Jenkins. “All right, chums, let’s do this!” Leeroy declared in a deep, slightly insane voice before charging out of The Yellow Fang. He would soon return, and with a sheepish grin admit he had no idea where the party was going or what they had planned.    

The group decided to pick up their exploration of the catacombs where they had left off. Behind a set of double doors they discovered a previously unexplored hallway. The corridor was lined with three doors on each side, and the party carefully checked for traps, listened at each door, and poured some oil to serve as an emergency flame barrier if needed before investigating beyond. 

Behind the first door, the party found what appeared to be a dead elf lying face down in a pool of congealed blood. It turned out that the elf was only playing dead – he had risen as a ghoul, and sprang to attack the party. The elf-ghoul (ghoul-elf?) was dispatched without much trouble. Guyvar stripped the elf of his only remarkable possession, a pair of gauntlets that had been stuffed into the stiff’s belt, and promptly donned them for his own. Ominous graffiti on the wall promised, “They are coming!” There was no indication who (or what) the “they” might be. 

The next door was slightly ajar. Inside, four white corpses posed as dead – they too were ghouls. A pitched battle ensued, in which the war dogs proved their usefulness. The living prevailed over the undead and searched the room, finding an odd tablet inscribed with runes. Thyle attempted to read the tablet, and though he could not translate the runes, he felt a sense of invincibility wash over him. Thyle’s delusional -- er, perfectly legitimate -- feeling of invulnerability aside, the party decided to head back to the world above and regroup.

Back at The Yellow Fang, Guyvar discovered that his newly acquired gauntlets allowed him to climb the vertical wall of the tap room with relative ease, though his attempt to scurry out onto the ceiling ended in tears (of pain for Guyvar, of laughter for his companions). A song was sung about a swine with arachnid properties (which sadly did not include the ability to swing on a web, or so the ballad went).  

*Day 29*
Second verse, same as the first! Back in the catacombs, the party ventured further down the corridor that was the focus of the prior day’s exploration. Finding another door slightly ajar, the party carefully ventured in, with Guyvar scurrying along the side of a wall. The party spied some shiny amongst the debris on the floor of the room (two copper rings – 20gp each).

Also hiding in the room was an abominable humanoid creature that appeared to have the body parts of a number of different animals, including one goat-like leg, one bird-like leg, and a large lobster claw. After the party plied him with rations, this cowering wretch identified himself as Grr’Woof-nub (well, that might have been his name, or he could have just been trying to work up a hairball). The creature spoke in a broken version of common intermixed with some orcish as well as animal-like whimpers, cries, growls, yips, and what seemed to be ambient dungeon noises.

Between devouring several bundles of rations, Grr’Woof-nub revealed that he was terrified of someone called “the great master” whom his brethren now served, that other “mongrelmen” like him had been watching the party since they first entered the catacombs, that the room across the hall was occupied by “biters,” and that a “skull face” and his “bone men” stalked the area to the south.   

The room across the hall did indeed contain would-be “biters” in the form of four rather aggressive zombies. After dealing with them, the party explored two more side rooms (a crypt that appeared to have been looted long ago, and a room with moldy and decaying tapestries).

A door was set in the corridor’s southern terminus, and despite Grr’Woof-nub’s warnings about Skull Face & The Bone Men (new album on sale now!), the party did what parties do – they entered. A massive stone obelisk rested in the center of the huge chamber. Thyle noted that the obelisk outlined certain dark rituals of Nergal’s faith written in Black Tongue, Elvish, Dwarven, and Ancient Common on its four sides. He took rubbings, which could be of value to a sage -- perhaps the apothecary Malfeasance, for whom Thyle had previously done some rubbing (no, that activity did not take place within the friendly confines of The Secret Serpent!).

There were four doors in the room, and the company of tomb robbers opted to explore east. They found a long, grand, hall-like room with a number of passages leading off of it. In the center of the room they observed a man standing with his back to the party, his right arm raised. The man did not move. Hirelings were sent to get a closer look. 

When Bubba got close to the figure, the air around it seemed to shimmer, heave, and lash out. The figure leaped off the ground, suspended in mid-air, and twisted so that the party could see that the front side of the body had been dissolved! Hurled oil flasks outlined a square shape – one side of some sort of gelatinous cube, in which the body was suspended! The thing engulfed Bubba, prompting the party to set it ablaze. They were able to reduce the cube into jelly, though Bubba was digested/burned into a bubbling mass of cheese-like substance in the process. Leeroy observed his fellow hireling’s remains and, thoughtfully munching on a drumstick he had secreted in his belt pouch, muttered, “At least I have chicken.” 

Exploring the long, narrow burial crypts that branched off from the room, the party found that each of the vaults contained a number of burial alcoves of a shape unique to each vault. The shape and contents of the alcoves is summarized thusly:

Burial Vault 1:
Burial Alcoves (50): Square with urns.
Contents: 165ep, 1 rough polished agate (detects as magical)   

Burial Vault 2:
Burial Alcoves (51): Circular with bones.
Contents: 183gp.

Burial Vault 3*:
Burial Alcoves (53): Triangular with bones.
Contents: 107sp, ivory carving (666gp), bracelet (60gp), fire opal (100gp), glass box (20gp).

*A maze of rough-hewn passages extends from the end of this finger crypt. The party did not explore these. 

Burial Vault 4:
Burial Alcoves (48): Octagonal with skulls.
Contents: 21 sp, jade idol (300gp), earrings (60gp), copper inkwell (15gp).

Burial Vault 5:
Burial Alcoves (52): Hexagonal with full skeletons.
Contents: 162ep, ornate plate (18gp), mithril brooch in shape of elven tree (detects as magical).

Burial Vault 6:
Burial Alcoves (52): Trapezoidal, bronzed skulls.
Contents: Necklace (20gp) and a coral (50gp).

Burial Vault 7:
Burial Alcoves (52): Triangular, disturbed remains.
Contents: Ruby (70gp) and brass cup (60gp).

Burial Vault 8:
Burial Alcoves (52): Hexagonal, hastily searched.
Contents: 87gp and circlet (50gp).

There was another opening off of the large room, this one barred by a portcullis, but the party elected to quit while they were ahead (and while the PCs all still had their heads) and return to the world above.

Monsters Killed: Gelatinous cube (1), ghouls (5), zombies (4) 
PCs Killed: None (!)  
Henchmen/Hirelings Killed: Bubba
Items of Interest: Obelisk rubbings; gauntlets, agate, and brooch (each detect as magic)    
XP per PC: 467
XP per Hireling: 233


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## Inez Hull (May 20, 2014)

More plz,  I always love some old school Mayhem


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## Jodo Kast (May 20, 2014)

*Session 7 (I'm Not Going Into That Room)*

Inez Hull, ask and you shall receive!

Cast of Characters

*PCs*
Doc Dino (David) – Cleric 2 (Thar)
Meucci (Robert) – Thief 2
Thyle (Eric) – Magic-User 2
Guyvar (Austin) – Fighter 1
Xandar (Ken) – Half-Elf Ranger 1

*Henchmen and Hirelings*
Gump -- Torchbearer - stable boy
Jethro – Man-at-Arms – bumpkin manchild
Lampy – Man-at-Arms – sword & lantern
Leeroy – Man-at-Arms – LEEEEEEROY JEEEEEEEENKINS!!!!
Remy – Man-at-Arms – facial deformity, mute, brother of Ralf
Sacco – Man-at-Arms – steely-eyed crossbowman
War Dogs (4)

*Day 31*
After several days off, the party did some banking at an establishment called The Rusty Copper, and recruited two men-at arms, the oafish Jethro and the steely-eyed Sacco. Meucci purchased a war dog (Nibbles). Back to the dungeon! 

Not long after reentering the catacombs, the party was waylaid at a crossroads by three skeletons in black, tattered robes. The party had encountered similar undead creatures before – former low-level priests of Nergal, Thyle surmised – and were aware of their lethal, flesh-eating touch. Thus they wisely elected to use fire, dogs, and hirelings to deal with the threat, except for Guyvar, who charged into the fray. The huecuva were dispatched, but Guyvar, Jethro, and one of the war dogs was wounded.

The party returned to the great room where the hireling Bubba had been reduced to a bubbling, oozy mass inside a burning gelatinous cube. They considered entering the maze of rough-hewn passages extending from one of the finger crypts leading off the room, but elected to leave it unexplored. Instead, they forced open the portcullis on the north wall, beyond which lie a room covered in small rock debris and cobwebs with two doors opening off of it.  

Jethro, who by that point was distractedly scratching at the wound he had received fighting the huecuva, entered one of the rooms. Sacco watched from outside, his crossbow at ready. “Coin!” called Jethro, just before he was yanked out of view. Crunching, slurping noises followed. “Sacco, don’t go in there!” warned Meucci. “Don’t worry. I’m not going into that room,” Sacco sardonically replied.

Thyle approached and loosed a sleep spell into the room, and two thuds were heard. The crypt was decorated with frescoes of men in short white tunics running in footraces. Coin glinted at the back of the crypt. Two giant crab spiders, bloated and gore splattered, were collapsed upon what remained of Jethro’s corpse. A third, unaffected by Thyle’s spell, dropped from the ceiling, but alone proved no match for the party. Exploring the room, the party found that the meager sum of 37cp had lured Jethro to his doom. 

Behind the second door off of the cobwebbed room, the party found two sarcophagi, empty aside from their skeletal inhabitants. Guyvar was now scratching obsessively at his own huecuva-inflicted wound. “You might want to get that cured,” Doc Dino admonished. “Same kind of wound did your brother in.” The party decided to head back to town. 

However, reentering the huge hall with a massive obelisk in its center, the party found they were not alone! At the same time they entered the room from the east, the door to the south opened. A man with a half-skull mask over his face and bones stitched into his black, hooded robes entered, surrounded by eight skeletons who did his bidding. The party sprang to the attack, and was able to prevent the necromancer from unleashing any spells. Leroy suffered a vicious blow from one of the skeletons, but managed to hang onto life long enough for Doc Dino to revive him. The party recovered the necromancer’s spellbook and a pouch with some coin (13pp). 

The party made their way back to the world above and The Yellow Fang. Guyvar had his wound cured, thus avoiding the fate of his brother Wyvar. The wounded war dog was not afforded such care, and succumbed to the flesh-eating disease. Thyle spent some time studying the necromancer’s spellbook, and learned that the necromancer's name had been Kelmok and that he served the god Set, son of Nergal and brother of Orcus.

*Day 34*
Beneath Grael, the party once again made their way to the large, hexagonal room with a massive stone obelisk, where they had defeated the necromancer Kelmok days before. From there they chose to explore to the south. They found a long hall with six doors, three on either side. They liberally applied oil to the floor, and Doc Dino sent Leroy to the end of the hall. Doc then had Leroy throw open the doors and run back to the party. “LEEEEEEROY JEEEEENKINS!!!!” In this manner, the party drew out and quickly dealt with four fossilized skeletons and two ghouls.

Exploring one of the rooms, the party handled a skeleton covered in yellow mold from a safe distance. In another room, they found a sarcophagus, its lid ajar. It contained ornate golden chalices and three lethal looking cobras. Not wanting to damage the treasure, the party sent the war dogs in instead of torching the sarcophagus. Two dogs, one of them Meucci’s beloved Nibbles, fell prey to the cobras’ poisonous fangs. 

The party’s exploration of this area netted 130gp from the sarcophagi of the fossil skeletons, two gold chalices worth 15pp each, and another strange runic tablet. Thyle attempted to decipher the runes on this one as well, and a sense of foreboding and impending doom washed over him, negating the sense of invincibility the previous tablet had instilled in him. 

*Monsters Killed*: Huecuva (3), giant crab spiders (3), Necromancer of Set (1), skeletons (9), fossil skeletons (4), ghouls (2), yellow mold (1), spitting cobras (3)  
*PCs Killed*: None (!?)  
*Henchmen/Hirelings Killed*: Jethro
*XP per PC*: 260
*XP per Hireling*: 75


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## Jodo Kast (May 20, 2014)

*Session 8 (You'll Put Your Eye Out)*

Beginning with Session 8, I had PC's take over session reports in exchange for bonus XP. This write-up comes courtesy of David (Doc Dino). 

Cast of Characters

*PCs*
Doc Dino (David) - Cleric 2
Meucci (Robert) - Thief 3
Thyle    (Eric) - Magic-User 2
Guyvar (Austin) -  Fighter 1
Xandar (Ken) - Half-elf Ranger

*Hirelings*
Gump – Torchbearer
Lampy – Man-at-Arms
Leeroy  – Man-at-Arms
Remy   – Man-at-Arms
Sacco  - Man-at-Arms
Dogs (5)

*Doc Dino’s Journal entry Day 32:*
After restocking supplies and buying more dogs we headed back out to the catacombs with the intent of returning to the large room with the Obelisks. This time we brought with us a total of five dogs. I could not help but think that the dog trainer is making more money than us at 25 gp a piece.

On the way back in while we were heading down a hall with doors on either side we were suddenly ambushed by four Mongrel men babbling away about “the master” Since they came at us from side rooms as we passed two of them bypassed the dogs and came at me and the mage with two more jumping out in front of the group to block our passage.  After a brief fight I asked who was injured and healed myself and the mage. Apparently Guyvar was also injured in the fight but never said anything. 

We then continued to the large room to explore the area off to the right. When we opened the door we discovered a large room with burial alcoves similar to the room that had the Gelatinous Cube. Upon entering the room to the right we wasted no time in getting Gump to start poking around the room with a 10 foot pole.  Just as Gump found a pit trap with the pole people start to get bored and greedy and then the next thing I know some people were running into the burial alcoves to start searching them before the main room was even searched. 

When people entered the alcoves it triggered 24 skeletons to animate and they start to come at us from every direction.  Overwhelmed Thyle, Remy and Gump started to madly spread oil all over the floor to try to cut off the skeletons in the second half of the room from reaching us. I attempted to turn the undead and managed to cause 10 of the skeletons to cower in the back of the room. That was when I alerted to Guyvar’s death by Meucci’s frantic shouts to check Guyvar’s pockets. While the mage was struggling to get the oil on the floor spread out and lit on fire one of the dogs went down. By the time the fire was started it was easily 6 feet wide and completely blocked off the back half of the room. This kept the skeletons on the back side of the room at bay while the fighting raged on in the front. 

After destroying the skeletons on our side of the room the party decided that the room was large enough that engaging the skeletons in the back of the room with flasks of oil was not feasible. As such it was decided that we would have to wait for the fire to burn down to finish the battle.  The party decided to finish searching Guyvar’s pockets and the two alcoves on our side of the room while we waited on the fire to subside. 

After the flames died down; the fighting started back up again with another dog quickly going down.  I could tell that this was going to be a bad day. At 25 GP each those war dogs were far too expensive to be losing them at this rate. Luckily we won the fight without losing any more dogs. After searching the room, alcoves and Guyvar’s pockets we found a total of 355 CP, 225 SP, 66 PP, 51 GP, a sling, a cloak, and two scrolls. 
Meucci and Gump took the last three dogs into a very small side room and the next thing I knew they all came running out real fast. Gump and the dogs ran in the direction of the exit and Meucci ran and hid in an alcove. After waiting and seeing nothing come out after them Meucci calmed down and we decided to head back in the direction of the exit and see if we can find Gump and the dogs. We did not have to go far; we found the dogs dead in the next room with 8 tomb raiders waiting in ambush for us.

One of the tomb raiders had the nerve after killing my expensive dogs to ask us to surrender the treasure and our weapons. Luckily the mage was as mad as I was about the dogs and got a sleep spell off before they could react. We quickly killed the rest and then killed all but one of the ones sleeping in order to question him. After looting the tomb raiders we grabbed 4 Slings, 4 Short Swords, 4 Light Crossbows, 40 Crossbow bolts and left the rest.

When we woke up sleeping beauty we discovered that he was a total loser with no honor or self respect. He claimed that they just happened by on us, but after the mongrel men ambush I did not believe him. Then the next thing I knew people started to talk about letting him go; I was forced to end the discussion. There was no way that I was going to allow him to go and report back to anyone.

When we go back to town it was discovered that my sling, the cloak and an hand axe that Meucci had grabbed were all magical. The sling turned out to be a Red Rider Sling with runes in a strange tongue that translate to “You will put someone’s eye out”, the cloak was a cloak of protection, and the hand axe was a Hand Axe Of Light. One of the scrolls was a magic-users scroll containing Mirror Image and Dark Vision, the other was a cleric scroll containing 2 cure light wounds, 2 spiritual armors, and protection from evil. We quickly divided up the loot giving the cloak to Thyle, the axe went to Xandar. 

Monsters Killed:
24 Skeletons
4 Mongrel men
8 Tomb Raiders

*PCs killed*
Guyvar, brother of Wyvar
Hirelings Killed:
5 Dogs

*Treasure Recovered:*
355 CP, 225 SP
66 PP, 51 GP
+1 Red Rider sling
+1 cloak of protection
+1 Hand Axe of Light
4 Slings
1 Sheild
4 Short Swords
4 Light Crossbows
40 Crossbow bolts
1 Magic user scroll and 1 cleric scroll.

*XP earned:*
Hireling men-at-arms earns 102 XP
Thyle, Xandar and Meucci each earn 204 XP
Doc Dino nets 329 XP


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## Inez Hull (Jun 9, 2014)

Any more session updates?


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## Jodo Kast (Jun 16, 2014)

*Session 8 (Redux, Rashomon style)*

What follows is another write-up of Session 8, from the perspective of Xandar's player, Ken.

Traveling Journal of Xandar of the Woods:

After spending several days hunting and communing in the forest with my god, I returned to meet my traveling companions in the Inn.  We traveled back down into the catacombs of the world below where only the undead walk.  For some reason, the party felt more prepared with a bunch of dogs along the way.  Though they were war dogs, it did not feel quite appropriate to bring them into the underworld.  Not to mention these dogs were expensive; no matter as it was not my gold expended on them.

Whilst we were headed back into a section of the tombs that had already been explored, and with many in the party noisily walking down the stone halls with their collective heads up their asses, we were surprised by a small party of four mongrel men.  They were babbling something in broken common about “the master”.  Had we been better prepared they would not have so easily gained the advantage upon us.  Even with my hearing and vision I was at a disadvantage with all the clanking armor and talking.

The mongrel men jumped the mage, or charlatan in disguise as I am still not sure of his ‘powers’ at this point, as well as the cleric and two blocking our way at the front of the pack.  Briefly dispatching these beasts, we continued on; though still too noisy to my taste.  At the time we were not aware that Guyvar, whose brother I never did meet, was injured during the fight but said nothing when the cleric came around to heal.  The cleric ended up healing himself and the mage.

We finally made it to a large room and I slide to the right to check out the room while I shifted to the last door we needed to check.  The large obelisk was still standing tall in this large room, with ancient runes chiseled into it.  Meucci, the rogue, and I checked the door, though he was more thorough than I due to his profession.  Having cleared the door, I maneuvered through the opening and quickly shifted to the right of the entryway.  Meucci followed and moved left of the entryway.

The other members of the party soon followed and wasted no time in finally putting a ten foot pole to use in the hands of Gump, who by my indication was nothing more than a walking meat sack anyway.  Gump did manage to find a large pit trap by poking around with the pole, which made his stock increase ever so slightly in my book, though he is a goodly fellow and bears no ill will towards anyone.  As this appeared to be a simple matter of exploration at this time, I began to check the long hall which I had entered off the main room.  Meucci did the same thing in the hall he was in, and soon others from the party began to follow suit.  Just as we were knee deep into broken bones and icky crypt stuff, something must have been triggered since multiple skeletons began animating as if ordered to rise by a necromancer of old.

The party was at once overwhelmed and I felt somewhat responsible for at least that bit as I was more greedy than cautious at the time.  Thyle, the alleged mage, and Remy and Gump started wildly throwing oil around the room in an attempt to cut off the bulk of the skeletons from attacking us.  The cleric actually ‘turned’ about ten of the skeletons, also rising his stock in my opinion polls.  At this point, the rogue yelled out something about the demise of Guyvar and something about relieving him of his worldly possessions after the scuffle.

Whilst the mage and others were frantically trying to get enough oil down and lit, one of the war dogs went down.  A truly beautiful creature, it lay dying amidst strands of oil, coughing up its last breath as I came around the corner to gaze on the tenuous hold of the room.    Someone managed to set the oil afire, and it lit up a portion of the room.  This held about half of the skeletons at bay whilst we dispatched the rest.  Wanting to waste no time, in case we decided as a group to make a quick run for the world above, most of us set about quickly searching the two alcoves that were just cleared – one where poor Guyvar needlessly lay in a pool of his own blood.  

The fighting resumed as the flames died and another war dog went down quickly.  We quickly dispatched the remaining skeletons and then searched the remainder of the alcoves.  We found many coins and a few items.  Meucci and Gump too the remaining war dogs into the lone tunnel. As soon as they had gone out of sight, they reappeared; only they were running.  The dogs and Gump ran so fast they made it to the end of the hallway and out onto the other side of the room where to obelisk was.  Meucci ran screaming like a little gnomish child and climbed his way to the top of the adjoining corridor.

They had brought with them a hand axe of unusual composition; the likes of which I momentarily noted I wanted to examine at a later time.  We waited a few minutes to see what the matter was but nothing followed from the corridor.  We were able to calm Meucci down and talk him down from the ceiling.  He wouldn’t say much, just breathed heavily.  We decided perhaps it was best to return to the land of the living above and headed back to the obelisk room.  No sooner had we entered through the doorway, we heard a strange voice in the darkness issue commands to drop our weapons and treasure and back away.

It was at this time the mage gained something of his manhood as well as status in my eyes.  He came through with a sleep spell, indicating to me that he indeed did know how to use magic.  He was successful at catching these thugs off guard and sent them all to the land of the sandman.  We retrieved their weapons and then the cleric, why I am still trying to understand, decided it was time to murder these men.  They were all asleep, unarmed and defenseless.  It was quite out of character for a cleric, at least to my knowledge of the trade.  

He did leave one poor wretched soul alive to wake and question.  They were merciless upon this poor man, knocking him around and treating him worse than a slave through their incessant questioning.  Having discovered this was a small non-connected tomb robber group that jumped us, we tied him up and took him with us.  I did not even find out his name.  As we were headed to the surface, the cleric again came up with a dastardly proposal – murder this poor soul.

I was against this idea from the very start.  To kill another in combat was on thing, but to murder a helpless defenseless wretched human was way over the line.  I protested to the cleric and the party as well.  My protests fell on deaf ears and as suddenly as the conversation had begun, it ended with the cleric’s mace falling deftly upon the head of the poor unsuspecting wretched soul.  It was at this point I deemed a commune in the woods with my god necessary once we returned to the surface to work out my feelings of anger and helplessness for this human.

When we returned to the surface, the various items that we recovered were discovered to be magical of some sort.  I kept the axe and discovered it had a bit of magical properties to it.  I left my companions in the Inn to celebrate their murdering and luck at remaining alive.  Once I entered the woods, I began communing with my god; searching for answers.  I asked him for aid in my quest.  Not sure why at this point I was even entering the underworld of the tombs, I vowed to have a better understanding of what I was doing – in connection with these humans.  It is still difficult, this inner turmoil inside me; the elven blood fighting with the human side.


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## Jodo Kast (Jun 16, 2014)

*Session 9 (Life Is Like A Shadowy Alcove...)*

Friday Night Irregulars
Session 09 (4.11.2014) 
As told by Thyle (Eric)

*Day 38*
We took three days to rest and recover from our last expedition into the Barrowmaze. The wealth and riches we have recovered are more than I ever expected, and I consider myself quite fortunate to have happened across such a trove within the boundaries of the city. But the risk of death is always great, and I wonder often if my next voyage will be my last, as Guyvar’s was but three days past.

Our activities under the city seem to go unnoticed. And with our recruiting of henchmen having now been eclipsed by an appetite for war dogs, the number of speaking witnesses to our activities has been diminished. This is certainly to our advantage, as I still recall our unfortunate encounter and robbery in the city, predicated by the unwanted attentions of the Scarab. As I write this I think of Gump and I, and how nearly we perished in some nameless alley that morning. And now after our last adventure, I wonder if it would have been better for Gump had he died that day.

As usual, we assembled in the Fang in early morning prior to our departure. I noticed a new body amongst the hirelings, but as he appeared to be afflicted with some condition I decided it best to keep some distance from him. War dogs, mutes, imbeciles, and lepers make for fine companions when treated well, and their wretched station seems to compel them to return to our service. But, life is not fair and fortune favors the bold, so once again we descended under the sewers with those ignorant, brave or desperate enough to accompany us.

We are always greeted by silence as we enter, although somehow the silence seemed greater than usual. I do not know how this is possible. Perhaps this is the working of some resident evil priests in league with the necromancer we dispatched. The silence adds to the intangible, but ever present, air of dread highlighting the most disturbing aspect of this place – the feeling that we are willingly walking to our deaths. The Barrowmaze is much like a great crypt, excepting that the occupants want to add visitors to their cast of companions. As I looked over our less than silent entourage of men and beasts, I could feel the hungry eyes of our hosts upon us. I hope the morale of our hireling’s holds, as my powers against the undead are limited and I have little interest in wielding a sword.

After descending the hidden stairs under the sarcophagus, we turned north to continue our exploration, and then to the west where we had encountered the Mongrelmen. As we approached an ajar door to the south, we heard a strange humming and buzzing sound fromwithin. Meucci crept forward to investigate, and decided to close the door. The noise stopped, which never bodes well. We assembled a small group to investigate, and sprung the door ready to face the unknown. Shining a light into the darkness showed a pair of large flies seemingly waiting on of a pair of strangely preserved bodies. The flies rose to attack, and after a heated encounter the fighters were able to slay them, although Meucci and Sacco were injured in the encounter. With the flies dead, we began to search a number of burial niches in the room for treasure. I am uncertain of who caused it, but during the search someone disturbed a nest of rats which quickly flooded the room! Fortunately, my powers against the living are real, so I was able to incapacitate the lot of them with a whispered spell. Gump fell as well, not from injury, but because he is apparently equal in strength to a giant rat. Magic holds few prejudices, and has no mercy for the weak. It is the way of wizardry.

As my companions slew the sleeping rats, I slapped Gump back to consciousness. Would I have let him sleep, perhaps things would be different. We completed our search of the room, netting a wealth of coin, a potion and large ruby. A tidy profit for a non-fatal encounter. We turned our attentions back to the hallway. Mere steps away from the ‘jar of flies’ we observed slightly different stonework to the south, as if a wall had been hastily erected to block passage to the south. The dwarf believed it to be an easy task to dismantle the wall with a sledge, but the noise that causes will almost certainly attract unwanted attention. The priest had a brilliant solution by casting a spell of silence on a sling bullet, thereby allowing the dwarf to hammer away unheard. It is possible the priest is clever enough to be a mage. A short time later, the wall fell, and we were able to travel ahead. Ahead we saw a new group of burial alcoves, hopefully laying undisturbed and unsearched. The fresh wall before was somewhat concerning, as it was probably set in place to keep something inside. Given the dangers in the Barrowmaze, that did not bode well, but upon reflection I should have realized that the dead would not wall in the dead, but something foreign.

We sent Gump a bit ahead to poke and prod the floor to look for pits, and it was fortunate that we did. A stout cloth, perhaps of canvas, fell into the floor revealing a concealed pit. Oddly on the bottom of the pit, a mere ten feet away, the cloth was nowhere to be seen. I believe Meucci dropped some debris into the pit, which disappeared, leaving the bottom seemingly undisturbed. I suspect some sort of illusion was in play to conceal the true depth and end of the pit, so we chose to leave it be.

Gump continued forward prodding for traps. He paused for a moment by an alcove, and turned as if to say something, when some gray blur struck him with fury. He was propelled across the passage and impacted the wall with a sickening crunch. At that moment, I knew he had perished. I hoped Remy did not realize this yet, as I needed him to hold fast while Itried to fathom what was ahead. Something shapeless was moving, so instead of sending more men to their deaths, we set the dogs on it. I believe our archers also moved forward to engage, but I am not certain as the swiftness of Gump’s death stunned me. Through some combination of arms and hounds the thing was dispatched. It is at this point that some madness must have descended on the party. I did not recognize it at the time, but it is the only logical explanation for the strange behaviors of my companions in the hours to come. I suspect the Dwarf was afflicted first. Before I could approach Gump’s body, the Dwarf has set fire to it, and due to the cache of oil he carried, everything about it. The Dwarf is fortunate he did not add himself to the pyre. I watched him burn, and looking to my side, so did Remy. I was not to lose two loyal henchmen in one day, whether to foe or fear, so I whispered to Remy that we would come back to retrieve the poor devil’s remains
after it had burned out. This seemed to reassure him somewhat, but he has seen so much death that I am concerned that he will break. Loyal henchmen are very hard to come by. The rest of the party seemed unswayed by Gump’s death, and began to search the alcoves. We did not find much other than a small jade idol, but one of my companions, perhaps Meucci, detected a secret door in one of the alcoves. 

To ensure we were not beset from the entrance while we explored the secret passage, the Dwarf stood guard near the wall he had toppled. The passageway led to more burial chambers, fortunately unguarded, so we were able to search them in peace and quiet. This was not the case for our companions, as they were attacked a wandering group of skeletons whilst we searched, and the silence spell muted calls for assistance. No matter in the end, as we later learned the skeletons fell to the group.

Amongst the alcoves we found the remains of two figures that must have been of some renown given their location. One was obviously a warrior, and gear was clearly of value, being a suit of plate, a battle axe and an ensigiled shield. But it was not the fighter’s arms that gave me pause, but the black robed body tightly grasping a tome to his chest. I moved forward and gasped, as I was able to see more details of the book. It was bound in red velvet with forged steel fittings, and perhaps tied closed with some creature’s skin. Certainly this was a spellbook, always a rich find! I tucked it away with my possessions, eagerly anticipating its reading when we returned.

We regrouped and continued to the north, discovering two more freshly mortared alcoves, although one had been burst out and lay exposed. Something strong perhaps had escaped? The second attracted the Dwarf’s notice, and again the madness I previously witnessed spread. With a crazed look on his face, the Dwarf affixed the burnt sledge head to his helm, and beckoned Xandar and another to use his head as a hammer!The first blow nearly brained the Dwarf, but he beckoned them to continue. The second blow was more solid, and his head pierced the wall, with his body stopped from continuing by his shoulders. It is at this time that the muffled screams started, and the Dwarf began to kick his legs, apparently in panic. With a last heave, those holding the Dwarf pushed him through the wall, which was fortunate as he was battling a zombie with only his headgear! The zombie was dispatched, and once again the madness seemed to subside. Could this creature be more powerful than it appeared and compelled them to release it? I have seen stranger things than this, so I must remain on guard to similar odd behaviors. And even after near death at the hands of that creature, the Dwarf’s trials were not complete. Searching the next alcove almost killed him by grub infestation, and only quick application of fire saved his life. I wonder if something compelled him to plunge his arm into the vermin?

With our party still strong, we continued exploring to the north. We soon came upon a columned with a collapsing ceiling, seemingly caused by water. We cautiously entered, and were beginning to search when an enormous snake appeared from the shadows. It struck our afflicted hireling, and slew him in an instant. I never knew his name. The remaining fighters engaged the snake with the help of some hounds, and I motioned Remy to stand at my side to guard the doorways should we be attacked while the others were engaging the snake. The snake was slain, and a quick search of the room yielded no treasure. A room to the south was also barren excepting debris from a collapsed ceiling similar to the columned room. The Dwarf climbed up into the ceiling to find the source of the water, and found access to a network of old sewers. The levels above and below this place are legion. No wonder we are beset by threats from all directions. At some point we may need to further investigate these sewers.

We continued a hallway to the west when we were attacked by a group of stirges. We have encountered these before, and they can be dangerous creatures. The beasts impaled both Leeroy and Remy before slaying them, and I could tell that Remy was near death. I implored the priest to heal Remy as I had vowed to not let him die in vain on this expedition, and the priest granted my request. Although I do not understand his god or faith, the support he provides the party is valued. I suspect he would loot my corpse before it was cold, but as long as I breathe I think he will remain civil. We searched the area around the stirges, and found a bit of coin, some jewelry and a silver dagger, a fine trove from foul creatures.

The party was wishing to continue, but as our magic was depleted and some of our fighters injured, I strongly advised that we did not want to overstay our welcome. The Barrowmaze is unforgiving, and I do not wish to become a permanent inhabitant. As we returned to the entrance we encountered a small band of skeletons which we quickly dispatched. We are fortunate that we did not encounter a stronger foe.

As we neared the exit, I asked the party to hold whilst Remy and I collected Gump's remains. The fire had burned out, and all that was left was a pile of scorched bones. I collected these into a spare burlap sack as Remy stood guard, after which we rejoined the party. Loyal hirelings are hard to find, and as always Gump was exactly where I expected him to be. I would like to reward his loyalty in some manner, but this time he is beyond my help as my skills in necromancy are lacking. At least I know we will not encounter him again in the Barrowmaze. We exited without further encounters. It is odd how the sounds of the sewers can be comforting, but compared to the Barrowmaze, anything but screams is a welcome change.

Before our next expedition, I will examine the spell book, and determine if any magic items are amongst the treasure we recovered. If I am fortunate, the spell book will contain the Identify spell so jealously guarded by those who know it. If not, we have sufficient wealth to pay for the service. Although I have not attempted to read it yet, the spellbook looks to have quite a number of spells in it, perhaps a half-dozen or more. With every find as this, my power grows. I look forward to the day when I have enough strength to collect an overdue debt from the Scarab and his minions.

Remy and I drank ale in Gump’s honor, and after they offered bread I could not help but order a wheel of strong cheese to go with it. I hope Remy’s nerve doesn’t break, as I see his skill with his sword is increasing with every expedition we complete. I worked to convince him that the Barrowmaze is not the end-all, but the best way to gain the strength we need to secure our future. Whether or not he believes me I do not know. But he took the 25 gold coins I gave him as a bonus without a complaint. And the outstanding thing about Remy is I did not have to ask him not to tell the other henchmen!


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## Inez Hull (Jun 16, 2014)

Wonderful.! 

I'm curious about how you've adapted the Dungeon to be under a city,  I'm assuming the surface barrows which enter the maze have been replaced by sewers? Are there still the individual barrows that don't connect to the maze.  It sounds from the last post that the dungeon isn't common knowledge in the city,  how did the players find out?


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## Jodo Kast (Jun 20, 2014)

Inez Hull said:


> I'm curious about how you've adapted the Dungeon to be under a city,  I'm assuming the surface barrows which enter the maze have been replaced by sewers? Are there still the individual barrows that don't connect to the maze.  It sounds from the last post that the dungeon isn't common knowledge in the city,  how did the players find out?




Beneath Grael lie voids created by quarrying limestone, sewers (active and abandoned), cellars, vaults, crypts, ancient aqueducts, and so forth. I've replaced the "surface" barrow mounds from BMI and BMII with family crypts and the like beneath the city. Some have entrances into the ancient catacombs proper (the Barrowmaze), corresponding to the mound entrances in BMI/BMII.  For example, in session 3, the party found the secret staircase beneath a sarcophagus located in Barrow Mound #11 in BMI, and have been using that as their main entry into the catacombs ever since. Ever since finding it, the players have largely ignored the other crypts and ventured straight down into the catacombs below. I might have to plant a treasure map with some of the "surface" locations from BMII on it to revive their interest in this section. In fact, I'll do that prior to my next session! I'm glad you asked the question.

The ancient catacombs are relatively common knowledge, if the stuff of legend and bedtime stories to frighten children. Not many are foolish enough to seek them out, as they are known to be infested with the waking dead. On rare occasions, inhabitants of these catacombs find their way into the upper tunnels, and have killed or terrified city workers and engineers. More seldom still will an undead wanderer make its way to the surface, igniting horror in the streets. It is believed that disturbing the tombs angers the dead and causes them to seek the surface. For this reason, the Potentate has ordered the catacombs off limits. Even the predominant thieves guild obeys this particular decree. However, adventurers and tomb robbers do plumb the depths of the catacombs in search of fortune, and there is a thriving black market in plundered grave goods.


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## Jodo Kast (Jun 20, 2014)

*Session 10 (Oh crap, poison!)*

Friday Night Irregulars
Session 10 (4.25.2014) 
As told by Meucci (Robert)

Some have been on edge since the new appearance in the sky, faint yet brightening each day. Pointing upwards, the hireling Sacco inquires, "What is that, master? Is it a new star? What does it mean?"  

There is a puzzled silence as all look skyward at this fuzzy twin‐tailed phenomena, all but one. Thyle is engrossed in his newest acquisition.  Slamming closed the dusty goblin‐hide tome, he breaks the silence. In a strange erudite language he explains, “Dis Astor… or, Bad Star, in the common tongue. Some believe it to be a bringer of ill fate.”  

Sacco gulps, “Dis Astor… D‐d‐disaster!?” 

“Indeed Sacco,” Thyle proclaims, “Indeed.”

Before entering town the ranger calls a meeting in his forested place of solitude, a place he believes to be secure and spy‐free. “I have called this meeting tonight to discuss the recent disturbing happenings and rumors regarding our security in town,” Xandar begins. “It seems we have had beady‐eyed spies in the form of small vermin frequent our inn, and I have felt their prying eyes upon us as we move about town.” Meucci rudely butts in, “Also, our inn keep Muncaster hasn’t been paying his fees to the gang that ‘protects’ his place of business, The Black Truncheon. In fact, I think they actually burned down the stables and blamed it on poor Gump, RIP. And, actually, The Black Truncheon has increased their numbers in the Yellow Fang as Muncaster has been openly spending large sums of gold in lieu of paying his fees to them. I think something needs to be done soon or we find a different place to reside.” 

Thyle begins a thought before being suddenly distracted, “Yes, this is all interest… umm, by the way, has anybody seen Doc Dino?” The party looks around shrugging; Doc Dino seems to be MIA. Taking this as a priority the group returns to town to begin an investigation, which leads them to find that Doc Dino was last seen leaving the old abandoned church in good spirits. Upon further investigation the party finds an old friendly Cleric inside that admits to having spoken with Doc Dino and possibly made some sort of bargain. Suspicious, the group inspects the secret door leading to the dungeon underneath (hinged sarcophagus) only to find it propped open in a very familiar manner. As the group discusses entering this dungeon the Cleric, Pardue, expresses interest in our adventure and in our search for Doc Dino. Pardue admits to being quite inexperienced and shows interest in learning, so requires only a half‐cut of the normal per‐person share. Complete with their newest recruits, Pardue the old Cleric and Ward the dirty pirate, the brave band of heroes enter the underneath.

Just inside, three shambling zombies are quickly dispatched.  Pardue is impressed. Allowing the newest member (the fighter pirate) to lead the group he comes upon a door. “Arrrgh!!! Ye be stuck Mateys!” Several members put shoulder to door ‐‐ about to give up Sacco and Remy give it one last try and fling the door open! Down the corridor the group comes upon an oddly‐shaped chamber whose entrance seems to be guarded by two giant motionless quartz statues. In the back of the room a faintly glowing gauntlet on a dais can be seen. Behind is a mural of a mighty battle scene complete with some sort of blast coming from a warrior’s gauntlet and shattering a foe. Durnik volunteers to search around the statues for traps but upon approaching seems to activate them, he jumps back! With a mighty clang each weapon, polearm and sword, both just miss the dwarf. Thyle's eyes grow wild and he begins hurling alchemist fire potions into the room, “Fire Fire Burn Burn,” he chants. The potions seem to explode in a bigger and brighter fashion than normal. Thinking quickly the dwarf switches to his sledgehammer, steps forward, and attacks one of the statues, chipping off an impressive chunk of quartz.

“Companions charge!” comes a voice from the back of the party. Ward charges into the room followed by Sacco. “Arrrgh!!!” Ward shouts ferociously. Sacco runs through the threshold momentarily looking behind him with a look of pride and satisfaction for being so brave when “Thwack!” The giant quartz blade of the statue’s sword splits his skull from cranium to jawbone. Meucci shouts for his wardogs to attack but they all seem to hesitate and stay back from the rocky aberrations. The group finishes off the statues without further loss. Not having participated in the battle the group looks around for Pardue. “Pardue! No!” shouts Durnik. Pardue is entranced by the gleam of the gauntlet and has begun walking towards it reaching out. He is forcibly stopped so that the rogues can properly search for traps around this pedestal. 

Durnik approaches as Meucci picks up some skipping stones to test for pit traps. Meucci throws the first stone and hits the floor just in front of the dwarf, this floor drops away, the dwarf with it! After safely removing the dwarf from the pit trap both rogues approach the pedestal. Having sufficiently searched for traps both thieves deem the pedestal safe, however, they both back away cautiously as if not trusting their own skill.  The Cleric once again approaches. For a moment Remy shows interest in volunteering to grab the gauntlet but Thyle quickly hushes him, “No Remy, you stay back here with me, you are too valuable to me.” Pardue grabs the gauntlet.  With a satisfied smile he begins to say something when “Swoosh” a blade lurches out from the pedestal horizontally slicing from right to left. Pardue doesn’t stand a chance as he is sliced across the stomach, entrails spilling forth. He is about to heal himself when he says, “Oh crap, poison! Ahhh….” Pardue slumps onto the floor never to move again. 

The group grabs the elbow length iron plated glove from Pardue’s lifeless grasp and begins discussing what should be done with the cleric’s body. “We don’t want the city to reclaim the abandoned temple if taxes are not paid,” one voice says. “What shall be done?” After deliberations the group decides to hide the body and pay the taxes and debts themselves in order to take over the temple. Meucci searches the pockets of the fallen cleric and finds a note stating that his debt is a mere 25gp, 5gp of which has been paid, and is being charged an interest rate of 100% per week. The wizard has a clever idea, which the group follows. The cleric’s body, weapons and all, are tossed into the bottomless pit that was discovered on a previous expedition [Session 9]. 

Before leaving, the group searches a bit further only to find a room with 40 alcoves. In this room there is a chalk drawing on the floor, of which Thyle makes a sketching. Also found in the room is a Ruby Ring, Topaz Gem, 64 pp and a mechanical lever. After much debate the ranger pushes the lever but nothing seems to happen. Further down the hallway, with Ward and Durnik in front, the party suddenly becomes cut off by a large heavy portcullis. The two in front are cut off from the rest of the party.  Those trapped in back can merely watch as a door in front of their two companions opens and a black mist pours toward them. They begin frantically slashing at the mist. Thyle, thinking quickly, runs back to the lever and pulls it which lifts the portcullis! In the ensuing battle the mist creature is slain. Freaked out, the party flees back to the surface as quickly as possible.


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## Inez Hull (Jul 23, 2014)

Any more session updates


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