I (Lhoss) found myself briefly separated from the party, but soon was able to catch up and found that much had transpired in my absence. For one, a belligerent dwarf named Arnd who had joined our party took an immediate dislike to me. I had no immediate quarrel with the lad, but his rough attitude toward me disposed me to dislike him right away. I find myself enjoying "poking the bear" to get a rise out of him. Either I will have to win him over or bury my dagger in him. Time will tell how this will play out.
Our group healed up and readied our spells in anticipation of combat. We decided that we needed to return to the village for a few more supplies to adequately explore the barrowmaze completely, but we should do some more searching and set off toward the evening.
We headed northward and came upon a goblin, lazily leaning on a sign that said "No Crossing". He said that this part of the dungeon is under construction and we could not pass. Gnorcia spoke with the goblin and said that he is harmless. We gently prodded to see if we could move through, but were rebuffed. There were a few areas like this that had been set with a goblin guard that we were unable to proceed through. We decided to explore other parts of the maze that seemed available to us.
Gnorcia peeked through an open door and saw some broken tablets in a pile on the floor. I attempted to read them, but could only make out scraps. They seemed to tell about Nerul, Orcus, and Set. I saw a glint of silver beneath the pile. When I shifted the pile, I saw a silver war hammer. As the discoverer, I named the mighty hammer (as is my right). For such a majestic weapon, the appropriate name was obvious: Melissa. I gave Melissa to Aramaziti, as I could not wield it and he seemed the best candidate. Although he balked at the chosen name (I don't know why; Melissa suits the weapon perfectly), he was eager to put it to use.
Gnorcia and I tried to pick a locked door. We were unsuccessful, so Chiki smashed it down with his mace. Behind the door was a robed skeleton with a bowl of platinum pieces at its head. I nudged the bowl away from the bones and Chiki swooped in and scooped up the loot. The walls of the room were painted with disconcerting frescoes of worshipers of Nerul. Feeling uncomfortable, we fled the room.
Rounding a corner, Calbach encountered five large glowing red beetles. One insect quickly attacked Martin, our torchbearer, killing him instantly. Poor, sweet Martin! In a wave of grief and rage, I cast a sleeping spell over the creatures and our party dispatched with them by stabbing and squishing them. Gnorcia realized that their antennae glowed even after they were dead. She quickly gathered up all of the appendages and gave them to those in our party that don't have darkvision to use in lieu of torches. In an impromptu funeral ceremony, I dragged Martin's body away from the slain beetles against a wall. I sang him a plaintive song to honor his passing. Overcome with emotion, the entire party covered their ears. I've never seen that form of mourning, but we all cope in our own ways.
Next, we entered a strange room with three colored pools: one red, one black, one purple. Gnorcia dropped crystal shards into the pools with no effect. I dipped a piece of bandage into the red pool. Again, no effect. I attempted to light the damp bandage, but it wouldn't ignite. Feeling that there was more to learn, we decided to leave the pools and return when we had a better idea what we should do there.
We approached a large portcullis that blocked our progress. Arnd thought he would impress us all by trying to lift it, but in the end, it took me, Arnd, Armaziti, Gnorcia, and Calbach working together to lift it. We progressed through and came upon five giant rats. The party took them down with some effort (and some damage). After their defeat, we discovered two platinum bracelets. In another room, I picked up two silver statues of robed women. Our aim of exploring the barrowmaze is twofold: find Derrik and gather treasure. At least one of our objectives is being met!
In another room we saw a ghostly figure that seemed to be reenacting their last moments before being killed. It was an eerie sight to see it looping what must have been a terrifying end. Aramaziti fortunately had the skills and knowledge to set this spirt free with a blessing. It seemed grateful to be released to the beyond.
The final room we entered had two corpses laying prone on the floor. I called out to them to see if they were truly dead. If you ask, they have to tell you. Otherwise it's entrapment. They did not respond. I tried to poke one with my staff, and the trickster devil sprang up! They weren't dead, they were undead! I was viciously slashed and lay bleeding on the ground. Luckily Gnorcia bound my wounds and she and Chalkboi were able to dispatch the two nasty creatures. With intent to return to the village, we healed up and rested ourselves.
