Session 64: Late morning of Day 10 of Flocktime

 The group (Lhoss, Hilja, Gnorica, Arnd, Tatania, Kyro, Armatzi, and Chiki) all had lunch in the warmth of the dim forest, just before the trail that goes down into the depression of Barrowmaze. The group had some discussion of what to do, and the group decided to explore the surface area of the Barrows and try to find the barrow where Calburn is suspected to be located (which was seen in the scrying pool earlier on). 

After surveying the area a bit, the group proceeded to the main entrance, and then proceeded east a bit. A barrow mound of some kind was seen to the east, which had some growth over it. As the group approached, they saw that the growth was swamp weeds and cattails, and that the barrow was filled with dank brown water. 

Kyro and Tatania were leading out with 10 foot poles and Kyro decided to probe the water with his pole. Unfortunately, he was completely taken by surprise by two giant toads, which attacked him voraciously and nearly killed him. The party came to the rescue, and were able to vanquish the toads, with Gnorica doing her patented flip onto the back of a toad and eviscerating it there. 

The group rested, but were disturbed during the middle by some zombies from the north area. Armatzi continued to pray for spells (as he had used all of his heals on Kyro). Kyro was incapacitated, recovering from the attack, and also with a nasty gash in his side that could not be healed. Fortunately, the party were able to defeat the zombies after a scuffle. Hilja cast entangle for the first time, which proved useful in holding one of the zombies to the ground. The group then finished resting up. 

Session 63: Day 9-10 of Flocktime: A Replenishing Visit to Orlane

As the evening approached, our party decided to head back to Orlane. Along the path, we encountered a haughty cavalier by the name Zein. He was a bit put off by our haggard appearances (everyone looks a little bit rough after doing battle in the barrowmaze), but seemed intrigued by our adventuring. Zein mentioned that he had been looking for a group to join up with, so we offered to let him join us (as much as his busy schedule would permit).

At our usual resting place (the Slumbering Serpent), we were met by the proprietor Olwin. He was sorry to relay that there was no room at all. We decided to try the Golden Grain Inn, but it likewise was fully booked for the night. Feeling pangs of trepidation, we headed over to the Foaming Mug which had been renovated and opened for business. For many of us, this was the first time we had set foot in the place since we had discovered and slaughtered a den of troglodytes in the basement store rooms. But the inn had been transformed into a cozy respite where we all felt comfortable staying for the night, especially when we were served a delicious meal of chicken and bacon pasties with a side of braised greens.

During the dinner, Lhoss overheard a pair of farmers bemoaning the scourge of frogmen encroaching onto their lands. Lhoss and Tatania approached and attempted to get more information from them, but the two men seemed affronted by the incursion into their conversation. Lhoss attempted to smooth things over by mentioning that our group of adventurers (she may have invoked her favorite calling card "The Saviors of Orlean") had done battle with these same vile creatures in our attempts to cleanse the barrowmaze of the evils that possess it. That actually did put the men at ease and they relayed that these frogmen tended to hibernate (or brumate) in the muck and mire and then emerge in the warmer months to harass farmers in the outskirts. As a gesture of appreciation, the farmers bought a pint of ale for both Tatania and Lhoss. While the rest of the party retired for the evening, Ronan attempted to gather some additional information, but came up empty handed and eventually went to bed too. 

A delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, fresh bread, milk, and blackberry juice was served to all guests and our cadre wolfed down a hearty helping. There is always business to do in town, and today was no exception. We headed over to the jeweler, Tandid Schulp, to hock our wares for a hefty sum. Lhoss decided to head over to see Merit Lage at the village store to stock up on oil. Zein scoffed at her for using such a lowly weapon. Lhoss, in an attempt to get his goat, replied "wait'll you see what this stuff does to zombies!", but the man is positively unflappable. Others in the group stocked up on supplies. Gnorcia decided to buy some chickens from Hewitt Twain and as payment for their care, he receives half of their eggs. A tidy little transaction.

Lhoss, ever seeking the company (or even just the sight of) fellow elves, popped over to check if Dorian and Llewelyn were in town. Alas, they were not. But she did have a cheerful chat with the mayor who invited our troupe to dine with him when next we are in town. With business done, we headed out toward the barrowmaze.

Session 62: Day 9 of Flocktime: An Exhausting Series of Battles in the Barrowmaze

Adelbertus and Armaziti healed themselves and everyone rememorized spells. The group talked about what other questions they might have for the scrying bowl, and decided to go back and try again. Armaziti rememorized his conjure water spell, but as he did so the group heard a loud noise coming from the south. Immediately they noticed a creature coming toward them down the hallway and it appeared to be a large, fast-moving zombie with enormous fangs! It ran up and swiped its nasty hand across Arnd, leaving him bleeding badly. Chiki turned and swung his sword, but missed. Arnd retaliated with a hard swing from Bonesplitter, making the creature scream in pain. As he did, I vaulted over Chiki and got behind the creature, bounding up and opening up its back. As the short battle ended, Armaziti came running out of the room where he had been memorizing his spell and quickly healed Arnd, then sat down again to rememorize that spell.

The group lined up in marching order and headed back to the room with the scrying bowl. Armaziti cried out “Aquamenti” and conjured water, filling the bowl, and the magic users in the group (Lhoss, Tatania, and myself) all felt the pull of the bowl’s power. Lhoss prepared herself to begin scrying. Lhoss concentrated on Naynor and the note she had from him, but saw only headache-inducing darkness. Dropping that thought, she concentrated instead on the sword, thinking of the bounties of the goddess Merika. She the had the distinct impression that there was another deity enhancing her vision, likely Merika aiding the quest. She could see a statue of a knight in a darkened room, and it was holding the sword, which glowed with its own light. It appeared to be in a tomb in the barrows area, but in its own tomb to the east, not inside the barrowmaze.

The water drained and as before six shadows came out of the statues, attacking the party. Armaziti attempted to use his cleric ability to turn undead and it appeared for a moment that it might work, but the shadows all failed to turn. Hilja cast faerie fire, bathing the shadows in light. Tatania and Adelbertus both attacked and damaged the shadows in front of them. Kyro, lacking a magical weapon, pulled out a vial of holy water and threw it at the shadow in from of him in the corner, hitting it. Arnd and I attempted to attack the shadow in front of Tatania but both failed miserably, practically tripping over ourselves in the process. Chiki also attempted to attack and failed. The shadows attacked Tatania, Armaziti, and Chiki, damaging them all and draining strength from each of them. Lhoss threw a bottle of hot, burning oil, damaging one shadow and splashing another as well as Armaziti. Armaziti then threw a vial of holy water it flew high, hitting the wall behind and just splashing a few drops back onto the creature in front of him.

Chiki swung again and was once more ineffective. It was starting to look like a tough shadow battle for gnomes and dwarves. Adelbertus, however, swung and hit. Angry at having missed with my first attack, I screamed and jumped up at the shadow, slicing down the creature and killing it. Arnd tried to do the same thing, running at the shadow facing Kyro and screaming “Bonesplitter!” but somehow missed. Chiki, Adelbertus, and Armaziti were all hit again by the shadows, losing even more strength. Arnd swung wildly and missed yet again, but Armaziti hit, and both Lhoss and Tatania finished off one shadow each. Lhoss jumped in for a backstab and Adelbertus swung and together they managed to destroy another one. Kyro, unable to defend himself, was hit and felt his strength begin to drain. Still swinging wildly, Arnd found himself completely ineffective at hitting anything. Kyro tried backing away from the last shadow in the corner, but it hit him just as Lhoss ran in to finish it off. Breathing hard, the party paused to healed up and rest to regain our strength lost to the shadows. We then ate some dinner and rememorized spells.

As the clerics were memorizing their final spells, two nasty zombie-like creatures came through the door and attacked Kyro and Hilja. Lhoss and I both ran up behind the creatures and attacked, doing great damage to them. Chiki attacked the creature on Kyro, hitting it, and Arnd, Lhoss, and Tatania finished off the one on Hilja. Kyro swung and hit the one in front of him and then I finished it off with another hit from behind. All of this went on as Armaziti and Adelbertus sat in the corner, quietly praying. Recovered, the group headed back past where Armaziti had fallen into a pit on a previous day.

We moved farther down the hallway and examined some rubble and the walls of the alcove behind it, but found nothing. Kyro and Tatania stepped forward and looked farther down the hallway, then shouted that something bad was coming. It was more skeletons with blue sapphires in their foreheads! Tatania fired a magic missile, damaging the one attacking her as the two in front attacked her and Kyro, hitting them both. Arnd ran up and grabbed Tatania, pulling her back and taking her place as Armaziti cast a heal on her. The skeleton attacked her again and hit, but she survived as the heal took effect.

Chiki and I both threw burning oil and did some damage to the group of skeletons. Kyro and Tatania both hit one, destroying it, and the blue sapphire began pulsing as Adelbertus and Armaziti ran forward to smash it to pieces. Lhoss cast a magic missile and destroyed another skeleton, with its gem beginning its pulsing countdown. Kyro and I both attacked the gem, damaging it, as Chiki threw another vial of oil, hitting skeletons as well as me. The skeletons attacked again, hitting both Arnd and I as Armaziti moved in and finished off the gem. Enjoying the effects of burning oil splashing everywhere, Chiki threw yet another vial, hitting just about everyone and doing a little damage to one skeleton. Adelbertus smashed the skeleton in front of Arnd, destroying it, and Kyro and Armaziti both destroyed that gem. I turned and destroyed the final skeleton, and Lhoss, Arnd, Tatania, and Adelbertus all attacked and destroyed its gem.

 
We all breathed a sigh of relief. That was an exhausting series of battles! Tatania gathered up all the shards of sapphire that were strewn about the floor among the many bones from the skeletons as we rested and considered what to do next.

Session 61: Flocktime 8 and early Flocktime 9

 After the encounter at the scrying pool, Arnd, Armatzi, Gnorcia, Dwerom, Tatania, and Kyro regrouped and rested, memorizing and praying for spells. A strange gust of wind blew into the chambers and blew out Kyro's torch, a minor annoyance that was quickly fixed. Gnorcia spent some time looking around, and found a pile of stones set in a pyramid. She dismantled it, and then reconstructed it after finding nothing of interest. The group also ate dinner, and then travelled back to Orlane, arriving later in the evening at the Slumbering Serpent and agreed to the common room setup. 

The group had breakfast the next morning, and watited for the shops to open up. Once they were open, some provision were purchased, the sapphire gem pieces were sold, and some holy water was purchased from the Temple of Merikka. It was discovered that they produce 10 vials each week, so there will be a steady supply. 

The group left Orlane and headed back to the main entry point to Barrowmaze, having lunch before descending into the foreboding valley. The group made their way back to the area they were in the day before, and proceeded down a new passageway. Armatzi discovered a pit trap by falling into it. Fortunately, he was not badly injured, and there was nothing else in the pit. He was helped out, and the group then approached the walled off section to the north that had been examined earlier. 

The group decided to break down this brick wall, which was very noisy - three of them working on the wall. It was taken down quickly, and without any disturbance. A new passageway with three doors on the left was discovered. 

The first door was locked. Gnorcia, having a love for keys, tried all that she had found, but none of them fit. She then picked the lock, and opened the door. A skeleton was found on the floor, which proved to be inanimate. There were runes on the western wall in charcoal that were examined, but they were indecipherable, even with Tatania's magic glasses (due to being old and worn). Two electrum bracelets were found on the skeleton, and they were claimed after some careful checking. Nothing else was found in the room. 

The next door to the north also proved to be locked, and the last door was checked, and was also locked. The keys proved to be useless, and this time Tatania used her knock spell to open both doors. The middle room proved to hold several animated skeletons, that were fairly easily dispatched. Two platinum necklaces were found, as well as a runic tablet. Tatania threw caution to the wind, and read the tablet, which imbued her with a magical protection to succeed on her next saving throw. Also, there was a yellow potion (yet to be identified), and two bags of coins: 400 sp and 20 gp. The coins were divided up with the party. Tatania memorized her spells again without problem, and the third door was opened. 

A nest of several rats was found, and many of them were killed. The rest fled in fear through small cracks in the room. A silver locket was found amongst a bunch of rotted tapestries and other junk. 

Session 60: Continuation of Day 8 of Flocktime: Answers Have a Cost

Our small group (Lhoss, Gnorcia, Armaziti, Hilja, and Arnd) was surprised to be joined by the capable, if little-known, henchman Dwerom. We are always accepting of allies to assist and will press on with whatever mix of heroes show up for the adventure. We took a vote and decided to get back to the task of searching the octagonal burial alcoves. The search yielded a lot of copper pieces which were divided evenly and we moved on.

Behind the first door we opened, we found a pile of rubble in the southeast corner. Gnorcia was the first to probe the pile, with the rest of us right behind her. She discovered that the pile was actually a cleverly disguised stash of supplies. The neatly organized pile included a sledgehammer, iron spikes, oil flasks, torches, arrows, crossbow bolts, and a curious bottle of iridescent blue liquid. We added all of the items to our inventory. Hopefully whoever left these things behind isn't a noble soul whose life depends on these supplies to save their life!

We saw a brick wall and naturally wondered what was on the other side of it. Using our newly acquired sledgehammer, along with the two we already had, Arnd, Dwerom, and Armaziti bashed the wall down. Right away, we felt a cold chill, heard raspy, ragged breathing, and saw a skeletal figure clothed in a robe. Lhoss immediately hit it with a magic missile and Hilja followed by casting faerie fire and bathing it in blue light. Dwerom was unable to hit with two arrows and Armaziti was unsuccessful in turning the undead. The evil creature let out a nasty hiss in response. Arnd attacked with Bonesplitter and landed a decisive hit. Gnorcia then knocked the thing unconscious with color spray. Arnd was able to finish it off, smashing it to pieces. Armaziti inspected the foul creature and identified it as a huecuva, a dangerous undead foe with a touch that produces a similar effect as the mummy's curse. Not wanting to come in contact even accidentally, Gnorcia swept the remains to the side. 

Beyond the brick rubble, we saw a trapezoidal room with six armored stone knights lining the perimeter that each had a skull inset into the wall. In the middle of the room sat a 3 by 3 foot stone bowl with an empty bronze water jug next to it. The party wanted to fill the bowl with water, but were all loathe to empty our water skins to do it. Armaziti memorized and then cast a create water spell, filling the bowl. The water inside began to glow a tantalizing green color, attracting the gaze of Armaziti, Gnorcia, and Lhoss. Lhoss was the first to step up to the bowl and could see that it functioned as a mystical augury, a crystal ball if you will. She knew if she asked it a question, she could see the answer reflected back to her. Going with the first thing that sprung to her mind, she asked if Derrik was still in the barrowmaze. She possessed a ring and tunic that had belonged to him and also a paper with his own writing, which likely aided in the success of the effect. Lhoss was able to see a vision of Derrik, clearly in the barrowmaze (although not in an identifiable spot) conversing with someone unknown. That seemed to be a useful scrap of intel! But what happened next was unexpected...

The eyes of the embedded skulls glowed green, releasing six shadow creatures. Arnd leapt into action, delivering a nice slice with Bonesplitter. Gnorcia attacked with Vengeance, while Lhoss and Dweron killed two by dousing them in burning oil. Meanwhile, two shadows were successful in their strikes, one against Armaziti, one against Gnorcia. Their blows seemed especially damaging, not only causing injury, but also able to drain strength. Armaziti and Arnd were the next successful targets of the creatures. Although Dwerom knew he did not have a magical weapon that could damage the villains, he sliced at one to distract it from pressing its attack on Arnd. Lhoss connected with a magic missile while Gnorcia was able to land another blow. Alas, Melissa and Bonesplitter could not connect. Dwerom's distraction tactic worked and one of the creatures that had been attacking Arnd turned and hit Dwerom instead. But Arnd was not out of the woods as another shadow continued to attack and hit him, draining his strength. After dodging an attack, Armaziti shattered one of the foes with Melissa. Lhoss managed to put herself in a favorable position and offed another with Gary. After an extended back and forth between the heroes and the shadows, Armaziti destroyed one and used turn undead against the other. As it cowered in fear, Gnorcia finished off the last adversary.