Session 76 Day 14 & 15 of Flocktime

Participants - Feno the wood elf fighter / thief, Armatzi the human cleric, Gnorcia the gnomish illusionist / thief, Dwerom the high elf fighter / magic-user,  Tatania the human magic-user, and Arnd the dwarvish fighter

The group remained in the chamber with the statue of Merikka. After a little discussion, Gnorcia offered up a prayer to Merikka. As soon as she said the name "Merikka", a conversation echoed through the chamber of four different voices. The group quickly deduced that they were the past voices of the four dead adventurers in the room. Apparently the group fought some "demon bats" just after the conversation and were presumably defeated by them. 

The group then went into the other chamber, and Feno began to pry out gems, retrieving a malachite in about 2 minutes work. The group did a quick estimation - they could quickly remove all the gemstones, decreasing their value, or they could remove them all carefully, but spending more time and making just as much noise. The group decided on the second option, however something was alerted, and Gnorcia could see something around the corner from the pit before it disappeared. 

Gnorcia snuck silently along the edge of the pit and peaked around, but she was expected, grabbed, and quickly bound and gagged. She got out a quick scream before this occurred. Most of the group cautiously crossed the pit, but Arnd was enraged, and charged across, holding onto the rope. The party was dismayed to find that they again faced off against the dastardly band of the black hand. However, the group was able to defeat them, in large part to the impressive prowess of Feno. Three members fled successfully, and the group only half-heartedly attempted a pursuit. 

The remaining gems were removed, a total of 40 gems. The group then moved west through the previously discovered secret door, and found what looked like an obvious trap: a small pile of gold pieces and a rock. After examining the area, Feno prodded with the ten foot pole. This triggered a plate, which dropped a heavy portcullis, shattering the pole. The grid of the portcullis was 3 inches wide, keeping even tiny Gnorcia from squeezing through. 

There were some burial alcoves observed behind it, and the group was eager to plunder those, so most of the group tried lifting the portcullis, to no avail. Finally, Gnorcia lent her help, which proved the last bit needed, and the portcullis was pushed back up into the ceiling. 

After searching the alcoves, the group found 25 platinum pieces (as well as the 5 decoy gold pieces) and 3 pearls. The group then decided that was enough, and headed back to Orlane. The trip went without event, and they enjoyed another excellent meal at the Foaming Mug (a delicious meal of letelorye (a kind of custard), seasonal fruit, and beer). 

The group then had a well earned rest, and the next morning after breakfast, sold all the items recently acquired, with henchmen gaining about 191 gold, and the main party members 382 (Lhoss was voted a share despite not being in attendance, do to her efforts to gain the bulk of the treasure).