Feno, Armatzi, Lhoss, Tatania, and Niki woke in Orlane to a beautiful summer morning. After a hearty breakfast, they decided to return to the barrow marsh to finish their task of digging out and draining the water from the mound they had been exploring. About two hours outside of town, the group was hailed by a cluster of farmers. Hans and his sons (Fredrick and Daniel), Peter, and Jonas relayed their experiences with a terrifying presence near their farms. For the past 4-5 nights in a row, they have heard moans, tearing sounds, and screaming coming from the Dim Forest. The unsettling noises come late at night, often waking the men, although their livestock has not been affected -- yet. The heroes told the men that they would look into the source of the disturbances. Grateful, the farmers sent the group on their way, secure in the notion that they have these brave adventurers as defenders.
The party wended its usual path through the Dim Forest, keeping a keen eye and ear for unusual motion of sound. But the adventurers found the forest to be its silent, gloomy norm. They planned to return in the night to find the source of the farmers' terrors.
Slightly unsure of where they had been working, the group made their way over to where they remembered and indeed found the spot. With Feno and Niki on guard, the others began to dig. Not much progress had been made before Feno spotted a troupe of skeletons. Feno was the first to strike and with one mighty blow, dealt mortal damage to the creature for a second time in its cursed existence. Tatania was injured while she prepared her magic missile, which spoiled the spell. Fortunately, Armatzi was able to turn the skeletons (a skill he is quite good at) and the monsters that did not flee in time were slaughtered. The adventurers returned to digging when shortly the noisy endeavor called forth more skeletons. Armatzi again used his turn undead ability and again the bony devils either ran and escaped or were smashed to shrapnel. Again, half of the party turned to finish the task of digging when a horrifying screech pierced the air. Although all were filled with fear, they pressed on determined to complete the digging. Once again, a screech twisted their innards into knots. Swallowing their fear, they pressed on and finally drained the water around the barrow.
What they saw was a large, sealed tomb. An 8 foot tall, 5 foot wide granite slab stared at them with no discernable door. Luckily, the druid knew a spell to shape stone. With the incantation "be gone!" a hole appeared large enough for all to climb through one at at time.
Just inside, stairs descended to a hallway with doors to the left and right. Lhoss placed marbles on the stairs to thwart anything that might follow in to surprise the group. The left door opened easily and held a wonderous statue. It was an elf warrior, holding aloft a sword that shone in the darkness. He was depicted holding off three lizard men. The two elves were in awe beholding this mighty warrior. This seemed a safe spot to eat lunch and recover spells. After the break, they pressed on to the passageway to the north. It led to a room with an Elven tomb topped with a green burial shroud in tatters and boots that appeared in perfect shape. The tomb was also surrounded by frescoes depicting the elf as a defender of the Dim Forest. Lhoss found herself drawn to the boots. They were well-made Elven boots. She and Feno knew that Elven boots form to the foot of the wearer. Trusting in the Elven maker of these boots, Lhoss slipped them on. She found that they made her movements silent. In fact, it was nearly impossible to create noise while wearing them. Lhoss did not entertain any discussion about who should wear them. Clearly they were meant for an Elven thief! Feno was filled with reverence for the scene and left a copper piece on the tomb. Immediately it melded and became part of the tomb. Lhoss followed suit.
The group backed out of the room to the statue of the elf holding the sword aloft. Lhoss found herself feeling much at home and of a kinship with this hero. She bowed her head in a moment of quiet contemplation and reverence and was filled with warmth and camaraderie. Lhoss felt strongly that the sword should be left where it was and Feno agreed. Showing deference to the Elves, the others acquiesced.
The adventurers passed back into the hallway where Feno spotted a hidden door. Inside was a funerary box. The skeleton inside had a fine silver ring set with diamonds and engraved with the Elven runes LRL. The mood of reverence took hold of Lhoss again and she expressed hesitation at taking the ring. The party decided to leave it alone for now.
The last door beckoned and Feno charged in... and promptly fell into a spiked pit. They had been lured into a false sense of safety and had stopped any of their normal cautious behavior. Immediately Feno began to choke on the yellow mold that covered him. Lhoss threw down her rope and pulled him out, but Feno continued to suffer harm from the mold. Lhoss poured water over him to wash off the spores, but the poisonous particles had already infiltrated Feno's lungs. Niki attempted to memorize a cure poison spell, but found she was too upset and exhausted to do so. Armatzi cast a slow poison and cured his injures, which was helpful, but the poison would continue to slowly affect Feno. Digging through his pack, Feno withdrew a vial of cure poison. He downed it in one gulp which brought up a regurgitated mass of mucus and mold. Cured and shaken Feno cast his eyes around the tomb with a new feeling of suspicion and no desire to go back into that room. An attempt at praying for spells proved to be impossible for Armatzi as well. The morning had been short yet stressful.
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