Our heroes find themselves somewhat reduced in number. Only Lhoss, Kyro, Arnd, Feno, and Niki have appeared for this day's adventure. Sergius has been persuaded to adventure with another party and Armatzi has been called away on urgent business. There is a persistent rumor that Armatzi has joined a dance troupe, but that has not been confirmed. No matter! This is a seasoned party who can face whatever dangers there are to be found in the barrow maze, right?
The first doorway the adventurers encountered looked like the door had been blasted clean off. The interior was a mess of tattered amber robes and burial alcoves that appeared to have been hastily looted. Feno observed some footprints in the dust and ash on the floor. They were humanoid, possibly elf. Kyro despaired at the state of the room left by (apparently) other adventurers. Lhoss spotted a single gold piece that was overlooked by the sloppy marauders.
At the next door, Lhoss checked for any traps, but found none. The door was flung open and behind it was a horde of zombies, some armed with crossbows. Feno reached into his bag and produced a vial of holy water, which he threw at the zombies. It must've slipped from his grasp before release, because the glass arced somewhat awkwardly before it glanced off of one of the zombie's tattered rags and clinked harmlessly to the ground without breaking. This was but a small bump in the road on the path to slaying all of the evil creatures, though Feno took a fair amount of damage from some funeral pyre zombies that exploded in a stinking conflagration. The party collected the few crossbows and with nothing else of value, moved on to the next room.
Not far away was another door that stood ajar. Feno peeked in and observed a runic tablet in the middle of the floor and burial alcoves lining the walls. Arnd probed the floor with the 10-foot pole to check for floor traps. Then Niki, Kyro, Lhoss, and Arnd proceeded to search the alcoves while Feno kept guard. The group had done little searching when Feno's sharp ears picked up some scraping sounds. Oh no, more zombies! Just then, Niki claimed to hear Fernadette calling out to her and disappeared in a flash. Only four heroes? More than enough! Feno had an improbable miss, followed by more missed swings from Arnd and Lhoss. Kyro turned the tides of the battle with a clutch bullseye struck with his arrow. This seemed to bolster Feno and Arnd who killed off the remaining undead creatures.
Everyone returned to their tasks, Feno keeping guard, while the rest looted the burial alcoves. Feno saw some approaching fire beetles and called out to Lhoss in Elvish. Lhoss called back (also in Elvish) if he needed any help. He responded "not yet" so Lhoss shrugged and got back to searching. Arnd and Kyro, not understanding Elvish, rolled their eyes at the pair and also continued to work. Feno dispatched the bugs easily and collected their glowing antennae to be used as torches. Then he heard something that gave him pause: human voices. He closed the door that he had been guarding and retreated to the alcove room and barred that door from entry. The voices and footsteps outside drew closer. Lhoss suggested they might be just another adventuring party with no ill intentions. She flung open the door and the group outside immediately began to flee. Lhoss called after them that they were merely adventurers and meant no harm, when she recognized the insignia of The Band of the Black Hand. Correction, now they did mean them harm.
A dozen men scurried away down the hall while our heroes gave chase. Lhoss cast a sleep spell that caused nine men to fall to the ground unconscious. Feno, Kyro, and Arnd were able to shoot and kill the three who evaded the spell and fled. The largest of the sleeping men was tied up and held for questioning, while the other eight men were quickly dispatched with slit throats. Will they bring that vile brute back to Orlane? If they do, your old storyteller Vilma will have nothing whatsoever to do with it.
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