It is Day 8 of Fireseek, and a full party (Arnd, Feno, Gnorcia, Tyrion, Niki, Llqui, Lhoss, and Kyro) head out to the barrow marsh. It is noted that the Dim Forest is no longer in active decline into fetid decay, nor has it healed beyond what had been previously seen; the woods seem to be in a stasis for now. The journey is uneventful and the party hopes to make this a short trip, only to gather some treasure they left behind and collect tokens of identification from the slain members of the Band of the Black Hand.
Fortunately for the adventurers, neither the treasure nor the bodies of the blackguards have been disturbed. The party makes short work of searching the remaining burial alcoves and tally the treasure which includes gold, scallop seashells, and a pearl. Then they scalp the eleven corpses of the Black Hand, wrapping each one in the deceased's tunic. The work was done so quickly, Feno suggests a smackerel of adventuring before they head back. Everyone else is amenable and so off they trek.
The first room they come upon holds a gargoyle perched on a ledge above two mummified bodies. It is a smallish gargoyle, and it looks upon Arnd and rasps out "so thirsty!" Before anyone else can assess the situation, Arnd throws his mighty war hammer (Witherbrand) at the creature and smashes it to pebbles which scatter harmlessly on the ground. Arnd mutters something about gargoyles being distrustful creatures and declares that he will not be tricked again.
The magic users are all intrigued but wary of the two runic tablets that are spotted laying on the mummies' chests. Tyrion, who has not had much experience with runic tablets, boldly walks up and reads the first one. He can see it is a clerical spell for Prayer. The tablet is placed in the bag of holding for later use. Emboldened by his success, Tyrion reaches for the second tablet. As his eyes scan across the stone, Tyrion begins to sway and gibber. Just as a far away look passes over him, Tyrion seems to brace himself and shake off whatever strange power was trying to take hold. The second tablet turns to dust in his hands. A brush with danger, it seems!
The rest of the room is examined and two things stand out: Arnd notices that one wall is significantly newer than the others and upon this wall Feno spots the letter E engraved in Elvish. Feno calls out to Lhoss who uses her spider climb ability to scurry up the wall and examine the letter more closely. She looks around it for any physical traps and finds none. Niki casts detect magic, but also finds none. Lhoss traces the letter with her fingertips and feels an affinity for the elf who carved it. She cleans it with some water and speaks the letter aloud in Elvish. Nothing happens. She remembers that in ancient Elvish, the letter E has a different sound, so she speaks that aloud. Nothing happens. With further cleaning, Lhoss uncovers the word Ehbrand, which she recognizes as the name of an ancient Elvish architect. The remains of the gargoyle seem to sense the water Lhoss is using to clean and the group swears they hear a faint "so thirsty" again. Tyrion decides to pee on the rubble. If that solved anything, who could say, because nothing more is heard from the stones on the ground.
On the way back to Orlane through the Dim Forest, Lhoss hears an owl take wing. She takes this as an omen of healing and a return of natural wildlife to the area. Perhaps things are not so static after all!
There are several folk from town in the inn's common room. Lhoss seeks out Elwin and asks him about the name Ehbrand. He tells her what he knows, which is much the same info Lhoss already has but says a rubbing could provide more insight. A few of the party see the mayor Zacharias and approach him to chat. Zacharias passes on that Merit Lage (the town shopkeeper who had been missing since the siege of Orlane) has been found. Belba is nursing him back to health at the Slumbering Serpent. The mayor is doing better than ever, but mentions that he still has strange memories and nightmares and even has a moment of confusion where he mistakes Feno for Dorian. Nevertheless, he encourages the heroes in their pursuit of the vile necromancers who were the cause of so much suffering and destruction. Lastly, Florian mentions to Gnorcia that another adventuring party is staying at the Golden Grain Inn and has been asking after the Saviors of Orlane. Florian says candidly that Bertram may or may not be helpful in informing on his patrons.
The next morning, Feno, Gnorcia, and Lhoss track down Bernard and show him the scalps from the Black Hand members. He is most pleased, pays the promised bounty, and buys a packed lunch for the whole party. Bernard mentions that if they bring back insignia from any higher-ranking Black Hand villains, their payout will be even higher.
The group travel back to the barrow maze through some light snow. Lhoss makes a rubbing of the wall for Elwin and the party moves on to a bricked-over section of wall. They bash it down with sledgehammers. Luckily the noise does not attract any unfriendly creatures, that is unless you count the three heucuvas that are behind the rubble! One evil creature slashes at Arnd, but the dwarf is made of tough stuff and does not succumb to its poison. In turn, Feno and Arnd are able to slay two of the creatures with one blow apiece. Lhoss spider climbs along the ceiling, drops behind the third, and destroys it with a devastating backstab from her magic dagger, Gary.
The room contains numerous burial alcoves, in which the party finds magical studded armor and platinum. There is also a door that appears mystical and has strange etchings. Lhoss examines it, but cannot identify the magical glyphs. Niki steps up and hastily opens the door, where she is engulfed and burned with magical fire. Singed, but not defeated, hopefully our druid will learn a lesson that danger may lurk anywhere in the barrow maze!
Your humble story teller,
Vilma
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