Session 106: A Column of Gems and Quest Reminders (Days 11-12 of Goodmonth)

Feno, Chalkboi, and Ronan stood guard at the door—which was now closed tightly and held by Feno—while the rest of us carefully chipped away at the gems. We then heard a noise from out in the hallway somewhere, like a door creaking open as if for the first time in centuries. Most of us stopped working on the gems and listened carefully, alert, but Kyro kept working away and got two more gems out while we waited. The sound had stopped and we realized all was still again in the barrowmaze. We went back to work on the gems again, and soon had 20 emeralds and 20 rubies, which we stashed in the bag of holding as we prepared to go back to town.

We returned to the exit we came in by, and out into the oppressive silence of the Barrowmarsh. Walking back through the Dim Forest, we started to hear the sounds of creatures stirring in the darkness of the ancient trees. Leaving the forest behind, we caught the golden hues of the setting sun as we emerged into the farmlands and hurried back toward Orlane, passing farmers and their farmlands on the way.

Back in town, we were happy to see the people there and quickly went to the Foaming Mug Inn for dinner. The meal was amazing and full of bright fruits and vegetables, accompanied by a wide selection of drinks.

In my new quest to increase my comeliness, I sent my clothes away to be washed and asked the servants to help me bathe and braid my crown into a crown braid around my head before bed. Soon we were all asleep in our beds.

When we awoke on Day 12 of Goodmonth, we found an invitation from Vilma to join her for breakfast. Everyone was happy to attend the meal, though a certain penguin decided to go fishing instead.

Vilma’s home was bright and comforting, and the food smelled amazing. We all sat at a long table and found scrambled eggs, bacon, and fruits, along with freshly-brewed coffee and herbal teas. Vilma regaled us with stories of her youth and the history of Orlane, and we were all happy to listen and enjoy our time there. She also went on about how the Barrowmaze seems to have some sort of wicked enchantment over it, making it more dangerous than it used to be.

After breakfast we all wished Velma well and headed over to have the treasure valued and split between us. We also went to the general store and purchased various items there, and I ordered new clothing from the tailor.

I put in an order with the tailor for a dark forest green outfit to wear under my armor, and a dark-green cloak with a hood, adorned on the edges with gold embroidery of tiny keys, stars, suns, and eyes, and a leather clasp embossed with daggers. I also gave him a drawing of a dragon to be embroidered onto the back of the cloak, using dark thread that blends in with the dark green fabric so it is barely visible unless you know to look for it. The dragon’s sinewy body is coiled around a large moon and its wings are spread wide, as if ready to take flight at a moment's notice. The dragon's eyes are piercing and seem to follow you as you move. I also ordered decorative embossed leather straps for my boots, with keys, stars, suns, and eyes, and matching embossed wristbands for my gloves.

We noticed that a thunderstorm was looming and decided to stay in town for the day rather than travel to the Barrowmaze. During the day, Feno commented to Ronan that he was given a hard time when we were in Hookhill because Ronan had not reported to the Knights of Hookhill about the hunt for Naynor. Ronan quickly went to the Slumbering Serpent and spoke with Bernard, and the rest of us followed him to see how that would go. Bernard chastised him for not reporting in, then let him know that he needed to report weekly. Ronan named Chalkboi as his second, to check in with them if he wasn’t able to.

Ronan started asking questions and Bernard said that Naynor had been connected to the cults in the Barrowmaze and raiding travelers going through the Dim Forest, and that the order of St. Cuthbert is also very concerned about all the undead being generated in the barrowmaze and believes there is something unnatural happening there. He reminded us that the band of the Black Hand appear to be raiding the tombs also and they seem to include Derrick the Assassin among their ranks, who is also a follower of Naynor.

Bernard suggested that Armatzi could petition the order of St. Cuthbert for assistance with spells to help find Naynor, and Chalkboi could use Caliburn to better know how to solve the mysteries of the Barrowmaze because of its holy purpose to defeat the undead. He then charged Chalkboi to find the source of the evil and defeat it. When Lhoss piped up and joined in the conversation, Bernard considered her for a moment, then added that there was a substantial reward offered for both evidence and the removal of any of these groups: Accolades of Orcus, Necromancers of Set, or any followers of Narul. Sufficient evidence would be (uh)holy symbols, garments, brooches, and other evidence they had been defeated. They were also offering 10gp per scalp for Band of the Black Hand. Lhoss perked up at that, and I sat quietly listening, hoping not to garner the attention of Bernard so as to avoid getting some sort of commission from him.

We then split up and Kyro went to the temple to pray for insight. Lhoss and I then went to visit Ramne, as Lhoss was searching for information about gauntlets of dexterity. The two of us then joined Feno to visit the elves, where he was asking if they had any information about Naynor. Twice, from both Ramne and the elves, Lhoss was instructed to consult the sages in Hookhill or Hochoch for insight into finding those gauntlets. I was reminded that I have some business there, as well.

We retired that evening, planning to return to the Barrowmaze on Day 13.

Session 102: A Fur-ious Battle and an Amazing Discovery on Day 3 of Goodmonth

It was a bad situation for sure. Lhoss and I were battling undead Neb’Enakhet cats and rapidly losing to a furry of paw swipes and bites. Blood was spattering and fur flying everywhere but the rest of the party had been feared by the cats' awful attack screeches, dropping their weapons and running down the passageway, terrified. Suddenly, Chalkboi & Calbach appeared and immediately engaged in battle! We cheered as the cats found themselves outclawed with twice the number of opponents as they had been a moment before.

One of the cats attacking me turned to Calbach, giving me an opportunity to scratch it from behind with my dagger. I took it down and it gave a mournful howl as it fell. Two more turned and attacked Chalkboi, and one hit him with a claw attack. Alas, another two cats stayed in battle with Lhoss and her injuries were so bad that she quickly lay unconscious and bleeding on the ground. Another two cats attacked and hurt Calbach as well, but he swung and killed one of them, then turned and killed another that was attacking me. They both fell with mournful howls. I managed to turn and hit a feeble feline that was harassing me but somehow not doing any damage, destroying it.

As the battle continued, the cats hit all of us with many small swipes and bites, doing damage to everyone a little at a time. It was an awful fight and Chalkboi had to use Lay on Hands on himself at one point to keep from collapsing.

Then Niki came running back! It appeared that the fear from the meowlers' cries had worn off our compatriots. She tried to jump over a cat to get to Lhoss, but could neither kick it nor get past it. Jack was clinging to her back, fur bristling, and growling at everything. Kyro came running back and also couldn’t get past the cats, but bared Big Stabby and destroyed the creature instead. Emboldened by their return, I stood tall like a cat's tail and cried, “With great vengeance!” finishing off the cat next to me.

Niki then scrambled to heal Lhoss before she bled out and Calbach stepped up to destroy the last undead cat. As it fell, Jack jumped off of Niki’s shoulder and ran to the door of the room where the Neb’Enakhet had come from, sniffing around excitedly. Kyro and Calbach both followed and peeked in, and Kyro bravely went in to look at the fresco on the south wall, which turned out to be a disturbing mural of mummy cats worshipping Narul. They wanted none of that and came right back out, but Jack wandered in alone and began sniffing and pawing at a spot on the flagstone.

Curious, Niki followed him and discovered the stone was loose. She motioned to Calbach, who pried it open, revealing a bottle of golden-yellow liquid with flecks and a beautiful electrum ring. Gasping in excitement, Niki took out the ring and discovered it had two ghostly-green eyes staring back at her. She immediately cast Detect Magic on it, saying, “Draíocht a bhrath!” and found it was definitely magical.

Jack had been pacing back and forth in front of Niki, his tail twitching with excitement, but he suddenly stopped in front of her, made an excited howling meow, and put his paw out tentatively toward the ring. Niki slid the ring onto his paw and it fit as if it had been made for him! Jack turned and ran from the room, vanished down the hallway, then came running back, leaping from wall to wall in a sort of cat parkour move before skidding to a halt at Niki's feet.

Her eyes wide with excitement, Niki breathlessly inquired, "Hey there, little one! What have you been up to?"

"Meow, meow!" he said. "I've been exploring my new magical abilities!"

Everyone gasped and shouted in amazement. Jack could talk! That ring had to be the Lesser Ring of Jack that Niki had been searching for since she joined our adventuring party!

"Magical abilities?" Niki raised her eyebrows, looking both excited and terrified. "What do you mean?"

"Meow, meow, meow! I can do all sorts of amazing things now! I can teleport from one place to another in the blink of an eye, I can make objects float in the air with a flick of my paw, and I can even read your mind!" Jack lifted one paw, made a small gesture, and Calbach started floating a few inches off the ground!

"Wow, that's incredible!" Niki said. "How did you get these magical powers?"

"Meow, meow! I put on the Lesser Ring of Jack. Now, I go on the hunt!" Jack went to a small hole at the base of the wall, swiped, and caught a mouse, which he presented to Niki.

"That's amazing, little one! You must be the most talented cat in the world now." Niki gently stuffed the mouse into her pocket. It was still wriggling.

"Meow, meow! I certainly feel like it. But don't worry, I'll still cuddle up with you on the couch like always. Being magical hasn't changed my love for you." Jack then teleported out into the hallway and back again with another mouse in his mouth, then reappeared in the backpack, looking very pleased.

After a minute, Calbach slowly lowered back to the ground. We all stood still, gaping, until Kyro decided to speak to Jack, asking him, “Do you like me?” It was the question we had all often wondered and Jack immediately responded with a loud request for some food. Kyro pulled some lamb jerky out of his pack and handed it to the cat, who blinked twice to reveal a pouch around his neck, inserted the jerky, and began purring.

Jack then disappeared from the backpack and reappeared on Armatzi’s shoulder, saying, “How are you, priest of Saint Cuthbert?”

Wary of the new and strange antics of this cat, Armatzi paused before answering, then cautiously said, "Hello there, Jack. I hear you've been using your magical abilities to help people in need. That's very commendable."

"Meow, meow! Yes, I've been doing my best to make the world a better place. It's what any responsible cat would do with magical powers."

"I agree, Jack. It's important to use our abilities for good and to help those who can't help themselves," Armatzi continued. "That's one of the core principles of St. Cuthbert's teachings."

Jack walked back and forth across Armatzi's shoulders. "Meow, meow! I've heard of St. Cuthbert before. A powerful and wise god, so they say. Have you ever met him?"

Armatzi chuckled. "Well, not exactly. St. Cuthbert is a deity, so I can't meet him in the same way I would meet a mortal being. But I have felt his presence and guidance in my life, and I strive to follow his teachings every day."

"Meow, meow. That sounds very inspiring, Armatzi. I too strive to be a good cat and help those in need. Maybe we can work together on a project sometime?"

"Absolutely, Jack. It would be an honor to work alongside a cat with such a strong sense of duty and responsibility. Together, we can make a positive impact on the world."

Jack then stopped and squinted a moment before sticking the mouse in Armatzi’s ear, and said, “I smell tasty beef! Give it to me!”

Armatzi sighed, took the mouse out of his ear, and handed Jack some beef jerky, which he immediately stowed away in his pouch. Jack then reprimanded Armatzi for not wanting the mouse, saying it was a gift.

Anxious to join in the new conversation with the suddenly-talkative feline, Lhoss turned to Jack and said, "Hello Jack, how are you today?"

"Meow, meow! I'm doing great, Lhoss. I've been practicing my magic and exploring the world around me.”

"That's wonderful to hear, Jack," she answered. "I must say, I've been impressed by your magical abilities. You're a very clever cat!"

"Meow, meow! Thank you, Lhoss. I try my best to use my intelligence and quick thinking to solve problems and help others."

"It shows, Jack. Your ability to think on your feet and come up with creative solutions is truly remarkable. I've seen you use your magic to help people in ways that I wouldn't have even thought of." Lhoss reached out and flicked Armatzi's ear and he winced away from her.

"Meow, meow! I'm glad I can be of service. And I must say, I've learned a lot from you as well. Your knowledge and wisdom are an inspiration to me."

Lhoss bowed and continued, "That's very kind of you to say, Jack. I believe we make a great team - your cleverness and my experience complement each other well. Together, we can accomplish great things."

"Meow, meow! I couldn't agree more, Lhoss. Let's continue to use our skills and abilities to make the world a better place."

Quick to catch on, Calbach then approached Jack and said, "Hey there, Jack. I've been watching you use your magic and help people. You're quite impressive." Clearly the cat loved praise.

"Meow, meow! Thank you, Calbach. It's always good to hear positive feedback."

"I have to admit, at first I was skeptical of a cat having magical powers. But you've proven yourself to be quite capable."

"Meow, meow! I'm glad I could change your mind. I've always believed that animals can be just as capable as humans, if given the chance."

"I have to agree with you there, Jack. And I appreciate how you've used your abilities for good. It's not always easy to resist the temptation to use magic for personal gain."

Jack arched his back and stretched. "Meow, meow! I understand what you mean. But I believe that with great power comes great responsibility. It's important to use our abilities to help others, not just ourselves."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Jack. You're a wise and responsible cat. I'm glad to have you as a friend."

"Meow, meow! And I'm glad to have you as a friend too, Calbach. You're a skilled ranger and a true ally. Together, we can accomplish great things."

All this talk of doing good and accomplishing great things made me wonder if Jack had any mischief left in him after putting on that ring. I slowly approached him and began to communicate telepathically , staring deep into his eyes.

Just then we began to hear unnatural sounds coming from the south and it spooked us all terribly. I broke off the telepathic conversation with Jack as Niki and Armatzi scrambled to heal everyone and we ran from the tomb into the marsh. We exited the marsh into a warm summer rain, jogging back through the muck to the trail to the Dim Forest. Everything felt better after the rain washed off the grime and dirt from our day’s adventures. We finally left the Dim Forest and returned to Orlane.

We arrived at the inn hungry but refreshed. Florin approached and greeted us warmly, offering Mutton Stew as the day’s house specialty. It looked and smelled amazing. We all ordered the stew and Jack ordered two bowls, shocking the innkeeper.

“Is that a talking cat?” he gasped.

“Why yes, I am a talking cat. My name is Jack Cat.”

Jack sat up straight and requested the inn's best room, which happened to be my room. I told Jack that he was welcome to share the room with me and he replied that he would be taking the bed and I could sleep on the floor!

Just then our meal arrived and Lhoss noticed that the elves were also there for dinner. They invited Lhoss, Niki, and me to join them. Jack strolled over and immediately curled up between the elves, purring himself to sleep.

Everyone was laughing and talking about the talking cat when suddenly Zraith appeared and began to speak to Armatzi, apologizing deeply for not being with him to go to the Barrowmaze. She appeared to have a large fish in her beak.

“I am greatly ashamed at my behavior,” she said, looking up at him with big, pleading eyes.

“It’s ok,” Armatzi said, “Just try to do better.”

Zraith bowed deeply, took the fish from her beak, and solemnly handed it to Armatzi. “I’ve brought you a large Bass,” she said.

Armatzi nodded his head at her and accepted it, then called to Florin, sending the fish off to the kitchen to be cooked.

Session 91: Ending Day 19 of Wealson

As recorded by Gnorcia:

Lhoss and Feno agreed to keep watch as Niki, Armatzi, Hilja, and I continued digging the channel to move the water away from the entrance to the barrow we were hoping to get into. Niki took Jack away so Armatzi would be out of reach of petting her cat, and she and Hilja began digging on the other side of the mound from where Armatzi and I were working. We made progress for about 15 minutes before some more unnatural creatures were disturbed by the sound of digging and began to come into hearing from the northeast.

It sounded like zombies. Lhoss raised the cry and we all dropped our shovels to prepare for battle. Armatzi moved to where Lhoss was, just north of us on the other side of the barrow, and attempted to turn undead, but failed. Lhoss then cast Continual Light, blinding all but one of the foul creatures.

The one remaining zombie began moving forward and was almost instantly destroyed by a swift slice from Feno’s longsword, Icing Death. The others remained in place, blinded and turning in circles. Hilja then cast entangled, but unfortunately didn’t pay attention to how close we all were to the zombies. All of us except Armatzi and I were also entangled, so the two of us moved forward and slaughtered the remaining zombies. As the tangling vines retreated, we returned to our digging and patrolling.

We were almost done with the digging when Lhoss heard the unwelcome sound of more zombies coming from the same direction. This time they seemed to be spreading out and moving a bit more quickly toward us. Armatzi failed his turn undead again so I stepped forward and cast Color Spray toward four zombies, hitting three of them and blinding them with color. Lhoss, Hilja, and Feno both moved forward to attack the other zombies that were not blinded and Feno obliterated his target then went on smashing zombies as I took a hit from a blinded zombie. Fortunately, Armatzi healed me so I could dance away before it hit me again, and I finally got a good backstab to take it down. Despite everyone converging on the final two zombies, one of them hit Lhoss and she fell unconscious as the rest of the zombies quickly fell to our angry weapons.

Armatzi healed Lhoss and she woke up but was quite weary and requested that we take some time to rest a bit and heal and memorize spells. Between Niki and Armatzi we were mostly healed up, but determined we were too weary to recover our spells where we were, so we headed back to Orlane and arrived just as the sun was setting.

We returned to the tavern and sat down for a dinner of Blanuache Porre, and the serving wench who is clearly sweet on Armatzi brought him a fine pastry as well. Feno engaged with the bar patrons and learned about some small conflicts with people building new buildings as well as the accompanying rise in prices due to growth in the area. He also heard a comment about the barrowmaze that caught his attention, a rumor that there were some tomb robbers who recently returned to Hochoch with a silver chalice worth 666 gold pieces.

As we retired to our rooms for the night, Armatzi Niki, and Hilja completed healing for us all and Armatzi also used his gauntlet to reduce our fear from the horrid Barrowmaze creatures. Thus ended day 19 of Wealson.

Side Quest: Gnorcia and Arnd in the Barrowmaze (Day 4 of Wealsun)

 

While my friends were busy in Orlane, learning skills and eating and drinking, I determined to venture back to the Barrowmaze. It seemed thoughtless to spend such a long time in town and leave treasure where it might be discovered, notwithstanding the lovely camouflage tarp we used to hide it. Surely some infidels of the Black Hand sort would be crawling the halls of the Barrowmaze and we would all return to find it missing. That tarp is certainly more valuable than the coin it covered. I suggested to Arnd that if he went back to the Barrowmaze with me he could likely repay his debts to the other party members, and he quickly agreed to accompany me.

We managed to return to the place of our most recent adventuring, the hallways and rooms outside the lair of King Osric, easily dispatching some skeletons that approached. Back in the room where we had hidden the last of the treasure, Arnd and I loaded up our packs with everything there, then returned to Orlane. Safely back at the inn, we divided up the silver and set aside the amounts that our companions had left from their own packs as they made room for the platinum and gold from the treasure horde. These silver pieces—along with the grappling hook left by Feno—I carefully returned to their packs, slipping in and out of their rooms unnoticed at dinnertime. The camouflage tarp I stowed at the bottom of my backpack, and both Arnd and I carefully placed the remaining treasure in the locked chest inside my locked room, planning to repay our debts as soon as possible.

Session 79: Afternoon of Day 22 of Flocktime

The group moved north again up the hallway to where there were some stairs and a closed door. Lhoss, Feno, and Armaziti went up the stairs and found a wall at the top, which appeared to be well-made masonry. Thinking that there was either something really worth hiding behind it, or something really worth blocking off, Lhoss said she wanted to get through it at some point. I (Gnorcia) suggested that with our small numbers we shouldn’t be making a lot of noise and should consider the unopened door instead. Everyone agreed and after Lhoss, Feno, and I all checked the door for traps and found none, Lhoss opened the door.

Behind the door we discovered seven skeletons rattling toward us. The room had water dripping down the walls and it seemed to have calcified their bones, making them tougher. Feno and I ran in and attacked the first skeleton but both failed to hit it. Lhoss hit it with a magic missile, and then Hilja and Arnd both attacked another, damaging it. The other skeletons closed in on us and Feno took quite a bit of damage, and another hit Hilja. I managed to destroy the first one and Lhoss incinerated another with magic missiles, but one of the skeletons hit Hilja again and she fell. Lhoss bandaged her and Feno finished off another. We battled back and forth some more and eventually Arnd took out another one, though he and I both took some damage. We all then managed to get in some good hits on the remaining skeletons and they all finally fell.

Armaziti healed poor Hilja, who had to eat a double-portion of rations to get her strength and color back. He also partially healed Arnd, Feno, and I. Lhoss and Armaziti then prayed for spells while two of us guarded and the other two searched through the many alcoves in the walls all around the room. In the search we found a diamond ring and 58 gold pieces. Hilja was quietly disappointed that Ronan wasn't with us.

Armaziti healed Feno again and then Feno led the group into a small room behind some rubble. Armaziti then re-memorized his spells while the rest of us searched the room and carefully examined all the walls (though we found nothing of interest.

We then gathered outside another door and it opened to reveal three horrid blood spiders racing at us! One attacked Feno and another attacked Arnd. I ran and got behind one of them, backstabbing and pinning it to the ground. Hilja ran into the back of the room and attacked the third spider. Lhoss then hit that one with magic missiles, nearly killing it. The spider attacking Feno managed to do some damage and then seemed to go mad at either the sight or smell of blood, latching on to him! Lhoss and Hilja attacked the one in the back again, taking it out, and then Lhoss finished off the last one as well.

Session 75: In the Barrowmaze, Day 14 of Flocktime

Arnd and Hilja suddenly appeared, and Arnd’s growling stomach brought the topic of lunch to our attention. We stopped and spent a few minutes chewing on some dry rations, which have been tasting worse every day since we’re getting used to eating the good food in Orlane. Lhoss suggested we open a door farther east down the hall but as Feno approached the door he discovered a glum-looking goblin limply holding a sign that read, “Go away. Come back later.”

Instead, we headed west, carefully avoiding a pit in the hall, and peeked into an empty room with some rubble all over it. Feno poked at the rubble a little but decided it wasn’t interesting enough to explore further. We approached the doorway at the west end of the hall and Lhoss attempted to open it, but couldn’t quite manage. Feno stepped in and quickly had it open, revealing a large room with some sort of rubble in the corner. We all agreed we had been here before but we weren’t quite sure when or what happened. We decided to continue down the hall and around to the area near the scrying pool.

As we moved through a few rooms in that direction, we heard a skittering sound and noticed a reddish light moving in our direction. Suddenly four fast-moving beetles appeared and ran toward us down the hall! They appeared ravenously hungry and immediately attacked Arnd, Armaziti, and Feno. One of them managed to get its pincers into Feno, who was instantly very angry and completely smashed the creature into the ground. Despite some hits that glanced off the creatures' hard carapaces and a nasty bite right through Armaziti's armor, we eventually destroyed them all. I (Gnorcia) pinned the last beetle to the floor where it twitched a few times and finally lay still. Hilja, Lhoss, Arnd, Feno, and I all picked through the antennae and gathered up the few that weren’t totally smashed by Feno. They make great lightsources in this dark place.

We continued down the hall to the east, toward the hidden door there. As Feno and Armaziti went through the door, they sensed that there was something nearby. They then noticed a pile of rags on the floor and Feno reached out at it with his sword. Suddenly the rags rose up in the shape of a creature that appeared to be several different types of creatures stitched together. The strange-looking thing cried out, “Don’t hurt me! Don’t turn me over to the necromancers!” Lhoss stepped up and attempted to comfort him, and in the process somehow named him Grumblecakes. She offered him a ration, which he eventually agreed to take. He then retreated, crying, to a corner, as she questioned him about the necromancers, collapsed in a heap, and soon began snoring. He was amazingly difficult to see while asleep like that. We left him there and moved through the next two rooms into the hallway where we had previously done battle with a group of skeletons.

As Feno and Armziti entered the hallway, they were surprised by four zombies lurking there. One attacked me and managed to hit me. I tried to hit it back and completely missed in my anger. Feno swung his sword and unsurprisingly obliterated the zombie in front of him. That guy can smash stuff! After a bunch more swings and misses and a vial of oil that went awry, we managed to destroy them all in a rather disgusting manner with heads bouncing and smooshing and one zombie exploding. The area suddenly smelled even worse than it had before.

We then noticed a glint of something shiny and discovered four goblets encrusted with diamonds, which the zombies seemed to have been carrying around. We collected them in the bag of holding.

Turning to the door next to us, Lhoss inspected it for traps and attempted to open it. Feno then stepped up, rolling his eyes a bit at her apparent ineptitude, and discovered he couldn’t open it either. Armaziti then tried and got it open, revealing burial alcoves covered in dust and cobwebs. Feno barged in and immediately began rummaging through. We searched through burial alcoves and memorized spells, eventually counting up 150 silver pieces and a tooled buckle that Arnd had found.

 

Lhoss announced she wanted to open the door across the hall and Armaziti pre-emptively cast a blessing, expecting the worst. Lhoss’ attempt to open the door failed again and literally everyone else—including Feno—failed as well. Finally, Tatania used her knock spell and the door swung open, revealing a hallway. As Armaziti and Feno led the group down the hall, Armaziti stepped into a trap! He fell through and the floor closed again behind him! The rest of us could barely hear him shouting.

Feno then spotted something strange on the wall to the west, and went to investigate. It was a lever, but he decided not to pull it. Instead he went back and investigated the floor where he saw Armaziti fall. The rest of us had been too far back and didn’t see what happened, and couldn’t see anything unusual about the floor where Feno said Armaziti disappeared. Eventually Lhoss and Feno managed to find a fine line marking a trap door opening. I suggested the lever might have something to do with the floor so Feno pulled it, but instead of the floor opening, a hidden door opened in the wall, revealing a large room. Ignoring that discovery, we went back to helping Armaziti.

Lhoss and Feno used a pole from the bag of holding and probed the area, soon revealing Armaziti standing sheepishly about 10 feet down in a pit. Hilja used a rope and pulled him out of the pit, and it closed again. Feno then decided to try to get to the door on the other side of the pit, but failed at crossing along the edge and fell in. He did manage to jump up and hang from the mechanism to open the trapdoor, popping the doors open and we were able to pull him out with the rope.

The party then discussed how we might create some sort of rope bridge across the pit. Armaziti tied one end of the rope to the door pull handle, I tied another rope to make it longer, and then tied it to the pull handle of the door we had just come through. Lhoss then tried the rope crossing and was able to do it easily, so the rest of us crossed as well. Feno opened the door and a large gust of wind burst out at us. Fortunately, we were using the beetle antennae instead of torches.

We discovered a room with a low, 6-foot ceiling with gems embedded in it. Turning the corner in the room, we also noticed a broken-down door with a room behind it. There were two sarcophagi, four shriveled corpses on the ground, and a large statue of Merikka. I stood on Arnd’s shoulders and along with Lhoss ad Tatania began to investigate the gems for possible traps, finding none and noticing that our comrades had moved into the next room, we began to investigate the bodies there. They were well-equipped but obviously dead adventurers, and we inventoried their belongings and distributed most of them between us all. They were:

An elven thief, female, wearing leather armor, dagger and scabbard, and a backpack. She was carrying 8 candles, a crowbar, a grappling hook, a mallet, 1 iron spike, some well-wrapped dry rations, a large sack, a small lens, a tinderbox, a waterskin, and a whetstone, plus a belt pouch with some coins.

A human female magic user with a dagger and scabbard, and a backpack with a bottle of writing ink and quill, 5 parchment, 2 scroll cases, a spellbook, a hand mirror, 1 week of rations, 6 torches, a tinderbox, an empty glass vial with a cork stopper, and a belt pouch containing more coins.

A human male wearing chain mail with a shield and a bastard sword in a scabbard, and carrying a backpack with chalk, a grappling hook, hemp rope (2x50ft), a hooded lantern, 3 flasks oil, a small 1-man tent, and a belt pouch with coins.

A male dwarf wearing scale mail and carrying a battle axe and backpack with the same items as the human male, along with yet another belt pouch with coins.

Tatania looked at the spellbook and found it contained the speels ventriloquism, light, jump, message, and read magic. Arnd claimed the scale mail, Hilja claimed a dagger and scabbard, and Tatania took a scabbard for her dagger. Feno took the last dagger.

Session 72: The day we meet a lot of people and some don't want to talk with us

Continuing our investigations into the buildings and residents of Orlane on a sunny early-summer day in Flocktime, we headed next to the mill on the edge of the lake behind the Slumbering Serpent Inn. It was a large mill and the areas outside were scattered with children’s toys and farm implements. A couple of children playing in the yard looked up at us, stared a moment, then gave a friendly wave. Lhoss waved back and asked if their parents were there, and we then found Kenton, the miller, making some adjustments to the wheel. He grunted and inquired with a friendly, “Yes?” Lhoss told him we were checking in on the residents of Orlane and thanked him for the wonderful flour to make the bread we have been enjoying in the town. She asked if he has any interaction with visitors and he said that he only works with residents, farmers, and businesses, and doesn't have the capacity to serve anyone outside the town. We wished him well and next decided to stop by Ramne’s house, but found it closed up and silent, with no sign of Whiskers. Concerned, Lhoss peeked in the window and was comforted that everything looked tidy and cleaned up, and there was still a faint glow of coals in the hearth.

Stopping by the Slumbering Serpent, we spoke with Owen, who apologized yet again for not having any rooms. We asked about the swarthy group of adventurers dressed in grey who had apparently stayed in Orlane and seem to be adventuring in the Barrowmaze, but the busy tavern owner was distracted and simply said he would keep an eye out for them, then hurried off. The barmaids all also appeared too busy to chat so we headed out and went across to greet Alan Clayborn and his wife, who were headed out to lunch. From their farm we could hear work being done on a building to the northwest so we headed over there. We found a group of men taking out two walls of that farmhouse, as if preparing to expand the building. When we approached they looked at us suspiciously and as we greeted them they said, “Who are you?” and rudely stated that their master would not want anything to do with adventurers, and would only greet us at a time of his choosing. We left, determined to find out who they were working for. We also noted some land staked out farther north, as if additional farm buildings were being planned.

Heading east of the Clayborns, just north of the lake, we found more staked-out land, where it appears there will be some building in the near future. East of there we visited another little farmhouse, which has a large barn full of grains and produce. We could see a wisp of smoke from the chimney and knocked on the door. A man named Brutus answered and said they were preparing for lunch. We could see his wife and children inside and quickly asked if he had any troubles with frogmen. He said they had not, and that he said he would let us know if he met any. We left there and headed southeast down the road past Vilma’s house. At the next farmhouse we found a young boy out amongst the hogs, along with some hens and a rooster. He hailed us and said his parents were preparing lunch. Determined not to bother anyone else at their lunch, we decided to move on and visit the Foaming Mug for our own meal.

At the inn we ordered stew and sandwiches and noted a few of the townsfolk we had met previously were also there: the smith glowering over a bowl of stew, and the carpenter and his family eating a meal. Lhoss and Tatania seemed to quickly forget their vow not to bother people during lunch and decided to strike up a conversation with some others there that we didn't know. Tatania took me with her to sit near a man and woman we didn’t recognize, and she asked if they were from Orlane or if they were travelers. They said they were Marco & Nyla Dixon from Hookhill and were looking at building a farm in Orlane. We ate together without a lot of chit-chat but had a pleasant goodbye and said we hoped to meet again. In the meantime, Lhoss took Armaziti along with her and greeted a group of three men and a woman dressed in workers clothing. She introduced herself pleasantly, but they only gave sideways glances and proceeded to ignore them. Rebuffed, she sat Armaziti down at the next table and they noted that the group quickly and quietly finished eating and left.

On our way out we asked the barmaid Jillian about the group that had ignored Lhoss and Armaziti. She said they were workers renovating a building to the southeast, but that they had not been unfriendly to her. We asked about the people who were working on the building northwest of the Clayborns but she didn’t know anything specifically about them, and said that most workers are not local and are likely from Hochoch. She also made an observation that caught our attention, saying that the growth in the town seemed to be happening surprisingly fast.

We left the inn and walked east across the street where we found a prosperous-looking farm with weed-choked gardens. Some young men were working outside and looked up as we approached. They asked gruffly if they could help us and seemed a little unfriendly in their responses. They said they were the sons of the woman who owns the home and sure enough just then a stout woman appeared from the house. She wasn’t the friendliest with us either, but shared that her name was Mandy, her husband had passed away, her sons were working on the farm, and that they probably didn’t need any help from adventurers. We wished them well and headed south, noting lots of work being done on the farmhouse east of the carpenter’s shop where the silent group from the inn were indeed working away. The next building south also appeared to have some unfinished work being done on it.

We headed over to the carpenter’s shop. He appeared busy with much work, but was friendly enough to answer our questions when we asked about the farm northwest of the Clayborns. He said the master is a rich merchant but the man pays his taxes and the group just seems a bit aloof. Wishing him well also, we decided to head west again and check in on the mayor, Zacharius. He greeted us warmly and commented on the rapid growth in the area. He corroborated the carpenter's story that the rich merchant renovating the buildings near the Clayborns is a man named Marley, from Hochoch, who is looking to start a grain shipping business from Orlane. Overall the mayor seemed pleased with the recent growth of the area and impressed by the fact that Marley was willing to pay his taxes up front.

Zacharius couldn’t remember exactly who is renovating the other buildings near the carpenter, but said that workers like that are usually hired by wealthy people from out of town. He also commented that he hoped the town could attract a bower and a baker, and said that since the land is prime for farming most of the growth has been farmers coming to the area, and most of the new immigrants appear to have come from Hochoch. He noted that the growth has meant the constable could hire a few hands, and mentioned that we should talk to him about the bounty on froglings to the north. He also mentioned in passing that the growth overall seems a little unnatural and wondered aloud how the news of Orlane has spread so quickly and how so many people have arrived so speedily after the town was saved from the cult. He suggested we keep an eye out for any information about how that might be happening, and commented that another priest was also arriving at the temple within the week, and they will be building a shrine to St. Cuthbert—apparently with Chalkboi's support.

Session 68: A holy mound and digging begins

As we marched along, someone's stomach grumbled and we noted that it was about lunchtime so we paused and ate. Resting together on the edge of a mound that stood up a little above the marsh, we noticed that in the midday, the fog in the marsh seemed to thicken as it warmed. We ate quickly and continued eastward.

As we moved slowly along, Hilja noticed something large that appeared to dive into some water, producing waves that moved toward us. We determined to avoid the water and threaded our way between the mounds as much as possible. Two barrows toward the south appeared to be flooded in, so we moved just north of them instead and noted that another mound just north of us was a little different, with several obscured cavities. Curious, we watched it but continued to move east until Lhoss stopped us, whispering that she could see something over one of the mounds behind us. There was an antenna visible above the mound! I commneted that we were probably going to have to fight whatever it was, so Armaziti cast a blessing and then Lhoss fired a magic missile at the antenna. As soon as it hit, we heard a frantic sound and several creatures came scurrying out toward us.

They were two to three feet long and appeared to be giant ants with nasty-looking pincers. Lhoss pulled out a vial of oil and set it on fire, letting it fly at the creatures. One of them instantly burned up and the oil splashed on the others, which shrieked in pain. Kyro took aim and stabbed at another, killing it. Armaziti and I attacked one, killing it. Hilja cast a spell and rooted one of them and Arnd hit another, killing it as well. Tatania cast a magic missile at a larger ant in the back, hitting it. In retaliation, the large ant ran angrily up to him and attacked, taking him down. Suddenly more ants appeared! It seemed we had stirred up an anthill. Two attacked Armaziti and one of them managed to hit him twice with its angry pincers. Two more attacked me but missed as the others moved to position themselves seemingly in defense of the holes. I swung at them in defense but missed as well. Tatania cast another magic missile at the ant that was attacking Kyro, and Armaziti paused to heal himself. Hilja and Lhoss attacked the rooted ant, finishing it off. The ants attacked again, hitting Armaziti. Hilja then grabbed Arnd and dragged him back away from the mound. I attacked the ant in front of me again, hitting it and damaging it. Lhoss hit the one that was attacking her, taking it out.

Suddenly, Dwerum appeared and yelled for Armaziti to run, taking a hit from the ant that was attacking Armaziti. Armaziti ran back and instantly healed himself again. Tatania pulled out another vial of oil, lit it, and threw it at the group of ants nearest the mound. It flew past them, splashing back on one of them. All of the ants screamed out in anger! Dwerum expressed concern that the group was outnumbered and suggested we retreat. Lhoss then pulled out the spellbook we had previously found, and cast stinking cloud on the area where the ants were. I raced back away from the ants, and Kyro also backed away, and the ants did not pursue us as they dealt with the results of the stinking cloud.

We retreated toward the east and Armaziti healed both himself and Arnd, who was exhausted as he regained consciousness. We then took up our eastward march again. As we approached a mound straight ahead, we noted that it was greener than the rest, and Armaziti cried out that he sensed something holy buried there! We noted that the marshland started again east of it, but this mound was higher up and completely covered in grass and dirt. Arnd and I examined it more closely and estimated that it would take about 8 hours to excavate with the one shovel that I brought.

We set up a perimeter with myself, Dwerum, and Kyro guarding while Lhoss, Armaziti, and Tatania recovered spells. After half an hour, Arnd began digging while Armaziti continued to pray and the others joined us on watch duty. Only a few minutes after Arnd began digging, we could hear a moaning sound to the west, and coffercorpses emerged from the mist. Lhoss immediately threw a vial of oil, hitting one of them, which then let out a chilling moan that frightened us all. I also threw a vial of oil at the other one, burning it to a crisp, as Tatania hit the other with a magic missile, taking it down. Arnd continued to dig and Armaziti continued to pray while we fought.

We next noticed two scorpions moving toward us from the north. Dwerum and Kyro both shot arrows, hitting one of them, and Hilja cast entangled on the other. I moved toward the scorpions, standing between them and Armaziti, who was still praying. The damaged scorpion advanced on me and attacked with its pincers and tail, knocking me out but managed not to poison me. It then attacked the praying Armaziti, hitting him and disturbing his prayer. Angry, Armaziti stood up and swung Melissa at it, crushing it. The rest of the group then turned on the entangled scorpion. Hilja ran forward and engaged it and Lhoss hit it with a magic missile. Hilja hit again, cracking its exoskeleton and killing it. Armaziti then healed me and Arnd, and Arnd paused his digging while everyone memorized and prayed for spells.

Armaziti only had one spell left to recover when we heard a chittering noise coming from the east and saw humanoid creatures moving toward us. They were a host of skeletons! Hilja immediately stood and cast entangled on the group of creatures, entangling all but one of them. Arnd stepped forward to prepare to engage the one that was not entangled, and I prepared to leap over Arnd and attack it from behind. We both did this, but swung too hard and both missed. It also missed its attack against Arnd, and my second hit and destroyed it. We then managed to take out the remaining entangled skeletons, although Hilja did get caught in her own entanglement spell for a few minutes before the grasses retreated. Armaziti finished praying and the rest recovered their spells as well, as we prepared to begin digging again.

Session 65: A Horrible Death on Day 10 of Flocktime

To the southeast we could see another barrow that seemed to be a stony hill with a little bit of grass. Arnd and Armaziti approached carefully, weapons drawn, and Yldarb moved stealthily forward, his spear at the ready. Tatania and Kyro had their weapons out, walking carefully and keeping an eye out on the surroundings. Kyro’s wound was red and painful, and it seemed to bother him, potentially hindering his ability to fight. Lhoss probed the ground ahead with her staff as she walked, and Hilja used her staff to check the ground all around for sinkholes. The ground was firm and we were able to approach safely, but realized that this barrow would require some excavation to explore. Arnd, Adelbertus and I quickly estimated that excavating would take two people about 13 hours, but because we had only my one small shovel, the group decided not to attempt that task at this time.

We decided to move ahead and continued a hundred yards or so further southwest, approaching another mound. Its stone entrance had been shattered and there were footprints in the mud, going into a looming black hole. Arnd and Armaziti cautiously entered first and found bone debris everywhere. The whole area was a mess, looking like it had been searched roughly, with upturned sarcophagi and broken vases strewn about. It had both the smell of a tomb and the smell of the marsh outside. Arnd and Armaziti did a preliminary search through and found nothing of value and most of the group decided to all in and work together to search the walls more carefully.

As we began our search, a group of five zombies quietly lumbered up and surprised Adelbertus, Kyro, and Tatania, who were waiting outside. Attacking from behind, the five of them immediately overpowered Adelbertus and killed him! They then turned on Kyro and knocked him out. Tatania responded by firing a magic missile at one of them as the rest of the party inside the barrow heard the horrific screams and moaning sounds and came running. Hilja cast ensnare on one of the zombies, holding it to the ground, and Lhoss tossed burning oil, damaging three zombies (and splattering some on Kyro at their feet.) I damaged one and Yldarb took out one of them with his spear, Falstaff. Just then, Armaziti used his turn undead spell and the zombies suddenly turned as if to run in horror. One of them that was burning immediately fell, immolated, and Yldarb finished off another. The rest of us laid into the rest of them in great anger and quickly brought them down.

Horrified at the death of Adelbertus, we paused to consider the possibility of hauling him to Hochoch to attempt a resurrection, but determined we didn’t have enough gold to entreat a high level cleric for that spell. Arnd said dwarven custom was that the body should be covered or wrapped and laid in a shallow grave, so Hilja and Armaziti carefully wrapped the poor cleric in his old bedroll. Arnd led the party back down into the tomb, singing the dwarven durges, and laid him in an empty sarcophagus with his holy symbol of Pelor, god of the sun and healing, placed on his forehead. As they did this, Tatania and I brought Kyro’s body inside with us, and then Chalkboi and I both stood and hid in the shadows of the entrance, watching out as the others continued with the burial of our cleric friend.

In the middle of the rites, Chalkboi and I were horrified to see three vile scorpions come chittering out of the mist, smelling the blood of the dead. They attacked, but because of the narrow space only one could get near us at the entrance. Suddenly, one of the scorpions in back—seemingly berserk with hunger—attacked the scorpion in front and killed it! Hearing our shouts, the rest of the group came running out yet again and we all attacked one of the remaining scorpions. I tried to run around to its back, but it turned with me and I ended up facing it head-on. The rest of the group then attacked it from the back and side. Its armored chitin was very strong but we managed a few hits and then Armaziti made a killing blow with his warhammer, Melissa, breaking the creature in pieces. We then converged on the last scorpion and managed to destroy it as well, but before it fell it stung Chalkboi, poisoning him with its stinger! Armaziti immediately cast slow poison and then we all stood around and looked at each other for a minute, wondering what to do. I had the strange thought—it came almost unbidden to my mind—to open the bag of holding, and realized that we actually had some poison antidotes! Digging one out, I quickly poured it down Chalboi’s throat.

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 59: Day 8 of Flocktime Continues with Some Very Bad Skeletons

Before we continued searching the Barrowmaze, the party paused to discuss how the strange trash-covered creatures came to be, and Tatania wondered out loud if they might be the results of some unethical magic going on in the Barrowmaze. Tatania then sat and memorized spells while the rest of us ate some lunch and quietly considered the foreboding oppressive sense of evil in this place.

We started down the hall to the west of the room with the strange creatures—Tatania munching on hard tack as she walked—but seeing more hallways with questionable rubble in them, we reconsidered and returned to the unopened door in the previous room. Lhoss examined and then opened it to reveal a seemingly-empty room with yet another door. Opening that door, she discovered a skeleton on the floor and a glowing ball that started, somehow, throwing bits of burial urns at us all!

As clay pieces crashed around us, I cast color spray on the glowing thing, but all it seemed to do was to paint it and make it more angry. It continued tossing bits of clay as Lhoss stepped forward and swung at it with her staff, but she missed. Arnd then squeezed through and swung Bonesplitter at it, hitting it square in the center. The creature instantly vanished and in the process sprayed back magically-colored paint on Lhoss and Arnd.

Examining the room further, we discovered it was lined with many burial alcoves. We began searching and found a few coins but not much else. As we continued our search, we heard steps coming down the passageway to the east. We couldn’t see anything yet, but we quickly prepared for whatever might be coming. Arnd, Armaziti, and Kyro took the front line facing the hallway and Armaziti cast a blessing on the group. Soon we could see a faint blue light and a sense of dread came over us all as we remembered previous encounters with glowing creatures.

The creatures approached and we were troubled to see they were skeletons with glowing sapphires in their foreheads—something we have met before. Two approached Armaziti and Arnd. Armaziti swung and hit but Arnd swung and missed. Tatania fired a magic missile at the skeleton in front of Armaziti and Lhoss quickly finished it off with a second magic missle. I then ran up and easily catapulted over Arnd to land on the back of the skeleton in front of him, but the skeletons behind them advanced, one moving up to face Armaziti and the other behind me, hitting me hard. Armaziti swung and destroyed the gem of the skeleton in front of him as the skeleton I was clinging to swung and hit Arnd. Arnd returned an attack but missed and I was tearing up from the pain and couldn’t hit it properly either.

As we battled, Lhoss, Hilja, and Tatania grumbled amongst themselves about how they wished they had some vials of holy water that they could lob over the top of the fighters in the narrow hallway ahead of them. Of course the cost of such a holy weapon was more than the group could afford earlier, so we had dismissed the idea.

At that point the battle began to rage in a flurry of fighting. Lhoss targeted the skeleton in front of Arnd and hit it with a magic missile. Tatania did the same, destroying it right under me and I leapt down as it crumbled, turning to face the evil creature behind me. Armaziti swung at the skeleton in front of him again, hitting it with a loud crack as Kyro swung one of the sledgehammers into the gem on the crumbled skeleton.

Both Arnd and I attacked the last skeleton and damaged it but it was still fighting and hit me again, knocking me out so I missed the rest of the fight, which was recounted to me later. As I fell, Hilja moved in and swung at the skeleton on Armaziti, who also swung and hit it again, crushing it to dust with his hammer. Arnd swung and hit again as Hilja then turned to bandage me before I lost any more blood. Kyro smashed the third gem on the skeleton that Armazi had downed, as Lhoss ran forward and swung her staff at the last skeleton, destroying it. Tatania then sprung forward and destroyed the last gem.

Whew! Everyone breathed in relief as they looked around at the rubble of skeletons and Tatania carefully collected shards of the blue gems in a bottle. Armaziti healed me but I was exceptionally exhausted from the battle and we retreated to one of the rooms we had just traveled through to rest and re-memorize spells.

 

Session 56: Day 27: A Dreadful Evening Battle

We ate a quick dinner and determined that we needed to head out and back to Orlane for the night. As we paused to make a final survey of the room, Adelbertus noticed a light coming from the west and Calbach whispered that there was a large group of people approaching that looked like Band of the Black Hand. We quickly retreated inside and closed the door, which shut with a convincing click, and we could no longer hear anything outside the room. The darkness seemed to close in and shadows on the walls danced a little higher in the torchlight. As we sat to rememorize some spells, we were distracted by the gloom of the encroaching dungeon walls and it took a little longer than usual. “Safely” locked in there, we considered spending one last night in the Barrowmaze but eventually decided that would be foolish after the recent warnings not to do so. We determined to get back to Orlane. Since it was now over an hour since we had spotted the group with the torches, we used the key and Tatania’s knock spell to reopen the door. Peeking out, we could see what we thought to be a torch light reflecting off the walls to the east, but nothing else.

As we began filing out of the room in our marching order, Armaziti heard a sound behind him and turned to see a group of beetles with glowing antennae coming up quickly from behind. We all began to run and in the rush there a was a bit of confusion about where we were going. The rest of the group headed through the room to the west and turned down the hallway to the south, but Arnd and myself went past that hallway and were quickly overtaken by four beetles. I attacked one with my dagger, Vengeance, and did some damage, but Arnd swung and missed. More beetles had turned down the hallway following the rest of the group and Tatania hit one with a magic missile, Lhoss hit another with her dagger, and Armaziti quickly destroyed one with his warhammer, Melissa. Ronan swung at one but slipped in beetle gore and missed. Fortunately, Calbach shot an arrow that swished past Ronan and killed it. I swung at the beetle in front of me again, slicing its head right off, and this time Arnd connected as well. Some of the others then came back and began to attack the beetles that were on us. Calback shot another arrow and hit one as Lhoss swung and missed.

Just then, Armaziti yelled out that he could see yet another light coming toward us from the east. Anxious to take out the beetles quickly, Adelbertus slipped on some gore as he attacked, but Tatania shot another magic missile and destroyed the beetle he missed. Just then a large group of the Band of the Black Hand came running in, swinging their short swords and screaming that they were going to take everything we had! I counted eleven of them!

One attacked and missed Adelbertus but another hit him as two more attacked Tatania and injured her. Another entered the hallway where Armaziti was lurking, but missed him in the dark. Another pair of them jumped in to help that one and one hit the cleric as he was beginning to cast an attack spell, interrupting it. Tatania tried to hit the one in front of her and missed just as one of the two beetles that were attacking me managed to get in a bite and did some bad damage. Angry in the pain, I stabbed right through its chitinous head, killing it. Arnd—using what he keeps claiming is now his signature move—sliced the belly of the beetle in front of him, gutting it. Lhoss attacked one of the band with a magic missile and Calbach shot two arrows at the same but missed. Adelbertus quickly spun around and attempted to bash the two band members that were on his back, but also missed. One of them then hit him with their sword, knocking him unconscious as two of them attacked and hit Tatania, knocking her out as well.

The band pressed their attack, taunting the rest of us as they did, and we felt a fearful gloom settle in. Were we going to make it out of there alive?!? One of the band hit Armaziti, but those that attacked Ronan, Arnd and myself missed their attacks. Ronan threw a burning vial of oil and it hit a dungeon wall, splashing back and burning some of the Black Hand. Armaziti swung and missed one of his attackers just as I swung at the last beetle, slicing its head off. Arnd missed his attack yet again but as he did, Hilja, Kyro, and Adalaen suddenly appeared behind the band members we were fighting!

Encouraged by the sudden appearance of friends, Calbach grabbed his short sword, swung around, and attacked the bandit that was on Arnd, slaying him in one hit! Hilja immediately cast Faerie Fire on the three who were attacking Armaziti, bathing them in a purple glow and making them more vulnerable to attacks, and Adalean began throwing darts, nearly killing one of that group. Kyro quickly ran forward and bandaged Tatania, stopping her from bleeding out.

Armaziti swung and missed again, but Adalaen threw yet another dart, slaying that band member. Kyro then crawled over and bandaged Adelbertus, who was bleeding out in the middle of the hallway. As he did, Ronan backhanded one the the guys on him, then hit him in the head with his cudgel. Hoping to turn the tide of battle, I did my best to conjure a terrifying phantasm but apparently it wasn’t quite terrifying enough and none of the band believed my illusion. Curses! Calbach attacked the last guy on Arnd, killing him, and Arnd leaped forward in an attempt to kill one of them that was attacking Lhoss, but slipped on one of the beetles and missed his attack.

Back in the hallway, Adalaen continued throwing darts and hit another of the remaining two attacking Armaziti. The cleric turned to hold his shield against his attackers, but it was too late. They hit him and knocked him unconscious! The two attacking Ronan both managed to hit him again, but the two on Arnd and Lhoss missed. Adalean cast a magic missile, hitting one of the attackers on Armaziti just in time for Hilja to step forward and take him down with her staff. I screamed “Vengeance!” as I leapt on the back of another bandit that was pressing an attack on Calbach. The dagger plunged into the man's shoulder, taking him to his knees. Lhoss swung and missed just as Arnd attacked the other, finally scoring a hit with his broadsword, Bonesplitter.

His attackers vanquished, Ronan ran into the hallway to bandage Armaziti, and didn’t fail to notice Hilja there. He took his time, flexing as he twisted the bandages around the bleeding cleric and barely noticing another enemy who was still there and who took a swing at the distracted warrior. Ronan tried to retaliate but missed as Adalaen stepped forward and got in yet another hit with a dart.

Back in the other hall, two attackers remained standing, one on Lhoss and the other on Arnd. Lhoss took a final hit and fell, unconscious, as Kyro ran forward and attacked the other, hitting him from behind and taking him down. Angered to see Lhoss fall, I leapt on the back of her attacker, killing him. Calbach then sprinted out to Ronan’s defense and finished off the last of the band of attackers.

Exhausted from the battle, we dug through the bag of holding and used our one recently-discovered healing potion on Adelbertus. He immediately recovered but it appears his right knee is now so damaged that his ability to walk has been permanently slowed. Adelbertus in turn healed me, Tatania, and Lhoss, who also has a nasty gash in her side that looks permanent and will likely affect her ability to swing her weapon.

Anxious to get out of the Barrowmaze before anything else could attack us, we hurriedly built a stretcher for the bandaged but severely-injured and cursed Armaziti. He was beginning to mutter and twitch as if tortured by the undead. Terrified and running out to the dungeon entrance as quickly as we could, the group felt a shadow of fear come over us. We dragged ourselves and Armaziti as quickly as possible (which wasn’t all that fast) back to Orlane and over to the Temple of Merikka, arriving just before morning.

The guards must have been sleepy as they thought at first to turn us away, but we reminded them that we are the Saviors of Orlane and they scuttled off to fetch Priestess Misha. She soon came gliding out of the temple, looking a bit disheveled and sighed deeply as she examined poor Armaziti. Listening to our tale of the mummy’s curse, she pronounced that this was an untimely curse that would be a costly heal, but to leave him and come back tomorrow. I wondered if she was just irritable at being awakened so early, or if maybe she had been entertaining the Witcher in her quarters, but held my tongue.

Session 53: Day 20 of Planting continues

Party members who needed to re-memorize spells did so in the room with the plinth, and the rest of us moved the Band of the Black Hand bodies into the room where Tatania had previously spent a lot of time searching and finding nothing, and we went through their pockets. Ronan and Calbach had also reappeared and rejoined the group. As we prepared to leave and head back to Orlane, we were surprised to find that Yldarb had changed his mind and no longer wanted to go back. He seems to have established a psychic link with the spear, and worked out a way to use it. It was all a little confusing, with him mumbling to himself as we questioned him, but eventually we decided that would be okay. We all stood again on the plinth for a blessing from Polis, then headed east down the hallway.

Lhoss soon got quite excited because she could see doors ahead that we had not opened before. We passed two rooms that we had been in before, and the doors were still cracked open. Beyond that, we found a hallway to the north and a portcullis that was down. Looking through, we could see a dingy old curtain, yellow in color, hanging from a bar, and possibly something behind it. Six of us worked together and we were able to slowly lift the portcullis and move into the room.

As we moved toward the curtain, we recognized the yellow as yellow mold. Ronan—who had been closest to the gap in the center of the curtain—suddenly vanished! We couldn’t see him anywhere and couldn’t hear or find him anywhere in the room. We all decided to move carefully through the curtain to see if we could find Ronan. Lhoss managed to bump the yellow moldy curtain as she passed it, and a piece broke off and fell to the floor, but thankfully no one was damaged by the mold.

In the room, we found that there was a large mirror and inside it we could see two Ronans, fighting! We could tell which was the real Ronan because the other appeared to be undead, with rotting flesh. As we watched in horror, they battled and Ronan eventually vanquished his foe and reappeared before us as the mirror shattered into pieces. He fell to one knee, panting from his psychic battle with himself, and clearly hurting. Armaziti healed him and we turned to look at the rest of the room. There was nothing there except the curtains and the now-broken glass.

As Armaziti rested and rememorized spells, Chiki set Chick-Chick outside the curtain and then seemed to be making strange moves toward Yldarb. It was as if he was trying to behave like a thief, and failing miserably. I shook my head at him.

We moved back out of the room and beyond the portcullis, to the east. Lhoss spotted a door and was excited to open it. I also got excited because the door had a lock on it and I wanted to see if any of my keys opened it! As I inserted the first key, a needle appeared, pricking my finger and poisoning me! I immediately slumped and everything got very confusing.

It seemed as if Armaziti took off my boots and rubbed a bud of garlic on my feet before casting slow poison. That was certainly odd behavior, and the smell of garlic was strong. Then Lhoss wrapped me up and carried me over her shoulder like a bag of potatoes as everyone ran out of the barrowmaze and up through the marsh and the Dim Forest. It seemed warmer than our previous march toward the barrowmaze, but maybe that was just the poison in my veins. I dozed most of the time because otherwise everything was swirling. Later, the group told me the following story of their adventures while I was poisoned.

A couple of hours out of the Dim Forest, I started twitching and appeared more sick. Armaziti stopped the group and rememorized the slow poison spell, casting it again, then rememorized two slow poison spells. In the meantime, everyone ate dinner before continuing the hurried march back to Orlane. About an hour out of the Dim Forest, I appeared even more sick. Armaziti cast another slow poison spell on me, and again when we were about 3 hours away from Orlane. It was the middle of the night when we got to the town and the group headed to the Temple of Merikka and started pounding on the gates. A guard approached and hurried to get Priestess Misha, who came running to the gate, grabbed me, and ran into the temple.

The party then abandoned me to my fate (certain that the priestess would cure me, of course) and went to the slumbering Serpent. They were surprised to find it was full, but were allowed to sleep in the common room. Everyone slept deeply from the march and did not awake until 11am. After breakfast, they returned to the temple and found me sleeping on a cot, snoring loudly. That part I know was a lie because my sisters all snore but I most certainly do not! Priestess Misha said that I nearly died, but she was able to heal the poison and would only charge 200 gold pieces for her services, and I would sleep for another four hours.

The group then headed to the jeweler’s and he offered 1305 gold for the Gold pendant with a large pearl and the Golden chalice with multicolor gems. Ramne was also summoned and he agreed to cast a spell on the skull that I had been carrying on a small leather bag on my belt. The group paid 100gp for him to evaluate it and learned that it can be used 12 times and when the magic word is said, it will cast a beam of light and potentially paralyze whatever creature it is pointed at, and it can only be used by magic users. The shopkeeper offered 4500gp for it and only Armaziti wanted to keep it, so the party voted to accept the offer.

Flush with money, party members with outstanding loans to each other quickly passed on the owed coins. When I finally recovered, I also repaid my party loan, as well as the 200gp for the cure poison potion used to save me. Overcome with regret for my impetuousness, I tried to give away the keys to prevent future mishaps, but the party insisted I keep them.