Session 224: To Every Undead: Turn, Turn, Turn

I see them, my beloved Saviors of Orlane. But are they the Saviors of Orlane? The members of this adventuring party are ever changing and there is not one among them that were responsible for slaying the vile Naga Explicitca Defilus. However, I do spy one who was present at the battle of Orlane and helped to repel the necromancers and their ilk. Regardless, this heroic bunch ever pursue the quest of vanquishing evil and sending the undead back to their realm. So I am happy to call them and any who join in their cause the Saviors of Orlane. 

My heart is heavy as I behold Lalie on the ground lifeless. Her companion, Aila, seems wholly focused on recovering her body. I suspect she knows that Lalie comes from a wealthy family who will pay the high cost to have her resurrected. I hope we do see the cavalier again, reanimated with the breath of life. I hope she will take care in the future though, because who can tell the limits of magic and what multiple returns from the spirit plane would do to a person?

The remaining heroes (Titus, Veyda, Tatania, Maeve, Niki, Aila, and Sergius) dig deep to fight the evil undead. Titus and Aila both attempt to turn the undead and send them fleeing. Unfortunately, they are young in their powers and unable to do so. Tatania, however discovers she is quite adept at slaying creatures with her staff sling. A hurled metal bullet tears through one creature, slaughtering it immediately. Sergius takes a nasty bite from one of the foes and becomes paralyzed. The filthy creatures see him as an easy target to attack. In a stealthy move, Veyda pulls Sergius away from the fight and mortal peril. Dwerom appears and aids in the battle. Then from deep in the barrowmaze, a horde of zombies push up against the back of the evil undead and the odds become more bleak. A vial of lit oil is tossed onto the zombies, but they are terrifyingly immune to flames. The group is making some progress against the enemy, but there begins to be talk about abandoning the fight and fleeing to see another sunrise. However, the grim reality is that they would not be able to retreat swiftly enough while carrying two bodies (one dead, one incapacitated) and sacrificing their lives (or second life, in Lalie's case) was too high a cost. In a moment of desperation and despair, a familiar glow is seen from the rear of the party. The holy light from the gauntlet of St. Cuthbert is a beacon of goodness that lifts every heart. With a mighty and authoritative voice, Armatzi commands the undead to flee from before him. Only one creature is affected, but it seems in turning its back, the battle also begins to turn. Maeve strikes an enemy with her axe and Tatania hits again with her staff sling. On his next attempt, Armatzi is able to turn eight more creatures. This creates an interesting standstill as the fleeing enemies and the engaging zombies effectively block each other. The party is able to hack at the backs of a few creatures. When Armatzi's third turn undead spell fails to reach any further creature, the party decides to retreat while the dangerous villains are held at bay and before the magic wears off.

A hasty retreat leads the party to the gloomy barrow marsh. Armatzi has a spell that lifts the paralyzed condition from Sergius. And just in time, too! The group finds themselves being surrounded by a group of hungry giant toads! Niki casts an extremely powerful lightning spell, which slaughters two immediately. Maeve uses her rope to entangle a toad that is then killed by Dwerom and Titus. The rest of the toads are taken care of handily and the group finds themselves tired and more than ready for the journey back to Orlane.

I will recount these visions as often as they appear. Until next time I remain your faithful storyteller, 

Vilma

Session 223: In a fight for their very lives!

Back again, we are, in the barrowmaze. It is a gloomy place and fills me with dread to experience it. Titus, Lalie, Aila, Armatzi, Maeve, Tatania, Sergius, and Veyda are all present and prepare themselves well for whatever it is they may encounter behind this brick barricade. They know it will be something terrible, based on the awful moaning they can hear coming from behind the wall. Sergius and Aila grab sledgehammers to bash through the brick while Armatzi casts prayer and Veyda casts bless. With each swing, the moaning and thrashing seem to intensify. The wall comes down to reveal a disgusting zombie and two ghasts. Quickly, Maeve dispenses the zombie with her axes. The ghast gives off a noxious and ghastly odor that effects Titus and makes him nauseated. Sergius is attacked physically by one of the remaining ghasts and is paralyzed. Lalie dodges an attack by the other and in turn swings on it with her holy mace, aptly named Grace. It is such an effective weapon against the evil ghast that one hit causes the creature to be destroyed in a puff of holy flame. What a display! Armatzi attempts to turn the remaining ghast, but is unsuccessful. Tatania blasts it with her unerring magic missiles. Maeve attempts to hit it with a dart, but strikes Sergius by mistake! Feeling terrible, she retreats from throwing missile weapons. Lalie moves in with Grace and deftly dispatches the ghast in another burst of holy flame. Armatzi heals Sergius of his paralysis and the party moves on.

Niki and Dwerom join the group. The party seems somewhat aimless and meanders around into places that some swear they have already explored. They encounter a worship room with a stature of Nerul (ugh) and another room that had once held a plinth dedicated to Polis, but is now nothing but blackened and shattered debris (oh dear). Maeve points out a room she wants to explore. It is in disrepair with crumbling walls. The group does not move fast enough, and a large chunk of ceiling collapses. All of the party sustain some damage, but Maeve is completely crushed and loses consciousness. She is revived by the healers of the group, but begins to act strangely. She is babbling incoherently and has a wild look in her eyes. The party tries to question her about her behavior, but Maeve becomes very defensive and shuts them down. Nobody in the group has a good handle on what her typical behavior is, so they chalk it up to her being a little odd (she is wearing the motley clothing of a jester, after all). 

The group next encounters an archway dripping with ooze. They discuss how best to navigate the situation when Lalie just goes for it. She gets a little slime on her arm, but is not negatively affected in any way that anyone can perceive. So, the rest of the team walks through with some getting "slimed" and some coming out clean. Regardless, there is no harm done to anyone. Lalie pauses and detects evil coming from behind two closed doors, one to the right and one to the left. The party forms a plan to hide out in two rooms further up the hall and send one person to draw out whatever is in the rooms back so that they will be forced through the bottlenecks of the doors, as there is insufficient room to battle more than two across in the hallway. The flaw in the plan is that Lalie volunteers herself as the "bait" to draw out the creatures. She is clad in heavy armor and therefore moves quite slowly. The folly of the plan becomes apparent when the doors burst open and Lalie is met by a horde of evil undead. She attempts to draw them back to the rooms where the rest of the group lies in wait, but is quickly overtaken by the swift moving creatures. She raises a cry and the adventurers move out to assist, only to see her paralyzed and killed. Their initial plans scuttled, the brave band engages with the evil undead horde. Will they rise to the occasion and avenge brave and righteous Lalie? We shall see!

Your faithful storyteller,

Vilma

Session 222: Charity and Kindness

It happened again. Sometimes it happens multiple times a day. Sometimes days or even weeks pass without it happening. But every time, it is the same. For me, it's not unlike the sensation of falling asleep, this strange power I have been given. The noises around me dampen, my attention drifts, then I fall into a reverie and see a scene before my eyes, the exploits of our dear Saviors of Orlane! It is so real: I can smell odors, hear sounds, sometimes even taste flavors! I have been told that my appearance looks odd to observers. My head lops to the side slightly, my mouth droops a little, and my eyes slip out of focus then go completely white. I don't know which deity has bestowed me with this gift, only that it feels divine and important to share what I see. So I retell it to any who will listen. Such as yourself...

Although our heroes are far away in the city of Hochoch, I can still see their goings on (even when they are not very exciting). I perceive Armatzi, Niki, Lalie, Titus, Lhoss, and Gnorcia. They are buying fancy food and drink for their treasure guard, Myr. Myr is a funny little creature. I have come in contact with him only a couple of times, but he is shrewd and all business. Finished with their business in town, Armatzi, Niki, Lalie, and Titus head out for Orlane (after Titus purchases a horse to ride out on). Lhoss and Gnorcia stay behind to train in their chosen specialties. 

Along the road back to us in Orlane, the party happens upon a group of downtrodden refugees. They are fleeing after a giant attack in Geoff. The poor dears ask to be accompanied on their journey to Ironguard Mott. The gracious and generous Saviors of Orlane oblige and then show themselves to be true heroes. Titus notices a man with a broken leg and cures it. The man is much relieved and quite thankful. Armatzi casts a spell to create food for all of the weary travelers and Tatania offers them some dried fruit from her stock. They all accept and eat their fill. Armatzi then offers a gold piece to each adult in the party which causes the grateful crowd to burst into hymns of St. Cuthbert. Tatania offers a glass bead to each child. Their spirits bolstered, the remainder of the journey passes with much more optimism that had been felt before encountering this benevolent group.

Back in Orlane, the group decides to venture out to that old place of death and danger: the barrowmaze. Upon departure, they are joined by two new party members, Maeve and Vayda. This group is a mix of seasoned and inexperienced adventurers. What horrors await them?

Midway through the Dim Forest, the group hears the distinct sound of footsteps. Not those of an animal or a large troop of people, but a disturbance in the brush from... who can say what? Lalie is able to detect evil at any time, simply by concentrating. And by Jove, she detects evil in this place. The sound of movement comes and goes. Lalie is determined to investigate, so she moves in the direction of where she senses the evil. Overhead, some branches break from their trees and ooze off. Lalie feels a wave of nausea at the sight. She momentarily loses her balance and drifts to the side, attempting to catch herself on the trunk of a tree. Instead of a solid tree to brace against, Lalie's hand pushes through into a rotten center. She pulls her hand out to find it covered in writhing maggots. Absolutely horrified and disgusted, Lalie shakes off the insects and rejoins the crew. She directs them to leave this place and move on to the barrowmaze.

Seasoned party members direct the newcomers to an entrance, but make no effort to show anyone how to solve the little puzzle that would allow entry. Maeve is a curious little jester and steps to the front. With a little manipulation of a prominent skeleton head, she reveals a staircase. After some walking, the group encounters a bricked off wall with loud moaning behind it. Lalie, the righteous cavalier, is determined to bash down the wall and face whatever is behind it!

The vision departs and my normal sight returns. I will go about the rest of my day, but I shall forever be your faithful storyteller, 

Vilma

Session 139: Closing the Pit of Chaos

The battle looks grim. With Feno fleeing and Arnd asleep, only Kyro, Lhoss, Niki, and Armatzi remain to fight. Lhoss calls out that the party needs to retreat and regroup. Lhoss attempts to shove a skeleton into a zombie with her staff and Niki tries to sweep another off its feet with her scimitar; both are unsuccessful in their disarming strikes. Kyro prepares to drag Arnd out of the room while Armatzi moves forward with the Fount of Law to shield the two of them. The presence of the holy relic causes all the undead to retreat a few steps and shudder. With no resistance, Lhoss, Niki, Kyro and Arnd retreat effortlessly from the room. Armatzi, however does not retreat and stares down the crowd of foes. He turns his head back to the group and mouths the words "I'm sorry, I have to do this" and presses forward to the pit. Arnd, ever filled with a sense of bravery and duty charges back into the room to assist Armatzi. The cleric slowly moves closer to the gaping maw, causing the skeletons and zombies to shiver and move mechanically away from him. The beholder screeches out "I will feast on your flesh!" but if this strikes fear into Armatzi's heart, he does not show it. Suddenly a bone golem bursts forth from the pit. The hole is a mass of twisting blackness and body parts with teeth and fangs inlaid, jutting inward. With a belch of putrid stench, two more bone golems emerge and jostle their way into position in front of the fetid chasm. One of the golem pushes a quivering zombie away and decapitates it in a swipe. The beholder laughs manically at the scene. Armatzi presses his advance toward the pit. Niki holds back, but Kyro joins Arnd at Armatzi's rear while Lhoss sprints off to try and catch Feno. She sees him in the distance just as the spell breaks and Feno turns to head back to the battle. Lhoss and Feno exchange an Elven high-five (perfect cracking sound, slight stinging sensation on the palm) and the two sprint together. Meanwhile, Armatzi has moved close enough to the pit that he feels confident he can toss it into the downward sloping crevasse. The onlooking party members seem to hold their breath as the orb arcs slightly up and falls toward the hole. The beholder follows the font with his eye stalks; the lesser demons freeze; the golems seem to recognize the power of the object and consider it while it sails through the air, then tip aside as if to let the now strobing globe of light pass by to its destiny. With a huge blast of stinking air, a force erupts from the pit and every person and creature in the room is stunned and thrown back, onto the ground. Even Lhoss and Feno feel the vile wind blow past them. In a blink, all of the enemies are defeated, leaving behind nothing but clouds of bone dust and piles of gore. All that remains of the Pit of Chaos is a deformed mound of black crust. While the rest of the party feels a great sense of relief and accomplishment, Armatzi receives a message from St. Cuthbert: the maze is not yet clean as there is a greater presence of Nerul to the East. The pit of Chaos had been masking this evil, but it is now evident. 

The light in the room has changed. The statues are no longer emitting an unholy light and are now each holding something in their arms. The group collects a few potions, a scroll, and leather armor. Kyro finds a gold ring set with a diamond. He peers at it curiously and then places it on his finger and appears exalted. The group questions Kyro about the ring, but he is secretive and refuses to remove it. Niki casts detect magic on the items and they all glow with magic. Jack appears, takes one look at Kyro, and immediately his hair stands on end and he begins hissing at the ranger. Kyro mentions to Niki that she needs to be nice to Jack and then the cat pops back out of sight. This whole exchange makes Lhoss extremely suspicious. She questions who Kyro serves and he replies that he serves Merrika, but this does not put Lhoss at ease. She insists that in order to trust Kyro and travel with him, he needs to remove the ring. Kyro acquiesces. He then discloses that the ring allows him to understand and communicate with animals. That seems harmless enough, why was he being so secretive about it?

On the road back to Orlane, the group sees an approaching figure. He is wearing patched brown clothes and has a brown beard and striking blue eyes. The group hails him and has a brief, but friendly conversation with the traveler. He identifies himself as a Wanderer and a worshipper of Fharlanghn. As he moves on, the group notices that the traveler moves with great speed. Behind, he left a small wooden chit; it is dark walnut and carved with runes.

Back at the inn, Lhoss overhears some townsfolk talking about a stranger that was ranting about the lesser pit being destroyed but boasting about the rise of necromancers. Lhoss inquires if it was the man they had met on the road, but no - this stranger was dressed in a black cloak. Lhoss imparts the news of their most recent success with the pit and then warns the townsfolk that this was an evil person and not to engage with him. They thank her and buy her a drink, which she happily downs.

Jack pops back into the inn and points to Kyro's new ring and identifies it as a ring of evil. It's possible, though, that Jack simply doesn't like the idea of another being who is able to know his thoughts. Jack and Niki bicker over which one of them is smarter and Niki points out that she has a skill that Jack does not: healing. Jack scratches her arm and then proclaims that Niki is right, he cannot heal. Feno orders a dish of chicken for Jack, which the cat gulps down with delight. The cat winks at the elf and indicates that a favor is owed to Feno. In fact, Feno is flush with generosity and buys the whole room a round of drinks. Lhoss sees the mayor in the crowded inn and passes on the good news that the pit has been closed. A cheer is raised and more drinks are poured as what is sure to be an evening of revelry begins in earnest.

Session 136: Puzzles and Traps

It is day 23 of Harvester and we (Feno, Arnd, Armatzi, Niki, Kyro and Lhoss {me}) find ourselves presented with ten holes containing various things and a wriggling thought that this must be a puzzle to be solved. Armatzi has some wild theories about what each hole must mean, but Feno is a man with a plan! As the rest of us cower in a doorway, Feno uses an unlit torch to flip the lever set down in the northwesternmost cavity. Immediately, holes open in the eastern wall and shoot out black and yellow darts. One hits Feno and he slumps down to the ground, paralyzed. I spring into action to rescue my fellow Elf by pulling out the dart. I feel a numb tingling start to spread from my hand up my arm and drop the dart, which disappears. Feno regains consciousness pretty quickly and I examine the wall to see the holes where the darts had originated. Once I spot the holes, I begin to search the room to see if there is another wall that might also be concealing darts. Feno offers to join, so I point out the holes and he nods and starts searching. Armatzi wants to help as well, so I point out the holes, but he can't see them. Jack poofs into existence on Armatzi's shoulder, cuffs him on his ear, then disappears. Niki joins and with a little time and squinting is able to find them. Armatzi squints and strains, but is still unable to see what is plain to all us Elves. I turn to Feno and huff in Elvish "If I woke up tomorrow with human eyes, I would pluck them out and trade with a pig." He nodded with a wry grin (clearly he thought it was the most humorous thing he'd ever heard). It's a very good joke, even better in Elvish. And it rhymes.

At any rate, we do not find any other dart holes in the room; they seem to only come from the east wall. Armatzi decides he wants to flip the other switch in a hole. This time, all of us but Kyro surround Armatzi with shields as he triggers the second lever. With a loud *clunk* the portcullis drops. It does not rise with a reverse flip. Shoot, we've just trapped ourselves. I check the door to the east for traps and don't find any, so we can at least move on from this room. As Armatzi opens the door, we look back to see Kyro attempting to fish the metal circle out of one of the holes. With a bit of finagling, and some help from Armatzi, they lift the circlet out. To their horror, there is an unholy symbol of Nerull engraved upon it. A putrid smell fills their nostrils as the rotting skull appears to animate, frightening Kyro into dropping it back into the hole. Armatzi brandishes his holy symbol and sprinkles holy water on the artifact, but this is not enough! He breaks out a sacred incantation and douses the thing in more holy water. This seems to be sufficient as a cloud of gray smoke rises and then turns white. It seems the evil has bin dispelled. After such unlucky encounters, we all agree to move on from this room.

Arnd is the first through the door and begins to probe with his ten-foot pole. He calls out that he has found more burial alcoves and a pile of rubble. While the rest of us get to work looting the alcoves, Arnd and Feno examine the rubble piles. A swarm of giant rats emerges and scurries away. We don't pursue them. Arnd explores further north in the room and discovers a bottomless (question mark?) pit. Meanwhile, our noisy efforts have attracted a group of ravenous dead. We destroy them with little fanfare and push them into the pit. Curiously, they just disappear into an inky darkness about ten feet down and make no sound of hitting the bottom. This may be more than simply a bottomless pit; regardless, it is a danger to be avoided.

Session 130: Mysteries of the Sphynx

It's late morning on Day 19 of Harvester and our small group of Feno, Niki, Arnd and me (Lhoss) approach the main entrance to the barrow maze. We've climbed down this rope dozens of times, but all of the strange happenings (the containers of body parts, the theft and teasing note from another group, the ghast) have put me on edge and I decide to have a look around. I am drawn to a scene by a delicious scent and what I see is most curious: a stone table set with a plate with beef, potatoes and gravy and a side of vegetables along with a silver goblet filled with some liquid. There are even tendrils of steam still rising from the dish. It looks tempting, but it is so perfect a display in such a dangerous place, that we all feel as though it may be a trap. Feno tosses a small pebble and it hits squarely on the chair sat at the table and bounces away, dismissing his suspicions that there may be an invisible person in our midst. The group splits to search the nooks and crannies and finds nothing. If we have interrupted someone about to enjoy and early lunch, the only direction they could have gone is down the rope. So we descend into that familiar gloom, with Feno going down head-first in a daredevil manner.

The scene is one we have all seen dozens of times, but considering the oddities we have just encountered, we are all eyeing the space with extra scrutiny. The room is partially collapsed on the western wall (has it always been in this condition, or are we just now taking notice?) and written on the southern wall are the words "don't go on" (how long has that been there?). There are also frescoes of a burial procession. As we gaze upon the painted picture, the figures seem to animate and move, then in a blink, go back to still. There are exchanges of "did you just see that?" and "what is going on?" and a general feeling of disquiet. We decide that we should pay attention to the bad vibes we're all sensing and retreat back up the rope. Curiously, the plate of food is now gone and not even a scent lingers. It's as though it never was.

Good thing we know of a second entrance. We head to and enter the barrowmaze through what I have come to think of as the secret passage. Suddenly, every member of the party is frozen in fear as a vision of horror plays in our mind. What entity has the power to cause our entire group to experience this sort of psychic terror? Everyone is contemplating our options when Niki's face transforms from a look of worry to one of beatific exuberance! She has received a message from her deity, Obad-hai, that it is her divine mission to seek the Font of Law. This is likely because the two driving forces leading this cause in our party, Armatzi and Chalkboi, have left the party and the group had grown ambivalent toward the goal. It seems cleansing the barrowmaze is a priority for multiple higher powers. Niki's motivation is enough to electrify the entire group such that we all overcome our hesitancy and push forward into the crypts. We are not even deterred by the gurgling cackle that is heard in the distance. When you are infected with quest fever, the only antidote is success!

Moving with our usual caution, Gnorcia notices a doorway that had been previously guarded by a goblin, but was now clear. Onward to new discoveries! The first thing the group encounters is a crumbing sphynx statue covered in moss and dust. The statue blinks to life and speaks. Apparently it has been in the barrowmaze for many millennia. It pegs us as adventurers and offers a trade: if we can solve a riddle, it will answer a question for us. Surely a being that has been here so long could lead us directly to the Font of Law. Somewhat impetuously, without inquiring about the terms of the contract, I agree to participate. The riddle is posed: "Close to the words stay I, but I wither, wane and grow dry." I am utterly befuddled. The sphynx suggests that we all discuss it over lunch, and by the way would we mind sharing some of our rations and water? We do so and the sphynx drains and entire water skin. Feno poses that perhaps the answer is tongue, as the sphynx was clearly very thirsty. That sounds like a good answer to me, but the answer we decide to give is parchment. The sphinx seems a little disappointed and informs us we are incorrect. The answer was a pressed flower. At that revelation, the sphynx crumbles to dust and a quiet sob is heard. One can only hope that the sphynx has simply moved to another room and we may encounter it again.

Moving along, Niki kicks up some poisonous mold with her 10-foot pole. She is knocked unconscious. I cast my continual light spell, but it does not neutralize the mold. Feno pulls Niki away from the mold and manages not to become infected himself. I was all for leaving the pole behind, but Arnd deftly retrieved it and cleaned it for further use. In time, Niki recovered and we pressed on. In the next room, as Niki probed the area with the pole, a trap was triggered and a steel cage came crashing down from the ceiling, snapping the pole in two. If a person had set foot in that space, they would have either been trapped or crushed. Fortunately, there is a second pole in the bag of holding!

Further along, we enter a room with piles of rubble and cobwebs on the ceiling. Niki probes one of the piles and disturbs more toxic mold. She is able to quickly retreat and avoid being poisoned this time. With a careful inspection of the room, Niki finds a hidden latch. She switches it and a passage is revealed along with a bricked off wall. What horrors are hidden behind it?

Session 120: A Horde of Skeletons Attacks

Recorded by Gnorcia:

We stayed the day in Orlane and had a wonderful but not exactly memorable day. Lhoss and I spent the day checking in on the mayor, Vilma, and the elves. The next day was Day 6 of Harvester. Feeling refreshed, we arose early, had our meal, and were on our way toward the Barrowmaze by 6:30am. It turned out to be a gloomy, rainy day. Sergius grumbled about the rain because for some reason he did not have a cloak, but the rest of us just pulled our cloaks over us and started the march down the road. I loaned my cloak to Chiki, who also did not have one, knowing it would require cleaning after a day around that gnome and his chicken. Also in our party were Kyro and Eldriel the Grey.

It was a somber, melancholy march with no sunlight and a steady pour of rain. We could smell Sergius and his increasingly-wet chain mail. The road got muddier as we went, then the trees from the Dim Forest dripped on us as we traveled through there. The Barrowmarsh trail was even wetter and murkier than usual, with a supernatural-looking fog. Despite the gloom and rain, we were excited and determined to find more treasure and possibly the Font of Law. We entered the Barrowmaze and made our way back through its silent hallways to the room we had been exploring two days before.

Peering through the portcullis, we saw a lot of dust and cobwebs and two doors to the left—one of them broken down in pieces on the floor. We raised the rusty portcullis and Kyro began sweeping the floor for traps. He soon discovered a large pit right in front of the second, broken door! Avoiding the pit, Kyro peered into the room and was immediately attacked by three crab spiders that dropped down from the ceiling. Lhoss ran in and attacked one and I leapt onto the back of another, destroying them both. Sergius then ran in and attacked the last spider but it turned and bit him, poisoning him. He dug a poison cure and a healing potion out of his bag and drank them down. I managed to harvest the poison sacks from the crab spiders and carefully packed them away as Lhoss and Eldriel did a quick search for hidden doors or anything on the walls. We then headed back out to look into the other room.

The other door was ajar and Kyro pushed it open, revealing two open sarcophagi. He looked carefully at the ceiling—which appeared normal with no hidden crab spiders—and began to sweep the room. The skeletons lay still in their sarcophagi—as skeletons should. We determined to head back out and try the closed door in the large room to the west. Kyro entered the room and began to sweep the floor for possible danger. At one point he found a hollow-sounding spot on the floor and Sergius hit the floor with his battle axe, revealing the seam of a pit trap in front of the first door on the south. Kyro continued sweeping and found yet another pit trap to the northwest in front of another door there. Beyond that, the floor appeared to be safe.

Kyro then began sweeping the floor in a hallway to the south and discovered a large group of 23 skeletons that began lumbering toward us from both hallways, north and south! One attacked Lhoss and another attacked me. Fragile elf Eldriel had gone wandering off across the room and found himself attacked by two skeletons at once. As the skeletons swarmed we all took some damage and Sergius quickly fell to the floor but Chiki grabbed him and dragged him out into the hallway, then poured a healing potion down his throat. He immediately jumped up and sort of stumbled around the room, mindlessly. In the meantime, the rest of us determined to get out as well. Kyro and I both turned and ran out the door, taking a hit from skeletons as we did so, but were able to escape.

Lhoss then cast magic missiles on the two skeletons attacking her, disintegrating one and distracting the other enough that she could jump up onto the wall and climb quickly to the ceiling of the room, beyond their reach. She then doused her lantern just as I closed the door, leaving her and Eldriel alone with a horde of skeletons in the dark dungeon room. As the skeletons bashed on the door, trying to get out to us, Lhoss scrambled along the ceiling to where Eldriel was trapped in the corner by the bony undead creatures. She then cast levitate on him just as he fell to their attacks and passed out, bleeding. After Eldriel floated up to the ceiling, Lhoss bound up his wounds and poured a healing potion down his throat. She then tied him to herself so he would float along behind her as she silently moved across the ceiling toward the door. She noticed that the skeletons had stopped banging on the door and were click-clacking their way back to their hidey holes.

At the door, Lhoss made a low whistle and Kyro—who was waiting outside for her signal—quickly opened it to let them through, then closed it again. In the meantime, Chiki had cast a wall of fog to obscure the rest of us, just in case any skeletons got through, but it wasn’t needed as the skeletons had disengaged. Lhoss poured more healing potions down Eldriel’s throat and swallowed another dose herself. The poor druid looked drained, but we were all safe from the skeletal threat.

Session 119: At last, a gelatinous cube

Feno, Niki, Arnd, Sergius, Lhoss, Chalkboi, and Kyro could tell they were in the vicinity of the Font of Law, but they had thoroughly explored the current corridor and found nothing. They decided to retrace their steps back to the obelisk room and search beyond the eastern door. Upon opening the door, Feno was greeted with an odd sight: beyond some rubble stood a man with his back to the group; one arm was raised and frozen in place as if to ward off or wave. The figure did not respond to Sergius' calls, which was... disturbing. The party took in the rest of the room and noticed the walls of dark granite and limestone, distinct from the rest of the barrowmaze, as well as a rusty portcullis. As Niki moved further into the room to probe with her 10' pole, she noticed an odd ripple in the air. Immediately though, she was able to discern its true form: a large cube of transparent material... and it was moving toward her! The jiggling form attempted to advance and engulf her, but Niki outmaneuvered it. She struck out at it but it was Feno that delivered the destroying blow, absolutely demolishing it. The human figure, no longer supported by the gelatinous cube, fell and revealed to the group that he had been half devoured by the goo. Upon close inspection, it was believed that the half-consumed man had been a member of the Band of the Black Hand. Ah well, no great loss.

Sergius was the first to begin exploring a passageway to the south. He found burial alcoves and limestone walls that turned into rougher walls. There were eight hallways, each containing many differently-shaped burial alcoves. The adventurers closed the door behind themselves, as not to be snuck up on, and worked together to systematically search the alcoves. It was clear they would not wrap up in time to be back to Orlane for dinner, so the group ate a hasty dinner of bland rations and tried to make quick work of the searching. The haul was impressive: a gold circlet, brass cup, circular polished stone, ivory carving, bracelet, fire opal, glass box, jade idol, earrings, copper inkwell, ornate plate, mithril brooch in the shape of an elven tree, necklace, coral, and a healthy amount of gold, silver, and electrum. Feeling good about the day's work, everyone was prepared to head back to town. Feno carved a small star into the wall as a reminder that he had been here.

Alas, behind the door, the way was not clear to depart. A swarm of three stirges barred the way with a pair of sapphire skeletons advancing in the background. Two of the enormous mosquito-like creatures attacked Niki and began to suck her blood. Arnd swung out with his throwing war hammer and squished one. Lhoss used her spider climb to hang from the doorway and strike down at another, killing it. Unfortunately, this put Lhoss in a vulnerable position and she was stabbed by both of the skeletons. Feno squished the last stirge. Working swiftly, Chalbkoi and Sergius felled the two skeletons, their sapphires glowing ominously. This group has fought enough of these skeletons to know that they can only be fully defeated if their sapphires are smashed. Kyro and Chalkboi cleaved one each and the valuable shards were gathered up. The group headed back to Orlane as night fell.

The treasures were tested for magic and two items proved to be imbued with powers - the brooch and the polished stone. The group decided to divvy up some of the magical items and potions they had acquired. Anyone willing to pay the price to identify a potion could claim it. Feno claimed two and Lhoss claimed one. In addition, the ring the group had previously found was identified as a ring of fire resistance and given to Sergius. The polished stone was determined to be a luck stone and given to Feno. The brooch was shown to turn any fine cloak into a cloak of elven-kind (and therefore decrease the odds of being perceived) and given to Kyro. The rest of the treasure was sold to the jeweler Haskall with the proceeds split among the party for a handsome payday.

Session 116: Spider Lhoss climbs like a spider does

The super-sized party of Feno, Ronan, Niki, Chalkboi, Armatzi, Lhoss, Gnorcia, Kyro, and Calbach continued their current quest for the Font of Law. Heading eastward, they encountered a door that Gnorcia dutifully checked for traps. Finding none, Lhoss opened the door to find a common 10-foot pit and the rubble of a collapsed wall. Beyond the pit were two archways. Niki probed the rubble and found only harmless spiders. In an open room to the right, the group noticed mummies, grease spots, and evidence of a battle. The mummies had clearly been looted. Calbach felt a desire to show respect to the dead and rewrapped the corpses and, with the aid of Kyro and Gnorcia, placed them in the room's alcoves.

Moving onward, the heroes saw a set of double doors. Double Doors! A thrill ran through the party; were they on the cusp of discovering the Font of Law? Before anyone could so much as check the doors for traps, a swarm of carnivorous giant flies set upon the party from where they had been buzzing around a giant statue. Gnorcia in rare form, struck out solidly with her daggers, injuring one fly which was finished by Feno. Lhoss shot out the flaming sparks of her magic missile and exploded a second while Ronan slew the third. The insects were falling like flies. Armatzi healed Chalkboi who had sustained an injury. Gnorcia with deadly accuracy and a double attack skewered the final two flies and ended the battle. 

Moving toward the statue, it was sensed by several in the party that it had been a holy statue, but as it was severely defaced, no one could determine who it was meant to depict or glorify. Kyro and a few others brainstormed ideas to restore the statue, but it became clear that none of the party had the requisite skills to do so. Some rudimentary cleaning was performed before the group moved on.

The double doors were opened to show a set of descending stairs. Seems like this is the right way... Niki swept the area and noted a door to the left (containing a corpse), a door to the right (containing four corpses), and a granite arch approximately 30 feet in the distance. Moving into the room on the left to probe it with her pole, Niki was attacked by the corpse which was in fact a ghoul. Owing to her half-elf protections, she was luckily not paralyzed by the creature. Gnorcia, once again the hero, sprung into action and killed the brute. The ghoul was searched and, to the group's surprise, a pair of magical gauntlets was discovered tucked into its clothing. Lhoss' elf ears perked up at the mention of gauntlets. She had long quested for a pair of Gauntlets of Dexterity. Being a middling thief, she hoped these magical artifacts might improve her skills. Lhoss persuaded the team to let her have the gauntlets, slipped them on, and tried to pick Niki's pockets. While successful, Lhoss didn't think the gloves had actually aided her. Then she felt an urge to climb the wall. Don't get me wrong, Lhoss can climb a wall, but she scaled this dungeon wall with such speed and deftness and then perched so easily on a spot with no visible ledge, it was clear what the true power of the gauntlets was: climbing ability.

The party decided to pause to eat and contemplate next steps. Calbach made the grievous error of eating his rations in the hallway instead of joining his compatriots in the room. This move had previously been known as "pulling a Chiki", but Calbach just might have given cause to rename it because the reckless act drew some ravenous dead. Gnorcia attacked one by jumping on its back and Chalkboi used a "powered up" Caliburn to sunder another. Lhoss attempted to use her new skill in combat by climbing along the walls to achieve an advantageous position, but needs to develop this skill more and was unsuccessful. The remaining dead were killed... again.

A plan was formed to clear the room on the right, since it was suspected those four corpses were in fact ghouls. Feno and Gnorcia lobbed two vials of oil each, acting as Molotov cocktails to set the ghouls and room itself afire. In the melee, two ghouls succumb to the fire, and the other two are slain by Feno and Calbach, but not before the foes paralyze Gnorcia and Chalkboi with their terrible venom. Eventually the paralysis wears off, the group finds a runic tablet (added to the bag of holding), and shakily return to Orlane.

Session 107: Sir Guy de O'Veargne and the Fount of Law

The sun rose into a clear sky on the morning of Day 13 of Goodmonth and a warm morning quickly turned into a hot day. Chalkboi, Niki, Armatzi, Zraith, Gnorcia, Loss, and Kyro ate a typically delicious Orlanean breakfast before making the trek to the barrow marsh. It was a sweaty journey through the countryside and farmlands, then tempered by the cool, eerie Dim Forest. The brief temperature respite was shattered upon entering the barrow marsh which was hot and humid with a fetid mist that smelled more foul than usual. There was already a noticeable feeling of weariness among the travelers. The group decided to descend into the barrow maze and find a quiet spot to eat their lunchtime meal.

After moving away from an area that had a rotten smell (probably from some decaying corpses of a previous battle), a portion of rations was consumed and adventuring ensued. Armatzi walked headlong into the first room the party explored and was immediately attacked by three crab spiders that fell from the ceiling. As has happened too often of late, he was poisoned and began to froth at the mouth. Niki engaged the spiders and Armatzi was pulled to safety and Chalkboi administered a cure poison potion. Gnorcia quickly slew one and Jack used his yarning spin to hold another. The spiders were all quickly slain and the party beheld a shrouded corpse with a dirty silver circlet. The headpiece was retrieved while Gnorcia and Kyro harvested the poison sacs from the spiders.

In the next room, two disturbed skeletons on stone slabs were present in a room with hunting and fishing frescoes on the walls. There was also a pile of debris where two bracelets were found. Then to everyone's surprise, a mongrel man peered up from the debris. He was a pitiful creature that was part baboon, part cockroach, with a lobster claw for a hand. He called himself Kalen and told a sorrowful tale of being cast out by his kind and seeking refuge in the barrow maze. He went on to share that his people were sacrificed on the alters by necromancers. When asked any information on how to find these necromancers, Kalen cowered in fear and refused to communicate. Gnorcia promised that we were here to destroy the evil presence and would avenge Kalen and his people. The group left him with some rations and a spare water skin. To their amazement, Kalen sunk back into the debris pile and became nearly impossible to spot.

As the party trekked to the east, they collectively felt a sense of doom, danger, and evil. Attentive to the warning, all were hesitant to move forward. Chalkboi and Armatzi then felt a sense of holiness that led the group to retreat to the west. Along the wall, Niki noticed a hidden latch. After Gnorcia checked it for traps, Niki triggered it to reveal a hidden staircase. At the end of the stairs, it appeared to be a dead end. But upon inspection, Lhoss found crack in the wall which revealed a hidden door. Inside, dark peat-colored water dripped from the ceiling and collected in a pool in the center. Surrounding the pool were many burial alcoves lining the walls. Zraith went for a swim in the stinking water, which stirred up three giant leaches. They attacked the party but were easily slain. The group found treasure in the alcoves and also the remains of a knight who wore a winged and visored helm.

Suddenly a human specter appeared and introduced himself as Sir Guy de O'Veargne. He told the tale of his mission to close the pit of chaos, a portal to another realm that was allowing evil and undead creatures to pass into the barrow maze. He was to use the Font of Law, a glowing orb, as a means to sever the connection. Alas, he was betrayed, murdered, and unceremoniously dumped before his quest could be completed. As he began to fade from existence, he bequeathed his helm to Chalkboi as a holy paladin of St. Cuthbert and charged him and Armatzi with finding the orb and closing the portal. Armatzi and Chalkboi then took great care and reverence in properly putting Sir Guy to rest in one of the burial alcoves.

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 103: Day 4-11 of Goodmonth - Jack's Yarning Spin

The group gathered in the common room of the Foaming Mug on the morning of Day 4 of Goodmonth. As they all enjoyed their breakfast, several noticed that the bread was not as fresh as it usually is. Florin indicated that they had not received any fresh bread and had supplemented the offerings with especially fine jams and preserves. Hopefully the day-old bread could be overlooked? Lhoss remarked kindly that day-old bread in Orlane was finer than fresh bread anywhere else. Kyro started to equivocate that the group had eaten very good bread in Hochoch, but Lhoss shushed him. Jack requested a saucer of milk. Kyro raised an eyebrow and remarked "most cats are lactose intolerant!" With his usual quick wit, Feno retorted "most cats can't talk and levitate!" Jack took immense satisfaction in this exchange and gave Feno a high five.

Lhoss informed the group that after her near-death experience, she would need several days of recuperation and rest before she was well enough to go adventuring again. The rest of the party found themselves with time on their hands in the village. Feno walked to the shop to purchase a leather strap with Jack riding on his shoulders. Getting in the cat's good graces will apparently earn you some feline companionship time. Feno also found a place to gamble and had some fun without losing his shirt. Kyro took the opportunity to train in farming with Alan Clayborn. Gnorcia sought out and purchased a luxury cat bed (in the hopes that she could reclaim her own rented bed). She commissioned a perfectly-sized couch in Jack's favorite colors: navy, purple, and gold. He took to it immediately and curled up in a tight little ball. Success! Lhoss spent most of her time taking meals and retreating to her room with a few visits to her good friend, Velma. The rest spent their time and money enjoying the simple pleasures Orlane has to offer.

Day 11 rolled around and Lhoss finally felt well enough to venture out with the party. It was a hot, high-summer day. The sun was blazing, such that the cool of the Dim Forest was at first a welcome relief. But the spookiness of the place soon sent a different chill down their spines. The group pushed on until they reached the barrowmaze which then greeted them with a hot, fetid smell and orange hazy light. That's not all that greeted them, a horde of six skeletons, five zombies, and two ghouls crawled out of the muck and lurched forward to attack!

As Armatzi prepared his turn undead ability, he was viciously attacked by a ghoul. It unfortunately paralyzed him, neutralizing one of our greatest weapons against these undead. Fortunately the party was large with a variety of strengths. Gnorcia's dexterous skill quickly dispatched one ghoul and Lhoss targeted another with her magic missiles. Feno attacked and felled zombies with his deadly blade Icing Death, knowing it was less effective on skeletons. Jack did something unexpected: he levitated one of the ghouls and spun it in midair, neutralizing it as an opponent throughout the battle. Clever kitty! As the battle ensued, skeletons were the last of the enemies for the heroes to defeat. Lhoss remarked to Chalkboi that if he didn't have a blunt weapon to strike the skeletons with, even at half damage, Caliburn may still prove the best option. Indeed a powerful magical sword is capable of slicing a skeleton to shrapnel! Feno took note and instead of switching to his inferior morningstar, pressed his attacks with Icing Death and found it does just fine! He even finished off the ghoul caught in Jack's Yarning Spin. In the aftermath of the battle, Jack walked gently over and touched Armatzi's nose, immediately releasing him from the paralysis. Very, very clever kitty!

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 95: Wealsun Day 21 through Day 4 of Reaping

As recorded by Gnorcia: 

Lhoss was determined to complete some thief training before traveling to Hochoch. While she was busy preparing for another day of practice and study, the rest of us decided to give up a little sleep and head back to the edge of the Dim Forest at night to see if we could attract and destroy the remaining ghouls that had been harassing farmers in the area.

I tried to convince the others to distract the druid, Niki, so I could kill a small animal and use the blood to attract the ghouls, but she quickly figured out my plan (Jack the cat was probably listening) and put a stop to it. With a big sigh, Feno pulled out a dagger and pricked his finger, dripping and flinging his own blood on everything as we entered the forest. The night was descending quickly and it was mere minutes before we sensed something evil coming toward us from the northwest. It was indeed a pack of ghouls with something even more sinister leading it.

Fear spread across our small group of heroes. I scrambled up a tree and Kyro followed suit. Armatzi and Niki stationed themselves behind the gnarled tree trunks and prepared to attack, but Feno and Chalkboi set themselves in the middle of the path, weapons ready. The ghouls ran straight for the bleeding Feno and only one noticed Armatzi, swiping at him as it passed. Before he was hit, the cleric managed to cast his turn undead spell on the pack's dark leader and called out, aghast at the creature's evil, fishy stench, "It's a ghast!" Jack took one sniff and dove into Niki's backpack.

The rest of us used arrows and darts to attack from a distance, doing some small damage to the horrid creatures. Armatzi cast turn undead again and one ghoul was feared back down the path into the forest, but it wasn't enough to stop Chalkboi from being hit by another. He was immediately frozen by the ghoul's paralytic poison. Feno swiped through one as the rest of us continued our barrage of darts and arrows. Fortunately no one was hit by friendly fire and the injured ghouls screamed horribly as thick blood poured from their wounds.

Once more, Armatzi cast turn undead and the remaining ghouls turned to run. Kyro and I jumped down to help with the chase as Niki cast an entanglement spell, trapping the remaining ghouls in vines. The ghast, however, was merely slowed by the vines and Armatzi determined to destroy it himself. Running around the edge of the entanglement, he scrambled against the forest's thick brush and branches. He even attempted to throw rocks at the ghast, as if somehow he could slow it further.

Feno thought to skip over the entanglement as he attacked a trapped ghast, but got his feet caught in the spell's twining vines. Niki casually strolled right through the vines and smacked down that ghoul, then headed for the last one that was screaming angrily and pawing at the darts sticking out of its rubbery head. Those were my darts and I wanted them back so I leaped over the vines and onto the ghoul's back, but slipped and fell into the mass of greenery. Niki then finished off the final ghoul just as Armatzi and the ghast reached the same point at the vines' perimeter.

Realizing there wasn't time to swing his hammer, Armatzi reached out with the power of the Gauntlet of St. Cuthbert and blasted the ghast with holy light. It crumbled at his feet and even Chalkboi managed to let out a cheer as the paralysis wore off and the vines soon retreated.

Exhausted and covered in the stench of ghouls, we retrieved what darts and arrows we could and headed back to Orlane, stopping only to leave a note on the door at Hans' farmhouse, telling him the ghouls were defeated.

We spent the rest of the week and the next happily enjoying our time with no undead creatures to battle and a joyful summer festival to celebrate. We were a bit too free with our coin and just as freely listened to the tales of too many drunken townsfolk.

Her training complete, Lhoss joined in the celebration and was warned by the townspeople to take great care to avoid altars because they were very dangerous. Armatzi was told to seek the pools in the barrowmaze for safety, and warned that the mutated creatures there would enslave humans. Feno heard that the entrances to the barrowmaze were trapped, while another dismissed the entirety of it, claiming the barrows were just mounded graves and the rest was all folk tales.

I plied stories from a few more folks, learning that they had heard of piles of magical items in the southern crypts, that a powerful evil warrior and his band used the barrowmaze as their hideout, and the oft-repeated story of an elven maiden recently freed from the barrowmaze. I also heard of runic tablets that would curse all who read them, but Niki was told that some runic tablets contain information and not just curses. We nodded and considered our own experiences with runic tablets both helpful and dangerous.

Chalkboi used his story of being paralyzed by ghasts to start conversations with several people who then warned him that tribes of humans live in the barrowmaze along with mutated people who were guarding powerful treasures, and the same story of a powerful evil warrior hiding there with his band. He also had his story dismissed by someone who, again, claimed it was all hogwash and the barrows were nothing but a valley full of old graves.

As the celebrations were winding down on the last day, we gathered together for a meal in the tavern when a short, hooded figure with a long nose poking out from its hood entered the room. It sniffed, then headed straight for our table. We immediately noticed that it smelled more-than-faintly of fish, but this time fish-loving Jack was not afraid and came out to sniff at the hem of its heavy cloak. The creature squawked quietly at the cat and pushed back its hood, revealing a beaked figure in black and white.

"Zraith at your service!" it said. "I have been sent from my brethren in the south to find a cleric known as Armatzi."

All heads turned to Armatzi, who was earnestly breaking up chunks of meat and vegetables in his stew. Sensing the group's silence, he lifted his eyes and recognized the figure before him as a penguin holding a staff in one flipper. Unruffled by the strange welcome, the waddling bird had nothing but attention for Armatzi, and quickly explained that his clan from the south had been experiencing strange visions and sent him as a missionary.

"I am here to accompany you on your journeys for one month," it finished with a snap of its beak, holding its head up at attention. Armatzi paused, then nodded and went back to his stew. We all laughed and welcomed the odd little bird to our party.

The following day, Niki bought a bedroll and Feno borrowed one from Hilja as we packed up our belongings and set out for Hochoch. We stopped to spend the first night with Hans and his family, celebrating the defeat of the ghouls. Days later, on the evening of day four of Reaping (or day four of the elven month of Goldfields, for those who don't know better) at the beginning of high summer, we arrived at Hochoch, exhausted and tired of eating dry rations. We followed the scent of roasting beef and soon found ourselves at the Swift Coin Inn, where we dined on braised beef, soup, and bread, before securing rooms and turning in for a more-comfortable sleep in real beds.

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.

Session 88: The many riches of Osric and Breena

As she peered into the sarcophagi, Lhoss found herself simultaneously dazzled by the mountain of coins and wondering how on earth the group would transport it all. Luckily, Gnorica and Arnd appeared, swelling the party's ranks. Between Calbach, Tatania, Lhoss, Gnorcia, Arnd, Armatzi, Niki, Feno, and Hilja, all of the platinum and gold and much of the silver was packed up to cart back to Orlane. 

As the group exited the barrow maze, they encountered a bunch of skeletons. Between Hilja casting an entangle spell and Armatzi turning the undead, the evil creatures were quickly slaughtered. The rest of the journey was uneventful. The adventurers cleaned off the dust and rain from their travels and ate dinner at the inn, ending day 11 of Wealsun.

The riches were divided among the group and Armatzi, Hilja, and Niki were able to train to level up. The items gathered from Osric and Breena (armor, sword, shield, ring, bracers, crown) along with the red leather cloak were tested and all found to be magical. Ramne was able to determine the magical properties of each item (for a price). Many in the party found themselves so loaded down with coin, they bought valuable gems and jewelry as an investment and in an effort to lighten their loads. 

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 81: An Education in Potions, Day 1 of Wealsun

The morning of the first day of Berrytime was warm and sunny. Feno, Aramaziti, Chalkboi, Gnorcia, Lhoss, and Tatania began their day in Orlane doing errands. Feno and Lhoss went to the shop and sold off some weapons (a throwing axe for Feno and a spiked long sword for Lhoss). Feno then bought a morningstar as to have a blunt weapon to use against skeletons (cue foreshadowing music). Wishing to replenish their poison antidote supplies, the group headed to the temple of Merikka.

At the temple, the team met up with Browning (a lesser acolyte). They were informed that he would be conducting all future commercial temple dealings. Browning listed the prices for healing potions and poison cures. The group decided to buy one poison antidote and place it in the bag of holding. Additionally, Feno and Gnorcia purchased a dose each to keep in their personal packs. Browning then told us that if we could obtain the valuable components of the potions (ogre mage blood or troll blood for healing potions and poison glands from spiders or scorpions for heal poison potions) we could receive a discount to purchase them. At this, Gnorcia's ears perked up. She produced several poison sacs that she had skillfully extracted from defeated spiders and was able to sell them for a hefty treasure. Looking at the vials for sale, Lhoss pulled out a few unidentified vials from the bag of holding. With a small gasp, Browning identified two as healing potions, with one being a super healing potion containing three doses. What a discovery! The group, stocked up, headed out toward the barrow marsh.

Even though this has become a well-trod path for our heroes, they were still struck by the business of the area with new builds and a few travelers passed on the way. Other than these merry sights, the journey was uneventful. As the party descended into the gloom of the barrow marsh, they were set upon by that familiar enemy: skeletons! (Repetition of foreshadowing music, now in a major key).

The undead monsters were quickly dispatched with and left in piles of burnt and broken bones. Lhoss turned to Tatania and said "Tatania, wanna see a new entrance?" and pointed out the new door that the party had discovered the previous day. It presented a significant shortcut to the part of the barrowmaze the group had been exploring. Being a quiet and relatively secured area, the party ate lunch and rememorized spells.

Moving on, the heroes found themselves in a familiar spot where they had encountered a melee between the cultists of Orcus and Set. Feno noticed a switch on the wall and, with encouragement from Lhoss, threw it. The wall disappeared to reveal several carnivorous flies. Disgusting as they were, the warriors slew them all quickly and skillfully.

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.