Session 6: 6/25/14

The Party:
PC2 (F:1), The Dwarf (D:1), Xero (T:3), Braggle (H:2), Sabitha(MU:1), Brother Burkey (C:3)

The Summary:

As the party approached the ruins, Xero, Braggle and Brother Burkey had the sense that, although things seemed the same as last time, someone or something had been here (that feeling you get when you just know that your landlord has let the exterminator into your appartment but nothing appears out of place). 

The "regulars" felt it was worthwhile to check if the merchants were still there before entering the ruined tower. What they found was an abandoned site which would have been unnotable save for the trail of wagon tracks leading in two directions down trails, a large semi-wet spot on the ground that turned out to be blood, and the presence of some human finger bones in the ashes of the stone fire rings. Satisfied that there was nothing further worth exploring here, they returned to the tower.

Careful examination revealed foot prints going in and out of the tower - more going in than coming out. Although some of the prints may have been theirs, there were several more which were clearly not. Finding the trap door to the dungeon open confirmed their suspicions/fears that the merchants were up to no good.

Although a full sweep of the entire first level was suggested by Xero, after the party retrieved their tank and found doors had been burned down approaching the nearest flight of stairs down, but not in the direction of the elevator shaft (where they found their trap was still in place), they abandoned both the tank and the idea to sweep the level.

Down below, they found whoever had been through had not gotten very far before either being killed or abandoning their quest. The party made their way down to the room with the giant winged boar statue and then took the southern door. On the other side, they found themselves in a crypt.

Highlights:

• Realizing a strange carved stone eye was a trap - which still incinerated two 10' poles
• Being attacked by a pack of ghouls and narrowly avoiding a TPK because PC2 made his save and the final ghoul's morale broke.
• PC2's death at the hands of, well, I forget what killed him. Probably something undead.
• Finding PC1? (MU:1 and PC2's replacement), tied up with all of his gear and unsure of how he got there.
• Skillful use of some old church pews to bridge across a magically trapped floor to loot the body interred on the opposite side.
• Turning and then killing the ghoul-in-the-box.
• Finding a secret door that led to a hidden chamber containing a seated skeleton in lace garments (ordinary dwarf skeleton), a seated figure wrapped head to toe in fabric (mummy) and one empty chair. Behind them stood a seven skeleton guard in plate mail and armed with halberds.  
• Destroying the above with fire, arrow and sword and netting a significant treasure.

Session 5: 6/13/14

The Party:

Batok (M:1), Zrax(F:1), Brother Burkey (C:2), Vern Dosh(D:1), Braggle(H:1), Xero (T:2), 

The Summary
Over breakfast at the Mournful Phoenix, and after settling up their room tabs with Burzom, the party learned that some smoke had been seen in the direction of the dungeon.They made visual confirmation and proceeded to the ruins where they could hear, from the woods to the north, laughter.

Xero snuck through the woods and spied upon what an encampment - several tents, a wagon, horses, and 4 men drinking at a table. He returned to the party to relay the information, which in turn led to a tactical discussion.

Zrax, of the Chaotic Slacks and man of action, walked into the woods and called out to the camp, and although they responded, they were not interested in coming out to his position. Instead, they told him they were merchants and he should come to join them - they had beer. No one believed the men were merchants.

Brother Burkey, drinker extraordinaire, put on his best drunken appearance and stumbled into the camp, while Braggle, Xero and Vern Dosh spread out through the woods to cover him.

After their initial surprise, the campers were quite taken with Brother Burkey, to the point that they tapped a keg for him. Although the men themselves were observed discretely disposing of the beer from their cups, they made no move to do him in. It wasn't until four more of their number arrived from a hunting excursion that they even tried to make him leave.

As they struggled to move the mountain of a man, in full plate, Vern Dosh observed a tall, well built man in black robe over plate, with skin as red as a Templar's Cross, and glowing violet eyes headed toward the camp attended by two others, who dressed similarly to the merchants. He was not happy to see the visitor, or that the keg had been tapped. Despite being ordered to bring Brother Burkey back, the men let him go before returning to their obvious leader.

While sneaking back to meetup with the party, Vern Dosh snapped a twig loud enough to alert the camp. After a half hearted effort to pursue the party, they dropped back, leaving the party unharmed.

Once inside dungeon, the party retrieved their tank and then finished exploring the first level to their satisfaction - killing some giant centipedes and shriekers (in the ubiquitous fungal garden) in the process, and making a haul of a variety of items, including many which Batok confirmed were spell components. Among the items, dozens of stoppered glass vials.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f2/D%26DShrieker.JPG/200px-D%26DShrieker.JPG

The second level started with an encounter with an obsidian living statue of a dwarvish warrior. It was brought down with relative ease. 

A few rooms later, they interrupted a twisted mass led by a ghoul, preaching to a congregation of zombies:

http://vigilantcitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/610x2.jpg
this is not how i imagined it, but i like the picture too much not to use it.

The ghoul definitely raised some eyebrows, but it, and its followers, was dispatched rather handily, by the party, fronted by the duel blades of Braggle and Zrax.

The remainder of the exploration turned up a good bit of silver coin, as well as religious supplies - holy water, candles- and a 25 gallon cask of oil. Some of the oil was transferred to stoppered glass vials for use as half-flask missile weapons.

In the last room they would explore, they came across a 30' tall statue of a winged boar. 

http://subeta.wikia.com/wiki/Stone_Winged_Boar

Cautious after their encounter with the living statue earlier, they made their way around the perimeter of the room searching for secret doors and the like. One of the great black stone pillars was found to make a hollow sound when tapped. 

A quick search by Xero and Vern revealed a secret panel, which, when pushed, sent much of the party hurtling upwards. Brother Burkey alone was spared the effect.

For most of the party, they found themselves stopped just short of the ceiling, but for the two closest to the pillar, spikes awaited them. Xero was lucky, and suffered only a minor injury, but Vern Dosh was run through his vital organs, and died instantaneously.

Such is life in the dungeon.

Inside the pillar, Brother Burkey found a gold statuette of the winged boar, and a sack of silver.

The party secured themselves to the pillar and when the man of the cloth and beer stein closed the panel, the strange effects disappeared. 

After looting Vern's body, they exited the dungeon without further incident, in large part due to their insistence on wedging every door they encounter. Contrary to their suspicions, the red-man and his "merchants" were not there waiting for them outside the ruined tower.