The Tomb, The Bounty, and The Giant

Miscellaneous

The party arrives at the tomb and dives in once again.

The party delves into the tomb once more, this time their efforts are more fruitful. While they meet with many monsters within, an Oni from whom Kithu takes a massive Glaive, a Werejaguar who manages to bite Orpheus, and a sentient being that looks like a tree from whom Wilphose finds the first piece of his rapier, and do have to take one evening to rest before continuing, they ultimately manage to exit the tomb with their pockets much heavier than when they entered.

They rest for the night after, happy to be out from the buried tomb and under the stars. In the morning, as they begin to pack up to leave, a figure greets them. He calls himself Aldren Covenlash and says hes come for Athis in order to turn him in for the sizable bounty. The party defends Athis, refusing to give him up and Aldren commends them for their loyalty before dropping the hammer. Aldren's allies, a large group of bandits, some well placed archers and three powerful Ogres, jump into action and attack the party.

A nearly deadly fight ensues. Things start to look bad for the party when the Giant Kithu had met on their first trip to the tomb wandered over to see what was happening. Kithu implored him to aid them and after some surveying of the battlefield, the Giant, who later introduced himself as Relom, agreed. The morale of Alren's men dropped quickly once Relom joined the fray. Even with precise shots, the archers were not able to pierce his hide. Aldren, cutting his losses, fled the battlefield and flew away on a giant eagle. The rest of the bandits were quickly put to the sword while Relom dealt with the Archers who could not run away fast enough. Lydia was running about the battlefield keeping her allies alive with healing spells while her summoned crocodiles made short work of the bandits.

In the end, Athis spare one of the bandits, a young man named Devin. They questioned him and learned that Aldren was a member of a prominent house in Kurleigh Castle who made their money chasing large bounties such as his. Athis, not one to be remembered as soft, burned Devin's face with his acid breath and then sent him of to Basin, making him promise to live out the rest of his life peacefully there.

After Relom had collected his fair share of the spoils (mostly just the bodies) and shared with Orpheus the head of one of the bandits as a show of goodwill, he lead the party out of the mountains and to the plateau, warning them of the Hobgoblin Wyvern riders. They bid their new friend goodbye and continued on to Kurleigh Castle. Along the way they spent a night holding Orpheus down as his body succumbed to the lycanthropy but they managed to keep him together until morning.

Exhausted, and looking forward to some nights of sleep on actual beds, the party finally arrives at Kurleigh Castle.