Session 03
General Summary
The group planned a return visit to the Burial Halls. Once again they sneaked out of the twin
temples and up the western side of the valley, avoiding the troll cave and spiders webs. While
passing through the forest they were ambushed by a band of ghouls, which were swiftly defeated.
Upon seeing the entrance to the Burial Halls it was noticed that all the smashed up skeleton
remains had gone. This probably meant that someone had cleaned up and knew people had been
poking around. It was also suggested that perhaps the magic fountain which animated the
skeletons somehow sucked the bone fragments back in again. Ethulwulf approached the entrance
to peer inside. As he did so he triggered a black flash of corruption - no doubt one of those rune
traps like had been scribed in the twin temples. He heard a gasp in the darkness and the sound of
an armoured figure standing up. Then a horde of skeletons appeared and launched into combat.
Meanwhile sounds of spellcasting could be heard from inside the Burial Halls. The skeletons were
soon dealt with but in the meantime the spellcaster had gone - presumably to raise the alarm.
Having had a bad experience with the unstoppable tide of skeletons animating from the tainted
fountain, the Albioners decided to investigate behind the hidden door. This also had the advantage
of being a different place to where the spellcaster had run off to. Everyone went into the tunnel
past the hidden door and paused while Colby tried to determine what function the lever had. In the
midst of his investigation, the floor suddenly gave way, dropping Zandrill and Ermenred 30' down
into a pit. Colby assured everyone it had nothing to do with what he was doing. A rope was
lowered for Ermenred to climb. Zandrill shocked everyone by using his druidic powers to assume
the shape of an eagle and fly out! Suddenly it made sense how he'd been able to scout the valley as
quickly and thoroughly as he had. He said he'd been granted the power during the graduation
ceremony at Akihabara and that it was a private matter secret to the druidic faith.
After further investigation, Colby discovered that the lever switched off the pit trap. When he
pulled it, there was a horrendous screeching noise of ages-old machinery scraping rust against rust
and the floor became safe to walk on. Beyond the pit trap, stairs led down into a small natural
cavern. In the centre lay a small pond of dark, stagnant water. At the far side was an iron door
covered with strange runes. Ethulwulf and Heremod began skirting the walls of the cavern heading
for the door, when suddenly two long tongues flicked out of the water and grasped at them.
Ermenred responded with a magical incantation which blasted a bolt of lightning into the pool,
frying two giant frogs, and almost catching Colby in the blast. The runes on the door were
checked and were not of the magical trap variety. After a short amount of time Colby had picked
the lock and opened the door. Beyond, a tunnel stretched away to the left and right. Faint signs of
daylight could be discerned from above, as could the sounds of many, many bats. Ethulwulf
spotted large booted footprints in the dirt, perhaps those of an ogre or troll.
The passage to the left led into a large cavern. More faint daylight trickled in from cracks
overhead. Ermenred asked Wini to try and fly up through the cracks to work out where they came
out overhead. They were too small even for a raven to fit through so he suggested she find a route
to the surface via the cave of bats. She set off but came streaking back a few seconds later pursued
by some awful blood sucking creatures Ermenred identified as stirges. Luckily they were swiftly
dealt with but not before feasting on blood. Off the cavern were a collapsed area to one side and a
raised area to the other along with a tunnel at the far side. Rodent tracks covered much of the
floor. The group moved cautiously down the tunnel and came to a fork. A howling wind swirled
down the corridors, thought to be a natural phenomenon due to connecting tunnels between two
sinkholes on the surface. Ethulwulf could still see the giant footprints but also found human-sized
booted footprints aswell.
Moving on down one branch of the fork, the group found themselves in a damp cave with another
pool of water. As they moved through the room, a couple of stalactites suddenly detached and
landed on Ethulwulf. Ermenred identified them as creatures called piercers. At the far end of the
cave was a large bronze door with a silver lock. Despite his best efforts, Colby couldn't figure out
how to open it. When Ermenred detected powerful magical emanations it was assumed the door
had been magically secured. With that direction blocked, the group returned and took the other leg
of the fork. This led to a large cavern with two exits, which later were found to connect in a ring
tunnel. Each exit was partially blocked with a mound of boulders. As the group traversed the
boulders to explore, a very large ogre announced itself as "Gorebash". It seemed a mighty
opponent until Ermenred blinded it and suddenly it was ripe for the slaughter. Its sleeping area
was nearby and found to contain much treasure and interesting items, some of them magical. By
this point the group were fatigued and injured from their escapades, so they simply picked up their
findings and headed back out of the Burial Halls as quickly as they could. Fortunately they made it
all the way outside without encountering further denizens and in fact made it all the way back to
the twin temples without incident.
The entire day was spent recuperating from their efforts. It was also spent pondering what the next
move should be. Whoever was lurking in the Burial Halls (presumably people working for Sir
Mangarack) now surely knew that a hostile force was visiting and presumably would have vigilant
sentries and traps prepared.
Report Date
10 Apr 2024
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