Fortunately for all concerned, Halfnir the hireling turns
out to be a lot smarter than I’d previously given him credit for (and Kilburne
a lot dumber); Halfnir suggests an even more cunning Plan B which entails
returning to the rest of the party, appraising them of the situation and
getting them to journey below and share the hit point losses. Reluctantly
Kilburne agrees (no doubt claiming the idea as his own).
Meanwhile the semi-sane contingent of the party have
tethered the mules inside and bought in much of the supplies and all of the
food from the cart. Urnst wanders outside to hunt for tomorrow’s sacrifice for
his fearsome god Wodan. Instead he hears the roar of Old Black (an ancient and
deadly bear) and returns to the cavern to ponder the value of a sacrificial
mule.
Songara has lost the urge to explore alone; having almost
come unstuck at the hands and clubs of vicious Morlocks. Sparrow is still down
to one hit point and is reluctant to move just in case she bumps into someone
and sustains a fatal injury.
So, whilst the second henchman, Yorg, sets up a campfire and
starts to prepare a meal, Kilburne and Halfnir return to tell of their findings
and it is agreed that after a nights rest, the platform will be explored.
Kilburne announces it’s not quite his bedtime yet and wanders off to explore
the rest of the barrow. Halfnir shakes his head and follows. Somehow the NPC
feels responsible for the poor misguided dwarf; much as you might care for a
deranged family member.
In the first room, Kilburne spies a sarcophagus in an alcove
on the far side. Surprisingly he walks around the outskirts of the room to
reach it, completely missing my cunning spear trap! He finds the coffin is
ruined and the long body within is nothing more than a skeleton. He does notice
that the little finger on each hand has been meticulously removed. Additionally
the stone coffin bore some kind of ancient dwarven runes that Kilburne could
not decipher.
The next room is similarly laid out with a sarcophagus on
the far side. Expecting more of the same Kilburne edges around the room and is
nearly slain by the ghoul that leaps out of the stone casket. That’s a slight
overstatement actually; the ghoul failed to surprise the dwarf but does go on
to win initiative. Astonishingly it misses with all three attacks (I don’t
think I rolled above a 9); Kilburne scoffs and attacks – but misses, too much
scoffing methinks.
In the next round, Halfnir shouts out a warning and Urnst
gets ready to assist. Songara waves him, on: ‘You go, I’m still eating. Plus
it’s only the dwarf.’
Kilburne wins initiative, attacks, misses (of course) and is
struck by the ghoul in return. He fails his saving throw and is paralysed. I
manage to suppress my laughter. In the next round Halfnir steps in to assist
the dwarf and strikes a telling blow but is himself, wounded.
Finally Urnst arrives and calls on the power of Wodan to
banish the fell ghoul. Ordinarly the dice roll would have turned the 2 HD
creature but ghouls turn a 3 HD foes!
The ghoul goes on to carve a few more hit points out of
Kilburne before Urnst puts it out of its
misery.
After the battle Halfnir is wounded and paralysed –
naturally Urnst takes the opportunity to pose the paralysed bodies in a rather
embarrassing embrace. In the coffin, Urnst finds a few handfuls of coin and a
magic potion in a stoppered bottle. He tastes and correctly divines the
potion’s power but I won’t say what it does here.
The ghoul was a powerful foe so the god Wodan considers that
his sacrifice and in the morning, Urnst heals Sparrow completely and the crew
head off to the elevator.
After about 40 minutes of working the pulley, the platform comes
to rest near what seems to be an underground salt-water ocean. A long dock
stretches to the East with a large pair of gaping stone doors at its furthest
reaches.
Songara marvels at this hidden underground ocean – the world
above is so dry and dusty… Kilburne grumbles about all the water and trundles
off.
Three crumbling lookout towers are perched atop the dock and
whilst the party slowly examines one, a fat black bird with bat wings and a
long, long beak perches nearby. It watches intently for a moment before
fluttering off into the darkness.
The PCs find a sunken barge along the dockside and Sparrow
volunteers to get wet and explore as there is clearly an old corroded chest
amidst the ruined boat, some six feet below the surface. Songara made an
attempt to hook the chest with her rope and grapnel while Sparrow strips off
but only manages to dislodge one of the chest’s handles.
Sparrow deftly recovers the chest from the freezing cold
water. It reveals another stoppered flask and a heavy gold goblet – Sparrow quickly
secures both items in her backpack which she describes as the repository of ‘party
treasure’.
Halfway along the docks is a massive bronze door inscribed
with images of dancing skeletons at its border. The door is barred and chained
but a small and secret door has been revealed in the lower section, beyond is a
slack brass lever. Kilburne suggests that the lever was used to open the stone
doors at the far side of the dock. Songara pats him on the head and moves on.
As the party approaches the huge stone doors, two more of
the strange birds flutter into view and perch on a lookout post. This is more
than poor Kilburne can take and in his ongoing mission to seek out new life forms
and put a bolt through them, he shoots his crossbow and puts a bolt though one
of them.
The second bird takes flight but instead of fleeing, circles
toward the PCs where it is quickly bisected with the aid of Songara’s massive,
gleaming, two-handed sword. Splat. Urnst mumbles that ‘he could have sacrificed
that…’
The stone doors lead to a grand chamber covered in dust but
criss-crossed with a myriad foot prints. The floor of the chamber is comprised
of one-foot-square tiles each bearing an ancient rune – similar to those seen
in the barrow above.
Whilst the others are arguing about the significance of the
weird birds and Kilburne reloads his crossbow, Sparrow is convinced she can
hear voices coming from one of the doors leading from the rune chamber and
wanders off to investigate. She sees that the source of the noise lies in what
was once a guard station but the years have caused the fixtures and fittings to
crumble near to dust.
Within, Sparrow spies two men discussing how they plan to
open a door in the East wall without getting killed by the powerful wizard on
the other side. Sparrow makes herself know and the third occupant of the room
(an elven archer named Pipluk) does likewise. The four make their introductions
and it’s clear that the men and elf are in the employ of a powerful witch
called Dark Odo. The group has come to the Hidden Sea by means of Dark Odo’s
magic to carry away the vast treasures of the dead to be found here. The wizard
in the other room was a member of the original party but has fallen from Dark
Odo’s favour.
Wary of the wizard’s power, the men instruct Sparrow to open
the door and as Pipluk has an arrow trained on her, it’s hard for the thief to
object. She exchanges a few words with the wizard (Amdor) in the small room
beyond then flicks open the door, rolling aside as she does so. The door swings
open a little and Pipluk fires! His arrow hits only the door and Amdor quickly
closes it again. One of the men (Veneman) instructs the other (Luq) to find Odo
and appraise her of the situation. Luq leaves the room which was a great
mistake as Kilburne is out there and his crossbow is loaded…
As I describe the character leaving the room, Brad is quick
to explain what Kilburne is doing ‘I shoot!’
Luq is wounded but flees through a door barricading it
behind him. Kilburne (asking no questions) runs after the man (claiming he
wants his bolt back) and starts to chip away at the door with his miner’s pick.
It’s very, very noisy.
Meanwhile, the other PCs enter the room with Sparrow who is
now a hostage of Veneman, however she slips his grasp and combat ensues.
Veneman doesn’t make it past Urnst’s mace which reduces the villain’s face to a
mushy paste. ‘I could have sacrificed him’ says Urnst. Songara shakes her head
in disbelief then quickly convinces Pipluk to surrender. Amdor is released.
Amdor explains that Odo’s party did not descend via the
wooden elevator used by the PCs, rather they arrived via boat which Odo later
cast adrift, trapping them on the dock. Pipluk makes no comment on this but
instead suggests that he be allowed to leave. Songara talks him into joining
the PCs for a cut of any treasure and he agrees. Amdor also tags along.
Kilburne finally breaches the door and wanders off with
Halfnir in tow whilst the party chat with the two new recruits. He takes the
smaller of the two passages beyond and finds himself following a winding tunnel
that ends in a stout door. It is clear that water lies on the other side so
heeding Halfnir’s wise council, heads back to the rest of the group.
After some discussions and a stalled attempt by Kilburne to
shoot Pipluk, the party return to the ‘water door’. Beyond is a sunken room
full to knee-depth with cold, clear, sea water. In the centre of the room is a
ten foot deep pit, at the bottom, is a skeleton clutching a horn and mace.
Urnst volunteers to collect the items and quickly strips off. He surfaces
moments later with the skull-crested mace (magic no less) and the mysterious
bone horn.
More to follow in session 3...
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