Characters:
- Zarjaz the Zazzy - Magic-User 1 - Male
- Shanks Mcspindlewort - Thief 1 - Male
- Finbar son of Finwe - Elf 1 - Male
- Delast Elfenprincess* - Elf 1 - Female
- Barack Kihnos - Cleric 1 - Male
The story continues ...
Tired and wounded the party returns to Ethanfeld to rest, heal and resupply. With their ill-gotten gains they buy tents and other camping equipment, rations, bandages, lanterns for all, copious quantities of lamp oil and 2 mules to help them carry everything. In addition Finbar properly arms himself with a sabre, shield and longbow.
One day later the party heads back into the Dragonbone Peaks. They are joined by a new companion, Barack Kihnos, an initiate in the Cult of Thor. From his player we learn that in order to progress in the cult Barack must personally kill a (currently unspecified) number of goblins and return with their left ears as evidence. Arriving back in the vicinity of the cave the party set up a semi-permanent camp, choosing the shelter of a nearby scrub covered knoll in the hopes that it won't be disturbed by the local goblins.
The following morning they make their way up to the cave and are surprised by 2 goblin lookouts who shoot arrows ineffectively at them. With a holy oath Barack charges the goblin's position with Finbar in close pursuit. The goblins are quickly defeated and with evident satisfaction Barack takes his first trophy.
Barack and Finbar take the lead as the party re-enters the cave and this time decides to take right-hand tunnels. In the first new cave that they enter they disturb 3 ornery giant ferrets picking over the remains of another rat's nest. In the ensuing fight Barack is badly injured and uses up his Cure Light Wounds spell. His suggestion that the party rests up so that he might regain his spell was met with jeers from the Magic-User and Elves.
Continuing east from the large cave and turning south the party discovers a rock cut staircase descending further into the labyrinth. They choose to ignore this for the moment. By backtracking and following a narrow tunnel north-east they find themselves back at the point where the tunnels break into the worked stone east-west corridor. They head west along this corridor back into the goblin chambers where they find that the bodies of the slain have been removed. With some effort the door in the north-west corner of the first goblin chamber is forced open to reveal an ascending spiral staircase. Shanks climbs this for about 30 ft where it terminates in a trapdoor. After another struggle he opens this to reveal an entrance from the tower ruins that the party had missed during their original search.
Returning to the corridor the party head east for about 20 ft until it turns north to open into a large room. At the angle of the corridor there is a door in the south wall that has been barred from the outside and marked with a crudely painted skull. As they are considering opening this door Shanks hears the faint sounds of conversation approaching from the north. Forewarned they ambush 2 more goblins and their trained giant ferret coming up another staircase from the lower level. Zarjaz (or Finbar?) uses his Sleep spell and the goblins are unceremoniously dispatched.
In the south wall of the south-east corner of this room is another barred door also marked with a skull. After first checking it for traps, Shanks opens this door to reveal a long neglected corridor decorated with dusty webs. Shanks creeps down the corridor with a lantern, Barack and Finbar follow not so carefully behind whilst Zarjaz and Delast stay by the door. The corridor opens into a crypt decorated with a mosaic of the life of Saint Ulther and containing an ornate sarcophagus. The corridor continues south out of this chamber and into darkness. Despite the protestations of Barack, Shanks proceeds to check the sarcophagus for traps before starting to pry off its heavy lid. However before the sarcophagus is half-way open the party are alerted by the approaching sound of hollow footsteps.
A phalanx of 9 animated skeletons armed with spears, shields and scraps of ancient armour marches into the crypt from the south arranging themselves in battle formation. Shanks retreats towards the door whilst Finbar and Barack move to intercept. With outstretched holy-symbol Barack tries and fails to turn the undead; apparently Thor looks unkindly on tomb robbers. Finbar and Barack trade blows with the skeletons whilst slowly withdrawing up the corridor. Shanks and Delast provide support from the back line with thrown dagger, Magic Missile and bow. Ultimately the skeletons are defeated and the only injury sustained to the party is one of Shanks' fumbled daggers buried in Barack's back.
After taking a break to rest, bind wounds and argue, the party returns to the crypt. Shanks completes ransacking the sarcophagus; beheading its occupant for "safety reasons" and picking apart its wrappings in a search for loose change. The only treasure recovered is a silver holy-symbol. Investigating the corridor from which the skeletons had come the party finds two more doors: a closed door to the west and an open door to the south. The southern door leads into a chamber filled with mostly empty burial alcoves that the party presume had contained the skeletons.
The western door leads into another tomb with a corridor heading back north and an alcove containing a door in the south-west. This tomb contains another sarcophagus. In a demonstration that experience is not always a great teacher, Shanks soon checks it for traps and starts to lever it open*. Barely has the seal been broken than one rotted hand bursts out grabbing Shanks by the throat whilst the other sweeps the lid off. Struggling for breath and clawing at the creature's grip with one hand, Shanks manages to smash his lantern over the corpse. Clambering out of its sarcophagus with a roar the now alight corpse throws Shanks against the wall like a rag doll (reducing him to 0 HP, but a roll on the critical table leaves him still able to act but with flesh wounds; -2 to-hit). Barack attempts to turn the undead, failing once again, but Zarjaz (or possibly Shanks) successfully throws more oil on the blaze. Finbar and Barack stand toe-to-toe with the creature but it doesn't finally go down until hit by one of Shanks' thrown daggers.
The game session ended here.
* As a GM I appreciated this "honest" playing of a 1st Level Character. How often have I seen the opening of a coffin treated as an elaborate set-piece where the occupant is barely given the opportunity to moan once before it has been dowsed in holy-water, acid, flaming-oil beheaded and dismembered?
Treat every coffin as if it is potentially booby trapped.
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