Session 29

"The Three" Hit Paydirt in Barrowmaze

This session (Barrowmaze 13/Northern Reaches 29) was played on Saturday, March 10, 2012.

Locke Level 1 Half-Elf Ranger
Balifar Level 1 Cleric of St. Ygg
Kelg Level 1 Dwarven Fighter
Cromwell Level 1 Cleric of St. Ygg (NPC - at first)

As well as the men-at-arms Rothmat, Norman, Mergle (Halfling).

The adventurers set out from town with the idea of excavating burial mounds, similar to the last two sessions. However they switched gears and decided to lower themselves into Barrowmaze through the central burial mound. They knew there were at least two Sapphire Skeletons near the entrance, but decided to tough it out.

They engaged the skeletons. Locke took the lead while the others used spears and fired crossbow bolts. Rothmat managed to shoot Kelg twice in the back with low rolls. Forunately, Cromwell healed him between the strikes or Kelg would have died from the second bolt. After a few rounds they managed to destroy the skeletons and picked up two large sapphire chunks worth (100gp each).

DSC00107.jpg
DSC00108.jpg

The party then proceeded south through several doors and encountered a number of macabre sights including two humans in an advanced state of decay, pinned to a wall with spears. They found several rooms with burial alcoves that had been throughly searched.

The noticed some torchlight and voices from one of the tunnels to the south, but decided to avoid a possible encounter by heading back north and then east.

After passing through a number of empty rooms they found an open pit. Locke noticed some movement in the bottom. Somehow a zombie had managed to find its way to the bottom and, in an attempt to claw its way out, had worn its fingers to numbs on the flagstone walls of the pit. Locke torched the zombie with a flask of oil and then spiked a rope down and climbed the other side.

The group proceeded further east and then entered a large set of double doors. Locke scouted several plundered crypts including one with four white decaying bodies with long clawed hands and fangs. It appeared they had been killed by a group of tomb-robbers.

It was at this point that they decided they had extended their lines of support too long, and proceeded to lift tail engage in a tactical retreat. While doing so Locke and Kelg noticed torchlight and voices. Locke, a half-elf, decided to take a look on his own in the safety of the darkness. He noticed a group of armed men moving large heavy chests. Some had chainmail and swords, and others had studded leather and clubs. They looked like a seedly lot. Locke also noticed a large man in platemail barking orders to the rest of the men. They appeared to be moving very large treasure chests!

Locke immediately understood that the tomb-robbers were moving "his" treasure and decided to attack. Sadly, there was no real spot to ambush them. The tomb-robbers appeared to be moving toward the point of entry below the central mound with the idea of using the large tripod and block and tackle to take "his" treasure to the surface.

An intense ranged battle broke out between the party and the tomb-robbers. Round after round the PCs fired their bows and crossbows while the tomb-robbers remained in their defensive position and returned fire. Locke - so eager for treasure - took two crossbow hits. With their healing magic already spent he fell to his knees and died. The PCs began throwing flaming oil. Balifar ran up to throw a torch and roleld a critical miss. He fell into the flaming oil and lit himself on fire.

DSC00109.jpg

Kelg ever the able dwarven crossbowman killed the leader in platemail with a single shot on a natural 20 (double rolled damage). Huzzah! The final tomb-robber threw down his weapons and sued for peace. He claimed that the guy in platemail was, Korthos Ironguard, the well-known son of a local noble in Barrowcrest. For some unknown reason, Ironguard had been recruiting men and plundering tombs in Barrowmaze for months. He found a a particularly huge trove somewhere in the southern crypts and the PCs caught him transporting it back to town. Ironguard had arranged for two carts to meet his seedy band just outside of the area of the mounds, in order to transport the laden chests. The surviving tomb-robber swore to broker the meeting with the men in the carts for a share of treasure. Without the presence of Ironguard, "The Three" decided this was a good idea. As they didn't have the manpower to move the chests on their own.

Ironguard was moving a MASSIVE treasure hoard:
Chest 1: 6690cp
Chest 2: 4160sp
Chest 3: 5220gp
Chest 4: 8103gp

Satchel with 1625gp worth in gems.

Needless to say this was a unique find. One that could very well have turned against the PCs at any moment (and almost did).

What implications the killing of Ironguard will have for "The Three" remain to be seen…

Add a New Comment
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License