Cleave, Cleave, and More Cleave
This session (Northern Reaches 31/Barrowmaze 15) was played on Wednesday, March 21.
Sol Level 2 Human Fighter
"Killer" Kelg Level 3 Dwarf Fighter
Matteus and later the return of Serge!
Cromwell Level 4 Human Cleric of St.Ygg
and the men-at-arms Caldwell, Kalmar, Mulloc, and Garmat the torch-bearer.
and the henchman Arn Cobblestone, the Level 2 Dwarven Cleric (who was found and joined later).
This session began in a similar fashion to last session. That meddling Lord Ironguard has taken a fierce interest in "The Three". Anyways, as the party gathered in Barrowcrest, they were immediately halted by a large group of men at arms who were in the service of Lord Ironguard. They escorted the party to Lord Ironguard's estate where they were presented to him. He thanked the party for the informative letter The Three had sent him but warned them to stay in Barrowcrest, for they were still under suspicion.
With that over and done with, the party headed to Barrowmaze for more loot. They returned to the main mound, where several ropes lead downwards into the maze itself, many zombies could be heard shuffling and moaning at the bottom of the pit. The party, ever quick to light things on fire, torched the lot of them.
With things looking good, they headed to that area with the dried out snake husk, the final area that was visited last session. before the party could even make it though, they were beset upon by six sapphire skeletons! The party was not ready for them, so they were immediately surrounded. It was at this time that Cromwell Realized his powers to turn the undead, and many of his spells had been withdrawn by St. Ygg! but that leads into another story. Kelg and Sol proved their worth in battle that day, as they smashed gem after gem on the skeletons foreheads, felling them instantly. This intense battle was not without loss though, As Matteus the mysterious thief and shortbow master was slain viciously. Seeing this, Caldwell fled in terror (with a brand new suit of platemail I might add).
The party retreated back to Barrowcrest after the battle and regained some stamina and men at arms. While in town, the party also reunited with Serge! who had been lost in a previous session. Serge had no idea how he got out of Barrowmaze and into The Brazen Strumpet, but was happy to rejoin the party.
On the next barrowmaze expedition, the party ran across a band of men at arms under the employ of Lord Ironguard. they were retrieving the remains of Krothos Ironguard, and the party was quick to make way for them, not wanting any more trouble with the Ironguard family. After that the party began exploration of a new part of the barrowmaze, accessed through the dead snake room. While exploring, the party found various minor treasures such as a finely crafted dagger, and a bowl of gold before running across any opposition.
It was around this time that the party entered a small shrine to a dark god named Nergal. Inside, they found an open pit in front of the altar containing none other than a helpless dwarf! He cried out and Serge threw rations at him down the pit. Having not eaten for days, the dwarf appreciated this. After hoisting him and giving him drink, the dwarf introduced himself as Arn Cobblestone, a dwarven cleric. He told the party a little about the room, saying that if a sacrifice of value is placed on the altar, a large imposing staue in the room would animate and answer a single question. He also told the party his former party had abandoned him in the pit, because they didn't have any rope (tsk, always come prepared). Cromwell threw 10 platinum pieces on the altar, as he detected no evil from it, and asked how he might regain St. Ygg's favour. His money disappeared but no answers were forthcoming from the statue. Cromwell cursed.
As the party approached a lonely door at the end of a corridor, the sounds of human voices could be heard from within. Serge unequipped his armor so he might better cast spells, and let loose a sleep spell on all who were within. Needless to say, the party made quick work of those inside. Some coin and basic equipment was found on their bodies. Next, the party hit a room that had a mound of broken runic tablets stacked in the centre of it. Rummaging through it with a 10 ft. pole, the party retrieved a silver war hammer! it was finely crafted indeed and the beauty was taken by Kelg. Kelg, in favour of the hammer, relinquished his magical broadsword to Sol.
Adventuring on, the party found some strange sights including a large amber curtain blocked by porticullus. However, they did not investigate. Instead, the party climbed a staircase that was found leading upwards. At the top, a stone wall was reached. Probing around it with a ten foot pole actually crumbled the wall revealing a hidden entrance. As it so happens, the entrance led straight to the barrow mound where the magical broadsword had been found in session 28. This was also the room where Shaft fell to his own blunder, or perhaps the traces of a curse on the magical broadsword. After this, the party returned to a door they had left unopened. The party listened at the door but only heard dead silence. As the party opened the door they witnessed skeletons breaking free of the cavernous walls in the room! the skeletons themselves were covered in fossilized rock, making them tougher than normal. As Kelg smashed through the skull of one Fossil Skeleton with his new found hammer, he noticed that it was not only silver, it was magic (Silver Warhammer +1). The party managed to slay these abominations and escape unharmed. Inside the room was the corpse of a noblewoman who had been buried with some valuable treasure.
The party decided to venture one more foray. travelling down the halls, a faint red glow from one the room caught their attention. As the party approached, they were suddenly surrounded by red, glowing beetles! The carapaces on these vermin were extremely tough and durable, making them hard targets to damage. The party fought fiercly, and there are several notable things that happened. First, Mulloc bit the dust. It was unfortunate, but it happened. This subsequently caused Garmat to flee in terror (they were close; Garmat and Mulloc). Kalmar, seeing the commotion, fled hastily (even though his employer, Sol, had just bought him new platemail). "Killer" Kelg had had enough at this point, and smashed Kalmar over the head for his cowardice, killing him (violently, I might add, Kelg rolled a natural 20). Next, Sol cleaved his way through several of the glowing vermin. [This was the first time in our campaign that anyone successfully cleaved through more than one creature at a time, so it was a big deal]. Kelg, not one to be outdone by a stinking human, cleaved through the final remaining vermin. There was no treasure to be had, but the party did harvest the "butt glands" of these creatures to use as torches. After this, the party left for town.
Report by Alex
It wasn't an optimal day to play, so we had to forgo minis this time.
Sounds like an interesting session, too bad I had to miss it. I just knew we hadn't heard the last of those Ironguard bastards!
I am curious to see if Balifar has suffered the same fate as Cromwell…
He has. See Cromwell's carousing.