When looking at the ceiling goes awry…
In this session Cromwell and associates decided to venture further into the barrowmaze. They revisited a room which held three levers and an unopened door. Using a tip they found written on some parchment the party activated the levers correctly and headed through the door to the next hallway. The hallway contained two interesting encounters. The first was when two ghouls, a male and a female approached the party cautiously and begged them to let them pass. It turns out they had been trapped in this area of the maze for quite sometime, and were running out of human morsels to munch on. Cromwell, being of the temperament and station that he is, would not hear of parlay with undead abominations. the party slew them quite quickly. The next room contained a dead halfling lying in the centre of the room. The party quickly scanned the ceiling and it was revealed that two giant spiders were waiting there. the party knocked them down with ranged attacks and cut them down in melee.
With the spiders dead, Snake took a keen interest in the dagger which was indeed magical. It would later be revealed to be a Stoutblade Dagger. The party left this area and headed in a north-westerly direction. trekking down hallways and corridors, the party soon came to a a large set of double doors. The doors were bound and sealed with some heavy rope and a wax marking of Nergul. Cromwell recognized the symbol and surmised that this room might be the room they were looking for, the pit of chaos. Cromwell bravely (or foolishly) opened the great doors while the rest of the party cowered down the hall. Inside was a great statue of Nergul, a memorial of names which appeared to be his chosen clerics and two bricked up walls. The party looked around and decided they should try breaking down these barriers and proceed forward. The party did so and came to a large room filled with important-looking burial alcoves. Each one had its own name plate. The party probed around the floor with the 10 foot pole, and it revealed nothing. However, as soon as Cromwell and Kelg were standing in the room, the floor collapsed inward. Kelg and Cromwell were immediately knocked prone, and a large four-armed skeletal abomination freed itself from the wall and attacked the two!
The battle was fierce. Moriza and Snake tried pelting the giant with ranged attacks while Sol fumbled around with some rope. Cromwell tried casting again and again but each time, one of the massive skeletal arms struck him and interrupted his spell. Soon, Cromwell and Kelg were in pretty bad shape. Kelg finally began gulping potions, first a potion of extra healing restored his life somewhat, and then he downed a potion of growth. Sol had entered the melee as well and got a strike or two in with his spear, and Cromwell, unable to cast spells or otherwise harm the creature, cowered in fear [an effect of a critical miss he rolled]. Kelg with his newfound girth, smashed the abomination to pieces! splinters of bone rained down upon everyone as they breathed a sigh of relief, somehow no one had died.
Even with Kelg's new height, the party was unable to reach the alcoves above. They did however retireve the weapons of the four armed skeleton giant, many of which looked to be very fine indeed. With that battle over, the party broke down the other bricked up wall in the main room and proceeded. At the end of the corridor they came to a large domed room, upon the ceiling were many large diamonds that formed constellations. Cromwell recognized the patterns of the constellations were different somehow, and pondered. Meanwhile, Sol checked out the perimeter of the room for traps. Cromwell, lost in though about the constellations approached deeper into the room to get a better look and understanding of these shapes on the ceiling. As he neared the center of the room, a bottomless pit opened up underneath him. He was swallowed into the depths of the earth, along with The Fount of Law, never to be seen again. Things did not bode well for the party, or the forces of law. It might later be revealed to some other wise men, at some other time that the strangeness of the constellations heralded the return of Nergul and the downfall of law.
The party, with heavy hearts returned to Barrowcrest, unable to even funeral pyre their lost comrade (for exp). They asked around Barrowcrest for a replacement fount of law, but could not find anything conclusive. Their inquiries did eventually lead to a mage who introduced himself (somewhat elaborately) as Mazakala! The Magician! The party decided to do what they did best and adventure into Barrowmaze. Upon returning to the maze, the party ventured to the areas in the caverns, a few remained unexplored. As they made their way down the natural stone pathways, they were beset upon by stirges. The party whacked a few and one latched onto their new war dog Sir Barksalot who was recruited in town. Mazakala let loose a sleep spell and the creatures were subsequently bashed in. The party found some glorious gems that were mixed in the the stirge dung, a dirty job fishing them out but well worth the rewards. The party continued on down the corridor, and eventually came to a large stone worked room, no entrances or exits besides the one they came from. Immediately, their eyes were drawn to a massive pile of treasure!
As the party searched around for traps and tricks (and finding none) Sol and Kelg whispered something about "too good to be true… always a catch etc." Mazakala on the other hand, new to the ways of the barrowmaze was practically jumping with glee. He summoned a large floating disc to pile the treasure onto. Just as he did so, a vile monstrosity was seen coming up through the caves. It was such a large beast that it filled the path completely, cutting off any chance of escape. Mazakala backed up near the otherside of the room, and Snake hid around the corner. Sol and Kelg braced for attack. Immediately Sol and Kelg were hit by 4 massive tentacles each. They groped around their armor and soon Sol fell over, paralyzed. Kelg was hardly any better off, as all of the eight tentacles prepared to swarm him! At this point Kelg swung wildly missing with all his attacks, perhaps the tentacles kept him at bay. The halfling thief, Snake let loose several sling bullets with his magic sling, and did some minor damage to the beast. Mazakala shocked and awed, and also out of spells, simply prayed to Mystryl. The saviour of the day however was not any of the warriors, thieves or mages, but the mighty wardog. Sir Barksalot, seeing his master paralyzed and prone, charged the vile beast, tearing it apart. Finally the dog leapt into the gelatinous mass of tentacles and ichor, tore it up from the inside and jumped out again. The beast was dead and the party congratulated the pooch in all manners. The party returned to Barrowcrest with their hoard, bought Sir Barksalot as much steak as he could eat, and rejoiced. Mazakala was absolutely gleeful with his new-found wealth, not bad for a first expedition he said. Soon, it was all tales and ale for the party at the tavern. Kelg even told Mazakala the one about the cleric who ran into a massive hoard of wealth on his first expedition too…
