Most-powerful master, I trust this report finds you in fine health. As ever, I remain undetected by those dim-witted fools. I have seen little of the old elf and his companions. They traveled east and have not returned. I did notice that runt of a fighter somehow escaped the Black Fang goblins and returned to the homestead. She convinced several of the worthless hangers-on from the field to visit a nearby village the humans call Milltown. Forgive me for spoiling the surprise, but they all died in a dank dungeon, but I will outline their folly for your further amusement.
Oma the halfling was back among the campers only a day when she left with several others for Milltown. With her were Violet, a dwarf, Thorp, a human, an elf called Eliah and a female assassin called Mahani. They walked into the mountains to Milltown where they rested in an inn about midday. There, they heard of the disappearance of the town gnome. You should have heard the exaggerated bragging about being acquainted with Tienarth they indulged in. Naturally, they presented themselves as brave heroes who would find the missing gnome. And they asked for a reward but accepted the mission without any promise of one.
They set off for nearby ruins with little preparation. They marched all day and arrived at the ruins as the sun was setting. It was all I could do to keep from giggling at their sorry faces that sagged under a day’s walk in a steady rain. As the day was over, they were happy to find stairs going down into some ancient underground area rather than camping in the out of doors. They must have felt lucky to find an unguarded room immediately inside. They rested there through the night with the door spiked shut.
The next day (12/30), they began exploring the halls of the ruin which were comfortably ten feet wide. The elf thief noticed a secret door by chance and then had the mind to search for a trap. He found it and deactivated using a careful (and slow) process. The room held a forge. While they searched for anything interesting, a giant bee flew into the room. The elf threw a rock at it and someone else stabbed it to death.
Deeper into the dungeon they went. The elf thief continued his deliberate process of searching. The next room they came to held a cage and a bell. The elf impulsively rang the bell and a few moments later two wargs arrived. Of course, they attacked the strangers. One of them inflicted a nasty bite on the fighter Thorp, but the heroes bravely fought on and defeated the monsters. The halfling then took the time to crudely strip the skin from the wolves.
On they went. Now, the elf adopted a strategy of climbing the wall above the doorway of a room. He perched high with his trident in one hand. The door was thrown open to reveal a couple of skeletons which were smashed to bits immediately.
Eliah continued his trick of climbing over the door at the next room. He did not take the time to examine the door first. As he was getting into position, climbing with utmost care, four wolves arrived from south. He must have felt safe nearly ten feet over the floor because he just stayed there. The rest of the party panicked. They threw open the door to the north with the idea of slamming it behind them.
This next part is delightful. How could they have known about the pit trap just inside the door? They couldn’t. Two of them went tumbling down. Two of them somehow sidestepped the pit and made it into the room where they faced two skeletons. The dwarf survived the fall into the pit and began thinking about how to get back out. The assassin broke her back falling in the pit. The snap of her bones was like biting into a sumptuous snail.
Meanwhile, the wolves jumped at the elf and pulled him down. He was torn to pieces without delay.
The skeletons stepped up to engage Oma and Thorp. The human was already injured and was cut down by a skeleton in one blow. Oma managed to kill the other skeleton, but the other struck her on the top of her head. Her eyes swirled as if she was watching stars circle her cracked skull. Both her senses and her will to fight had been knocked out of her, for she then leapt into the pit, some incomprehensible plan of escape. I was amazed when the dwarf caught her.
The skeleton advanced and paused at the end of the pit. Violet picked up the still-burning lamp dropped by Mahani and hurled it out of the pit toward the wolves. The fire was threatening enough to drive them away, even given the half-eaten elf. Presently, the skeleton stepped into the pit. Its leg bone cracked, but it pushed forward. They exchanged blows and the skeleton eventually got hold of the dwarf and rent her face into an unrecognizable mush.
Thus ended the sad, short adventure of this doomed crew.
Post Script: I found the gnome sitting sadly on a block of stone gazing at a door he could not open, then I lead the four wolves to him. They found him nearly as delicious as the elf.
End Notes
- Days:
- 12/29 Walk to Milltown and the ruins
- 12/30 Die in the dungeon
- Treasure: none
- Combat:
- skeletons
- wargs
- Characters
- Violet (dead)
- Oma (dead)
- Thorp (dead)
- Eliah (dead)
- Malani (dea)
A devilish bit of prose … very entertaining