It had been nearly two weeks since Merder last lead his small band of dogs and halflings into the mountains south of St. Orlan in search of gnolls. During this time of relaxation, the news was both good and bad. The good news reaching them was the cessation of hostilities between warring factions of the empire, or at least within the western lands. The bad news is that bandits now took the opportunity to plague travelers. Joai, ever the source of annoyance, wondered aloud if that wasn’t an opportunity to begin robbing people on the roads himself.
Merder assembled another team to march up to the gnoll hideout. In addition to his three dogs, he had with him Anua, Joai, Jack, Mahaza and Jorase. They make a quick hike on the merchant road, encountering no bandits, and then cut up into the mountains to the ruins. The air reeked of rotting gnoll corpses which had been hidden the brush. The stone slab was still spiked opened, and they descended with lanterns lit.
The continued their exploration at the room where rocks covered old, metal urns. Noticing the door on the other side of the room, both Merder and Jack dashed across, dodging rocks that fell from the ceiling. Joai and Jorase followed, and then Mahaza, who suffered a minor injury. They all stepped through the door into a cramped 5’x10′ hallway with a locked door. Finally, Anau reluctantly made his way through the room, taking care and watching for falling rock. Unfortunately, a large rock came plunging down and struck him on the head. If not for his helmet, he would have died. Instead, he was merely stunned as he stumbled into the crowded hallway.
Merder cackled at the human for his misfortune, scolding him for his demeaning attitude towards the halflings. Anua, angered, punched the half-sized druid, who declared he was about to apply a healing spell. Suddenly, Jorase threw a punch at Anua but missed. Merder called out for calm, to no avail. Anua brandished his sword. Jorase refused to back down, and Anua opened a wound across the halfling’s cheek. Jorase responded with a solid punch that caused the scout to collapse into unconsciousness.
Jorase began to reach for Anua’s belt pouch, no doubt looking for food, as he’d previously stolen rations from Anua. Jack, the human fighter, declared he wanted the scout’s items. Meanwhile, Joai fiddled with the door but found it locked. He set about picking the lock. Mahaza produced food and began snacking. Merder healed Anua and tried reviving him.
Jorase and Jack faced off. As previously stated, the quarters were cramped. Jack pulled a silver dagger from his belt and lunged at the halfling. The blade plunged into Jorase’s left temple. Bright blood gushed from the wound. “Don’t call me kid,” he gasped with his last breath. Presently, Mahaza pulled out her chain and whipped it around Jack’s neck, squeezing. Then, she tried shoving him back into the room where he successfully dodge a few rocks.
Merder moved over to Jorase’s corpse and began taking items from his pack. Jack produced his axe and advanced on Mahaza. She grappled him again and took the axe from his hand. Cooling down a bit, Jack surrendered and promised to stop fighting.
A few minutes later, Anua rubbed his eyes. Joai finished the lock and pushed the door open a crack. Light glinted off of thick spider webs. He quickly shut the door. Rustling of what they imagined were spiders was heard on the other side. They could only go back through the room where rocks fell down with any movement. It had now occurred to them to use some sort of protection, holding shields up high. Merder tossed his shield across the room for Joai but failed on second time to help Mahaza. Regardless, all but Anua were unharmed. The unfortunate scout was struck once again, but kept his senses.
They hurried from the hideout and back to town where they rested for two days.
On the 5th (2/5), they walked back to the hideout, this time bringing along a new halfling thief named Anima. Anua used his grappling hook to retrieve Merder’s lost shield. Joai glanced at the trap door in the room where they’d first seen a loadstar. He saw no trap, and Merder grabbed at the iron ring only to trigger poisoned needles. Fortunately, he pulled his hand way in time. Then the door was flung open they found a sack of coins in a small compartment. Anima tried grabbing it but Merder kept him way, promising an equal share.
Moving down the hall, they tried a door going south. Again, Joai declared it free of traps. They opened the door and saw a laboratory where a figure in a black cloak worked, too distracted to respond. Anima boldly crept into the room to attempt a sneak attack. A blade came swinging down at him, knocking him senseless but miraculously not killing him. Merder and his dogs rushed the figure in the cloak, now seen as a zombie. The heroes cut him down before he could utter a word.
Anua grabbed a ratty black cloak draped over a marble statue of a maiden missing an arm. Merder examined a cauldron of bubbling black goo. He carefully scooped goo into a glass jar. Sudden, Anima, having just brushed off his unconsciousness, dove head-first into the cauldron. Merder grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him out, but the thick goo clung to his face and his eyes were pulled from their sockets. It was a gruesome end for the reckless halfling.
Beyond the laboratory, they found a beetle nest. The insects weren’t aggressive, but were made so by an arrow shot. They shut the door and retreated. Anima’s body was left in a hallway leading to the room where they suspected spiders laired.
Anua carried back a barrel of pickled cave worms, as he’d heard the pirate Aderian regarded them as delicious. They smelled terrible and looked worse. Merder divided the coins between the four surviving adventurers when they returned home.
End Notes
- Days
- 1/20 – 2/1 13 days of downtime
- 2/2 Expedition to the gnoll hideout
- 2/3 – 2/4 Resting at the homestead
- 2/5 Another expedition to the gnoll hideout and return
- Treasure
- 600 cp and 1,300 gp split between four PCs
- Combat
- Zombraire 175 xp
- Characters 27 xp (6.5 shares)
- Anima (died)
- Anua (bow) 30 xp
- Jack (fight) 30 xp
- Joai (dexterity) 27 xp
- Jorase (died)
- Mahaza (epicurean, fight) 27 xp
- Merder and 3 Dogs (lucky) 27 xp