- Personae: Maccus, Tim, Aslak, Gruff Eric, Yulia, Tamar, Tahj, Dusteg Bronzehide (respectively: Ftr3, Hobbit Ftr4 [new feat: Rapid Strike], Elf Ftr3/Wiz1, Hobbit Ftr2, hireling Elf Ftr1, hireling Elf Ftr1/Wiz1, Elf Ftr3/Wiz3, Dwarf Thf3).
- Group hotly debates returning and trying to access wizard's tower found last time. Decision narrowly in favor of returning to ruined monastery (for fabled huge fire opal).
- Travel to monastery, down the stairs, up the secret door into the crypts region. Again fight some 8 skeletons at a checkpoint; easily defeated.
- Assault lair of the ghouls which previously almost destroyed the party. Numbers swollen with spawned killed former party members. Now well prepared: armored elves in front, PCs with long polearms, etc. Yulia in the front is tripped, falls prone, dragged out by several ghouls; gouged horribly to zero hit points, but makes the permitted (difficult) save vs. death! After some fierce fighting the ghouls are all destroyed. Yulia takes a potion of healing and is refreshed.
- Enter room with stone sarcophagus; trap found, Dusteg successfully snips the hidden wire on the lid. Lid raised, and a single zombie jumps out to attack; it is destroyed. Chamber searched and a secret crawl-space revealed. Aslak doffs plate mail, crawls through, finds it connects to a previously-seen chamber.
- Further into the crypts; attacked by a pair of hobgoblins throwing spears. They are put to the sword. A small lived-in room is found.
- A door; Maccus tries to kick it, but it is barred. Latching and buckling sounds heard from within. Another two attempts and the door bursts in; good-quality furnishings (table, chair, canopy bed, etc.) but no creature within. After some searching, a hidden door screened by the bed. Another door beyond is opened; the group is hit by magic and all their lights go out.
- Fortunately, most of the party (elves, dwarf) have infravision and can carry the fight. Two hobgoblins are met in swordplay, while an armored figure casts protective magic. A sleep spell puts the hobgoblins down and the leader loses morale and flees. Faster member of the party pursue, catch, and battle, giving a mortal wound. Helm comes off to reveal an aged evil priestess, who admits to empowering undead and searching for fire opal for years to no avail. She expires, cursing the party crazily.
- The old hag's weapons, shield (magical), and a ring with three keys are taken. A box under her bed is found; poison needle discovered and removed. Unlocked with one of the keys, it contains gold and gems.
- Party finds stairs upward and a long, narrow tunnel southward. Find that it exits via a secret door south of the monastery, in the bog. A watery causeway leads back around the place, and the party returns to the village.
Player-Written Summary
- Well, we finally did it. We extracted some treasure from the horrible dungeon. And all we had to do was kill an old woman for it! She was probably evil, anyway. Also, we avenged the deaths of Penrod and Bill the R.A. by killing them both again, Long Tim attacked twice as much as everyone else, and Tahj finally saw what the dungeon looks like from up front.
Adventure Log
