The Trilomore Campaign Log Chapter 3

Tuesday 13 March 2001 [Eric W. rolls up Bandar Pontiff ]

01 Jan 674 (cont):
-Griswald leaves to seek revenge upon the slave bandits that killed his mentor, Fenlo
-the party (Trill, Baidien, Nasin & Andrial) continues on towards Loftwick

02 Jan 674: the party travels through plains

03 Jan 674:
-the party travels through light woodland
-they pass through several small deserted villages
-the party seeks shelter in an abandoned farmhouse in the evening

04 Jan 674 Early Morning:
-Ttherion awakens Trill
-they see zombies outside wandering through the surrounding farmland
-the party fights a zombie at the front door of the house
-Baidien, Nasin and Andrial all fail to strike the zombie
-Trill strikes the zombie with 3 magic missile spells, destroying it
-after the battle, the party leaves, continuing on towards Loftwick
-heavy snowfall

Evening:
-the party arrives at a nearly deserted village outside of Loftwick
-they stop at tavern and eat leftover stew and watery beer
-talk with tavernkeeper
-tavernkeeper mentions that the dead are walking
-folks are afraid for their lives (as there have been several killings) and many have fled their homes, headed east
-but slave bandits have killed or taken many of the refugees captive

-the party continues on, finally arriving at Loftwick
-once inside the city, the party sees a zombie wandering down a side street
-the party finds the East Gate Inn
-the inn is dark, quiet and locked
-they hail the innkeep who eventually opens his door to them
-innkeep charges 2 gp for food, separate rooms, and all the beer they want (he has a surplus!)
-the party rests

05 Jan 674 Morning:
-the party heads straight for Loftwick Keep
-the guard at the gate, Stavis, recognizes Trill, Baidien & Andrial and lets the party in
-the party meets with Crispin Redwell (spokesman for the Yeomanry League)
-Crispin Redwell explains that, due to the current situation, he is currently unable to pay the reward that he owes to Trill and Baidien
-it is suggested that they could venture down into the basement of the keep to secure the vault
-Crispin Redwell explains that the Yeomanry League would likely authorize a reward for anyone willing to venture down into the tunnels beneath the keep
-the party leaves to discuss their plans privately while Crispin Redwell meets with the Yeomanry League

Thursday 29 March 2001 [intro Bandar Pontiff (Eric W.)] [log now kept by Jim M. (Baidien)]

"Matt, that smells" -- Eric

[Converting calendar to seasonal reckoning; 90 days per season]

15 Winter [05 Jan] 674 (continued):

[Correction to last session: There was a spell caster within Loftwick named Morbius; he is believed to have died in a fire that he was attributed to have started, perhaps resulting an experiment/spell gone bad -- no corpse/body was recovered -- this happened just after the group left Loftwick back in October (early/mid autumn)]

- Morning (partly overcast, cold wind) -- Trill visits the ruins of Morbius' workshop/home and pokes around, looking for trap doors within rubble (there is a fresh deep blanket of snow covering everything); it is unproductive (the Melt cantrip does little to the thick snow)
- there are many footprints within the snow in this area -- barefoot and dragging
- it seems to Trill that there there are more barefoot and dragging footprints around this specific area than there are around other parts of the city
- return to the tavern (Nasin is already here -- he left Trill to poke around in the snow some time ago)
- discuss a list of items to purchase for the vault expedition (rope, lantern, beer -- maybe a corporate cleric) in the tavern
- late morning, a messenger arrives at the tavern; The Yeomanry League has adjourned and Crispin Redwell wishes to meet with us
- head to the keep; they are expecting us; head to the Great Hall
- there are two dwarves, one old and bent over (Qaldren), the other one is young (Bandor, Eric W)
- Crispin suggests that a corporate cleric should accompany us, due to the number of undead that are infesting the town -- possibly within the keep (a platoon of soldiers did vanish); there are crypts within the lower levels of the keep
- Crispin further explains that the initial deaths in town happened within the keep, the deaths then spread out to encompass the city (this happened after the fire of Morbius' workshop)
- intelligence report from below: there is a wall of shadow blocking the passage - no light passes through)
- there was sightings of a cloaked figure after the fire and before the undeads; this figure is rumored to be able to walk through walls!)
- the group negotiates for the discussed supplies
- reward: 300gp to secure vault; 600gp "bounty" for the cloaked figure
- group discusses the subject of the reward alone for a moment: is only 300gp worth it?  Can we get more, or add in bonuses?  Nasin points out that if we're too greedy, we may harm our relationship / "hero status"
with the Yeomanry, so we should keep it simple -- maybe asking for favors *after* succeeding in the task
- The group agrees to the offer; Crispin is pleased
- accompanying us will be six soldiers (red shirts), plus the Captain of the Guard (gold shirt)

Tuesday 03 April 2001

15 Winter 674, continued -- afternoon
- [Information from Bandor, based on his Dwarven history skill]:
-Loftwick keep was originally a dwarven outpost built over an ancient dwarven mine (now believed to be barren)
-ancient dwarven tunnels supposedly connect keep basement to Zadun (an ancient dwarven city)
-Zadun was apparently abandoned/deserted long before humans settled the area

Legends say that:
-the mines of Zadun may have gone dry
-or perhaps there was a terrible disaster in the depths of the mines
-dwarven miners may have accidentally uncovered something deadly (even more ancient than the dwarves themselves)

-the dwarves left the area to join their kin elsewhere
-but a few dwarves remained, scattered across the area
-humanoids (orcs, goblins, etc..) moved in and held the keep
-many years later, humans eventually migrated in (with demi-humans) and took the keep from unorganized humanoids (considered a minor battle, hardly ever mentioned in stories, but significant in that the humans and
demi-humans fought together as allies)

- Check over the arriving supplies -- hooded bulleye lantern (Trill can't decide, so he tears off the hood from one and adds it to the bullseye), 50' of light rope (to tie ourselves together, so we won't get lost in the darkness), oil for the lantern and some beer.
- Six soldiers march in with the Captain, named Sturm
- Take spiral stairs downstairs
- Baidien is voted to lead the group (suggested by Trill, seconded by Nasin); Baidien grudgingly leads
- Baidien knocks an arrow and leads
- Bandor notes that arrows would be ineffective against skeletons; Baidien motions for Bandor to lead, Trill seconds
- revised marching order: Bandor, Baidien, Trill, Sturm, three soldiers, Naisin, Andrial, the other three soldiers

- at the end of the stairs, follow a short corridor (Baidien's head is close to the ceiling; the ceiling is lowered here)
- up ahead is the wall of blackness!
- Bandor invokes his damned light spell at the wall (since we've walked into the land of the literal)
- Baidien has his bow at the ready
- A column of light shines down and dwarven angels sing ("BEER!")
- The wall of darkness fades!
- The lantern shows the corridor opening into a room; there is movement in the room!  The room is a storage area, explains Sturm, where supplies/ale is stored
- Bandor enters the room; there are ten humanoid creatures in here; there is a mix of skeletons and zombies!  They approach Bandor -- the room reeks of rotting flesh!

Round 1
- Bandor attempts to turn the undead, but fails
- Baidien enters the room, opting to use his long sword instead of the bow and arrow -- he yells out information to the rear guard as he enters the room ("5 skeletons and 5 zombies!") so they know what's going on -- he notices a zombie in the corner that approaches him
- [A question of Bandor's footman's flail comes up: is it one handed or two handed?  This will affect Bandor's ability to use a shield...the change is made: Bandor is using a morning star instead of a flail]
- Bandor is attacked by a skeleton [miss] and a zombie [miss]
- Trill is behind Baidien, holding his action (is that what we're calling it now?)
- Sturm enters and engages the hellspawn
- Nasin gets to the entrance of the room, hurls a dagger and strikes a zombie [critical], passing through its head!
- Andrial enters swinging her staff
- The other soldiers file into the room

Round 2
- Bandor: hit a skeleton (2)
- Baidien: hit a zombie [critical] (9)
- Trill: (hold)
- Sturm and soldiers: smash! trash! crash!
- Nasin: throw a dagger at a zombie (3), second misses
- Andrial and other soldier: wham! slam! blam!
- The soldiers are not faring well against their opponents; Sturm does well and shouts orders

Round 3
["Fuckin' Matt" -- Eric, after hearing a sharp, moist squeek]
- Bandor: hits the skeleton (5); zombie misses
- Baidien: miss; attacked by 2 zombies (miss, miss)
- Trill: cower behind Baidien (hold action)
- Nasin: 2 thrown daggers: miss, nick a zombie (1); zombie misses
- Andrial: whacks a zombie
- Sturm and soldiers: soldiers get their act together and fall into a strong attack formation

Round 4
- Bandor: miss skeleton; skeleton hits (4)
- Baidien: hit zombie (6), it's unstable!  Both attack: one misses, the other hits (8) Gahhh!
- Trill: hold action
- Nasin: 1 thrown dagger: hit zombie (2), and draws his quarter staff; zombie misses
- Andrial: miss (tripping, almost falls down!); zombie rakes her hard -- she screams for help
- Sturm and the soldiers: two soldiers are injured and fall to the ground, many undead are on the ground as well

Round 5
- Bandor: hit the skeleton (5) -- SMASH! Shards fly!
- Baidien: misses; Baidien twists and dodges one zombie, one zombie collides into the second zombie, the second just misses Baidien!
- Trill: casts Magic Missile on Andial's zombie -- hits for (5)
- Nasin: misses with staff; Nasin is missed
- Andrial: recovers her footing and whacks the zombie good; she is missed
- Sturm and soldiers: the soldiers outnumber the zombies, Sturm has the standing soldiers in tight formation

Round 6
- Bandor: misses Nasin's zombie
- Baidien: hit (4) -- the zombie falls (losing its head); is missed
- Trill: hold action
- Nasin: miss; zombie collides into Nasin's staff, injuring itself
- Andrial: miss; is raked, and nearly collapses
- Sturm and soldier: finishing off zombies/skeletons in center of the room; Sturm moves to assist Andrial and grazes it
-Trill: sends a magic missile to Andrial's zombie -- the missile zombie blows up!

Round 7
- Bandor: misses Nasin's zombie
- Baidien: miss zombie; is missed
- Trill: hold action -- meet Andrial at door
- Nasin: huge miss; misses Nasin
- Andrial: retreat to door
- Sturm and soldiers: in full clean up mode!

Round 8
- Bandor: big miss!
- Baidien: crunch! (6, first injury asides from hit from other zombie); is hit for 4 (Baidien is down to 2 hit points)
- Trill: tends to Andrial -- uses healing/herbalism skills (successful)
- Nasin: hit zombie (1); is missed by zombie
- Andrial: wounds are attended to -- she sinks to the floor, all the while cursing
- Sturm and soldiers: clean up on their opponents

Round 9
- Bandor: miss
- Baidien: miss (Baidien gets loud and wild, closes his eyes swinging)
- Trill: magic missile on Baidien's zombie (9) -- the zombie blows apart!  Baidien had his eyes closed, and is convinced that he destroyed the creature
- Nasin: miss
- Andrial: feels better from Trill's medicine
- Sturm/soldiers: fight fight fight!

Round 10
- Bandor: miss
- Baidien: sinks to floor and rests -- there are 3 zombies and 1 skeleton still standing
- Trill: Heads over to Baidien to assist him, giving Baidien cantripped beer flavored chilled water
- Nasin: cracks the zombie (6) -- zombie crumples to the ground!
- Andrial: rest
- Sturm/soldiers: continue to clean up

- The last of the zombies are defeated (total of 6 zombie, 5 skeletons), the group catches their breath.  A total of two soldiers were fallen (not dead, but injured)

Tuesday 17 April 2001

15 Winter 674, continued -- afternoon
- The group recovers from the skirmish.
- Trill has one spell, Bandar has two spells; Baidien and Andrial are seriously injured; we don't have a lot of spell-power.
- We discuss returning upstairs to rest and leaving a detachment of soldiers to guard over the secured room.

- Bandar heals both Baidien and Andrial [8 for Baidien]; Andrial feels "better"
- Trill tends to the wounded (prior to the corporate cleric shoving him aside and handling things the way they're supposed to be handled)
- Nasin searches around for secret doors and collects his daggers (some are covered in goop and maggots); he cleans his daggers of the zombie spoo
  -Sturm gives orders to his men; they secure the area, and tend to the two injured soldiers

[Fraz implements a "10 bonus XP per caster level for casting a spell"; we get 100 XP each, plus the bonus for the spell casters]

- While looking, Nasin finds two levers near a platform -- one is up, one is down.  Nasin throws the switches (reversing their position) and the platform begins to lower out of sight (out of the range of the light spell).  Nasin plays with the levers, calling the platform back up (and stopping it with a loud grinding before re-throwing the lever)
- Sturm explains that there is a prison, crypt and the vaulqs are down there (that's a "vault" with a "q" -- this area was designed by dwarves), also the right lever is up/down, the left is the lock (down = locked)
- Sturm helps Baidien to his feet and congrats him on a battle well fought
- Baidien drinks beer to deaden his pain; he is covered in zombie spoo and maggots (damn it!)
- Trill suggests heading up to rest (the wounded soldiers are groaning); Trill fails treating one of the badly wounded soldiers
- Two soldiers carry the badly injured soldier upstairs
- Trill inspects the platform for dust, hoping to learn more about the origin of the zombies (did they come from below?); Trill is not a ranger, so he can not make any definite conclusions
- Trill then does his round of secret door searching -- nada
-- "Rocks: they solve everything!" -- Bandar -- they discuss ways of securing the lock to prevent usage of the locking lever from below (involving lots of rocks tied around the lever)
- Trill discusses with Sturm about cleaning up this room, and getting a map/layout of the area below
- Baidien shoulders his way past some guards in the narrow hallway and demands to get cleaned up; a servant girl attends to him
- The guards secure and watch over the room
- Trill stays behind for several hours to observe the room, he heads upstairs and eats/sleeps
- (There are the rotting bodies of the guards from the interlude -- their armor and flesh is torn and ripped which is consistent with zombie damage)

Late afternoon, nearing sundown
- The group rests and washes up
- We can stay here at the keep, but we'll need to bunk up with the guards
- Baidien befriends several guards (talking about dice games and good beer!) -- they invite him to join them at one of the local taverns within Loftwick center -- "Tavern of the Three Bloody Spears" (which is the coat of arms for the Yeomanry)
- Trill is concerned with Baidien ("I don't want you hung over in the morning!"  "How would this be different from any other morning?")
- Bandar sees this as a holy pilgrimage and follows
- Nasin: "sure, whatever. I'll come along"
- Andrial follows along also
 
 

Meanwhile:
- The group arrives at the large tavern -- this place would be busier during different times (summer months and less zombies) (three to four floors in height, plus balconies on the second floor)
- Large interior -- high ceilings with an overlooking balcony
- The barmaid gives Baidien a break in price -- Baidien is with the guards, and apparently gets their rate
- Baidien teaches the group a dice game "Knuckle Breaker", a game from the Wild Coast; Baidien plays for fun, not profit (more interested in making friends than making money)
- Andrial is quiet -- she is disappointed in her combat performance; Trill talks to her and cheers her up a bit
- Nasin leaves earlier, becoming bored; he checks on the basement upon returning to the keep (it's all cleaned up)
- The adventures leaves early, saying goodnight to the guards
- (Trill ponders about the burned ruins of the wizard's home -- there *must* be a trap door there!)
- Return to keep, go to barracks to rest
- Trill checks on the wounded soldiers; one is covered in leeches which are swollen to the size of weather balloons; a female servant questions Trill as he torches the leeches (okay, that doesn't *really* happen, but that's what was discussed)
- Sleep

16 Winter 674, morning
[New (experimental) healing system: heal "level + con bonus" per night in a comfortable environment]
- Wake and eat
- ["Damn it Matt - that smells like hot garbage!" -- Eric  "Hee hee hee!" -- Matt]
- We all return downstairs and examine the platform -- it holds four people
- Baidien, Trill, Bandar and Sturm stand on the platform, Nasin operates the levers
- We enter impenetrable darkness (our feet enter a sphere of darkness); the corporate cleric casts Light on the lantern (which we can carry around)
- The room is 10x20; the light spell illuminates the entire area
- There are four zombies down here!

Round 1
- (We all hold our actions so that the corporate cleric may step forth)
- Bandar tries to turn them -- fails; is missed
- Baidien misses; is hit for 3
- Sturm misses; Sturm is hit twice
- Nasin drops down from above onto the platform, misses twice with thrown daggers
- Trill moves off  the platform and holds his action
- Andrial jumps down from above onto the platform and begins incanting a spell - a pink Magic Missile damages Baidien's zombie

Round 2
- Baidien misses; is missed
- Bandar misses; is put in the dreaded "zombie hug" for 4
- Sturm hits twice; is hit twice
- Nasin misses, and hits for 1
- Two guards drop from above, Andrial moves from out of the way to into the way; both guards help Sturm, one hits, the other misses
- Trill sends green Magic Missiles to Bandar's zombie [6]
- Andrial misses [critical]

Round 3
- Baidien hits [3]; is missed
- Bandor backs out over to Trill; is missed (pinned in by guards)
- Sturm misses; is raked badly by one zombie
- Nasin hits one on Sturm [2], killing it (there are now 3 zombies), hits the other on Sturm [1]
- Two guards attack: one hits Bandor's z, the other misses Sturm's z
- Two more guards drop down: miss on Bandor's z, miss [fumble] on Sturm's z
- Trill: hold
- Andrial casts a spell: magic missile on Bandor's z

Round 4
- Baidien misses; is missed
- Sturm misses (he's injured and is struggling); is missed
- Nasin hits Sturm's z for 2, hit again for 4
- Two guards: one hits Sturm's z, the other recovers his dropped sword; is missed
- Trill bandages Bandar (first aid) -- there's something: the magic user is healing the corporate cleric!
- Bandar holds (is being bandaged)
- Andrial fires a third magic missile: hits Bandar's zombie (erupting is a splash of zombie goo; there is two left)

Round 5
- Baidien hits [3]; is missed
- Sturm misses; is missed
- Nasin draws his quarter staff (now being out of daggers), and recovers two daggers
- The guards go to town, attacking Baidien's zombie: hit [critical] smashing it against the wall, hit [critical] bashes it obliterating it to pieces (there is one zombie)
- Trill holds, moving to the other side of the room -- there is a thumping from behind one of the two closed doors -- he calls for Baidien
- Bandar attacks the remaining zombie, missing
- Andrial holds

Round 6
- Baidien moves over to the door that Trill stands by
- Nasin hurls a dagger [4] and finishes the remaining zombie!

Monday 30 April 2001 [special Monday edition]

16 Winter 674, morning, continued:

- Bandar casts a spell of healing on both himself and Sturm
- We stand within the lower storage chamber
- To the southwest (behind the closed southwest door) is the guard rooms and the jails; this is the jail where Tsogarsk, the half-orc priest of Set, was imprisoned (apparently the thief Frand'r was here as well)
- To the northeast (behind the closed northeast door) are the vaults and crypts
- An irregular thumping comes from behind the southwest door (a zombie, perhaps?)
- Nasin picks the lock on the southwest door, just as Sturm offers him the key to the door
- Baidien has an arrow knocked -- he waits a moment; "do I want to waste an arrow on this chunk of flesh?"
- Bandar steps forth and successfully turns the zombie!  It turns back through the door and lumbers down the southwest hall

- Trill follows the zombie down the hall (Trill goes first while the rest of the group argues who is to follow the zombie)
- The zombie comes to a closed door and begins clawing at the door, all the while moaning
- Baidien looses an arrow at it, then another, then two more (total of four arrows) before it drops
- Nasin listens to the door while Baidien recovers his arrows with Nasin's help (crunch, crack, snap)
- Nasin hears moaning on the other side of the door ("it's a harem!")
- Nasin opens the door; Trill enters

- In this chamber are two zombies dressed as guards!  One holds a whip

Round 1
- Trill enters and steps aside, holding the lantern high
- Nasin is next in, swinging into the room holding a throwing dagger ready
- Nasin throws a dagger at the whip guard, missing (almost crit)
- Nasin throws another dagger (crit; *2) [6] at the whip guard
- Baidien enters and steps aside in the room, and fires at the nearest zombie (whip guard): hit [4]
- Baidien fires another arrow which hits [3]
- Bandar enters, and fails turning the zombies
- Sturm enters, crushes the other zombie
- Baidien dodges the whip zombie's attack
- Bandar is raked by the other zombie [3]

Round 2
- Trill holds
- Nasin throws a dagger at the other zombie [4]
- Nasin throws another dagger at the other zombie [3]
- Baidien plugs an arrow into the whip zombie [2 - minimum damage]; the zombie is STILL standing (it must have 1 HP)
- Baidien, in a fit of frustration, swings his fist at the zombie (and misses, damn it! Pahhh-thetic!))
- Trill rushes into action and bandages Bandar up [for 3]
- Bandar is being healed
- Sturm misses
- Whip zombie claws Baidien [5]; Baidien is PISSED!
- Other zombie misses Nasin

Round 3
- Trill holds
- Nasin throws a dagger at the other zombie [3]
- Nasin throws his last dagger at the other zombie [4] -- the other zombie crumples!
- Baidien is furious! He throws his bow down and puts up his dukes; POW! Right in the zombie kisser!  Down it goes, where it lies twitching on the ground

- Baidien puts the heel of his boot on the twitching zombie's throat and removes his three arrows from the whip zombie

poop [Matt, you turd]

- The rest of the guards are pouring into the room at this point
- Nasin listens to the northwest door, but there is too much noise as this room becomes over crowded with guards
- Nasin opens the door; there is a long passage lined with gated doors (like portcullises), four to a side -- these are the northern jails
- We cautiously head down the hall, peering into each pair of cells as we walk down [Bandar does his Mister T thang: "I pity the ghoul!"] -- first set: empty -- second set: empty -- third set: the cell on the right has a zombie -- this zombie looks like the thief Frand'r!
- Trill sends one of the red-shirt guards to close the portcullis (the controls are in the main guard room)
- Bandar steps forth and successfully turns Frand'r-zombie!
- The portcullis closes as Frand'r-zombie cowers in the corner of the cell
- [A debate suddenly crops up about the difference between holy water and holy beer; the GM promises that he will consider it, seeing how that Bandar was denied a pig] -- fourth set: empty

- We return the to the guard room and close the portcullis first before entering the southeastern cell corridor
- Nasin listens to the door; he hears zombie moaning that is close by
- Baidien is pushed to the front of the group
- Baidien has his arrow knocked as the door is opened
- Half way down the corridor, standing outside of the cells, is a familiar half-orc zombie: Tsogarsk!
- Bandar steps forth (who is very holy -- so he claims -- he claims to need a 4 to turn the lich Tsogarsk) and turns Tsogarsk!
- Nasin and Baidien start sending a volley of daggers and arrows upon Tsogarsk until he falls

- We walk cautiously down the hall, checking the cells
- Nothing -- the last cell on the left holds a zombie

- The group is satisfied that the this area has been secured; we return to the storage chamber
- The wizard and the corporate cleric spend some time trying to locate the source of the Darkness spell
- [There was some confusion about the interaction of a Light spell and a Darkness spell -- we should not have been able to see in the magical darkness.  Oops]
- Trill Detects Magic -- there is a source of magic in the center of the room (nothing removable -- the magic is in the air) -- the intensity is "moderate"
- Trill concludes that we may need to cast a Light spell within this room every hour or so in order to secure it (ha, ha, ha)
- Trill comes up with an idea: build a pillar around the center of the room, isolating the area of darkness (if you were to cast darkness onto a rock, then put the rock into a trunk, the darkness would be contained; if we could encase a drape around the center of the room, we could contain the magical darkness that way)

- We head upstairs, needing rest
- Trill tends to Baidien (heals 3 per night + con per night instead of 1) plus a few of the guards
- Trill stays behind and supervises the construction of the pillar
- Bandar needs to cast one more Light spell for visibility
- [Bandar and the GM agree that Bandar will use holy beer instead of holy water! Whooot, Bandar!]
- As the carpenters work (there are three), they claim that all of these problems with the dead began when Tsogarsk was imprisoned (as they work, they continue to injure their hands with hammers and saws -- perhaps they should pay attention to their work, damn it!)
- The carpenters finish the work and get the curtain up -- Trill's idea works!  Regular torch light now lights the room here!
- The carpenters are baffled as to why they built "this stupid thing" -- they complain on the wasted time as they head upstairs

- Baidien rests in the barracks (we are done for the day down there)
- Nasin sharpens his throwing daggers in the barracks

- We rest for the remainder of the day, sleeping that night (and healing!)

[experience points awarded]

Tuesday 22 May 2001

16 Winter 674, evening, continued:
- Sleep and heal

17 Winter 674, dawn:
- Trill hears yelling coming from the hallway -- from downstairs!  Trill wakes the group up as he rushes down the hall
- As Trill heads down the stairs, a guard coming up passes Trill screaming "they're dead! They're dead!"
- Another guard tells Trill "they're all dead! The guards are all dead!"
- Trill tells the guard to get Sturm.  "I will! I will!"

- Trill enters the upper storage chamber -- there are three guards fighting one zombie! (Trill rolls his eyes and hangs his head)
- The zombie is dressed as one of the guards -- the guards seem upset -- they seem to *recognize* this zombie!
-Trill is joined shortly in the upper storage chamber by the rest of the party.
-Trill and Bandar hold their actions through the battle

Round one
- Nasin throws two daggers, both missing
- Baidien is shouting at the guards -- "how did this thing get the hell up here"  The guards exclaim that it came up the lift!
- Baidien misses, slipping on something wet on the lift; it is blood and chunks of human parts!
- The guards lands a couple of blows upon the zombie
- Zombie claws Baidien for 1

Round two
- Nasin pegs the zombie for 1
- Baidien hits for 5
- Guards jostle for position, and they slip on the blood on the lift
- Guard gets slapped by the zombie

Round three
- Nasin clips the zombie for 1
- Baidien slams the zombie for 10
- the zombie falls, twitching [just like the zombies from "The Evil Dead"]

- Trill tends to the wounds of the injured guards (but for some unexplained reason ignores Baidien's 1 point of injury)
- Baidien curses and returns to the barracks to change out of his bunny pajamas and puts on his armor
- Nasin, Trill and Bandar ride the platform down to the lower storage area

- As they ride down, they are slowly engulfed in darkness!
- Trill screams for the guards to throw the switch and haul them back up!  ("How does this thing work?" inquire the guards)
- Sturm enters the upper storage area and talks to Trill; Trill explains the situation
- Baidien returns, now wearing his armor
- Trill explains his plan -- bring down four tower sheilds bearers to hide behind as Trill checks the area -- plus some flasks of water for a Firewater spell

- Supplies are brought in, as well as breakfast; the group eats
- Andrial mentions that she can increase the morale of the group [she has some new "bard" abilities]
- Sturm, Baidien and two red shirts are handed a tower sheild each
- Baidien complains about being unable to fire the bow while holding a sheild, but Trill is able to convince him to go along with the plan

- We descend the lift, in formation, and descend into the darkness
- Trill Detects Magic within the area and locates the source of the Darkness; it is a new darkness that is at the end of the room in the southeast end of the room
- [Trill and the GM discuss the plan -- Trill is to Detect Magic on the darkness, and describe the location to Bandar, who will then cast Light on the area; this won't work if Trill is casting the Detect Magic, but would work if Bandar casts it -- so instead Bandar will be casting the two spells]

- Bandar casts the spells -- we can see around the room and see the rest of the body that was violated -- along with the crazy construct that had been erected around the older darkness (this means that the darkness is temporary, otherwise there would be two spheres of darkness down here; Bandar would have detected the two darknesses here, but there is only one)
- The curtain pillar was torn down and are marked with claw marks
- As Bandar casts his Light spell on the Darkness spell, they cancel both out, and Bandar no longer detects magic within the area!

- Trill wants the constructs rebuilt, but the carpenters complain
- Baidien knocks a bow, all the while glaring at the carpenters -- they wordlessly (nervously) begin rebuilding the structure
- Baidien opens the northeastern door (the one leading to the alter chamber)
- The hall leads off to the darkness
- Trill (who is holding the lantern) and Bandar stand behind Baidien and Nasin and talk about light and darkness and radius of effect and blah blah blah shop talk shop talk
- Baidien and Nasin creep up the hallway as Trill and Bandar follow, all the while talk talk talking blah blah blah Will you shut the hell up you two damned spell geeks!

- As we creep forward, the lantern light is halted by a wall of darkness!
- Nasin Detects Noise (after shushing the magi-geeks) and hears four or five distinct zombie-like voices ("Zombies do not have distinct voices!" proclaims Bandar)
- The group backs away from the edge of the darkness
- A zombie comes out from the darkness, coming towards us!

Round 1
- Baidien fires an arrow, missing horribly [rolling a 1]
- Nasin misses with a dagger
- Baidien fires another arrow that misses
- Nasin misses with a thrown dagger

Round 2
- Baidien hits for 2, hits for 6
- Nasin hits for 4
- The zombie collapses!

- The group waits for more zombies to appear -- when none do, Nasin and Baidien enter the darkness
- Hear a zombie close by; back up and wait for the zombie to follow us out

Round 1
- Baidien hits with an arrow for 2
- Nasin hit for 4
- Baidien misses
- Nasin misses
- The zombie closes in

Round 2
- Baidien hits for 5
- Nasin misses
- The zombie has closed in to the point where it can swipe at Baidien -- it misses!
- Nasin misses
- Baidien drops his bow and draws his sword!

Round 3
- Nasin pegs it for 1
- Baidien skewers it [critical hit] for 4 ; the zombie collapses in a pile of goo!

- The group hears rattling up in the darkness
- Baidien slings his bow over his shoulder
- Baidien grips his glowing sword and levels it ahead of him
- Baidien screams a battle charge and barrels into the darkness with the intention of getting to the other side!

- Baidien hurls himself into the alter chamber, and is just able to jump over/avoid a stone structure within the center of the room (probably the altar, notes Nasin); his sword struck the object just before running into it
- The darkness covers nearly 3/4 of the room
- This room has a high vaulted ceiling
- There are two zombies and one skeleton  on this edge of the room
- Baidien relays this information back to the others
- Nasin follows, just avoiding a claw!

Round 1
- Baidien slashes the left zombie for 9
- Trill and Bandar tentatively enter the darkness, Trill holding his staff out in front him and Bandar trailing along holding the other end of the staff.

- Nasin avoids the altar in the middle, and reaches the other side to see Baidien wielding his magic blade (which is the only light source here -- 5 foot radius)
- Nasin misses Baidien's zombie
- Trill bumps into something in the darkness -- he circumvents that and emerges from the darkness near the north side of the chamber.

- There are several zombies and a skeleton nearby Trill; Trill casts a cantrip to light one of his Firewater grenades, with the intention of following up with the Firewater spell
- Bandar is right behind Trill; Bandar attempts to turn the undead
- The skeletons are turned -- they both retreat!
- Trill finishes the Firewater spell and drops it on the zombies for 7 and 6 with a burst of fire (this makes the zombies mad -- they come toward Trill!)

Round 2
- Baidien misses his zombie -- Baidien hears snarling and growling coming from the direction of the fleeing skeleton
- Nasin slings his staff for 6 WHAP! CRUNCH! The zombie collapses into a heap!
- Trill blasts a Magic Missile at two different zombies for 3 on one and 5 on the other; he can hear clacking coming from the direction where the skeleton left
- Bandar casts Detect Magic within the room, searching for the source of the darkness
- Baidien is hit for 2
-some guards have advanced down the passageway and entered the chamber.  The sounds of their combat can be heard as they fumble about in the darkness engaging with a few zombies.

Round 3
- Baidien hacks a zombie behind him for 7 (the one in front of him was finished by Nasin)
- Nasin hits Baidien's zombie for 6 -- CRACK! but it's still standing
- Trill swings his staff at a zombie and hits for 4 -- it goes down in a heap!
- Bandar casts Light upon the source of the darkness in an attempt to counter the darkness!
- Baidien is missed
- Bandar's light spell resolves and the darkness vanishes just as he is clawed for 6
- Trill runs away, but not before being missed by a zombie claw!
- Baidien sees a snarling GHOUL emerging from the darkened hall where the skeleton left down!  It launches itself at Baidien who just manages to avoid it!
- The darkness drops, revealing several zombies engaged with a few guards!

Round 4
- Baidien strikes at the ghoul and misses (ignoring the wounded zombie in front of him)!
- Nasin misses the ghoul hugely (rolling a 1)
- Trill misses a zombie
- Bandar misses the zombie that Trill missed (the zombie is very nimble)
- The guards continue to engage and battle their zombies

- Trill is missed by the zombie
- Baidien is raked for 4 by a zombie, and hit scratched by the ghoul for 2 [Baidien succeeds his saving throw agains paralyzation]!
- Bandar is missed by a zombie

Tuesday 19 June 2001

17 Winter 674, early morning, continued:

[It is discovered that the first level thief, Nasin, with the 16 constitution, somehow has a total of ten hit points.
How'd he manage *that* one?  Adjustments are made -- Nasin now has eight hit points.]

Combat in the Altar Chamber beneath Loftwick Keep, continued:

Round 5
- Baidien panics and swings at the ghoul, and misses
- Nasin swings and misses hugely -- AGAIN (rolling another 1)
- Trill takes a staff to his wounded zombie and clips it for 1
- Bandar CRUSHES the wounded zombie with his morning star for 14 (critical) -- it is dee-stroyed!
- Andrial fires a pink streaking Magic Missile at the ghoul, injuring it
- The ghoul attacks Baidien thrice -- missing all three times!
- Nasin is hit for 3 by a zombie
- Bandar is missed

Round 6
- Baidien hits the ghoul for 3
- Nasin swings and misses hugely -- AGAIN -- for the third time in a row (rolling yet another 1)
- Trill casts Magic Missile on the ghoul (mumble mumble)
- Bandar swings and misses another zombie
- Trill's Magic Missiles search (sail?) across the room, striking the ghoul for 6; the ghoul takes note of that!
- Bandar is missed by a zombie, and barely avoids getting hit by a skeleton
- Nasin ducks an attack from a zombie, and is able to knock the zombie down to the ground in the process
(critical miss by the zombie)
- Andrial begins singing another song.  Damn it woman -- pick up a sword and come fight!
- The skeleton that fled earlier returns, attacking Baidien -- but misses
- Sturm tries attacking the ghoul, but gets raked himself -- and seizes up, collapsing to the ground!
- Andrial's song resolves; she casts another Magic Missile at the ghoul

Round 7
- Baidien swings and blasts the ghoul for 8 -- and drops it!  Huzzah!
- Nasin clobbers the fallen zombie (finally) for 4 -- and crushes it (destroyed)
- Trill smashes the skeleton for 4
- Bandar attempts to turn the zombies and skeletons, but had not drunk enough beer (thus was ignored by his God)
- Andrial runs to Sturm's side -- Sturm is convulsing on the ground and Andrial is concerned
- Baidien is missed by a skeleton
- Bandar is attacked twice; missed by the skeleton and hit by the zombie for 3
- More re-enforcements show up -- the guards march quickly across the chamber floor

Round 8
- Baidien blasts the skeleton for 9 -- sah-mash!  Bones go a-flyin'!
- Nasin hits a zombie for 1 ["You're just all about rolling a one," says Eric]
- Trill misses a skeleton
- Bandar misses a skeleton (nearly avoiding a critical miss!)
- Andrial is singing again, damn it!
- A skeleton misses Bandar
- A zombie attacks Nasin for 3
- Andrial's Magic Missile strikes the zombie that just attacked  Nasin
- The guards march closer; three attack the zombie, one attacks the skeleton: they all miss!

Round 9
- Baidien moves over to the zombie (which has three guards surrounding it) and shoulders his way into the circle, and delivers 7 points of damage
- Nasin drops back, throwing his last dagger [dropping his d20, having it wedge against a pad of paper and a drinking glass -- after moving the paper, the die bounces and lands on a 19], hitting for 4 [after rolling a d4, it bounces into a huge pile of other dice]
- Trill takes a moment to scout around the passages, seeing that the battle is just about finished
- Bandar stays out of the way, allowing the guards to do their thang
- Andrial calls for Trill -- she is concerned about the convulsing Sturm, saying that he is not responding to stimuli (slap! smack! slap!)
- The guards are doing a slow job at clearing the rest of the chamber

Round 10
- Baidien finishes off the last standing opponent: the skeleton for 7!

- Trill and Bandar begin immediate planning about setting up a base in this room, and bringing in a clean up crew to mop up the zombie spoo in here
- Baidien notes that the guards seem a little disorganized now that Sturm is incapacitated, so he begins to order the guards around: Sturm is hauled upstairs and gets the carpenters to build the stupid construct (Baidien uses his "drill sergeant" voice to motivate them)
- The carpenters complain and whine as they are put to work -- they want the room cleaned up before they build the item

- Trill bandages all those who need bandaging
- Nasin goes upstairs to rest
- Baidien stays long enough to make sure that the construct is built
- Once built, Bandar heads upstairs to rest
- Baidien heads upstairs, but meets Sturm on the way down -- he comes back with Sturm
- Trill speaks with Sturm; Trill and Andrial plan to remain in the chamber while the others rest upstairs -- there will be a posts of guards along the route upstairs to relay messages
- Sturm pulls Baidien and Trill aside: he is very impressed with the seriousness and professionalism that we exhibit -- he will suggest that Crispin pay us a bonus!

- Trill wants to examine the hallways ahead of us for any darkness within the halls
- Trill, Baidien and Sturm head down the passages, heading towards the Embalming Chamber...

Tuesday 24 July 2001

17 Winter 674, mid morning, continued:
- Trill, Baidien, Sturm -- and Andrial, who apparently has invited herself to join us -- head down the passages, heading towards the Embalming Chamber...
- We make it to the Embalming chamber; it is a room shaped very similar to the altar room.  There are no creatures in here.
- Trill suggests that the carpenters blocking off passages to the crypts to prevent further access from the zombies/undead.
- Sturm likes the idea and sends men to come down and guard, as well as having the carpenters block off the passages
- The huge iron doors to the Vault is on the southwest wall of the Embalming chamber
- Sturm inspects the doors to the vault, then heads upstairs to report
- Baidien goes upstairs to rest; Trill and Andrial stay within the Embalming chamber to watch over the vault doors
- Trill suggests that the passage to the Guard room be blocked off as well; he discusses this with Stavis (also known as "the sergeant")

- Trill patrols the hall ways and his feet stick to the tar. ("Stick to the tar?"  "No!  Feet start to tire!")
- Andrial wants to play some music for Trill
- Andrial and Trill are in the altar room; Trill takes an interest in the uneven floor in front of a wall of iron (which is a Dwarven door rumored to lead to the abandoned Dwarven mines) -- the uneven floor is very un-dwarf like
- Trill begins using "clean" cantrips on the build up of dirt and gets nowhere; he starts using a dagger to chip away at the dirt until he reaches the finished stone floor -- he does this idly while listening to Andrial play her flute music

Later that evening:
- Upstairs: Sturm passes through the area; a small man follows Sturm -- he is well dressed; a few guards follow them
- Sturm wakes Baidien, Nasin and Bandar, and tells them that they are going down to open the vault!  Whoot -- pay day!
- We head down; Trill is meditating in the altar room; Andrial is in Embalming chamber
- Sturm introduces us to Benan, the treasurer of the Yeomany League. He is kinda mousey/weasely, and carries a bag with scrolls in it and holds an abacus
- Trill wants a shield wall lined up in front of the vault; Baidien is not ready and wants beer (he gets some from Bandar, and Trill uses a chill cantrip on the beer)
- Sturm, Baidien and two red shirts hold tower shields and line up in front of the vault door, and Benan opens the door with a key
- The door opens -- revealing a very small room packed with chests and goods!
- Benan needs some time alone to inventory the items within the vault; he will reference these items against his inventory scrolls

- While Benan is working alone within the vault, Trill brings Bandar to the iron wall in the altar room
- There are dwarven runes on the iron wall -- they read a generic dwarven warning that the door protects the dwarven mines/city
- Bandar realizes that this type of door/wall would normally be open -- if it is closed, then it would be secured pretty well on the other side
- Bandar uses his dwarven sqillz to examine the door -- there are no sliding mechanisms or stuff to open this door; this door is probably a solid gate of iron that slid down like a portcullis, and there's no opening it back up

- Trill returns to the Embalming chamber
- Bandar spends a lot of time reviewing the stone work of the chambers; he discovers that the exit to the crypts from the altar chamber is not dwarven -- it is a newer tunnel that was added at a later time
- The floor is uneven within the altar room -- it is packed earth that covers the original dwarven floor
- Sturm confirms that the crypt tunnels all connect (looping back among themselves)

- Benan finishes his inventory and heads upstairs to report; Sturm escorts Benan upstairs
- Baidien heads upstairs (representing the group) to collect the rewards
- Meanwhile Bandar examines and evaluates the jail areas; everything beyond the lower storage area is human (the guard room and the jail cells are not original)

[Experience is withheld until next session]

Tuesday 07 August 2001

17 Winter 674, evening, continued:
- Nasin and Baidien are upstairs while Bandar and Trill continue to linger in the Altar room
- Crispin meets with Benan; Benan reports that everything was there and accounted for; Crispin (in a very sissy voice) orders to pay the group their reward -- plus a little extra ["Hey, he sounds like Fraz with a cold" -- Eric]
- Trill (at that moment!) notes something odd in one of the walls within the Altar Chamber, opposite of iron wall along one of the corners/pillars
- Baidien and Nasin tag along with Benan as he heads downstairs to get our treasure (to bring upstairs and count out) -- they see Trill staring at the wall; Trill explains the discovery
- The group heads into the vault and watches the money brought out -- Nasin and Baidien return upstairs and Trill and Bandar remain in the Altar Chamber
- Upstairs: first 600 gp is counted out for Baidien and Trill, then 400 gp (up from the original 300 gp) for the securing of the Vault -- Benan is very formal in his presentation of this monies (Crispin is not here at this time)
- Benan also mentions that he has been authorized to offer *1000 gp* reward for the capture of the elusive cloaked figure -- up from 600 gp!
- Baidien and Nasin return downstairs and talk a bit with Trill and Bandar -- Baidien hands Trill his personal 300 gp share for the old reward money, plus 400 gp for the group (Bandar insists that we need barding armor for a war pig)

[Experience is handed out: 240 combat/300 exploration -- Baidien makes 2nd level; Nasin makes 2nd level!
"Baidien is mad because he's not as tough as he wanted to be!" -- Eric, after Baidien rolls a "4" for gained hit points.]

- We go upstairs to talk about our next plan; do we want to go for this bounty?  the group agrees "yes"
- Trill searches for an eyewitness who saw this cloaked figure walk through the walls -- Trill hopes to visit the location where the figure passed through the wall, thereby searching the area for secret/concealed doors
- We hear a noise outside of the window -- there are some guards fighting a zombie!
- Trill becomes very excited and bolts out of the room at top speed! He charges downstairs and outdoors just as the guards finish the zombie!  He was hoping to discover where the zombie came from, but learns that the guards simply lure it from outside of the gate (the portcullis closes at this point)
- Trill passes through the keep asking guards about the cloaked figure, trying to get a location of one of the sightings (one sighting was within the Great Hall)
- Trill gathers the group, and we head to the Great Hall and begin looking around -- there are two guards standing guard in here (Trill casts detect magic -- nada)
- Nasin pokes around -- one of the guards questions him and they begin talking about the cloaked figure -- this guard saw him!
- The guard tells the story how the CF walked out from the wall -- through the tapestry!  This blows a hole right through Trill's "secret door" theory!

- We agree to return to the secret door in the Altar Chamber
- As we head down to the upper storage area, we hear a racket from deeper in the vaults!
- A guard explains that Sturm and some guards are exploring a section of the crypt tunnels
- We catch up with a group of guards -- they mention that there is nothing to report
- We follow around through the crypts -- nothing to report at all in here (whew)
- Trill casts a detect magic spell near the secret door
- There is a glyph on the iron curtain that emits an aura of magic!  It is a glyph that any of us have not seen before
- Bandar casts "Detect Evil" on it -- there is benign power emanating from it
- Nasin touches the glyph with no effect

Tuesday 04 September 2001

17 Winter 674, night, continued:
- The group continues to poke around the iron curtain with the newly discovered glyph
- Baidien heads upstairs to fetch a hammer and chisel with the intention on hammering at the secret door / seam in the pillar
- Baidien heads to the blacksmith; a boy sleeps here
- The boy awakens and grips a mace; Baidien barks at him to drop the weapon
- Baidien explains that he needs a hammer, chisel and spikes
- The boy gives the items to Baidien
- Baidien returns to the altar room and holds a hammer and chisel
- Trill uses a cantrip to outline the unnoticeable outline of the secret door in the pillar
- Baidien begins whacking the secret door with the tools

- Trill, Nasin and Bandar head upstairs (after a while)
- Trill and Nasin returns to the Great Hall and search around for more secret doors (both did that earlier without success)
- Bandar celebrates some sort of celebration ("What day is it?") by drinking a pint of beer
- Baidien continues to bang away on the pillar with little to no progress

- The three (Trill, Bandar and Nasin) head over to the tavern (Bloody Spear) to learn more information from a guard (Stanwick) who saw the robed figure
- Trill finds Stanwick -- he is passed out
- The guards he is with get excited when they learn why Trill wants to talk to Stanwick -- "oh, he talks about that all the time -- the cloaked figure came up through the floor of the barracks -- through the wall and into the kitchen!"
- The group leaves and returns to the keep
- The gate is locked; the guard is asleep; the bug wakes the guard; the guard opens the gate

- The group returns to Baidien who is still working at the pillar
- Trill explains a theory to Baidien -- there are secret tunnels leading from the vault to the barracks -- according to the maps, the two are right above each other; Benan could be involved with the cloaked figure, working together
- Also, the Great Hall is over the barracks as well -- near the location where the figure appeared out of the walls
- We agree to examine the barracks in the morning

18 Winter 674, morning:
- After breakfast, we file into the barracks
- After examining the barracks, we don't find anything
- Sturm is here; Trill explains the discovery of the secret door in the pillar

Friday 08 February 2002 [The Standing Spitting Chowder Slug session]

18 Winter 674, morning (continued):
- Trill gets the idea to research maps of the keep; we head to speak to Benan [the weasel from Tuesday 24 July 2001]
- Benan will allow one person to research the vaults -- Trill steps forward
- Trill asks about the wizard Morbius; Benan is not able to supply much in the way of interesting information
- Benan and Trill reach the locked records vault; Benan searches for the engineer's journal of the Keep -- Trill hopes to gain more information on the vaults/iron curtain
- The scroll is located; Benan lovingly and carefully caresses it open -- The journal describes "ancient muck" that covers the basement; the altar of Tuoni may be need to be moved, but time is short -- There is a rune on the dwarven door -- no one knows its meaning (even the dwarves here); there may be an old dwarf that understands the meaning...
- Meanwhile, Bandar, Baidien and Nasin busy themselves -- Baidien heads over to the tavern (the Bloody Spear), Nasin and Andrial follows, and Bandar heads off to the dwarven community/ghetto in Loftwick
- Bandar catches up with old Qaldren (last seen on 15 Winter 674 [THREE FUCKING DAYS AGO?]); Bandar asks about the symbol on the iron door -- while he doesn't have any information or memory about the rune on the curtain, Qaldren says that, in general, there should be some sort of mechanism to open that door from the outside within the cellars.
- Meanwhile, Trill pokes around in the vault; Benan becomes impatient with Trill, stating crisply that he could not possibly stay here in the vault and read *every* scroll, and that they should leave now! Trill tries to convince Benan to allow him to stay -- Benan becomes distrustful of Trill; after more bantering from Trill, Benan states that Benan can not stay, and will need to call a page to watch over Trill
- Nasin leaves the tavern and heads down to the cellars and pokes around the altar area
- Nasin calls the guards over -- he wants to move the altar; the guards balk at the thought of moving the altar of Tuoni! The guards certainly do not want to bring the wrath of Tuoni upon themselves by defiling his altar!
- Trill continues reading scrolls -- scanning them for relative information to the keep. Feeble, the page, enters and keeps a watchful eye over Trill; Feeble is spooked by the Bug
- Trill finds some history scrolls (with Feeble's help) that he enjoys (Keoland/Yeomanry's history)
- Feeble speaks a bit about Tuoni: Tuoni is the God of the Dead and the Underworld worshipped by the humans; the god is now semi-forgotten
- Apparently, the dwarves built the keep; a later age of humans came in and built the altar; a second age of humans came in at a much later time and rediscovered the altar (but did not dare try to move/remove it)
- Baidien continues to drink beer at the tavern; Andrial hums a song [kah-loo koo-koo koo-koo koo-kooo]!
- Nasin leaves the cellars and heads to meet Trill in the vault -- just at this time, Bandar enters and heads to the vault to meet up Trill as well
- Trill finishes up (he gets all the info that he can get); all three leave, leaving Feeble behind to reorganize the scrolls
- Nasin, Trill and Bandar speak of their findings/learnings
- Nasin: asks "where do the zombies go at sunrise?"
- Trill wishes to speak to Crispin; Trill wants to move the altar and clean up the room
- The servant that Trill speaks to has a bad attitude and claims that he'll bring Crispin to Trill (yeah...right)
- Nasin follows the servant -- just to be sure that Crispin is fetched
- One of the guards apologizes to Trill for the servant's attitude; the guard walks off to get Crispin
- Andrial comes in -- Nasin returns, giving up on following the servant around -- Trill lets Andreal what's going on; Andrial heads off to get Baidien
- Trill and group meets Crispin in the great hall; Trill speaks of what he has learned
- Crispin appers mildly intrigued
- Trill speaks of the vault having a possible trigger/lever to open the door -- Crispin seems more intrigued
- Trill also reveals the discovery of the secret door in the wall -- we also have Crispin! He's frothing at the mouth with interest!
- Trill sells him on the "research" angle -- we won't have any answers if different theories aren't tested! Crispin gives us the head nod to destroy the cellars! -- er -- "test our theories"! Yeah!
- Andrial fetches Baidien at the tavern; they return to the keep
- Trill believes that the secret door is currently in use by the mysterious figure; therefore the opening mechanism for the secret door must be in use as well
- We gather some servants up to help with the cleaning; we set off to look for triggers ["The wonderful thing about triggers/triggers are a wonderful thing!"]
- the help grumbles about cleaning; Trill yells at them [Trill, the angry elf!]
- the group wants Baidien sober; they sit him down and make him eat lunch; Trill gives him beer-flavored water via a cantrip ("What the hell is it with the flat beer that they serve around here!")
- the servants serving us grumble about serving us
- head down to the cellars, the servants are here complaining
- Baidien picks up a shovel and starts cleaning -- the servants are surprised at this -- Baidien says that he would not have them do a chore that he himself would not do
- We (Baidien and the servants) spend time cleaning around the walls and the altar while the others poke around for clues for the triggers
- (The walls are assembled without the use of mortar -- it's all tightly fitting stone work)
- While cleaning around one of the pillars, Baidien discovers a groove in the floor!
- We clear more and more of the groove; it circles around the altar and has a band dwarven runes within the circle
- We try to move the altar; it is heavy and crusted stuck to the ground
- We chisel away at the grime surrounding the altar and are able to free the altar from the crust
- Try moving the altar again -- it is simply too heavy
- Trill comes up with a block and tackle pulley system to slowly pull the altar away out of the circle; use a large block of wood as an anchor at the end of the hall, and then tie the rope to that anchor and the altar and slowly pull it off the circle...

Friday 22 February 2002 [The Excessive Snack session]

18 Winter 674 (continued)
- "Block-n-tackle", sings Trill
- Bandar sets off to get the equipment to move this altar
- Clear off the ring of runes; uncover four symbols of Dwarven Clans near the altar
- Seems to be more runes under the altar -- the altar will need to be moved to examine them
- The Dwarven runes on the iron wall are a warning to trespassers -- KEEP OUT
- Bandar returns with the block-n-tackle
- [Nasin gains 5 levels in the skill "deep swallowing"]
- Bandar reads the now-exposed ring of runes on the floor; it is a dwarven greeting to the visiting friends of the Outer Keep of Zadün
- [Trill's head explodes! "Finally", exclaims Baidien]
- Trill casts "read magic" on the iron door; it is an ancient rune of protection!
- Set up the B&T around the "load-bearing" altar
- Pull the altar away which makes a loud, grating sound ["Who's making the cappuccino" asks Nasin]

- In the spot where the altar was is a small hole (we need to clean the years of gunk out from the hole)
- The hole is 2.5 inches diameter -- it is a dwarven hole ("Oh yeah, that's a dwarven hole" confirms Bandar)
- Bandar inadvertently steps on the emblem of the Anvil (one of the Clan symbols near the altar space); there is a faint mechanical sound: g'chunk!
- Test the other icons -- nothing
- Trill cleans the hole as deep as he can (over an arrow's length), he borrows a spear from the guards (it's too big), and tries the quarterstaff
- No progress is made with the hole; we turn our attention to the Anvil -- try stepping on the Anvil and triangulate the sound -- it's coming from the hole! ARGH!
- Doing the staff/hole/Anvil combinations, Trill determines that there are some staggered teeth/pegs/rods that protrude into the hole when the Anvil is stepped on -- teeth for some sort of key?
- Try sticking the staff in there and stepping on the Anvil icon -- the staff is held firmly, attempts to turn it meet with resistance
- Trill concludes that this is not what the dwarves intended (dwarven handiwork would operate smoothly and effortlessly)
- Nasin gives a try at it -- no luck

- Trill recalls the scroll with the authorization from Crispin allowing access to the treasure vault; Benan is called and he opens the vault for us ("Only one at a time in there!")
- Benan mentions that it is after sunset; we've been down here all day
- Benan unlocks the vault with a dwarven key (not what we're looking for; that key is normal -- we're looking for something that's two and a half feet long and two inches in diameter)

- Trill enters and examines the vault, looking for dwarven artifacts
- Benan pesters Trill as to what he is looking for -- "perhaps I can help you!" and Trill explains that he needs dwarven artifacts
- Benan shows Trill several artifacts, including a T-shaped 2.5 foot rod that is 2" in diameter with several notches in it (that correspond to the markings left upon the staff from our earlier tests!)

- YAR!

- The T-bar is passed to Baidien - he cranks the bar and the secret door pivots open (Bandar stands on the Anvil icon)!
- Inside of the door is a small chamber, holding a winch and two levers -- one lever is in the "up" position (left), and the other is in the "down" position (right)
- Nasin toggles the levers, and Bandar turns the winch; two arrows shoot out and hit each Nasin and Bandar!
- The levers are returned to their original positions, and Bandar turns the winch again -- this time Baidien stands as shield guard (holding Bandar's shield); several rounds of arrows later and turns of the winch, the great iron door raises high enough for us to get under (about 3.5') -- there is a significant amount of noise
- Benan sends a guard to get Crispin and Sturm

- Nasin & Trill slip under the door as Baidien and Bandar secure the winch
- Baidien returns the now arrow-spiked shield to Bandar
- Trill & Nasin look around -- it is the sister-room of the altar room in size and dimension -- there is one exit
- There are skeletal remains of two dwarves
- Nasin takes the T-bar key
- Crispin and Sturm arrive and are pleased with our progress
- We discuss on whether to proceed now, or rest for the evening (perhaps closing the iron door again)
- We vote on sleeping down here after closing the great door
- Sturm mentions that there have been problems in town -- the good citizens of town have left, leaving the "rougher" peoples in town -- there has been a lot of looting and trouble...many of the guards who were with us have been pulled to patrol the town -- also, there have been less reports of zombies within town
- the B&T is returned to the masons

[500 XP each awarded for solving the riddle of the dwarven door!]

06 Apr 02 Unpublished work © 1982-2002 fraz