Adventurers

Character	Race	Class	Description
Alaric	Human	Paladin level 3	Big, doe eyed country boy with wavy blond hair and willingness to do the right thing. Paladin of Tyr.
Ambros	Human	Cleric level 7	Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time.
Beorg the Gravedigger	Human	Fighter level 5	Inspired to adventure after burying several adventurers.
Ignaeus	Elf	Fighter level 4 / magic-user level 5	A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiseled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge.
Jacob Vin	Human	Assassin level 3	Slick black hair, inconspicuous dress, youthful for his age, and of keen instincts.
Kenso San	Human	Fighter level 4	An arrogant and self-assured sellsword wandering Wilderlands to prove he can best anyone.
Tam o' Shanter	Human	Cleric level 4	A boisterous wine-lover of Losborst on a Great Crusade of the Grape.
Tarkus the Promising	Human	Cleric level 5	Follower of Bachontoi, God of Red Wisdom.
Thorinda Bung	Human	Monk level 3	She has blonde hair done up in a tight pony tail and wears light, loose suit.
Thorm	Dwarf	Fighter level 4 / thief level 5	Ashen hair, beard, and eyes. Left his own clan due to financial trouble.
Warmund Abendeurer	Human	Fighter level 1	A burly blonde barbarian; Wilbalt's older brother and the stronger of the two.
Wilbalt Abendeurer	Human	Fighter level 1	A burly blonde barbarian; Warmund's younger brother and a better swordsman of the two.

Coldrain 2nd, Waterday

“Begone, Evil!” Ambros thundered.

Wight that sucked Agathon dry turned to dust, carried away by the underground stream.

“Chop him up, quick!”

Kenso cut off Agathon's head. Ignaeus loped off the leg.

The corpse contorted and jerked, throwing itself at Kenso.

The boy, even in death, strived to best his master.

Kenso slashed accross the torso, and then drove the dragonblade into the heart. Corpse formerly known as Agathon ceased to move.

Adventurers completed the dismemberment. Then they chucked the body parts into the stream, casting them into the watery oblivion.

“So, uh... who will swim accross to fetch that bag of coins?”

“Screw it! I'll do it!”

Tam volunteered. He stripped off his armour. He elected to keep chemberpot on his head. Adventurers tied a rope around his waist, not neck, and he jumped into the chilly stream.

He was promptly speared and cut by three troglodytes that happened to be diving there at that time. One of the foul reptiles hurt him good; spears were wickedly barbed and did more damage while coming out than when coming in.

As Tam screamed and cried in pain trogs went limp and were carried away by the stream. Ignaeus had put them to sleep. As well as Alaric. They dragged Tam out, who in turn jumped at the elf, gave him a big hug and a sloppy, sloppy kiss. Ignaeus regretted his decision to save the man.

Freshly awoken Alaric volunteered to go instead of half-dead Tam. Young and strong, he too took off his armour. How else could he swim across? As before, a rope was tied around his waist. And as before, he jumped into the stream. This time it was not swimming reptiles.

No, it was a gang of skeletons approaching the party from behind. Little did they know how divine divine Ambros is. They were turned to dust.

Alaric succesfully retrieved a sack with five hundred gold pieces.

The party decided to exit the dungeon and rest before continuing. It was well past midnight by the time they were out.

Coldrain 3rd, Earthday

“Hail and well met!”

Around noon the party was joined by Tarkus the Promising, Beorg the Gravedigger, Jacob Vin, Thorinda Bung, Warmund and Wilbalt Abendeurer. Now counting twelve adventurers in total, they were confident about hitting the deepest level of Castle Yukanthur.

Or so they thought.

Whilst passing through the first level, five giant ticks fell from above. Although the adventurers were not surprised, the ticks were right in their midst.

With their thick carapaces, giant ticks had proven to be more of a nuissance than a real threat to adventurers. Still, several of them got bitten, sucked, and potentially, diseased. It remains to be seen. Warmund and Jacob suffered the most, nearly dying in the process.

Alaric killed two, Kenso cut one in half, Tarkus smashed one, and Tam used his jug to crush the final one.

Moving on, they ran into six pig-faced orcs. Neither side was surprised. Beorg unleashed hell upon them, skewering four in total. Ignaeus and Kenso barely managed to kill one each.

From then on they moved forth unopposed. Once on the second level, they went into the fireblasted chamber, courtesy of Ignaeus, then south, then north in the domed chamber with fire, got perplexed and frustrated once more, went out north, then east into the hydrchamber, then north, left, and then right down the long stairs.

It is worth noting that there was an ongoing conversation if they should use stairs or one of the pit traps leading down. Stairs, as might be obvious by now, had won the popular vote.

Deeper level, at last.

Twelve of adventurers, carrying three torches and one lantern, stood little chance of surprising anyone or anything. Let alone a wall.

A t-junction split left and right. To the left was a large rectangular chamber with grimy, stained, and spent flagstones. The right was a fifty foot long corridor terminating with a right turn. Midway were open doors, hanging to the side. Torchlight flickered from beyond. Silent weeping and sobbing could be heard.

Feeling heroic, adventurers rushed towards it.

The doors were hanging by the hinges. Wood appeared to be damaged as if by some strong acid. The chamber beyond was rectangular. In the middle of it stood a man dressed in robes and a pointy hat. He held torch in on hand, and waved the other towards north-east corner. His face was red and puffy, tears streaming down.

In the corner was a half-dissolved man dressed in bubbly leather armour. He was engulfed by transparent and shimmering liquid. Magic-user spoke some words and a spear of light flew from his hands and into the mass.

Ignaeus recognised the spell as a varian of Magic Missile. He joined in, and cast teh same spell at the ooze. Beorg cast his own spell, “military oil,” vapourising the ooze as well as the man engulfed.

Then he took a deep whiff and grunted “I love the smell of military oil in the morning. It is the smell of victory.”

Ambros approached the man while others spread out to investigate the chamber. It was forty-five by thirty feet, with exit to the south and west. Besides one dissolved corpse in the north-east corner, there was another by west doors. This one was dressed in half-corroded plate mail, holding onto a heavy mace. Next to it was an intact gold chalice.

“You can help yourself to it, after all you have saved my life.” the man generously offered. He introduced himself as Diocletian Farseer, a man capable of seeing far. “We have been delving for hours. I said we should go back, but no, they were “oh come one, just one more doors, just one more.” And then we ran into this ooze which just wrecked my dear friends. Horrible. Horrible.”

He agreed to join the party for a part of his share. There is safety in numbers.

As adventurers discussed, the bottom of west doors begane to sizzle and bubble.

“Oh, no—” Diocletian screamed “—not again!”

Thorinda, Kenso, and Beorg dispatched of the ooze before it became a threat. They were apparently much more capable then two men Diocletian had adventured with.

“Let's move on.”

Pushing through west doors led to the aforementioned rectangular chamber with grime caked flagstones, albeit from the north side.

There were five exits from this chamber: corridors to the north, east, and south, mined tunnel to the west, and a tunneled crawlsspace to the south-west. On the south wall was etched drawing of a circle with a squiggly line.

Adventurers entered reluctantly. Thorm, being a dwarf, elected to study the west tunnel. It was most definitely hewn. Narrow, but wide enough for a single file. It obviously, well, obviously to a dwarf, at least, slopped downwards. Entrance to it was flanked by numerous bone fragments.

Crawlspace in the south-west corner was barely wide enough for one person to crawl through. It was not particulalry high, and one would need to go all the way on their belly.

“Hey, look at that...”

Alaric shone his bullseye lantern down the south corridor.

Two red gems shone in the dark, just beyond his range. Moving forward revealed the horror—a baleful dead with bright-red gaze.

Alaric the Brave charged forth, only to be checked by two more undead waiting in the darkness. Kenso, Thorm, and Beorg backed the paladin, following him into the fray.

Ambros turned the furthest undead, since that was the only one whom had witnessed his holy symbol. Thorm destroyed one with a series of blows. Kenso felt the chilly touch of one. He felt weaker, as if drained. Luckily for him, the undead broke of its grip in the overwhelming presences of Ambros and Tarkus.

Alaric, Wilbalt, Thorm, Ambros, Kenso, Tarkus, and Ignaeus stood in what looked to be an anthechamber of sorts. There were doors to the west, “VERMIN” scribbled over them. That is where the undead whom had drained Kenso fled. There was archway leading south. That's where the first undead had fled to.

Diocletian, Jacob, Thorinda, Beorg were just behind, in the corridor connecting this chamber and the rectangular chamber with five exits. Tam and Warmund were in that chamber, keeping watch.

They were not twelve anymore. They were thirteen now.

Will that be enough to survive the depths of Castle Yukanthur?

Poster by Lord Jubalon Flux.

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Adventurers

Character	Race	Class	Description
Alaric	Human	Paladin level 3	Big, doe eyed country boy with wavy blond hair and willingness to do the right thing. Paladin of Tyr.
Ambros	Human	Cleric level 7	Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time.
Ignaeus	Elf	Fighter level 4 / magic-user level 5	A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiseled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge.
Kenso San	Human	Fighter level 4	An arrogant and self-assured sellsword wandering Wilderlands to prove he can best anyone.
Tam o' Shanter	Human	Cleric level 4	A boisterous wine-lover of Losborst on a Great Crusade of the Grape.
Thorm	Dwarf	Fighter level 4 / thief level 5	Ashen hair, beard, and eyes. Left his own clan due to financial trouble.

Coldrain 1st, Airday

First day of winter brought some relief to Altanian heat. But not much. The days were now shorter, with only two watches of daylight.

Party of seven reached the ruins of Castle Yukanthur by mid-noon. Ambros, Ignaeus, Alaric, Thorm, Tam, Kenso, and Stag Beetle, Agathon's new moniker given to him by his master.

It's been nearly two months since they've been to the ruins. There were few traces of the Great Goblin Genocide left. Most of the corpses have rotted away; their flesh and bones consumed by the wildlife and carrion eaters.

Adventurers descended, led by Kenso. Stag Beetle was right next to him, serving as a dedicated doorbasher. They navigated through the first level, unopposed. Ignaeus and Ambros would sporadically explain various secret passages, traps, and similar, to Thorm, and Alaric, whom were here for the first time.

Once they reached the second level, party moved to their right, through secret sliding doors, then north, then left. They explored a chamber with barrels and crates filled with worthless junk. They passed stairs leading down and moved onwards to the T-junction.

Chamber to the left was lined with warped and bowing shelves spanning full width of west, south, and east wall. Ignaeus felt something was off. Alaric pulled on the brass candlestick on the west shelf. Doors opened behind. Stag Beetle was summoned once more, this time to break through the shelves so the passageway could be accessed.

Young bull happily obliged. He was still embarrassed by Kenso beating his ass back in Ironburg. Agathon was a rather slow learner.

Following the corridor led to another dead end. Ignaeus once more found the secret switch. This led them to a clean, twenty by twenty room. A bed, stool, and a locked chest were in the north-east corner.

Tam peeked under the bed. He took the chamber pot and put it on his head. He ignored a pair of slippers. Thorm spotted a lever to the left of the bed. Then he spent three hours disarming the needle trap in the lock and picking it open.

In the meantime Ambros and Ignaeus managed to activate a pit trap by the south-west exit. The fell down a ten feet deep pit and got impaled on several iron spikes. Alaric pulled both out.

“Take them all out! But with the tip of your blade!”

Tam advised Thorm. Thus the dwarf took out several robes, pointy hats, and blankets out of the chest. Few survived his handling. Casting Detect Magic only confirmed the mundane nature of items at hand. At least there were 300 gold pieces and one ivory comb at the bottom.

Adventurers left the same way they came in and returned to the chamber with many shelves. Agathon pulled the doors wide open. A swarm of fat stirges completely surprised the party, dive bombing them without mercy. Both Ambros and Agathon dropped their weapons.

Five out of twelve monsters hit their target. It took adventurers several tense rounds to get rid of the pests. Thorm dispatched three, Kenso two, and Tam one before Ignaeus retreated into the corner and put them all to sleep—including Agathon, Alaric, and Tam.

Party moved further north. Agathon broke through yet another doors. This time it was the monsters that were completely surprised! Six filthy-looking, lizard-like humanoids slept on foul straw-mats. They were slain with extreme prejudice. Given the overbearing stench of these foul creatures, adventurers promptly moved on.

They wandered the long corridors; they explored a natural cave adjoining one of the chamber with broken wall. This, they theorised, must be the cave with underground river some of them had fallen in months ago. Circular opening on the cave ceiling would certainly suggest so.

Having adventured for now nearly three watches non-stop, they could feel the weariness and tiredness kicking in. After brief discussion, they decided to retreat above ground, find a safe spot to rest, and then return the next day.

Indeed, they did so. Seven zombies they encountered were no threat. Ambros turned six to dust, while Tam turned the sole survivor.

Once out, they spent couple of hours looking for a perfect camping spot.

Coldrain 2nd, Waterday

It was way past midnight by the time adventurers had established the camp. Winter, even in Barbarian Altanis, means the days become shorter. Morning and noon watches are the only ones when there is sufficient daylight to travel the wilderness.

But our adventurers had to rest well. In other words, by the time they were ready for the second delve it was already night again.

“What does it matter? It is dark inside anyway.”

Kenso took the lead again. This time he was a bit less focused and led the party astray several times. He eventually got them to the second dungeon level. And then he led the party straight into ghoul ambush.

Being at the vanguard meant that he received the brunt of ghoul onslaught. Luckily for him, they failed to eviscerate him before Ambros made his holy presence known. Alaric watched the Cleric of Aniu and Forseti with great admiration. He was barely aware of Tam's existence. Ignaeus and Thorm each killed one ghoul as they fled.

Adventurers continued exploring the unknown. They went down the slanted corridor, through the chamber with an open pit, and then further north. This was yet another cave with underground river.

Ignaeus, Tam, and Ambros had recognised this peculiar cave. It was the one they had crawled out from after falling through the trap on the above floor. Ambros remembered that he had left behind hundreds of gold pieces on the small surface straight across the river.

“Who will swim across? I am happy to hold the rope?”

“I will go.” Agathon spoke up after deafening silence. “But I will keep half of the coin from that sack!”

“That is fair.”

Agathon approached the river bank, ready to dive in.

A wight broke through the water surface, grabbed Agathon's head, and drained him of his life.

Stag Beetle didn't even have time to scream.

Adventurers, on the other hand, were quite vocal.

“A wight?!”

“Quick, decapitate him before he rises!”

“Dispel Evil! Dispel Evil!”

Will they go quiet, too?

Discuss at Dragonsfoot forum.

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Adventurers

Character	Race	Class	Description
Ambros	Human	Cleric level 7	Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time.
Beorg the Gravedigger	Human	Fighter level 5	Inspired to adventure after burying several adventurers.
Ignaeus	Elf	Fighter level 4 / magic-user level 5	A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiseled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge.
Jacob Vin	Human	Assassin level 2	Slick black hair, inconspicuous dress, youthful for his age, and of keen instincts.
Kenso San	Human	Fighter level 4	An arrogant and self-assured sellsword wandering Wilderlands to prove he can best anyone.
Tam o' Shanter	Human	Cleric level 4	A boisterous wine-lover of Losborst on a Great Crusade of the Grape.
Tarkus the Promising	Human	Cleric level 5	Follower of Bachontoi, God of Red Wisdom.
Thorinda Bung	Human	Monk level 3	She has blonde hair done up in a tight pony tail and wears light, loose suit.

Redleaves 8th, Earthday

The baleful dead—hissing, growling, and whining—lunged at Agathon the Promising who stood in its path. The dead was fleeing from the combined divinity of Ambros and Tarkus, but was unable to proceed for the young Dung stood in its way.

“Move like a willow and get out of its way!”

Kenso, his master, yelled. Young man obliged and dodged the onslaught for the fourth time. Then he jumped back, pivoted, and retreated to the large square chamber where Tam, Jacob, and Thorinda were fighting a skeleton horde.

He arrived just as a dozen of skeletons tore through Jacob and Tam. Assassin was shredded to strips. One of the skeletons backhanded Tam so hard that the drunk was knocked unconscious. Agathon jumped in and swung his spear wildly, destroying several skeletons.

Thorinda, weak and wise, crawled back, shining the light on the horde, letting Agathon do the work. She saw horrible figure fleeing past her, down the long corridor to the north. She did nothing to try to stop it.

“Begone!”

Tarkus came after it, brandishing an open book, the holy symbol of Bachontoi. He dusted four. Soon there were no more of them.

Adventurers dragged the wounded close to the demon mural chamber. Ambros remained with them to watch guard in case any more undead approach.

Beorg, Kenso, and Ignaeus entered the chamber. They pushed on the concealed flagstone. Doors to the secret treasure room opened. Three iron chests, a longbow, a quiver of arrows, and an empty jeweled scabbard were still there, waiting patiently.

Kenso and Ignaeus remained by the open secret doors. Beorg entered. The chests were locked, each with a hefty iron padlock. He took out his shovel. He raised it high above his head. Then he swung it down with all his might, shearing off the padlock.

Beorg now stepped behind the chest. He gingerly held the lid and pulled it up. Hissing sound could be heard as noxious gas gushed all around, filling the treasure chamber and spilling out into the room with the mural.

Gravedigger's veins bloated and turned black, as the fighter died in agony. Ignaeus fared no better, his delicate elven skin turning purple. Kenso took a whiff, but only suffered excruciating pain, as if ghouls rended his lungs, string by string.

Once the gas cleared out, Kenso approached the open chest confidently. Curled and curdled Beorg lay behind it. A great helm of polished black steel and with silver lining running along the axe beak top rested on soft cloth. Next to it was a sword with hilt in the shape of dragon wings, resting in a sheath of red leather. Kenso took both. The broadsword wooshed through the air, obviously of excellent make and with magical properties. Great helm was magical too, for Kenso immediately realised he can see into the dark corners as if they were lit up.

While Kenso was looting, Ambros was healing. He raised Beorg from the dead, much to the gravedigger's regret, and then raised Ignaeus too, expending a scroll in the process.

At this moment half of the party has suffered great trauma and were at the risk of perishing from a single attack or any great exertion. Thus, they made the decision to pick up the two remaining chests and open them in the safety of Ironburg. Agathon the Strong carried one chest, while the other one was carried by Wilbalt and Ambros.

Adventurers trudged through the dungeon, significantly slowed down. It took them hours to reach the exit. Alas, it was not meant to be without any trouble whatsoever.

As they turned the corner towards antechamber with the illusory wall, they faced a gang of pig-faced orcs. The beastmen were ready, having seen and heard them way ahead of the time. They were in tight formation, front rank with scimitars, and back rank with spears.

Ambros and Kenso advanced, meeting them in the room. The latter danced through porcs, slaying three in the process. Thorinda followed, but was check with another group of orcs hiding to the side. Ignaeus, whom had just been brought back to life and was as strong and as resilient as a new born baby, rushed other aid. He was promptly speared through his gut, rending him completely useless and nearly killing him, once again. Kenso continued his deadly dance, slaying five in total. Thorinda managed to kill two, too.

Redleaves 9th, Fireday

The party finally managed to exit the dungeon. It was night. All members were wounded and exhausted. Still, they marched out in the wilderness, seeking a safe place to camp and rest. They found it by sunrise.

They agreed on the following watch rotation. Thorinda and Tarkus were to take the noon watch, Ignaeus evening watch, Kenso night watch, Jacob midnight watch of the next day, and Beorg the pre-dawn watch.

They opted for cold-camp, to avoid attracting any unwanted attention.

Redleaves 10th, Spiritday

Jacob woke Beorg up. It was his turn. Experienced gravedigger stretched, still a tang of regret of being brought back to life lingering on his tongue, and immediately noticed something was off with Tarkus.

The cleric of Bachontoi was way too still. Beorg approached his comrade. He was dead! His throat was slit wide open. He look calmed—there were no signs of struggle nor any other violence. Sans the gaping wound, that is.

Beorg and Jacob woke everyone one up. Torches and lanterns were soon lit. Jacob, being a professional assassin, studied the wound. It was made most definitely by a sharp weapon. Could be a dagger, could be a sword. It was difficult to say. There were no signs of any poison or venom.

There were no rivulets of blood anywhere around. Even though there was no ranger in the party, it was still easy to follow trails from and to Tarkus. They led to the watch post where all of them were rotating during the day.

“Did one of us do it...” Beorg wondered out loud. “Everyone present your weapons!”

Slowly adventurers showed their weapon, one by one. When Kenso took out his newly acquired Dragon sword, there was fresh blood on it. And there was blood in his dragonskin sheath too.

All hell broke loose. Ignaeus tried to cast web at the warrior. Kenso was quicker. He lunged forward and cut the elf down without holding back. Still reeling from shock, Beorg and Ambros threw themselves at possessed Kenso. Jacob kept to the side, aware of his predicament. Maybe the warrior would spare his life?

For whatever reason, Kenso decided that Thorinda was his next biggest threat. That proved to be partially true as he failed to cut through her defenses and dodged. But it was Agathon whom was his final undoing. Young man swung the spear high above his head, and then struck Kenso with the butt-end of the shaft. The blow was so strong it dented the black great helm and knocked Kenso unconscious.

A spirited discussion followed. What happened? What should happen next? Jacob proposed taking the helmet off with a sharp device, potentially decapitating Kenso in the process. Agathon straight out advocated for killing him.

Ambros knelt and removed the helmet with his hand. Then they stripped Kenso of everything, leaving him in nothing but soiled loincloth. Then they hogtied him so he couldn't move a single limb. Thorinda suggested to tie the rope around his neck, but Ambros said no.

Lama of Aniu and bishop of Forseti raised Ignaeus for the second time this week. Elf was throughouly wrecked, for returning to the living is a traumatic experience that takes toll on both constitution and charisma.

Adventurers slapped Kenso back to his senses. The man glared with angry eyes. Suspecting something foul must be at work, Ambros cast Remove Curse. It was the right call as it drove whatever evil spirit possessed the disgraced warrior. The only think Kenso could remember is taking his night watch and then dozing away. His head throbbed with pain. But pain would pass. Shame, shame was eternal. In Karak, an empire to the far East which Kenso hails from, he would be expected to commit ritual suicide or face the extermination of his whole clan due to great shame he had brought upon himself.

The party trudged back to Ironburg.

After taking a little break, few of the adventurers found a secluded place to experiment with the iron chests. They walked for nearly an hour to ensure a whiff of wind does not accidentally carry the poison gas to Ironburg—an unusual level of care for this company—before breaking them open. They did so by dropping them from height and running away. Thousands and thousands of gold pieces flew out.

Kenso, meanwhile, sat at the Hog's Head inn. It remains to be seen if he had left his culture behind when he left home...

Poster by Lord Jubalon Flux.

Discuss at Dragonsfoot forum.

#Wilderlands #SessionReport

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Adventurers

Character	Race	Class	Description
Ambros	Human	Cleric level 7	Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time.
Beorg the Gravedigger	Human	Fighter level 5	Inspired to adventure after burying several adventurers.
Ignaeus	Elf	Fighter level 4 / magic-user level 5	A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiseled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge.
Jacob Vin	Human	Assassin level 2	Slick black hair, inconspicuous dress, youthful for his age, and of keen instincts.
Kenso San	Human	Fighter level 4	An arrogant and self-assured sellsword wandering Wilderlands to prove he can best anyone.
Tam o' Shanter	Human	Cleric level 4	A boisterous wine-lover of Losborst on a Great Crusade of the Grape.
Tarkus the Promising	Human	Cleric level 5	Follower of Bachontoi, God of Red Wisdom.
Thorinda Bung	Human	Monk level 3	She has blonde hair done up in a tight pony tail and wears light, loose suit.

Redleaves 8th, Earthday

Tam laid on the cold dungeon floor; his muscles stiff and paralysed. Four ghouls vied for his tasty, juicy, grape-infused, flesh. Luckily for his Tarkus was divine enough to force the beasts to flee.

Having forced the undead into retreat, the adventurers regrouped at the t-junction. Ambros and Ignaeus joined them, having just arrived. Dung, formerly known as Agathon the Promising, and Wilbalt were relegated to carrying Stiff Tam.

Adventurers moved north, then left, and stopped at the doors. Corridor continued further right, connecting to the room with the gilded spider.

Forcing the door open resulted with another clash with esurient ghouls. Tarkus and Ambros spread their divinity upon the dead; Thorinda and Kenso each slayed one of the dead. Jacob, on the other hand, felt the cold claw of the dead, ending as stiff, if not stiffer, than Tam o' Shanter. Kenso killed one more, and others fled through the south doors.

By the west wall rested a wooden coffin on a bier. Ignaeus and Beorg inspected it. A single wrapped corpse that crumbled to dust after being frisked by the latter. Beorg collected some of the gravedust and rubbed it into his armpits. Then he took some more of it and added it to his satchel with squirming maggots.

South room had nothing but gnawed human remains. It connected to a corridor leading to the T-shaped junction where adventurers fought the undead.

Tam regained his facilities and was able to move on his own once more. Dung and Wilbalt were now tasked with carrying Jacob. Assassin stiffened up whilst holding bullseye lantern. The duo now pointed him in the direction of darkness, using him as human flashlight.

Party moved further north, then left past the gilded spider, then right to another t-junction. Right hand side led to the large chamber adjoining the sacrificial altar as well as another entrance into the spider chamber. Left hand path led to the hereto unexplored realms.

Thirty feet down were doors to the left; twenty feet on corridor to the right; another twenty feet down the corridor opened up into the chamber.

Blood-curling, heart-rending screams of pain and anguish could be heard from beyond the doors. Burping grunts and growls accompanied the screams.

Adventurers broke through the doors, weapons drawn. A dozen of orcs in a chamber, some thirty feet wide and fifty feet long, were torturing a child-sized creature. They were unsurprised.

Beorg came first, swinging his halberd. He skewered one orc and beheaded another. Kenso followed, decapitating two more. Ignaeus moved with elven grace, slaying four pig-faced beastmen. Beorg killed two more, offering them no grace. Others killed two more. The last two spawns of chaos fled through secret doors in the south-east corner.

Adventurers spread out. Some scavenged coins from slain orcs, some sought to help the victim of torture, and the elf sought secret doors in the corner.

Ambros knelt by what seemed to be a male gnome. He was stripped naked, bloodied and bruised. His fingers were mangled, his toes cut off. Both of his eyelids were severed. Gnome struggled to speak, so Ambros brought his to ear to mouth.

”... great treasure...” the gnome exhaled, barely audible “...chamber of painted walls!” he grunted, spitting blood. He was no more.

Ignaeus signaled to others that he had identified the portion of the wall that should swing open. This were a rather mundane secret doors. Party aligned behind him and readied themselves for a volley of arrows.

Initially the failed to push them open. On the second attempt, Ignaeus successfully forced them open, but Beorg lost his footing and stumbled straight in. He fell to the ground, amidst three dozen zombies savaging two orcs.

Before horrible (or delightful, depending on whom you ask) fate befell him, Ambros thundered and turned eight zombies to dust. Kenso and Tarkus moved in to help their ally. Remaining zombies turned around and attacked.

Tam was about to join as well, but he heard Dung call for help. North doors swung open and ten zombies limped in from the north. They almost tore Tam to pieces before they were turned back.

In the secret chamber Ambros kept dusting the zombies. Initial cockiness was replaced with slight worry as the cleric of Aniu and Forseti was dusting only one undead per round. Kenso was nearly rended to death before Ambros finally had proper divine intervention and turned a dozen of remaining dead to dust.

Adventurers exhaled as they just beat back nearly fifty zombies. Clerics healed the wounded—with more or less success—while others secured the chamber.

Party decided to investigate the secret chamber. It was empty, but did join to a very long corridor. Following it led to a dead end. Ignaeus investigated until he found another secret doors. The mechanism was the same as before—simple concealed swing doors.

“What!”

“We went up!”

Adventurers emerged in a thirty by thirty chamber on the first floor of the dungeon. The one which was full of zombies. The one where they turned the undead and then fled, sorry, retreated from.

“Let's go back down, there is nothing much left on this floor.”

And so they went down the long corridor, into the tortured gnome chamber, and then back into the corridor. Passageway to the right bent left at an angle and continued straight as far as the Jacob-lantern could shine. Ignoring that route and heading straight into the chamber ahead led to ten zombies that were turned earlier.

Ambros promptly dusted half of them, while Tam turned the other half. The latter were then vanquished by other adventurers. The chamber had nothing of interest. By now Jacob has recovered from the ghoul's gentle caress and was able to point lantern without assistance.

Party continued west, reaching a corridor going north and south. They opted to explore the latter. This led them to iron-bound doors.

“Dung!”

Kenso found one thing Agathon the Promising was truly promising at: forcing stuck doors open. As the youngest son of a blacksmith, Agathon had an iron grip and massive, functional, muscles. The boy got the doors open.

Before them was a chamber twenty feet wide and forty feet long. It was illuminated by two torches burning in sconces along south and north walls. All the walls were painted black. Heavy crimson curtain hung along the west wall.

Adventurers entered and spread out. Beorg poked the curtain. It swung open, as if on a spring, revealed a hideous demonic face painted on the wall.

Several of adventurers, best left unnamed, shattered in the face of such evil. They fled the chamber, shaking uncontrollably.

But that was not all.

Ambros felt that something more was off. At the corner of his eye he spotted shadows dancing! He turned around just in time as two living shadows attempted to jump him. Then he turned them with his awesome presence.

The shadow attempted to flee but were halted by Dung the Wide standing at the sole entrance into the chamber. To boy's credit, he did not cower nor flee. Ambros acted fasted and Dispelled Evil, vanquishing the shadows.

“Something is off here. I sense it.” Ignaeus's elven senses were tingling. There was something hidden in the chamber!

Several of the fleeers attempted to muster enough willpower to enter the chamber. Witnessing the demonic face completely broke Tam, Thorinda, and Jacob, rendering them completely unable to be anywhere close to the chamber. They stood around the corner, “watching our back.”

“Here!”

Ignaeus had detected the secret doors on the east wall. It was a subtle sliding mechanism operated by pressing a concealed flagstone. The elf pushed it down and felt a prick. Poison coursed through his veins. He survived, but suffered greatly.

Wall slid open.

A naked, hunched human, reeking of death and decay crouched in the middle of a twenty by twenty chamber. Wild hair barely concealed his baleful gaze. The monster growled as Ambros held forth his Gold Gavel of Justice.

Adventurers' eyes grew big as they eyed three iron chests by the east wall. Above each an item hung: a longbow, a quiver of arrows, and a broadsword in jewelled scabbard.

The hateful dead retreated behind one of the chests. Ignaeus shoot it, but it only growled backed. Kenso stood at the entrance of the chamber, blocking it.

Without anywhere to go, the monster lunged forth, but was turned back again. Adventurers backed off, creating space for the monster to exit the treasure laden secret chamber. It did so.

Ambros summoned natural light through Continual Light, forcing the undead the flee. But Dung was still at his old post, straight in the way of the undead! Either too brave or too stupid to step aside, he faced the monster.

Vile monster lunged at Agathon, but young boy dodged just in time and avoided fate worse than death. From now on it was all chaotic.

Tam, Jacob, Thorinda, and Wilbalt fled north, back into the room where they fought ten zombies. There they ran into nineteen skeletons. Tam turned four. Remaining fifteen closed in and ripped into the four adventurers.

Ignaeus took out his broke Volmorin's scimitar, a magical sword. Which was now nothing but a hilt and small jagged edge. Kenso closed in, well aware that there is little he could do but act as a distraction.

Beorg ran into the treasure chamber, pulled the sword on the wall out of its scabbard, felt like it was the best blade ever that he should never let go of, and rushed to face the dead.

Tarkus held up his holy symbol, but undead had nowhere to flee but through Agathon. Ambros rushed to the secret chamber, hoping to find something that can be used to vanquish the beast.

Agathon, dodged, and parried, and ducked. He escaped death thrice. Will he be able to do so the fourth time?

Poster by Lord Jubalon Flux.

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Adventurers

Character	Race	Class	Description
Tarkus the Promising	Human	Cleric level 5	Follower of Bachontoi, God of Red Wisdom.
Beorg the Gravedigger	Human	Fighter level 5	Inspired to adventure after burying several adventurers.
Thorinda Bung	Human	Monk level 2	She has blonde hair done up in a tight pony tail and wears light, loose suit.
Jacob Vin	Human	Assassin level 1	Slick black hair, inconspicuous dress, youthful for his age, and of keen instincts.
Kenso San	Human	Fighter level 4	An arrogant and self-assured sellsword wandering Wilderlands to prove he can best anyone.
Tam o' Shanter	Human	Cleric level 4	A boisterous wine-lover of Losborst on a Great Crusade of the Grape.
Wilbalt Abendeurer	Human	Fighter level 1	AA burly blonde barbarian; Warmund's younger brother and a better swordsman of the two.
Warmund Abendeurer	Human	Fighter level 1	A burly blonde barbarian; Wilbalt's older brother and the stronger of the two.

Redleaves 4th, Fireday

Fat stone lizard sat there, immovable. Its two large eyes—green gems—gazed upon woman prostrated beneath it, her belly exposed. Fire cackled in stone bowl.

Blood splattered the ground and walls as adventurers clashed with four vile creatures. Reptilian monsters excreted stench most foul and fought with wicked barbed spears.

Beorg hacked one with his halberd, while Kenso executed the other with two precise slices. Three more troglodytes joined the fray, rushing from the north.

At the same time, two burly blonde barbarians—Wilbalt and Warmund—arrived from the south.

“We are here to crush some skulls!”

Warmund, the bigger of the two, rushed to dame's rescue. He bowled his way through and stepped over her in order to fight. Ge was promptly stabbed and rendered unconscious.

Wilbalt, the younger of the two, was much more successful. He elected to ignore the scantily clad lady, and focused on crushing skulls instead. His focus paid of handsomely as he indeed crushed the skull of one troglodyte.

Kenso focused on the foul beast with glowing dagger. He splits its head in half, and then kicked the corpse away. Tam crushed another one.

Final monster suffered a humiliating death as Jacob slit holes in its back, and then pulled both of its kidneys through them.

“Just like they though me in the school for assassins!”

Adventurers heaved and retched from foul smelling corpses. They briefly scanned the room. Wilbalt took care of his brother, while Thorinda tended to the woman.

The woman introduced herself as Silugnia, Adept of Sinakad. She was captured when her adventuring party was vanquished by the troglodytes. Tam was suspicious of her and wanted to smash her. Thorinda said no.

Ignaeus noticed that something was off in the chamber—there ought to be secret doors or passageway somewhere. Taking a mental note of it, adventurers decided to proceed north, pushing through stuck doors.

Meme by Jan.

This led them to an empty chamber. Moving on they reached a turn and doors just before it. Bursting through faced them with four pig-faced orcs clad in chainmail and armed with scimitars.

With nowhere to run, the monster put up a desperate fight. Kenso was nearly hacked to death. Wilbur claimed first kill, followed by Tam. Tarkus soon followed, his hand guided true by Bachontoi. Jacob killed the last one, with a precise throat thrust with spear he had appropriated from the troglodytes.

Sweeping the chamber revealed fifty-eight golden pieces and little more of value.

“Hey, let's take their armour. It is quite difficult to get by chainmail in Ironburg...”

Indeed, the orcs were liberated of their armour quite rapidly.

Returning to the corridor, the party went north-east, reaching a T-junction. To the left were doors leading into a square chamber with broken through wall. Sounds of rushing water could be heard in the distance.

Straight ahead were doors and corridor turning further right. And slightly before the former was another T-shaped junction. At this moment adventurers decided to retreat to Ironburg. Two of them were badly injured, they had dazed Silugnia, and they were hauling a little bit of treasure.

Thus they backtracked, going back to the sacrificial room, then past the golden spider statuette, and straight into a band of ten zombies. Tarkus turned them without missing a beat. Adventurers decided not to pursue. Next was long chamber of the Ratmaster that was incinerated by Ignaeus, pass the doors with Arnulf's flayed face—”What an ugly fucker” Warmund muttered—and up the stairs leading to the first level.

From there they headed straight to the gnome chamber, and then north through double secret doors, then east into the many-doored chamber, through north-west doors, and then west, north, through illusory wall, and up the stairs.

Air was warm. Summer will be here soon. Night has already fallen by the time they left the ruins of Castle Yukanthur. They found a safe spot to rest some time after midnight. There they slept until evening. They reached Ironburg by nightfall.

Redleaves 8th, Earthday

A party of eight adventurers—Tarkus the Promising, Beorg the Gravedigger, Thorinda Bung, Jacob Vin, Kenso and his retainer Agathon the Promising, Tam, and Wilbalt—returned to the ruins.

Most of the goblin corpses have been picked clean to the bone. Those that did were liquefied, hosting thick, blubbery maggots as well as swollen flies. Beorg picked few of the nastiest maggots and put them in his pouch.

“How about we check the cave?” Tam suggested.

Just east of the castle, twenty feet below the ground level, was a cave entrance blocked by a large boulder. Weeks ago, when the adventurers had found freshly massacred goblins, they also found that they broke a hole through the boulder. At that time the hole was closed shut by dozens of goblins corpses jammed into it.

The hole was now mostly open. If one was willing to crawl through putrid, maggot-infested, and disease-ridden remains. Tam was the man.

He endured and crept through the hole. Smelly but alive he emerged into a spacious cavern. Shining the bullseye lantern to the right revealed two tunnels, one narrow and one wide. Shining it to the left revealed two adjoining caves. More goblin remains were in the cave. Tam could endure no more and he fled the cave.

“Let's go into the dungeon. That we know.”

Party followed by now well established route. Through the illusory wall, into the many-gated room, south-west, through square chamber with double secret doors, past the gnome statue chamber, and then follow the long corridor until the flail wielding statue.

There they ran into nineteen giant rats. Kenso the Ratkiller butchered eight, Beorg the Ratburrier skewered seven, and the rest were dispatched by others.

Party waded through the corpses and descended to second level. This time they turned left, into the unknown. This led them to a thirty by thirty chamber, bereft of anything worth noting except another exit. Following it led to a T-junction splitting north and west. The former connected to corridor leading to south-west entrance into the Ratmaster's lair. The latter led into the unknown.

From the unexplored darkness four ravenous ghoul came charging. They were promptly stopped by Tarkus's holiness. They cried and whimpered and fled for their unlife. Ten zombies pushed through, slumbering towards the party. As Tam turned them, another pack of ghouls came charging from the doors to the far west.

Zombies pivoted, fleeing the awesome divinity of Losborst's vicar. Ghouls, one the other hand, were unaffected. They tore through his defenses, rendering him stiff as a plank.

Kenso, Wilbalt, and Thorinda were now completely exposed. Jacob and Agathon were just behind them. Tarkus and Beorg, the mightiest and most powerful were at the rearguard. Will they have time to help, or will they witness their allies being eaten alive?

Poster by Lord Jubalon Flux.

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Adventurers

Character	Race	Class	Description
Tarkus the Promising	Human	Cleric level 5	Follower of Bachontoi, God of Red Wisdom.
Beorg the Gravedigger	Human	Fighter level 5	Inspired to adventure after burying several adventurers.
Ambros	Human	Cleric level 6	Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time.
Ignaeus	Elf	Fighter level 4 / magic-user level 5	A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiseled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge.
Syd Grundy	Human	Ranger level 2	Tall, middle aged and scruffy looking man of the wilderness.
Thorinda Bung	Human	Monk level 2	She has blonde hair done up in a tight pony tail and wears light, loose suit.
Jacob Vin	Human	Assassin level 1	Slick black hair, inconspicuous dress, youthful for his age, and of keen instincts.
Kenso San	Human	Fighter level 4	An arrogant and self-assured sellsword wandering Wilderlands to prove he can best anyone.
Tam o' Shanter	Human	Cleric level 4	A boisterous wine-lover of Losborst on a Great Crusade of the Grape.

Willowind 20th, Spiritday

“Close the doors, let's check the east ones instead.”

Adventurers had just spent hours in a circular chamber with a levitating fire and four doors—except that doors vanish once they are closed.

Ignaeus figured out the trick—one must approach the doors from the opposite side, walking through the flames—and he was now the true Doormaster.

The elf obliged and closed south doors. He then walked to the west side and crawled through the flames heading east. The doors appeared and did not dodge his opening attempt.

Before them was a short corridor, some forty feet, that turned right. The party moved forth, coming to a square chamber with a statue of an ugly, winged figure crouching atop of a stone pedestal.

“Haha, look, a gargoyle!” some of the adventurers laughed.

The statue opened its eyes, spread its wings, and bared its talons.

The statue was indeed a gargoyle.

It clawed and chewed on Kenso. Then it clawed and gored Beorg.

Adventurers' weapons did nothing to it.

So they did the next best thing.

Beorg, Tam, and Tarkus wrestled and grappled with the gargoyle.

Stone monstrosity cried out as it was brought down and pinned.

Ambros tried to burn it with the torch, but it hurt the creature not.

Then Ignaeus played shibari with it, while the brave trio kept it pinned.

Syd and Thorinda kept in the back, providing light from the furthest safe distance they could muster.

Ambros, never to be the one to miss out on good action, began canvassing the room for secret passages and doors. He begun with south-west corner.

Wall slid to the side, an a sea of giant rats fell into the chamber.

Rats swarmed the room. Beorg, Tam, and Tarkus let got of the tightly bound gargoyle, and began stomping. Crunch cracks echoed aplenty.

Gargoyle broke through the ropes, flew up, and escaped through the open secret passage.

Familiar husky voice spoke from the darkness, dripping with vitriol and contempt.

“I have traded rats for a gargoyle! Well, isn't that nice!”

Ignaeus cast Sleep, knocking out still intact giant rats, Tam, Thorinda, and Syd.

Insults could be heard no more.

Ignaeus instructed adventurers to wake up the sleepers and then fall back to the door leading into the circular chamber.

Then he walked up to the secret passageway and cast Fire Ball into the chamber before him.

Flames filled the volume of the large room, leaving the elf unscathed.

When everything calmed the party spilled in, weapons drawn.

At the far south side was a charred skeleton. The only thing that survived the Fire Ball was a melted sword inlaid with gems. Next to the charred remains were stone fragments, including a horn and an ear. Adventurers reasoned those must have belonged to the gargoyle.

Tam undid his pants in order to air his manhood. Then he proceeded to urinate on the blackened bones of the enemy.

“Come on, just one more door!”

Kenso pleaded with others as he put his ear against the south-west doors.

“No!”

But no came too late as the doors in front of Kenso swung open. Six confused pig-faced orcs stared at him. Neither side was surprised.

Ignaeus stepped in and slayed three, Beorg skewered one, Tam rushed in, dangling all around. Somehow he managed to miss. Orc, on the other hand, delivered a surgical strike, leaving Tam circumcised. While cleric sobbed other adventurers mopped up the survivors.

“Now, let's get out!”

They reached Ironburg by noon of Redleaves 1st, Airday.

Redleaves 4th, Fireday

Altanian sun still burned bright, as if winter were not just around the corner. Party of eight advanced to Castle Yukanthur.

Jacob Vin replaced Syd Grundy. The latter was badly wounded on recent expedition and must rest for at least two full weeks before adventuring again.

Specter of recent conversation haunted them all, but perhaps Ambros most of all. He was the one whom had commissioned Xaver, a cheerful dwarven junk trader residing in Ironburg, to travel to Hara and procure him a set of plate mail, two bastard swords, and few other pieces of gear.

Xaver was initially late, but did eventually return to Ironburg. He brought disconcerting news—chief among them that mentioning Ambros “opened doors” for him, and that he was able to get everything because of that.

Plate mail that he brought back was the ceremonial type that adventurers recovered more than a year ago from a tomb near Midway. They were the only ones with such armour. And the only remaining suites of it used to be stored in the vault beneath the adventurers' townhouse. Yes, same townhouse that first burned down to the ground, and was then flooded.

What that might mean was anyone's guess.

But that was then, and now was now—with adventurers descending into the ruins once more. Goblin corpses were still ever-present, albeit mostly consumed by carrion gobblers.

Party went straight down, to the first level. Past the warning statue, through the illusory wall, into the room with four doors, down the long corridor and into a large chamber, through two secret doors, past the shooting gnome statue, around the guardian with the morningstar, and down the stairs.

One the second level they turned right, through the doors upon which Arnulf's face was rotting away, then left where Tam left a piece of his skin, then right through doors yet unopened.

A square chamber, some thirty by thirty feet, with little to show for but a three-foot-tall pedestal in the center. Atop the pedestal was a gold statuette of a spider with glittering red gems for eyes.

Inspecting the statue revealed little information, for it had no inscriptions, writing, or symbols. Touching it triggered a horrific metamorphosis. Statuette shook and shivered as it molted and flaked away the gold. Long bristles emerged, and huge spider broke out.

It was promptly hacked by Thorinda, Beorg, Ignaeus, Kenso, and Jacob. The spider crumpled back into a gold statuette.

Adventurers touched it again. The process of metamorphosis repeated. This time Beorg, Thorinda, Tam, Ignaeus, and Ambros smashed it. Once more, the spider remains on top of the pedestal reformed into gold statuette.

“Wanna touch it for the third time?!”

“Maybe later.”

Party decided to proceed through north-west doors. This led them to an irregular corridor and another doors diagonally across. Going through they found yet another large square chamber. This one was completely bereft of anything. Another doors were at the far side, again diagonally across.

Breaking through led into a chamber that was not empty.

Fire crackled in a stone bowl resting in the center of the chamber. Besides it laid an unconscious woman. Above her crouched a monster most foul; beaked and spindly. It held a curved, glowing dagger high above, about to strike at the woman's exposed torso.

Behind it sat a stone statue of a lizard with two large green gems for eyes. Before them three similar beastmen laid prostrate. The chamber reeked of dried pus and vomit.

Adventurers charged in; monsters reciprocated.

Which side will emerge victorious?

Poster by Lord Jubalon Flux.

Discuss at Dragonsfoot forum.

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Adventurers

Character	Race	Class	Description
Tarkus the Promising	Human	Cleric level 5	Follower of Bachontoi, God of Red Wisdom.
Beorg the Gravedigger	Human	Fighter level 5	Inspired to adventure after burying several adventurers.
Ambros	Human	Cleric level 6	Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time.
Ignaeus	Elf	Fighter level 4 / magic-user level 5	A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiseled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge.
Syd Grundy	Human	Ranger level 2	Tall, middle aged and scruffy looking man of the wilderness.
Thorinda Bung	Human	Monk level 2	She has blonde hair done up in a tight pony tail and wears light, loose suit.
Kenso San	Human	Fighter level 3	An arrogant and self-assured sellsword wandering Wilderlands to prove he can best anyone.
Tam o' Shanter	Human	Cleric level 4	A boisterous wine-lover of Losborst on a Great Crusade of the Grape.

Willowind 20th, Spiritday

A murder of crows blocked the sun above Castle Yukanthur, as they crowed and feasted on decomposing corpses littered throughout. Twelve feet tall mounds of goblinoid corpses—smashed, ripped, gutted—emitted horrible stench. Syd made his way around them, observing that castle portcullis have been bent out of shape. The corpses were most definitely of goblins. And they were everywhere.

Party of eight adventurers were back, intent on discovering great riches hiding beneath the castle. Ambros and Ignaeus were relieved to be rejoined by two experienced adventurers, namely Tarkus the Promising and Beorg the Gravedigger. They spotted something was off from quite afar, and bravely sent Syd the Ranger to scout ahead.

Upon hearing that it was naught but corpses, the party approached the dilapidated gatehouse. Cracks in the walls they used to go through were jammed with goblin remains. The only way in was through the bent portcullis.

“Hey, look!”

A trail of corpses and remains led to the cave opening—the one that was blocked by a large boulder. Broken pickaxes and shovels were mixed with goblin limbs, heads, and torsos. A whole in the boulder was filled with more corpses and remains, buzzing with flies and maggots.

“Uh, let's ignore this and go down the stairs.”

And so they did. The party entered the ruins through bent portcullis, and then descended down, past the statue uttering its warning. As they moved they brought Tarkus and Beorg up to speed, telling them about illusory walls, gnomish statues, and what not.

Following their hunch that there must be a shortcut through secret passageway, they investigated the chamber where they rescued the ungrateful hobbit. Indeed, they found secret doors in the south-east corner of the chamber, connecting to the chamber with dark walls, which was adjacent to the gnome statue chamber which shoots at peoples' backs.

But not only peoples', as attested by two goblin corpses with bolts in their backs. Adventurers moved further south, following the long corridor, past the statue with morningstar, and then down the stairs.

The corridor reeked of death. Nothing but dried blood and one ear was left of Idris. Turning right, adventurers approached the Ratmaster's chamber. A horrific sight greeted them—Arnulf's skinned face was pinned to the doors.

Adventurers sighed and turned right.

“I'll open the secret doors. Mind your step!” Ignaeus warned as he pressed on the flagstone. Portion of wall slid open, as did the trapdoor to his left. Party moved into the dark, long corridor.

“Look!”

A sword levitated in the air, surrounded by dozens of gold pieces.

“Attack!”

First exchange went shameful for the party full of experienced warriors. Kenso got slapped by acidic jelly. He retreated to be healed. Ignaeus cut into the cube, slashing it in half. Beorg then moped up the remains.

They were left with ooze covered sword, gold pieces, and a vial of liquid. All were cleaned and packed away. Then the party continued forward, following the long corridor until they reached a bend. Before them were two doors opposite each other, as well as a corridor stretching onwards into darkness.

Party fanned out—some listened at right doors, some at left, others watched guard on both sides. Nothing noteworthy was heard.

Ignaeus forced the left doors open.

A seven-headed hydra roared at him.

No one was surprised.

Ignaeus cast Web. Beorg charged in. Others opted to remain outside.

Great glob of webbing engulfed hydra's lower body. The Gravedigger approached, swinging his halberd. He slashed right through three of the heads. Hydra vanished in a puff of smoke.

“Ha!” Beorg declared victoriously.

Unsure what to make of it, several adventurers came into the chamber to investigate further. It was a sixty by thirty room, illuminated by four smoke-less torches in sconces. Syd, Thorinda, Kenso, and Tam remained outside, watching guard.

Syd gagged as he inhaled an offensive mix of dried vomit and rotten fish guts. The source in the form of six reptilian creatures armed with wicked barbed spears revealed themselves. Both sides clashed.

Adventurers were overcome with horrible stench, many heaving and retching, feeling weakened. Syd was repeatedly brutally stabbed. He succumbed to the assault. Monsters hooked him and pulled him.

Ignaeus cast Sleep, downing all six monstrosities, as well as Thorinda and Kenso. Beasts were promptly executed. Ambros healed Syd, but the ranger will forever carry the scar of feeling abandoned by more experienced and better armoured allies.

Everyone moved to the chamber formerly inhabited by the seven-headed hydra. Searching walls did not produce anything of interest. Forcing the west doors only led to another doors. Second doors led to a circular chamber with high domed ceiling. The chamber was thirty feet in diameter. There was an open flame, much like a large campfire, burning in the center. It was levitating a feet or so above the ground. Pure flame.

This chamber, my dear reader, perplexed the adventurers for the time it takes three torches to burn through.

From outside, the chamber had four doors, one at each cardinal direction. From inside, there was only one door—open door they came through. But once that doors were closed, another appeared, opposite of the entrance.

These new doors would avoid anyone whom tried to open them—they would slide to the side and up, way out of reach. When looking through the flame one could see all four doors.

Adventurers caressed all the walls, left no stone unturned (there we no stones in the chamber). They tried bathing in the fire, dancing in circle around the fire, first clockwise, then counter clockwise. Kenso kept yelling “I DISBELIEVE!!! NONE OF THIS IS REAL!!!” his voice echoing. Alas, the doors remained elusive.

Finally, Ignaeus walked to the side they came through. He looked through the flame, his eyes locked on the opposite doors. Then he went through the fire, walked up to the doors confidently, and opened them.

Adventurers now faced yet another dark, long corridor.

Will they keep playing with the flame or move on?

“Never Mind the Troglodytes Here's Thorinda” by Lord Jubalon Flux.

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Adventurers

Character	Race	Class	Description
Arnulf Hetzer	Human	Thief level 1	A highly ambitious young man, aiming for great riches, awesome adventure, and not get broiled.
Ambros	Human	Cleric level 6	Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time.
Ignaeus	Elf	Fighter level 4 / magic-user level 5	A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiseled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge.
Syd Grundy	Human	Ranger level 2	Tall, middle aged and scruffy looking man of the wilderness.
Thorinda Bung	Human	Monk level 2	She has blonde hair done up in a tight pony tail and wears light, loose suit.
Kenso San	Human	Fighter level 3	An arrogant and self-assured sellsword wandering Wilderlands to prove he can best anyone.
Tam o' Shanter	Human	Cleric level 4	A boisterous wine-lover of Losborst on a Great Crusade of the Grape.
Idris	Elf	Fighter level 1 / magic-user level 1	An elf wielding a greatsword.

Willowind 3rd, Earthday

Tam fondled his grapes as he called upon Losborst to turn the skeleton cheerfully approaching him. Idris rushed toward the undead, wielding his greatsword. Awed by such display of power, the skeleton jumped, as if spooked, and ran as fast as it could into the darkness.

At the same time Ignaeus and Thorinda choked the doors leading into chamber with thirty-six rotten zombies. Ambros's holy voice thundered, and soon all the zombies crawled away, seeking respite from such awesome divinity.

Elf and monk each managed to kill naught but one zombie. Then the party shut the doors.

“Somebody else can deal with THIS problem.”

The party returned to the grinning gnome statue chamber. This time they went for south doors, following another long corridor. They reached a T-junction splitting left and forward. Doors to the left led into web-ridden chamber. Tam managed to stumble through and straight into thick webs.

“Help...”

Ignaeus, Arnulf, and Kenso stepped in to help. Thief quickly abandoned poor Tam, opting to focus on various silver and gold pieces strewn around. Returning to the corridor, adventurers turned left, and faced a statue of a warrior holding morningstar high above its head.

Ignaeus led the way, for he recognised the statue. Tam stumbled right next to him, careless and carefree. Statue guarded the staircase leading further down. Stepping on the first step produced an audible clang as statue shook. Nothing ill happened. Adventurers descended.

After some time they reached a landing adjoined to a corridor. To their left the corridor turned left again. To the right the corridor stretched some fifty feet, turning right. There were also doors straight ahead.

Exploring the right turn led to another door and a left turn leading to dead end. Elves sensed something might be there. Arnulf and Idris went to investigate the dead end. Ignaeus explored the space just before the dead end. Others listened at doors.

“Ah, here it is.”

Ignaeus found a flagstone that stuck out. He pressed it, opening sliding secret doors in front of him. Alas, same flagstone also opened the pit trap underneath Arnulf and Idris. The duo fell down and got proper messed up. Idris broke his tailbone, while Arnulf shattered his ego. Doors in front of Tam swung open—and four ravenous ghouls assaulted him.

No dead are much of a threat in presence of Ambros. When he gets to act in time that is. He turned three of four, leaving one to face Ignaeus and Tam. The duo managed to dispose of it, but not before Tam went paralytic.

Idris massaged himself. Then he moved to jumping jacks. Arnulf rummaged through his backpack, red in cheeks. He recovered the rope and then threw it up to Ambros. He missed. Twice. During that time Ambros was passed the rope from another adventurers and lowered it down. Idris used the opportunity to climb up. Arnulf threw the rope again. It did reach above.

“See. I could have done it.”

“AAAAAAAAAA!”

Thorinda screamed as two more ghouls charged from the darkness, from whence they earlier had arrived from. Ambros turned them, sending them back to darkness.

Adventurers consolidated in the corridor. Both Arnulf and Idris have been pulled up. Tam was still stiff on the ground. Secret doors led down a corridor. Ghoul chamber was a dead end without any treasure. But there were just one more doors to be checked.

Forcing them open led into an elongated rectangular chamber. As few adventures stepped in, Ambros heard two “woosh” and then “thwack” sounds just above him. Two broken arrows fell to the ground just behind him.

The party flooded the chamber, fanning out. There was no one to be seen. They spread out to seek secret doors and passageways, for elves' senses were tingling. Alas, nothing was found. Ignaeus did hear something that could best be described as footsteps.

“Hiya!”

Kenso started jumping right and left, swinging his sword into nothing.

“Let's spread out and swing left and right!”

The plan to find the invisible assailant was put in place.

And then Arnulf heard the sound of stone sliding over stone. And then a horde of giant rats flooded the chamber. There were dozens of them. Dozens of dog-sized, disease-ridden, starved rodents.

Kenso and Arnulf were closest to the source. Each soon had a dozen of giant rats badgering them. Idris legged it, fleeing the chamber. Then he felt bad for the paralysed Tam that was eaten alive so he went back in and dragged him out.

Kenso dropped his blade due to surprise. He stomped on rats right and left, but recognised the untenability of his position. He fled, shedding last shards of honour that might have been attached to him.

“Mess with the Ratmaster” a hoarse whisper followed him “and get ratted!”

Ignaeus, Ambros, Syd, and Thorinda retreated from the chamber as well. Arnulf, having recently suffered a great physical trauma, miraculously dodged many rats. He too fled. Then he felt sharp pain in his back. His legs gave in, and he felt to the ground face first. He blacked out for a moment

Arrow in his back must have severed some of the nerves, for his body did not obey his mind anymore. He could feel burning, sharp pain, as dozens of giant rats feasted upon his exposed flesh. He watched his allies shut the doors, leaving him in darkness, to be consumed alive.

Arnulf Protects by Jan.

“AAAAAAAAAA!”

Thorinda screamed again as the ghoulish duo returned. Both assaulted Idris, whom managed to dodge and parry the attacks. Ignaeus decapitated one of the ghouls with a single swing. The remaining ghoul was turned. In an act of surprising heroism, Idris went around and blocked the undead's path. He attacked with his greatsword. Alas, the pain from his broken tailbone was too distracting, and he failed to do any damage.

Ghoul reciprocated by jumping at the elf, tearing off both of his ears with its sharp claws. Then it proceeded to jam its rotten, bulbous, festering thumbs into Idris's eyes. The elf fell down on his back as the ghouls gored his eyes. Then it smashed his head upon the stone floor. And then it fled into darkness.

“Pick up Tam and get out of here!”

Ambros led the retreat out of Castle Yukanthur. He led the party into a dead end chamber, where they were attacked by three giant rats. Syd took over and successful led the party outside. Then they found a safe spot an hour or so away from the ruin and camped there.

During night they spotted a goblin warband counting hundreds advancing toward the castle.

“I am convinced they are having raves down there.”

“We should have killed those gnomes when we had the chance.”

The party reached Ironburg by noon of Willowind 4th.

Will they ever recover the many riches resting within the Castle Yukanthur?

'Rapping' Syd presents Leave and Let Die by Lord Jubalon Flux.

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Adventurers

Character	Race	Class	Description
Arnulf Hetzer	Human	Thief level 1	A highly ambitious young man, aiming for great riches, awesome adventure, and not get broiled.
Ambros	Human	Cleric level 6	Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time.
Ignaeus	Elf	Fighter level 4 / magic-user level 5	A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiseled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge.
Syd Grundy	Human	Ranger level 1	Tall, middle aged and scruffy looking man of the wilderness.
Thorinda Bung	Human	Monk level 1	She has blonde hair done up in a tight pony tail and wears light, loose suit.
Kenso San	Human	Fighter level 3	An arrogant and self-assured sellsword wandering Wilderlands to prove he can best anyone.
Tam o' Shanter	Human	Cleric level 3	A boisterous wine-lover of Losborst on a Great Crusade of the Grape.
Percy	Human	Fighter level 1	A career soldier dishonorably discharged due to his charismatic ways.
Idris	Elf	Fighter level 1 / magic-user level 1	An elf wielding a greatsword.

Blackmoon 20th, Spiritday

Ambros, Tam, and Ignaeus stood at the junction, soaked wet from recently tumbling down a pit trap into an underground river. To their right five zombies shambled towards them, and from their left a pack of ravenous ghouls were charging.

Ambros held his Gavel of Justice and thundered the holy words. Four zombies turned to dust. Ignaeus counter-charged the ghouls, preventing their advance. He fought on the defensive, well aware of his natural immunity.

Once the elf moved on the offensive he had slain two ghouls with great ease. Remaining two fled in the awesome divinity of Ambros, after he had destroyed the last zombie.

The soaked trio opted for a simple strategy—follow corridors, ignore doors. They walked left, passing doors, and then at the T-shaped junction they turned right, straight, left, ignored doors to the left and turned right again, past the doors to their left and turn right again. They followed the corridor until they reached another t-junction, where they turned left, straight past another junction, and into a square chamber. They cut it straight across, exited and turned left, then right, and then stopped at another junction.

To their right were stairs leading up!

⁂

Percy gingerly stepped forward through the doors that have opened for him. The corridor went left and right. He chose the former. He advanced carefully, ready for violence at any moment. He passed a T-junction, ignored the doors ahead of him, and turned right. Past another junction, straight ahead, towards stuck doors.

Forcing them open revealed a square chamber, some thirty by thirty feet, full of debris. Three of the walls were lined by crooked and bowed shelves. Inspecting the chamber did not reveal much beyond the following curiosities.

There was a chipped teacup resting on the shelf along the wall opposite where Percy came from; there were tattered spiderwebs to his left, with desiccated remains of humanoid shape; potter shards and fragments were scattered in one corner of the room; and there was a deformed brass candlestick, without candles, on the middle of one of the shelves.

Percy abandoned the chamber and backtracked to the first T-shaped junction he had passed. He turned right and followed a long corridor until he reached bloated doors. Oh how they stank! It was a mix of dried vomit, decaying flesh, and festering filth—truly eye watering..

Veteran decided to fall back to the cavern with the underground river. He swam across and rummaged through his backpack.

⁂

“Quickly, rope!”

Arnulf instructed Kenso, Thorinda, and Syd how to tie all the rope thy have so he can safely descend down the well. It took them some time, but they soon had a single piece of one hundred and fifty feet of knotted rope.

Thick Thorinda and Scrawny Syd held the rope while Keen Kenso stood guard and Agile Arnulf descended.

Alas!

The rope was still too short to reach the bottom! In fact, it was barely enough to reach slightly above the opening that Arnulf crawled through before—the one where the pit trap leads to—so thief tugged on the rope.

As he was draw up he heard whistling sound from below. Initially it was barely audible. It became stronger and stronger with each second, reverberated by the well acoustics.

“There is someone down, must be one of ours!”

“We must go back into the dungeon! Down the pit trap and then reach them!”

“But we are so weak, and so pathetic! We are the weakest adventurers in the party!”

All four agreed and ran back into Castle Yukanthur.

⁂

Percy's cheeks puffed and puffed, turning rose red.

He blew on the whistle intermittently.

First it was just long lines.

Then it was melodies he learned.

Then it was sad blows.

Then he stopped.

The stench was back.

Percy put away the whistle.

He took out his sword.

Being a left handed, he held torch in his right.

He advanced down the tunnel stench was coming from.

His stomach churned.

He entered the cave.

Three reptilian creatures were hunched over a river, stabbing at it with their barbed spears.

The stench was unbearable.

Percy heaved audibly.

He tightened his grip and charged the monsters.

They were not surprised.

Veteran parried their attacks.

But he could not see well.

His attacks did not connect.

One of the wicked spears got past his defenses.

It sunk deep.

It stung as the beast pulled it out, ripping chunks of flesh.

Percy jumped headfirst into the river.

Beastmen jumped after him.

He swum in pitch black.

He swum along the stream.

Then he felt hitting something hard.

And then all was black.

⁂

“Oh no!”

Arnulf, Syd, Thorinda, and Kenso reached the corridor where the pit trap was. Or at least they thought so, for now there was nothing but solid floor.

Arnulf tapped.

Arnulf jumped.

Arnulf tried.

But the floor was solid, and it did not give in.

⁂

Ignaeus led the ascent, with Ambros and Tam right behind him.

At the top of the stairs they could see a statue of warrior, very similar to the one at the entrance of the dungeon. Except this one held a wicked morning star above its head.

Elf slowly approached it, hugging the right wall. As he stepped on the last stair, the statues released an audible clang and its arms rotated downwards—but were immediately stopped as if the arms were stuck.

The trio quickly moved past it and advanced down the long, long corridor. They ignored one doors, and moved until they reached the end of the corridor, where another stuck doors greeted them.

Forcing them inward they entered a thirty by thirty chamber. There were two more doors in the chamber, one to their left, and one straight ahead. A grinning gnome statue was in the center of the chamber, holding a crossbow. The statue rested on a plinth.

Two adventurers rotated the gnome towards the wall, while another pulled on the left doors. The statue promptly turned around and shot at the adventurer pulling on the doors.

The doors led into a corridor turning left and then right. They ignored this corridor and opened other doors. Gnome turned again, released an audible click, but fired nothing since his crossbow was not loaded.

This doors led to a corridor heading straight and T-junction splitting left. The trio turned left and went on until they reached another doors. Forcing them open revealed a rectangular chamber with an elf wielding a greatsword.

After exchanging brief pleasantries, the trio grew into quartet. They exited the chamber into yet another long, winding corridor. They turned right, straight, left, straight, right, then few steps forward and then left again, until the reached a junction. There they turned right and walked straight for quite some time, passing doors, then turned left, right, left, right, and then straight until stuck doors.

They forced them open and entered a square chamber with many doors—four in total. They crossed the chamber diagonally across, where they entered serpentine corridor leading to hacked doors which opened up in a chamber with slain warrior, mage whose skeleton got free, a sack of plundered books, and two work benches.

“How did we end up HERE?!”

Tam cried in exasperation.

Knowing where they are, the quartet was able to head out.

⁂

“It's been a while...”

“We should head out before something nasty comes our way...”

Arnulf was still hopping on the pit trap.

Perhaps he was too light.

Perhaps he was not committed enough.

Perhaps the odds were not in his favour.

But he had no choice but to agree with his allies.

Adventuring life is not for everyone. And it is certainly not without peril.

Syd, Thorinda, Kenso, and Arnulf abandoned their efforts and exited the dungeon of Yukanthur.

They were delighted to find wet, but alive, Ambros, Tam, and Ignaeus. And were happy to meet the new elf, Idris, as well.

It was evening, with few hours before nightfall. The party found a safe spot an hour or so away from the castle ruins. Then they camped for the night. Around midnight Idris spotted seven gnomes whistling and singing as they marched in the direction of Castle Yukanthur. Judging they were of no threat, nor aware of the adventurers, he did not wake others up.

The party reached Ironburg by noon of Willowind 1st.

Willowind 3rd, Earthday

Adventurers returned to Castle Yukanthur once more. Its allure was too strong to ignore. They headed straight down, past the statue uttering its warning for the hundredth time.

They marched on and into the many doored chamber. From there they followed doors south-east, successfully identifying corridors that Ambros, Ignaeus, Tam, and Idris had traversed just days ago.

They managed to find the rectangular chamber where they met the elf with the big sword, they explored a chamber with nothing but black walls, and they had fun with the gnome chamber.

Adventurers pushed through west doors, and followed a long, winding corridor. “Just one more door.”

Thorinda and Ignaeus forced them open. Heavy stench of death and rot assailed them. A horde of lumbering corpses animated at their horror.

At the same time, Tam in the corridor observed a single, jaunty skeleton approaching from total darkness. It had a confident, if a little careless, gait.

Adventurers gripped their weapons.

“Thorinda’s View by Ironburg’s finest artist, Andrija Warhol” by Lord Jubalon Flux.

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Adventurers

Character	Race	Class	Description
Arnulf Hetzer	Human	Thief level 1	A highly ambitious young man, aiming for great riches, awesome adventure, and not get broiled.
Ambros	Human	Cleric level 6	Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time.
Ignaeus	Elf	Fighter level 4 / magic-user level 5	A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiseled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge.
Syd Grundy	Human	Ranger level 1	Tall, middle aged and scruffy looking man of the wilderness.
Thorinda Bung	Human	Monk level 1	She has blonde hair done up in a tight pony tail and wears light, loose suit.
Kenso San	Human	Fighter level 3	An arrogant and self-assured sellsword wandering Wilderlands to prove he can best anyone.
Tam o' Shanter	Human	Cleric level 3	A boisterous wine-lover of Losborst on a Great Crusade of the Grape.
Percy	Human	Fighter level 1	A career soldier dishonorably discharged due to his charismatic ways.

Blackmoon 20th, Spiritday

“Where shall we go to next?”

“There’s still stuff to explore under Castle Yukanthur, and Thorinda wants to go for a third knock-out in a row.”

And thus a party of eight adventurers set out once more for Castle Yukanthur, that old run just a watch northeast from Ironburg.

Environs were as before—overgrowth and moss—and adventurers had little patience for Syd's rubble inspection. Down and down the spiral staircase they went, with drunken Tam stumbling ahead. On and on, past the statue booming “WHO DARE ENTER THE CASTLE OF YUKANTHUR?!” and through the illusory wall.

Straight they went, and then left, and then into the chamber with four doors, and then through south west doors. They followed a long corridor until reaching a T-shaped junction splitting left and forward. To the left were doors, which the adventurers eventually forced open.

A ghastly sight!

A child dressed in chain shirt lying prostrate in the center of the large room. Besides it two pony-sized abominations lashing the child with their tentacles. Tubular bodies, a dozen of tentacles, disgusting slimy sheen.

Ignaeus cast Web and captured them all. While others fanned out, Arnulf approached the webbing and began stabbing one of the monsters. The abomination writhed and attempted to set itself free, but to no avail. It soon expired under the thief's cruelty. Encouraged, Ignaeus and Percy slayed the other one.

A locked chest, promptly smashed open—releasing a crunchy sound as it was struck—revealed a broken rat skeleton, six thousand copper pieces, and one thousand electrum pieces.

Adventurers carved a path through the web to reach the child. But it was no child! It was a male hobbit! He did not move and was unnaturally stiff.

“Must be paralysed.”

Party discussed at length what to do with him. Some were in favour of robbing him of his belongings and leaving him be. Others were in favour of at least leaving him in the corner of the room.

“Ugh... oooh... thank you for saving me. I am Bopo Oldhearth, and I am a warrior.”

He offered to join the party for a full share of treasure.

“A full share? For half a man?”

Hobbit left as the adventurers brutally ridiculed him.

Finding nothing else of interest, the party returned to the junction and explored further left, down another long corridor until they reached yet another t-shaped intersection. To the left was a winding corridor and to the right straight corridor terminating with bloated doors.

They chose the latter, bursting in like the great liberators they are. A volley of arrows hit them from darkness. Four penetrated Tam, contributing to his “drunken hedgehog” look. Thorinda the Lightbearer rushed in and illuminated the whole fifty by fifty chamber with her bullseye lantern.

Five pig faced orcs were crouching in the corner, shooting at adventurers.

Percy shot one dead. Others hacked the remaining four to death.

There was nothing of value nor interest in the room. Even the orcs hadn't had anything beyond their scimitars and short bows. Adventurers pushed onwards, through the doors opposite those they came through. This led them to another square room of equal size.

The walls were lined with smooth black stone that seemed to soften and dim the light. Four chest were arranged along the west wall. All four had broken padlocks and were entirely empty. Second from the south had a carving of stumpy, penile shape, under the lid.

Percy stood outside the whole time, worried that the whole chamber might be trapped. Once everyone else left the room through opposite doors he quickly ran up to rejoin them.

Another long, winding corridor.

“You know, long corridors like these usually have pit traps–”

Tam opined as he, Ignaeus, Ambros, and Percy fell through a pit trap at the bend of a corridor.

The quartet tumbled straight down, hitting a slide, then rolled and tumbled down the sharp slope. Roughed up, they emerged through a hole in the wall into yet another pit. For a brief moment they could see daylight way above them. Within a bat of an eye all four fell into ice-cold water. Current was strong and carried them on as they fought for air.

Unlike Ambros, Ignaeus, and Tam, Percy was lightly armoured. He remained composed in the face of adversity, and swam up, breaking the surface of water. This was an underground river and he was being carried toward cave wall! He pushed and swam, his muscles burning, until he reached the shore. He grabbed onto the jagged rocks and pulled himself up.

Two clerics and an elf were nowhere to be seen.

Percy looked around. Shy daylight shone through a hole in the ceiling, providing some illumination. He was in a large cave, bisected by an underground river. He could see there was some sort of exit on the other side of the cave. And there was a tunnel straight behind him, leading into darkness.

Veteran rummaged through his soaked belongings. A grappling hook and some rope. Exactly what he needed. Alas, even when he struck the opening in the ceiling his hook fell straight down. There was nothing he could anchor it to, at least not from where he stood.

His light sources survived, so he made good use of them to explore the dark tunnel behind him. Yet another cave, albeit slightly smaller. It connected to a much larger one, but access to it was cut of by the river. The current here was much stronger and Percy decided to backtrack instead.

He returned to the larger cave. Then he went to the far side. The river wasn't that wide, maybe some twenty feet or so, but the current was strong. He reasoned that he would have most time if he began swimming from the far side. That would mean least risk to get pulled under the rock.

Percy's plan worked as intended. He followed the ascending tunnel into a worked chamber, some twenty by twenty feet. There were single doors in the south east corner.

Percy listened at the door.

Then he tried to force them open.

He failed.

He tried again.

He failed again.

Then the door swung open.

⁂

Arnulf, Syd, Thorinda, and Kenso watched as their allies fell down the chute. They had no time to react nor to help them. Arnulf was the quickest, asking for some rope and light to descend after the unlucky four.

He clambered twenty feet down. Then he carefully slid down the slope. He poked his head through the opening. High above him was a circular opening, through which daylight shone. Down below him was darkness and sound of rushing water. He could also see a little bit of light—perhaps from torch or lantern. He tried shouting but no answer came back.

The thief returned and informed Kenso, Syd, and Thorinda.

“It must be the well!”

“Let's head there and drop down some rope!”

Indeed, the four rushed through the dungeon, ascended the stairs, and then through the ruined castle, through the woods, and towards the well.

“How much rope do we have?!”

⁂

Ambros sank like a sack or rocks. He tried to untie his plate mail. He found that very difficult while being rolled around in total darkness, his lungs burning with lack of oxygen. He tumbled along the river bed, scrapped and battered.

The situation was grim. The cleric didn't have much more to live. He wiggled his hips, he undulated his belly, he shook his shoulders—and the armour came off. With seconds to go, Ambros pushed himself off the floor, and exploded through the river.

He trashed around until he grabbed onto something solid. He clawed his way out. Then someone—or something—grabbed him by the heel and pulled him. The voice was ranting and quite audible through the noise of running water. But it was a friendly voice too. It was Tam. The clerics helped each other out.

⁂

Ignaeus fell almost face first. He dove into the chilly river, nearly hitting the bedrock in the process. He instinctively attempted to swim. It was difficult, but possible due to magical nature of his plate mail. He reached the surface just in time to take a healthy gulp of fresh air.

The river current was carrying him towards a cave wall at great speed. He outstretched his arms, grasping for something to hold to.

Success!

But not for long.

The current was to strong and it pulled him back in, sucking him through cold darkness. He tumbled and rolled, hitting stone and flesh, trying to swim.

He broke the water surface once more. He flailed around in total darkness, until he grabbed someone! He pulled himself up, and crawled upon something flat enough to rest on.

The voices were familiar—Ambros and Tam.

The soaked trio rested on a piece of dryish cave floor. Ignaeus cast Light on his person, illuminating the cave. It was some forty by fifty feet, bisected by the river. They were on a small piece of rock jutting out on the north side of the cave. Hewn corridor connected to the south side of the cave.

“Blargh! Water!” Tam roared as he took a tankard of ice cold, chilly, all natural, mountain water.

A rotted chest with three skeletons next to it were on the same piece of rock. One of the skeletons held a rusted shortsword. Chest contained five hundred gold pieces, a moldy red cloak, and a wand.

Tam took of his armour and hurled it across. Then he swam over, as did Ambros and Ignaeus. Following the corridor led them to a chamber some forty by thirty feet.

There was an open pit in the center, with rope hanging down. The rope was anchored by three iron pitons. Adventurers pulled up the rope and retrieved the pitons. Then they went through the south doors.

T-junction splitting left and right. They went left, then turned right, and then reached another junction. A horde of zombies grunted to their right. A pack of ravenous ghouls howled to their left. Ambros squeezed his gold gavel.

Newspaper by Lord Jubalon Flux.

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