Damn webs... we've ventured deep into the Drow stronghold. Escaping some kind of torture room we also rescued a half elf named Max. He had been one of the Drow's captives of which it sounds like they have a lot. We needed to keep moving so didn't linger to get well acquainted.

Moments later four spider creatures rounded the bend ahead. Max bravely, especially considering his less than healthy condition, charged into combat. Luckily we had lent him an axe which had belonged to a former part member; Oren was his name I think. Myself an the druid, who was again in fearsome creature form, prepared to join him. Unfortunately we were too late.
The spider creatures could use magic and to great effect. A web appeared around us making any charging impossible. Max, Rosia and Quercus continued the attack without us.
They fared quite well, only Max fell foul of a poisoned strike. By the time I escaped the web the fight was over - very frustrating!

The last of the spider beasts had fled and so we continued in the direction after.
We soon came across these creatures' lair - a bloody room of drained bodies. One was still there (not the same we were following) gorging itself on some unfortunate soul. Before we had time to decide if we should slay it a Drow entered the scene. He recognised Max and apparently was also a captive; he had been awarded privileges because he was a talented torturer.
Now we obviously can't trust this person. I was about make sure he couldn't cause us any trouble when Ran attacked the remaining spider creature, which was still feeding. Joining him we quickly dispatch the foul creature.

The Drow, who had been guarded by Quercus, offered to guide us in exchange for his life. His guidance may save us some time and trouble, but at the first sign of betrayal I will kill him.

Back from stone... My name is Vangar and 150 years have passed since my party & I were caught by the medusas. I've been revived by a strange group who have ventured into this prison too. Regretfully they could only revive one of us.

It seems my saviours have become stuck in this now decrepit place and were keen to move on. I have said good bye to my comrades and now wonder whether the Demon Lord Krasveshk is still imprisoned.

The place has changed since I last remember. It seems darker.

My new companions are an unexpected collection. The halfing girl, Rosia, is friendly but doesn't appear to be that confident in her skills. The druid, Ran, seems impatient with the rest of the party but has shown an impressive powers of shape changing and summoning the like of which I have never seen. I'm yet to work out the cleric Quercus. I'm surprised that he has survived this long with a wooden leg; maybe this shows how powerful he is. The final member is an armor plated, canine riding halfing called Bingley.

Somehow the party had become embroiled in a minotaur war. It seems the other side have been defeated and the victorious leader showed us a passage deeper into the prison. The tunnel went on for ever... well not for ever but quite a while. Finally two towers of wind approach at speed; air elementals and big ones too. Rosia and Quercus were riding a flying carpet and tried to fly between them while the rest of us ran for the shelter of a side tunnel. We all thought we were done for when one tried to squeeze down after us.

Fortunately Rosia managed to communicate with the other. Rather than smashing us to a pulp they asked us to retrieve an artifact that was down a tunnel too small for them to pass.

True to the elemental's description the tunnel opened into the floor of a huge cavern; it was almost like being outside. Climbing out we could see the glow of a lava flow in the distance.

It wasn't long before we were attacked by some plumes of smoke trying to suffocate us. My blades made them short work. While we decided which way to travel next a flock of tall birds surrounded us. Expecting an easy battle I was suprised by their speed and strength. Ran summoned a large grey horned monster; a rhino apparently. This began ramming the feathered beasts with great effect. The birds had another trick up their sleeve; they spewed a plume of black smoke. Quercus was hit by this and started to behave more erratically than normal. I was looking for a way out when the birds all disappeared - turned to dust. Before we could ponder on that Quercus, still under the effects of the smoke, charged and grappled the rhino. Fortunately Ran just banished the creature before the cleric could damage himself.

With no enemies left we traveled south towards the lava flow. Travelling by carpet we crossed towards a dark tunnel. Ran and Rosia took a detour to an island in the lava. They quickly disturbed two huge creatures which appeared like brambles and vines. Wisely they beat a hasty retreat.

We faced the darkness knowing there are Drow within. We discussed a variety of plans but we know that they know we're here. It's only a matter of time before we're fighting for our lives again. At least going deeper into the prison means I have a slim chance of completing my orignal quest - to destroy Krasveshk.

Your fight with the smoke elementals (the Belkers) and their horrible
Smoke Claws attack, seemed to attract the attention of the hideous and
huge wingless birds from the bottom of the crater.

These flightless birds attacked in a spreadout formation and upon
contact seemed to cause huge damage, the massive beaks wreaking damage
and their breath weapon of a black noxious vapour seeming to cause
insanity on all those who failed to resist. Quercus, the Rhino and
Dusty the dog all suffered its effects.

The situation soon turned desperate even with the aid of a summoned
Rhino, which eviscerated one of the beasts.

Suddenly just prior to their next attacks, the creatures disappeared
in a swirl of sparkling sand, an odd piping music could be heard
fading to the cavern roof, the damage sustained disappeared but the
insanity remained. Quercus in a grand display of madness attempted to
wrestle the rhino to the ground, whilst everyone else pummelled him
into unconciousness.

After normality returned the party headed south to the river of lava
burning on the horizon, to the south a structure could also be seen.
This turned out to be a ruined tower and a thorough search revealed
nothing of interest.

The river of lava slowly rolled pass, some 200-300 yards wide. Sat in
the middle at one point was a tall steeply sided island topped with
tangly vegetation.

The party flew across via Ran's eagle shape and the flying carpet, Ran
and Rosia spotted the outline of a building below the tangled plants
on the island. They flew down to investigate and found a strange
glass-like structure covered with runes. As they began a search 2
Shambling Mounds appeared from the ground, only quick reactions and
flight saved them.

'Safely' on the other side of the lava they set off southwards, the
glittering sand faded and a they walked into a darkening gloom the
terrain changed and become more rock like and bumpy.

Soon darkness surrounded them, huge cavern mouths could just be seen.
Noises of clicking could be heard, like the tapping of fingernails on
a stone table. The party soon realised their light sources made them
easily spotted in the darkness and covered them all up bar one, which
they left as a decoy.

They headed NW along the undulating cavern floor with ground rising
rapidly on their west side to form hills. They found a tunnel heading
into the hills and investigated.

Rosia found a large square room with a central pillar, from the south
came 2 spider-like creatures, driders, dragging a dark elf towards the
pillar.

A fight ensued as the party attempted a rescue, upon entering a room
the were attacked by invisible assailants. Rosia managed to fly the
carpet between the pillar and the driders.

As the fight continued the pillar started to spin, the dark elf
captive screamed in elvish something about the 'Wheel of Sorrow' and
that they must all get out.

With one drider killed the second, and the second though invisible was
being grappled the party had to leave the room as glowing runes
started spreading out from the faster rotating pillar.

With moments to spare they all got out through the southern exit as
the room filled with a searing light and the door was sealed...

So you have finally left the minotaur region and now heading into new
unchartered territory.

The party revived a warrior, Vangar, from the Medusa's trophy hall,
who it seemed had ventured down here some 150 years previously.

Markuli showed a way to the North West through through a deep tunnel
called the 'Proving Tunnel' where young minotaurs would test their
courage and prowess.

The party had a fairly uneventful time of it until they encountered 2
Elder Air Elementals, when things went a little pear-shaped.

Rosia and Quercus, who were upon the magic carpet, tried flying in
between these two huge whirling columns of air, whilst the rest of the
party fled to a nearby passage.

Rosia and Quercus were grabbed and sucked into the vortex of air and
pummelled by rocks and high speed winds. Only Rosia's frantic cries
elicited a response from the Air elemental, the other tried to squeeze
itself into the passage the rest where hiding. The hideous screeching
of grinding rocks could be heard as it compressed itself, luckily
though it proved too big and gave up.

The elemental holding Rosia and Quercus set them down when it realised
they were not minotaurs and actually asked them for help. The
elementals it appeared we're trying to recover an ancient artifact
from the Cavern of Light and Dark where this passage led to,
unfortunately they were too big to fit into the narrow gap the tunnel
tapers too.

The party, glad from not been turned into paste, said they would do
this. They were informed that the Cavern was split into 2 halves by a
river of lava.

On the northside, where they would come out, was the light side. A
huge area so big it would seem like they were outside, south of the
lava was the Drow settlement and the location of the ancient artifact.

The party pressed onto until the end of the tunnel, negotiated its
narrow tunnel chute and came up into a small cave which seemed to be
situated inside a large crater.

Strange animals were seen and dust devils, they used the carpet to fly
to the top of the crater. Where they could see the vast plain in which
they stood, to the south they could see a red horizon created by the
lava river.

Just as they were getting their bearings three smoke-like elementals
appeared intent on trouble, fighting smoke is going to prove
difficult...

The death toll rises...

After last weeks success with the Red Horn minotaurs, victory seemed
assured, quickly reconvening with the Broken Axe and the chieftain
Markuli, a plan was formulated to continue the attack on the Red Horns
3 days hence.

The party recuperated quickly using Quercus's healing spells and had
relearnt a new set of spells for the second day.

Half way through the second day there parties plan was interrupted by
the Red Horns attacking en-masse, everyone heard the bellowing war
cries of the Minotaurs from the south and went to aid the Broken Axe.
They found 8 Broken Axe Minotaurs fighting and losing ground to 10
heavily armoured Red Horns.

The battle was joined, spells, charges, curses and blood flew. The Red
Horns appeared to be the elite shock troops of the Red Horns, and
butchered their way past the Broken Axe.

Ran's was in weretiger form and summoned a bear which provided useful
blocking and grappling of Red Horns to the East
Bingly's charges with the Lance wrought severe damage to the minotaurs
Oren's axe swung with deadly intent
Rosia's darting sneak attacks inflicted much pain
Isaack's fired off Scorching Ray's and Magic Missiles to hurt many minotaurs
Quercus's healing kept everyone on their feet
Davinia's arrows rained down.

The defensive position of the party was attacked from the side as 3
more Red Horns burst in, Rankuli the chieftains son was attempting to
hold the southern corridor to prevent the Red Horns advancing further.

Then disaster, Isaack found himself facing a raging minotaur barbarian
that had burst into the middle of the group and was hit with two
mighty blows from its GreatAxe. Isaack was mortally wounded,
staggered and fell to the ground slain.

Oren was struck down, but revived by Quercus.
Rankuli the chieftain's son was slain callously whilst unconcious.

The fighting to the north grew closer and as the Red Horn's were
finally finished, the medusa appeared using a magic that made her
appear blurred.

Ran used blindsight and closed his eyes, charged and grappled the
creature but was struck by the medusa's snakes and poisoned, the party
attacked and as they managed to kill the medusa a huge Red Horn
minotaur appeared. He hit Ran three times in quick succession,
sending him crashing to the floor unconcious.

Oren and Bingly took the minotaur on and started trading blows, though
the Red Horn was dealing out heavy damage. They were helped out by
the arrival of Markuli the Broken Axe chieftain who flanked the Red
Horn minotaur and together with the aid of one of Ran's summoned
creatures they slew the Red Horn.

Quercus healed Ran as Markuli called for the party to follow him to
the north to carry on the fight...

The massive minotaur clash, a result of a little reconnaisance that
went wrong, ended with the party escaping out of rockfilled tunnel.

The fight, which raged for two sessions, depleted just about every
spell the party had, most of its hit points and killed 28 minotaurs.

Having a defensible position was key and not being surrounded by the
minotaurs aided greatly in the parties fighting ability. The Minotaurs
used their size and toughness to perform the overrun action, with some
success, getting in amongst the party to cause havoc. Oren was knocked
prone and nearly ended being trampled and beaten to death.

The arrival of a magic using minotaur hastened the decision to leave,
Ran summoned a burrowing creature and used a stone shape spell to
create a tunnel. Though this took some time.

The vanguard fighting retreat was done by Bingley and Rosia, who's
ring prevented her from running out first.

The evacuation was held up crucially by Oren who became wedged in the
narrow tunnel, but eventually got free.

Blood soaked and hurt the party escape with the howls of raging
minotaurs in the background, it seems now is a good time for the
Broken Axe to attack whilst the Red Horn are reeling from this huge
loss

Session 34

The adventurers decided to use part of the three days they had spare to scout out a northern
route into the Red Horn territory prior to the planned all-out attack.
They eventually came upon a door blocked by fallen masonry, once cleared of rubble the door was found to open into a long Hall, with exits leading east and west.

Signs of hooved footprints were found.

It was confirmed to be Red Horn territory when the party encountered a lone Red Horn Minotaur passing through the hall, a brief battle ensued and the minotaur was dispatched quickly.

The party decided to scout the eastern corridor. Evidence of more minotaurs was found including a training area, the scout mission was interrupted by the sounds of approaching minotaurs.

The four minotaurs were heading in the parties direction and they moved back to the hall to ambush them, but it seems the Minotaurs were alerted to the waiting adventurers. Neither side was surprised and a fight ensued, luckily due to the fight taking place in the mouth of the corridor the fight went the parties way and they had minimal casualties.

The party then investigated the western corridor from the hall, and found after several rooms that it was a dead end, upon returning to the Hall they found it occuppied by a number of angry looking minotaurs, being effectively trapped they charged en-masse into the hall and gave fight.

Five minotaurs battled the party, during the combat the sounds of a rockfall could be heard from the northern passage they had used to gain access into this area. It seems their known escape route is blocked.

We left the fight with five minotaurs killed and many in the party injured and more minotaurs showing up, the sounds of alarms ringing through the halls. The party are desperately trying to fight their way out of the hall and find another route, but the minotaurs are now enraged and a determined to slay the intruders...

Session 33

Whilst the party only fight was with a single manticore, which they dealt with effectively, their quandary about which vows and oaths they need to uphold have led to an interesting decision.

The promise to the Raskmarik has been seen as null and void due it being made under duress.

The party have decided to side with the Broken Axe minotaur side and attempt to defeat the Rakshasa and the Red Horn tribe. A plan has been formulated involving a two pronged attack on the Red Horn positions and Graaks potions (made with the hearts of manticores) which can turn stone to flesh.

The intention being is to get back to the Medusa's trophy hall, by crossing the eartquake chasm via some rope bridge contraption, turn the petrified statues back to flesh and mount a surprise attack from the south with these new re-inforcements. The main force will creates a diversionary attack from the west. The extra reinforcements tip the balance of numbers in favour of the Broken Axe.

The slight sticking point is the captive dwarves Gurik and Gardarik who are childhood friends of Oren, if the plan should go awry then it may seal their fate.

Session 32

The players had two big fights this week.

The Dragonne was relatively easy, with its Roar attack only slowing the party down. It was unable to maneouver within the narrow corridor confines and was quickly surrounded and harried.

However the long sought after Manticores proved somewhat more difficult due to their lethal ranged tail spike attacks and the fact that there was five of them.

The first manticore was also the largest, the party discovered its lair but did not want to venture into it.
Bravely Quercus hobbled down the corridor, his wooden leg not providing any ability to move silently was quickly detected and the Manticore attacked and let out a series of roars and calls.

The group were peppered with the Manticore's spikes.

The rest of the adventurers joined the battle, Quercus was the field medic providing invaluable support to the frontline troops Oren and Bingly.

But within 2 rounds a further 2 manticores answered their leaders call and approached from the southern corridor. The party split in to to combat this new threat. Ran, Dusty, Isaack and Davinia defended against the new threat.

Whilst Oren, Bingly, Quercus and Rosia battled the ferocious Manticore leader.

Spikes, axes, teeth, swords and arrows were used and the blood flew.

Both Oren and Bingly, both reduced to single digit hit points on a couple of occasions.

Just as Quercus, Oren, Bingly and Rosia thought they were gaining the upper hand two more Manticores appeared from back of the leaders nest room, which now opened onto the earthquake chasm.

Quercus was hit by a number of spikes and felled but revived by a healing potion delived by Rosia.

Oren and Bingly refused to fall back and gave as good as they got, finally killing the lead manticore and one of its pack.

Luckily the other half of the party had dealt with the two manticores attacking them and came to their aid.

Ran shape changed into a dire lion and went in hand-to-hand with the
final manticore, Ran's first devastating attack nearly killing the
beast, but its retaliation was equally powerful and Ran went down in
an hail of spikes.

Oren delivered the killing blow and the party breathed a big sigh of relief.

The manticore hearts were retrieved but now the dilemma begins with how the party resolves its various vows and oaths. :)

Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Parts 27 to ??

I cannot blame Ratto for this lapse in journal writing, it's all my fault! However, we have been quite busy, as you will see...

We retreated to the sphinx's bedchamber to rest. I was awoken by the sound of a strange voice filling the room. It was coming from a magically moving mouth, carved into the wooden headboard of the sphinx's enormous bed. We answered the voice and discovered that it belonged to Mortgul, the leader of the Harpies. He seemed to have had some dealings with the late sphinx. We happily informed him that the sphinx was dead, slain by our good selves. This enraged him, and he shouted terrible threats at us. Oren soon cut him off by embedding the blade of his axe into the magic mouth, which seemed to destroy the echantment.

We went once more into the territory of the harpies, this time avoiding the nesting chamber. We encountered more harpies in a large, oddly-shaped room, which had some sort of altar in it:


There was a larger harpie accompanying a small band of normal-sized creatures. We thought him to be Mortgul, but we found later that this was Vertgul, his brother and lieutenant. We went prepared this time, Quercus casting a magic circle around himself that protected us all from the harpies' song. This meant that we had to stay close to Quercus, but unfortunately I fell behind as I stopped to load my crossbow. I came under the power of the enchanting melody, and stood helpless as a harpy descended towards me. Quercus soon realised what had happened, and moved back towards me, bringing me once more within the range of the circle's protection. We fought the harpies, and slew the smaller ones, but Vertgul escaped, no doubt fleeing to warn his brother.

We searched the room and found a secret compartment within the strange, black altar. This was filled with items necessary to perform some dark ritual: black candles, poisoned wine and such-like. We left these items alone (although I did take a silver wine-stopper as a memento) and explored some more of the dungeon, trying to avoid areas where we heard the flapping of harpy wings.

Oren noticed a secret door, leading to a large room with four square pillars in it, none of them quite reaching the high ceiling. We though there might be something on top of the pillars, so I climbed onto Curbag's shoulders, then lifted Rolaand up so that me might have a head start on his climb to the top of the pillar. However, as soon as Rolaand's claw touched the stone, the entire pillar collpased, seemingly directing itself towards us! I jumped off Curbag, clutching Rolaand to me, and tumbled safely out of the way. Poor Curbag was not so swift, and was buried under a pile of stone blocks...

We dug him out, and he was soon restored to his normal state, thanks to Quercus' healing prayer. We also found a small compartment at the base of the pillar, uncovered when the thing collapsed. In it was a scroll case was with a magical parchment therein. I thought that there must be a similar compartment under each pillar, so I devised the plan to touch each pillar in turn, causing it to collapse, and trusting to my swift reactions to keep me out of harm's way. The others waited in the doorway as I enacted my plan. I touched the first pillar, and ran out of it's way, towards the centre of the room. As I ran into the very middle of the room, I felt my foot touch some sort of hidden trigger mechanism, and before I knew it, all three pillars were collapsing towards me! I managed to throw myself out of the way of the first pillar, but jumped straight into the path of the other two. Stone blocks rained down around me, one struck my head, and I slipped into unconsciousness...

When I awoke, it was to see Quercus' face above me, finishing a chant to Pelor. I had been badly hurt, it seems, and my companions had only just reached me in time. However, thanks to Pelor, I was whole again, and undamaged! We explored the fallen pillars, and sure enough, there was a compartment under each one, with some fine items in them. I found a magical dagger, with an edge so sharp it could split a hair lenghtways. It was made for humans, and thus more like a short sword for me, and a little awkward to use. However, it is so finely wrought, that the small disadvantage in size difference is more than made up for by the perfect balance and the keeness of its edge.

We then retired to the painting room and made our camp in the large room, shown below:


However, as we rested, we were attacked by the harpies, this time led by Mortgul himself. We sought to regroup and left via the small room to the west, marked by a red cross. But the harpies had out-smarted us! They activated hidden levers, and thick stone blocks fell down, blocking the exits to the north and east. We were trapped, but no immediate danger was apparent. However, the harpies had more plans. We noticed that oil was seeping under the stone blocks, spreading into our small room. I tried to look through the gaps at the bottom of the blocks, but the harpies had stuffed rags under them. Suddenly we smelt smoke, and we realised what they meant to do: we were to be burnt alive! Oren began to hack at the stone block to the east, but it was thick and tough, and it was clear that we would suffocate on the smoke before he was through. I searched the walls frantically, hoping to find some way to open the doors. I found nothing as far as I could reach, so I got Curbag to lift me up and carried on my search at that level. At last! I found a cunningly concealed panel, and under it a lever. I pulled it, and the block to the east lifted, allowing us access to the main room. The oil was now burning well, and we had to jump through it to make our escape. Some of the others were burnt, but I easily somersaulted over the flames.

Out of the fire, and into the fray! Mortgul and his harpies attacked us as soon as we were free, but Quercus was ready with his magic circle, and Ran summoned a giant lizard, the like of which I have never seen. It was over twenty feet long, and could reach high enough to snap at the flying harpies with its mighty jaws. Ran told me later that it was called a Crocodile. I would hate to live in the land where they are found! We slew all the harpies, including Mortgul and Vertgul, and we were now able to explore their part of the dungeon in relative peace.

We found Mortgul's sleeping chamber, and in his nest a small collection of treasures. But more importantly than this, we found a secret room, and within we discovered a woman, apparently in the deepest of slumbers. She clutched to her chest a small black stone, the twin of which we had found in the black altar of the harpies. Quercus believes she was being prepared for sacrifice! He adminsistered healing to her, and brought her out of her drug-induced sleep.

She told us her name is Davina, and she is a ranger. Apparently she came here at the behest of Parademius, the very same wizard who sent us into this cursed dungeon. She was accompanied by her own party of adventurers, and they had all fallen into this place through a chasm opened up by the same earth movements that caused parts of the dungeon to collapse. There were two dwarfs, a human and a halfling unnacounted for.

On further questioning, she revealed that she worked originally for Baron Allanias. When I heard this name, my blood ran cold! It was he who had driven my father from his lands, and was even now charging the people of TallTallow (my home village) a tithe to use the roads to their own farms. She tells me she was merely in his employ as a soldier of fortune, but I am wary of her now, and will keep an eye on her actions.

We explored further, taking Davina with us. We found all her equipment in the chamber where she lay sleeping, and it seems she is skilled with the bow, which will be very useful to us, if she decides to stay. She also has an animal companion with her, a beautiful eagle who perches on her shoulder when not in flight.

We went back through the harpy nesting room, ignoring the cries of the young harpies on their high ledges, and went to the north. We found to our dismay that another huge section of the dungeon had collapsed. A wide chasm blocked our way north, and we could just discern, many feet below, the glow of molten lava. On the far side of the chasm we could see where the passage north continued. Ran transformed himself into an eagle, and flew across to investigate. We saw him return, some time later, accompanied by a small figure. I recognised him at once as a fellow halfling. We conversed by shouting over the chasm, and found that he one of the missing members of Davina's party. The eagle-Ran cast a spell on the halfling, and he was able to crawl, spider-like, along the wall of the chasm, until he was on our side. We soon discovered that the halfling's name was Bingly, and that he was a holy paladin in the service of Maroon. We gave him a gift of the banner and signet rings we had retrieved from the fallen paladins in the room of death, and he seemed most pleased with them.

Bingly carried with him a long lance, and we found out later that he had been tied to his own lance, and was waiting to be cooked over a fire. It seems he was to be the main course in a terrible harpy feast. These foul creatures move even further down in my esteem. After being freed by Ran, Bingly was able to discover...

Journal ends here... Hope to find more fragments soon.

Dear Mum,

I have definitely put my foot in it this time! Have fallen (literally) in with some strange new folk after have journeyed to the Stonesea mountains. I have not yet quite figured them out yet. Among them is one of our own (fetching too!) who seems to be a skilled pilferer... yet law abiding! Another prefers to spend his time as an eagle. And there's another of those Pelorian cultists, although dressed a bit better than the ones who knock on our door every Sunday.

Have found a lovely banner that I would love for you to sew into a cape when I return!

There's been some trouble with the locals, who have asked us to run two minor errands before we're allowed to pass, but we're sorting it out. Never fear for your son. Bingly's on top of it, as always!

-Your Loving Son.

The Players map at Session 31 - In Region F
The players map was becoming somewhat disorientated after the warpgate incident, and I'm feeling kind.

Session 31, was a significant session. The previous 2 sessions being consumed with the fight with the Harpies.

The party found the survivors of another party that had been sent to scout out the StoneSea mountain region by Parademius of Tharl-Fellen and to find evidence of what befell the previous party.

An earthquake had opened beneath this scouting party and sent them falling into a chasm, those that awoke found themselves prisoners of the harpies. The earthquake which also took a slice out of the eastern portion of Region B, can be seen on the map above.

An elf ranger and a halfing Paladin were found. The elf was found comatose from some poison and being prepared for sacrifice. The halfling, somewhat ignominiously, hanging from his own lance, about to be roasted over an open pit fire.
These new characters have brought news from the outside and have backgrounds which mesh with the current parties experiences.

The culmination of the session saw a showdown with the Rakshasa and minotaurs from the Red Horn tribe, and some rather amusing complications.

The Rakshasa simply demanded a small request for passing through his area, the killing of Graak or the leader of the Broken Axe tribe. In return for this favour he would release 2 dwarfs he had captured, they appeared to have fallen through the fissure created by the earthquake last week, they were in fact part of the scouting party and also old childhood friends of Oren.

The party mulled this over, weighed up the odds and decided to attack anyway.

Within three rounds, Curbag was slain. Oren was on -9 hit points and the rest of the party were being grappled by the Black Tentacles spell.

The party surrendered and under a vow of honour they accepted the Rakshasa's demand.

Which leaves them in an difficult position, namely :

They have to get a heart of a manticore to take back to Graak, to fulfil the obligation of resurrecting Curbag who has just been killed...again, and then fulfil the vow they have just taken.

I look forward to the next few sessions with great interest.


(Maniacal DM laughter).

Ran's Journal (Continued)

Continued harassment from harpies. Finally managed to draw them into a battle on our own terms where they couldn't force us back or withdraw. Summoned a giant crocodile, which ate the harpies. Very satisfying.

More traps. Rosia's managed to get up to a 50-50 rate of not setting them off. Better than nothing. Still no trace of the manticores, but took a few useful items from the bodies of the harpies. As close to a success as we ever get in this place.

Found another stray, being held by the harpies. I've no idea how anyone ever survives long enough in this dungeon for us to find them.

Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Parts 22 to 26
(Partial Reconstruction)

(Note to reader: Ratto got into my backpack whilst I was sleeping and tried to make a nest out of my journal. He has eaten much of the material from recent entries. I have pasted together the surviving bits, but what remains is only a partial reconstruction at best. I have forgiven Ratto as he has made himself very useful of late, as you shall see.)

...Bugbears speak of resurrection chamber in the section to the north of here. We hope we might use this to bring back Curbag...

...left Curbag in the safe room and explored further. After some debate we decided to check out the exit to the north first, before entering the eastern area of this section...

...found Bartleby's body! The treacherous halfling had met his doom when opening the northern exit. He manged to unlock the door, but set off a trap. Well, we've all done that, haven't we? Looted his body and found some Masterwork Lock picks, hurrah! In death Bartleby has proved very useful to me, although I think Ran was disappointed that he couldn't exact revenge upon him...

...tried out my new tools, but my first attempt was not very promising. We found a room with a simple mechanical trap in it. A bag full of treasure, and a cage that dropped down if you set off the trap. I thought it would be easy to disarm, but I couldn't quite get used to the new tools, and I set it off. I was outside the cage, but a cloud of green dust fell down on me, infecting me with Ungal spores. The damage was not too bad, so I tried again. Alas! I made an even worse job, and now I am bright green and covered with horrible lumps...

...we ventured east, into the room marked "Death" on our bugbear map. As we entered the circular room, a portcullis dropped down behind us, cutting off our line of retreat. We had already found a lever to open this gate, but it was in a room on the other side of it, of course. I have drawn a map, below, marking the portcullis, and a red cross where the lever was located:

(Note to reader: the corner of this map is now inside Ratto.)

...the foul creatures attacked us from the small rooms. Quercus cried out that they were undead, he called on the might of Pelor to repel them, but this room feels evil. The unhallowed power of it seems to boost these abominations. We found out later that there were ghouls amongst them. As I moved into the room, clambering over the bones of those fallen before us, I was struck by one of them and I fell to the floor, paralysed...

...some of them were fallen paladins, worshippers of the goddess Maroon. Other creatures attacked us too, singing some incantation that dulled the senses and fascinated the mind. I fell prey to this, but as I was also paralysed it didn't make a great deal of difference to me...

...Oren stood there, unable to react, as the creature drew nearer. Ratto jumped down from Isaak's shoulder and ran across the bone-strewn floor and up Oren's trouser leg. A sudden look of surprise appeared on Oren's face. Whatever Ratto had done inside Oren's trousers, it had woken him from his reverie, and he joined in the combat once more...

...I threw the phial of holy water and it shattered over the ghoul's head. Steam rose from its skin and it howled in pain as the putrid flesh blistered...

...at last we defeated the creatures, but their bodies began to re-form, brought back to undeath by the unholy power of this aptly-named room of death. We dragged them out to the corridor and burnt the corpses, but would even this be enough? We explored the small rooms connected to this large chamber, we found some magical weapons, but they were tainted with the foulness of this place, so we left them alone...

...more creatures attacked us! Is there no end to them? Isaak ran to the south, before I could check the passage was safe. We heard a scream and a thud: a trapdoor had opened beneath him and he fell some 30 feet, and now he was unable to get out...

...we left the room, finally, and explored to the east. However, we fell to bickering again, and the party split in two. The others went back to the chamber of death via the south exit, whilst Oren and I explored further...

...a terrible monstrosity came blundering out at us. A gang of undead bugbears, chained together in an infernal phalanx, weapons welded to their very flesh. The sight and smell of them struck fear into our hearts, and even brave Oren fled, running north as I ran south....

...The rest of the party were attacked again in the death room, as the shades of the paladins began to reform. Oren and I made our way back by separate routes, followed by the hideous bugbear chain gang. We managed to trick the zombie bugbears into walking over the trap that Isaak had fallen into, they fell and I closed the trap door, sealing them in...

...we fled to the east, whilst Ran's wolves held back the undead horrors. A fallen paladin was blocking our retreat, and he used the lever to drop the portcullis again, blocking the escape of Oren and Quercus. As Ran transformed himself into a leopard and attacked the evil creature, I tumbled past him into the room with the lever and pulled on it to open the gate...

...whilst we rested, another tremor hit the dungeon, larger than the ones before. We returned to the room of death, only to find that the eastern section of the dungeon had collapsed into the chasm that underlies this cursed place. Now we have no choice, we must leave this section via the northern exit...

...we retrieved Curbag's body, as we have no idea if we will be able to come back to this section of the dungeon. We went through the northern exit, now open thanks to Bartleby (a curse on him!) and found ourselves in a room with two doors to the north. These doors were not normal portals, but seemed to be some sort of magical gateway. We also found a small room with some books in, all in the celestial language. From these we learned that the gateways are attuned to the spiritual energies of the celestial warders who ran this place centuries ago. Anyone stepping through them who was not of their philosophical persuasion would find themselves transported to a random location within this part of the dungeon.

We also learned that there is some sort of "null field" over this place, designed to stop the demons imprisoned here from escaping. Apparently it was weakening even when these books were written, hundreds of years ago. We deduced that by now the outlying areas of the dungeon, where we are now, would be all but free of its influence, but as we travel further north and east, the power of the field will increase...

...I tried to discover a way of removing this ring that forces me to tell the truth, but apparently the place to do this lies to the east, beyond the new chasm. Great...

...we joined hands and stepped through the warp gate. Blinding, flashing lights assailed our eyes, and terrible screams rang out. We tumbled through a vortex of colours and sounds, and a great nausea arose within me. Not just a physical sickness, but something spiritual as well, as if my soul was rotting away. I tried to maintain a grip on reality, but a red mist settled over my eyes and I felt my sanity slipping away...

...when I awoke Oren was talking to Ran, who sat in a corner, shivering. I felt a great pain in my head, and confused memories came slowly back to me. I had attacked Oren! In my madness I thought he was trying to prevent me from escaping, and I struck out at him in rage. Fortunately he was more than a match for me, and he rendered me unconscious with ease. I begged his forgiveness, and he shrugged in that Dwarvish way of his which meant all was well between us.

As I look around I saw that the others had fared even worse than I. Quercus was in some sort of trance and stood motionless, staring into space. Ran was afflicted with a great fear, and he and Dusty cowered in a corner, shying away from Oren's attempts to comfort them. But worst of all was poor Isaak and Ratto, both of whom were lying on the floor, unmoving and cold. It seemed that more of our comrades had fallen, all because of that cursed warp gate...

...Isaak and Ratto were not dead! Just in a deep coma. However, when Isaak awoke, we found that he had lost his sight. Fortunately for us, the others had also recovered, and Quercus was able to petition Pelor for an intervention, and Isaak's sight was restored...

...as we explored this room, we realised with horror that all the exits from it were more warp gates. How could we survive another passage through one of these nightmare portals? Of us all, only Oren had passed through unscathed. It seems he has something in common with the celestial beings who created this place...

...so Ran called upon the power of nature to reshape the very stone of the walls. He fashioned a narrow tunnel through the rock, heading directly south from this junction room. It took him three days of prayer and meditation to summon the energy to complete the task. While he prayed, the rest of us waited, and ate the food and water that Quercus created for us. Quercus also attended to Curbag's body, and prayed over it to guide Curbag's soul back to us. As I rested the green hue vanished from my face, and my natural good looks returned. Ran finished the process off with a healing spell, and I am now back to normal...

...Ran entered the tunnel and went to the very end. What he saw made his eyes bulge. Our tunnel had emerged into a cyclopean room, and the inhabitant therein was a giant minotaur! The room's occupant was not pleased at having a hole drilled into his bedroom wall, and proceeded to bellow a challenge down the tunnel. Ran summoned a bear into the room with the minotaur, which only enraged him further. The bull-headed creature made short work of the bear, which vanished back to whatever forest glade it had been conjured from. Ran retreated down the tunnel to consult with the rest of us...

...as I neared the end of the tunnel, I could see that more minotaurs had entered the room. An aged minotaur woman was chanting and casting bones, obviously getting ready to cast a spell of some sort. With some trepidation, I called out to her...

...told me her name was Graakk. She seemed amused by me, perhaps finding me too small to be threatening. Apparently the minotaur whose room we had invaded is the son of the chief of the tribe, and is famous for his bad temper. She agreed to talk to him on our behalf, but suggested that we offer a tribute to him, in the form of gold and/or jewels, in order to assuage his bad mood...

...we talked with Graakk, and she told us her tribe was called the Broken Axe. Apparently they used to be called the Golden Axe tribe, but they had split into two factions. The other faction was now called the Red Horn, and they controlled the area to the east.

We asked her about the place of Resurrection which the bugbears had mentioned. She told us that such a place existed, but that we would find it hard to get to. She is a tricky customer! We struck a bargain with her: she would have Curbag's body taken to the chamber and brought back to life, but in return we would travel to the south and east, passing the area controlled by the Red Horn, and return with a manticore corpse. Apparently she needs this for components to cast her spells. We agreed to this bargain, and Curbag's body was taken away by the minotaurs...

...Curbag is back! He returned, alive again, accompanied by the minotaurs. He seems none the worse for having died. This chamber of rebirth must be a truly remarkable place. It is a shame we do not have access to it ourselves...

...we said goodbye to Graakk and left, heading south and east where we could. We passed through several rooms guarded by minotaurs of the Broken Axe tribe, but we showed them the symbol that Graakk had given us and they let us go, only asking for some small tribute. Usually a piece of jewellery was sufficient, as they seem to enjoy adorning their bodies with gold and gems...

...we found a series of prison cells, all locked and empty, or so it seemed at first. When we reached the final cell, we heard a voice call out, and through the bars in the cell door we saw a ragged, dirty elf. He told us his name was Grouki, and he repeatedly cried out "I am not an elf!" I think his mind is broken. I set to work with my lock picks...

...suddenly we heard a flapping sound, and a low, throaty rumble. From down the corridor a strange creature appeared. It had the body of a lion and the head of a woman. Giant feathered wings spread out from its back. The corridor was wide and high, and it had no trouble flying towards us. "Who has freed my prisoner?" She shouted at us. Isaak told us later she was a magical creature called a sphinx...

...negotiations broke down. Ran lost his temper and told the sphinx that the best offer she was going to get was that we would agree not to kill her if she let us all go. Amazingly, the sphinx seemed to back down! She flapped off down the corridor with a low growl...

...Grouki came with us, but before he left his cell he searched through the straw and came out clutching some large and shiny. He hid it under is tattered clothing, but I'm sure it was a large diamond! I think it would be best if someone else looked after this for him, as he may lose it in a moment of madness...

...ucking sphinx! Turns out she had not backed down, she was just waiting to ambush us. As we explored further, forgetting all about the sphinx, we came across a door. I checked it for traps, but I missed something. As the door opened a wave of energy spread out over the party and we all fell to the floor in a magical slumber. The only one unaffected was Quercus, as elves do not sleep the way we do. Poor Quercus was left to face the sphinx alone, as it was she who had put the charm on the door, and she was waiting behind it...

...so we woke up in the cells, stripped of all our gear. (Quercus was the only exception. I think the sphinx was too afraid to risk a confrontation with a non-sleeping foe.) I didn't even have a bent pin with which to attempt opening the lock. In future I will be sure to secrete a few tools around my person...

...the sphinx freed us, but at the cost of all our possessions! We thought this was a pretty poor bargain, so we all vowed to track her down and confront her, even if it meant attacking her with our bare hands. Quercus had handed out some of his weapons to the others, and he lent me a fish hook which I could use as a make-shift tool. Ratto (being small enough to fit through the bars of the cell door) had been out scouting, and he had located the sphinx's lair using his keen sense of smell. He scurried back to Isaak, and was able to guide us in the right direction...

...we entered a room with a large circular pillar in the middle. Doors went off in all directions, and the pillar had numerous holes in it. We instantly assumed the room was trapped, and sure enough, I was able to locate pressure pads on the floor in front of each door:

X marks where the sphinx attacked us from. Ran, Dusty and I had jumped over the pressure pad to the north. Oren and Curbag were in the main part of the room, and Isaak and Quercus were outside the room to the west...

...The Sphinx jumped onto another pressure pad in the corridor, deliberately setting off the trap. The doors slammed shut, trapping Oren and Curbag inside the room, and the rest of us outside, although in different corridors. We could hear the sound of water, and we found out later that it was gushing out of the holes in the pillar...

...the door was smashed down, freeing Curbag and Oren just in time, but Ran and I were still trapped in the other corridor with the sphinx. Ran summoned a host of flying creatures, and they sorely tested the sphinx, but still it came at us! Then Ratto appeared, carrying something in his mouth. It was the pearl we had found, the one that was supposed to be a powerful weapon. I took it from Ratto and loaded it into my sling and fired it at the sphinx. There was a mighty explosion and the sphinx fell to the ground...

...many of our decent possessions and treasures had gone, but I did retrieve my weapons and armour and my magic goggles. We also found a store of valuable magical components, such as diamond dust and mercury. We have kept some of these for ourselves, but we decided to take some back to the minotaurs for trading. This will also give us time to rest...

...as the others caroused with the minotaurs, I slipped away to the only quiet place I could find: the toilet. I finally had time to use the components I had traded from Graakk. I caught a rat that was lurking around, and bound myself to it, as Isaak had shown me. I have called him Rolaand, and he shall be my constant companion...

...rested and fed, we left the minotaurs again, to explore further...

...as we tried to open the southern door, the other doors slammed shut, and the walls began to move slowly in. My mind flew back to the room that Curbag and I had been trapped in before, where we had only just survived being crushed. Would we be so lucky this time? Ran used his nature-magic to raise stone wedges on the floor which slowed down one wall, buying us some precious time. I succeeded in opening the southern door only to find a solid wall behind it. We had been tricked...

...barely able to move. In desperation I went through my pack, and I found the answer! A potion, designed to transform the drinker into a cloud of gas. I drank it quickly, and felt my material form dissolve, and I drifted through the cracks in the wall, and under the western door, out into the corridor. My body reformed and I searched frantically for the mechanism to reset the trap. With only moments to spare, I located it, and the mighty stone walls began to recede, as the doors unlocked themselves...

...the room was full of harpies! They sang to us, and those who fell under their spell were held motionless, unable to flee or defend themselves. We were badly hurt, and poor Grouki fell to them. Perhaps now he will find some peace...

...we fled the harpy cavern to regroup. The way ahead lies through their lair. What shall we do: attack again, sneak through, or find another way?

Character Info

• Rosia Lightfoot - Halfling - Rogue 6 / Sorceror 1
  (Familiar: Rolaand- Rat)
• Curbag - Half-orc - Barbarian 4 / Fighter 2
• Quercus - Elf - Cleric 6 / Radiant Servant of Pelor 1
• Oren Viggrimmar - Dwarf - Fighter 7
• Isaak - Human - Sorceror 7
  (Familiar: Ratto - Rat)
• Ran - Human - Druid 6
  (Animal Companion: Dusty- Riding Dog)

Curbag's Log

Resurrected !

I believe my life continues according to Kord's design.

The battle, which appeared to defeat me, was indeed great but I know He has greater things planned for me ahead.

My companions have struck a bargain with the minotaurs - my life for a that of a manticore.

In pursuit of one of these beasts we now face a sphinx.
Coming across it's area the party seemed hesitant to put themselves against her.
Ran impressed me with his confrontation; unfortunately it only lead to a wild goose chase ending with us being stripped of all our belongings.

A great foe and only able to face it unarmed and unarmoured - a challenge sent by Kord no mistake.
I accept.

Ran's Journal

I hate this place.

Fought our way through the desecrated room to discover that the area beyond was crawling with yet more undead. Turned back to discover that the death knights had reformed and we had to fight our way out of the desecrated room a second time. Were lucky and escaped without loss.

Returned next day to find the area collapsed, having taken the whole cursed section of the dungeon to the bottom of the earth. Good riddance. We packed up and headed north. The only way to progress towards the area of resurrection was through some kind of warp gate.

Went through and suffered some kind of lethal magical attack. Rosia was sent insane, Dusty and I were struck with magical fear, Quercus was paralysed, and Isaac was struck dead. Without materials, I can't reincarnate them, and now we're stuck waiting for Quercus to recover. Two bodies to carry now.

I really, really hate this freaking place.

Ran's Journal

Fought epic battle against goblin army. Won. Faced goblins, spellcasters, a gray render, and hammer-fisted abominations, but my animals were victorious against them. Was impressed by the rest of the party - they fought well. Curbag fell in battle. There are rumours of a place of resurrection to the north.

Now that we control the centre of this level we're free to move about. Finally tracked down that halfling. Unfortunately, he was already dead. Way to the north is open, but for now we explore east.

New area is full of undead. Long battle in desecrated room against death knights and ghouls. Have destroyed all of them for the moment, but am low on spells and retreat may be difficult.

Traps have resumed. Rosia's been poisoned, has turned green, and is in a bad mood.

Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Part 21

Disaster has struck the party! As we questioned the goblin further, it became apparent that he did not fear us at all, in fact he seemed to think that we were about to die horribly. He kept saying, "Unkulggar is released, the Hammerfists are coming!" In the distance we could hear what sounded like hammers striking anvils, and the deep booming of drums. We thought to parlay with the goblin leader, and we set our captive free with a message that we only sought safe passage through the goblin territory. He ran off into the darkness, and it was not long before we could detect the massing of goblin forces to the south, and to the north and east. We were not too worried, as we still had our secret exit to the west.

A goblin voice rang out in the darkness, apparently the goblin leader, and we tried to bargain with him. However, he demanded that we pay a tribute to him, before he would let us pass. He wanted 5000gp in gems and coin. Perhaps all of our treasure put together might equal this, but we were not about to part with our hard-earned booty. Ran spoke to them, and tried to offer them an alternative deal, but they didn't seem interested in getting their fallen comrades' armour and weapons back as payment...

Whilst this "negotiation" was going on, we tried to formulate an escape plan. Isaak reminded us that he had a scroll that would make us all invisible. I wanted to use this scroll, combined with a simple illusion spell to make it sound like we were still behind the barriers, in order to sneak east, hopefully by-passing the majority of the goblin forces. However, we could not arrive at a consensus, some of the party wanted to go west, and use the secret area as a stronghold. We thought it best to make sure that the secret area was still secure, so I sneaked in and cracked open the secret door to the north-east. In the corridor to the north, I could see goblins moving about quietly, tapping on the walls and clearly searching for concealed doors. They must have worked out how we able to surprise them. It was only a matter of time before they discovered the secret area, and our advantage would be lost.

I reported back, and a heated debate followed. Unfortunately this took so long that the goblins gave up waiting for a reply and attacked us. We had no choice now but to retreat to the secret area. Alas! When we opened the secret door we were confronted by goblins, and also some larger goblinoid creatures with hammer-like devices attached where their hands should be: the Hammerfists had found us!

Now we were stuck in the corridor like the goblins had been when we attacked them: we were caught in our own trap! To make matters worse, a large grey creature appeared from the east. This was Unkulggar, and Isaak told us later that it was a Grey Render. I have drawn a sketch of it here:


It proved a most fearsome foe, and Oren was nearly ripped in half by its powerful arms. Oren and Quercus fought to the east, and Curbag to the west. Ran summoned a host of creatures to aid us, and Isaak used his magic to help Curbag. I tried to move to a position where I might help, but the close quarters we fought in were ill-suited to my type of combat techniques. I cursed the fact that I had not paid more attention to the acrobatic skills, then I might have moved about the battlefield more freely. I vowed to devote myself to them in the future.

The fight did not go well for us, Oren was badly wounded by the Render, and Curbag had taken much damage from the Hammerfists. Ran had used up all his spells, and finally transformed himself into a large bear, and moved to the west to help Curbag clear an escape route for us. Curbag had been so badly wounded that he had to retreat, and the goblins poured in from the west. As he moved back he was struck down by the foul creatures, and I watched in horror as he fell under their blows. Quercus had also been watching, and he lunged forwards with a healing prayer on his lips, he reached out to touch Curbag, but at the last moment a goblin kicked him aside, and the spell was wasted. Even in the heat of battle I could hear Curbag's death rattle, and could do nothing to help him...

We were desperate now, one of our comrades had fallen, and Oren was close to death as well. We pushed to the west, into the secret area, but there were too many goblins, and another Hammerfist as well. Things were looking bad for us, but then we heard the sound of horns blaring out, and the bugbears from the north area joined in the fight. Never have I been so pleased to see these ugly creatures! They had obviously decided that we had softened the goblins enough for them to make a final stand against them. It seems we have changed the balance of power in this part of the dungeon.

So, we are saved, but Curbag lies dead. We carried him to the safe room, and Quercus prepared his body so that it would not decompose. Perhaps we can bring him back even from the very jaws of death itself? I miss Curbag: who will carry my equipment now...?

Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Part 20

Just as we thought things were looking better, it all went pear-shaped. The goblins had a sorcerer amongst them, and he cast a web spell at us. It caught a couple of the wolves as well, but the goblins obviously thought the sacrifice was worth it, and I think they were right! Even those of us who managed to avoid getting completely entangled in the web could only move through it very slowly, as the sticky strands clung to us and held us fast.

As I struggled to dodge through the web, the goblins began to move some wooden barricades down the corridors towards us. They had covered them in pitch and set fire to them, and I remembered from our experience with the kobolds how the web strands burned briefly but fiercely. As soon as the flaming mobile barriers got near to the web it burst into flames, burning those still trapped within it. It also freed them from the web, but there was nowhere to go expect back into the remaining web, or through the burning barricades. To make matters worse, the goblins were firing their crossbows at us through slits in the barriers.

We eventually managed to finish off the wolves, and move to the north passage, finally all free as the last of the web burnt away. I had been badly burnt by the flaming web, and also had a goblin quarrel stuck in my arm. I was forced to use my healing potion, lest a stray bolt finish me off. Curbag was also badly wounded, and it was only thanks to Quercus that he survived the battle. We decided that it would be better to retreat and regroup, as there was no easy way to get past the barricades. We headed off north, and the goblins did not follow, so we were able to reach the safe room and rest for a few hours to regain our strength and let Quercus work his healing magics.

After our defeat at the hands of the goblins, I was all for leaving this area as quickly as possible, but Ran wanted to go back and attack them again! We argued for some time, and I eventually persuaded him to at least look at the nearest exit to the north, to see if it was passable. However, as we moved to the south, we could see watch fires lit by the goblins. They had set up more of their barricades and had effectively blocked our way. After some consultation, I remembered the secret area we found earlier, and noticed that one of the secret doors out of it opened up behind a goblin barricade. I volunteered to check out this door, and see if we could take advantage of the knowledge we possessed, knowledge that was hopefully not available to the goblins.

I donned my magic glasses, and moved silently through the shadows to the secret door. I opened it carefully and was able to see a band of goblins behind one of the mobile barricades, oblivious to my presence! I closed the door, and went back to report to the others. We formulated a plan: I would go first and try to use the element of surprise to knock out one of the goblins, so that we could question him after the fight. Then the others would quickly move in, and we would be able to use Oren and Curbag as the vanguard, with the others behind to give them aid as necessary. The goblins would be trapped between our fighters and their own barrier!

The plan worked perfectly. I snuck up right behind a small goblin, and hit him over the head with my sap, and he fell unconscious at my feet. The goblin next to him raised the alarm, but by this time I had moved aside and the others charged through the door and began the attack. Oren fought as though possessed! His axe cleaved through the goblins like a scythe through wheat. Even when a goblin mage began to fire spells at him, he did not flinch! The mage was quickly taken down by our own spell-casters, and Ran added to the mayhem by summoning another of his giant badgers right in the midst of the goblins. Even the goblin reinforcements that came round the barrier could not stop us. We drove them back and eventually they fled, leaving a pile of bodies, and one unconscious goblin.

We moved the abandoned goblin barriers to block the corridors in our favour, and then began to question our prisoner. Despite facing death at our hands he did not seem afraid, and Curbag was impressed at both his bravado, and the skill and discipline of our goblin foes. He has not given us much information so far, and some of the others are keen to finish him off, but I think we can use him to send a message to the goblin leaders, and perhaps bargain for safe passage through their territory. The debate continues, and the fate of our prisoner hangs in the balance...

Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Part 19

We had a change of pace today - no traps! After resting in the safe room, we went back through the secret area to explore to the west. We found a secret room with a large black pearl on a pedestal, which radiated magic (the pearl, not the pedestal). I tried to mage hand the pearl off, but it was attached to a large piece of black velvet, which was draped over the pedestal. In the end Quercus pulled the pearl and cloth out of the room by hooking his spear into the cloth. He quickly wrapped the pearl in the cloth, without touching it, and stowed it away in his backpack. I can't help wondering what strange powers it might have...

Anyway, whilst we were busy with this, Ran heard voices coming from an adjacent room. He told me about them and I sneaked over to listen. Some of the voices were speaking in a guttural language I did not understand, but there was one voice speaking in common. He was saying that they should speak to us. I reported back to the others and we decided to attempt to parlay with the creatures behind the door. It turned out they were bugbears, and that they had been fighting a war with the goblins to the south. They were not keen on us, but they were few in numbers and were unwilling to risk a confrontation. They confirmed some of the details on the bugbear map we found earlier. The area to the north-east is apparently filled with a magical deathly cold. I think we felt something of this in the previous section.

Anyway, they agreed to leave us alone, and the leader even gave us a token to show to other bugbears, to avoid a fight. I wonder how effective it will be... We decided to explore to the south, to see what the goblins were up to, but we told the Bugbears we were going to the north. No point in telling them all our plans!

I went ahead to scout, and found an area with many corridors, all at right angles to each other. It was very quiet and there was no reaction to my presence, even when I threw a copper piece down the corridor (which I have yet to retrieve). I returned to the others, and we all went to explore, but we managed to alert a goblin sentry and he set off an alarm. We hastily retreated back to a more defensible area, a cross-roads with many avenues of escape, and waited to see what happened. A largish goblin force appeared. Oren was worried, because they seemed to be very well organised for goblins. They asked to talk to us, and things were going fine until we let Quercus get involved. He soon managed to insult the goblin leader, and then declared that Pelor's wrath would fall upon their heads...

They attacked, but instead of just charging us, as would be expected of goblins, they sent in a band of trained wolves first, from two directions. The wolves proved very troublesome, as they kept tripping up those they attacked, leaving them prone and vulnerable. Fortunately, Ran was able to summon some magical creatures to aid us, which kept them occupied long enough for us to finish most of them off. The fight continues, and the wolves are thinning in numbers (I even killed one myself, with a well-placed sword through the back of the head), but there are still the goblins to worry about, and I wonder if we are prepared for them...

The secret bit of map


Just to make sure your map is upto date.

Don't forgot to mark the traps on the map, alternatively you could write TRAPS in large bold red letters across the entire map. :)

Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Part 18

Our luck continues to be bad...

After resting we set about exploring again, this time vowing to be more careful. We found a room which had ghostly noises of battle coming from it, with an ancient rusty sword hanging by a rope from the ceiling. We checked the room for magic, and the sword was not magical, but the area above it was. This suggested a trap to us, so we decided to leave the ghosts to their own devices and move on.

For the sake of my sanity I have decided to produce a more concise summary of the rooms we explore (along with the traps...) I will add extra comments as appropriate.

• Room with well in it, halfling tracks going to well (perhaps the halfling who brought Ran here?) Healing potions in bucket down well, but trap on handle. Trap set off by Ran (I think) Stone blocks fell from ceiling. Only minor damage, and we now have potions, hurrah!
• Bugbear lair - dirty and no treasure, but we did find a map showing how this area is populated. We are in Bugbear section now, Goblins to the south, "despair" to north-east (avoid) and "death" in south-east (avoid more)
• Room with red, white and black tiles on floor, tapestry on rear wall, obviously a trap. Solution printed on other wall, but I think it is a fake solution. We did some tests using a bugbear body and a summoned wolf, and decided it was too risky.
• Safe room. At last, a room with no traps! No treasure either, but we can seal this room with a secret door.
• Found a secret area: Room with four chests stacked up, all trapped. We managed to avoid some of the traps, but we set off a fire spell which destroyed the contents of one chest. Also found a clay goblin head on a pedestal. Tried to examine it, but Quercus destroyed it. Oh well. Also found a room with a desk - ring and book on desk: both trapped. Decided to use mage hand to lift the book away (hoping to find more info) Trap went off, book got burnt. Ring was left, took it and put it on. BIG mistake, see below...
• Room with another well in, bag of gems in front of it. Big sign floating in air above saying "TRAP!" Found a trap mechanism on door, propped door open with chests from secret area. Tried to disarm trap, but set it off instead. Managed to get out of the room before door sealed. Sound of water filling room. Eventually drained away, gems still there. They can stay there.

When I put the ring on, the one we found on the desk in the secret area, it magically re-sized itself to fit my finger. In fact it now fits so tightly I can't take it off... (What is it with halflings and cursed rings?) As soon as I put it on I realized I was under the effect of an enchantment. I feel compelled to tell the truth at all times. Once the others realised this they wasted no time in asking me lots of awkward questions, including what I really thought of Quercus. I told them he was a "one-legged, pompous, Pelor-pushing twat", which didn't go down very well with Quercus, as you can imagine. Of course, it was only after this that I realised that just because I have to speak the truth, doesn't mean I have to answer every question...

There is something worse than the truth-telling though. I also find myself compelled to act according to the law, which is not a good thing for someone of my profession. I can only assume this ring is some sort of restraining device for evil creatures. I want to remove it as quickly as possible, let's hope Quercus will remove this curse, if I haven't upset him too much...

We are resting in the safe room, and it seems there is some magic in the air here. A few hours of sleep and we are all refreshed and ready to set off again. Time to turn over a new leaf, no more stealing for me! Wait a minute, that's not my idea, it must be that bloody ring, trying to influence me. Must resist, must be free!

Ran's Journal

Exploring. Progress slow. Still spending most of our time waiting for Rosia to search things. Corridors trapped. Rooms trapped. Items trapped. Everything not trapped is guarded by monsters.

Dungeon sucks.

When I find that halfling I'm going to kill him painfully.

Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Part 17

Curse this place, and curse my luck!

Every room we encounter seems to have a trap in it, and I seem to be setting them all off. It's almost as if this whole area is designed to guide people of my profession into alternative employment...

We found a room full of pillars, with debris scattered around. I discovered that the pillars were trapped, and I attempted to disarm one of them. However, I set the trap off instead (of course...) and managed to get buried under a pile of rubble as the pillar collapsed on me. Thank Pelor for Quercus' healing spells, or I would have been badly hurt. One small ray of consolation was the silver dagger I found in the remains of the pillar. It is not magical, but it will come in handy if we ever meet Longtail again! We also found a golden ring in some rubble at the back, and it seems to be magical, but we can not discern what it does. Isaak thinks it might be a decoy to fool the unwary.

In another room there was a pedestal with a large gem on top of it. Assuming it would be trapped I tried to lift the gem off from a distance using my mage hand spell. However, it seems that the designers of this cursed place had thought of that, and had fixed the gem in place. I searched the pedestal and found that it was indeed trapped. It pained me greatly, but I allowed the others to persuade me to leave it alone.

A secret door led us south, to a room covered in moss, with many wands attached to the walls. I had grown wary at this point and decided to leave the wands alone, but Isaak seemed determined to test his luck, and pulled one of the wands down. He was promptly cursed by the evil powers that resided in the wand, and began to shake uncontrollably. We had to camp out for the night to allow Quercus time to petition Pelor to remove the curse from poor Isaak.

We continued south and found a large, empty room behind huge double doors. Inside was a smaller doorway to the east. Curbag and I went in to investigate. I could find no traps on the smaller door, but when we opened it the double doors slammed shut and spikes came out of the north and south walls. At the same time the north wall started slowly moving towards us. We knew that we would be killed if we stayed where we were, so I investigated the room through the smaller doorway to see if I could find a reset mechanism for the trap. Meanwhile, Curbag began hacking at the door with his greatsword, trying to cut out the lock.

As I entered the smaller room to the east, which was empty, I felt the presence of some evil force. I found the location of the trap trigger, but as I knelt to examine it I felt that the force was tearing me apart, and the longer I stayed there, the more damage it was doing me. I left the room, meaning to return at the last possible moment, and could only stand around and watch as Curbag hacked at the door. I could hear the sound of hacking from the other side too, and we found out later that Oren was helping from his side. However, the sound of Oren chopping was soon replaced by the sounds of battle. Apparently a band of bugbears and dire wolves attacked the party whilst we were trapped, thinking they would be weakened without us, no doubt.

If they thought is was going to be an easy battle, they were sadly mistaken! From what the others told us afterwards, they put up an heroic defense, and succeeded in killing most of their foes, and driving the rest away. I cannot comment on this fight, as Curbag and I were still trapped in the other room. As the northern wall edged closer and closer we faced a tough decision: should we abandon the attempt to break the door open and dive into the deadly eastern room, or miss our chance as the wall moved past the smaller doorway? Seeing that he had made some progress with the door, Curbag decided that he would carry on with his task, and trust to his mighty muscles. I momentarily considered entering the eastern room without him, but thought in the end that it would be better to perish in the company of my friend, than die alone in that room of evil.

This turned out to he the correct decision, as Curbag (once more with the help of Oren) was able to break open the lock at the last moment, and we stumbled out into the relative safety of the corridor. Whoever built that trap must have been a sadist. It seems to me that it was designed to strike the maximum fear into its victims, giving them time to contemplate their grisly end, whilst offering them the scant "hope" of surviving a slow death in the evil room. I have had it with this place. From now on, I will leave the treasure alone unless I am totally sure there is no trap. Even then, I will weigh up the risks and decide if the reward will help me survive this dump. If there is a lesson to be learnt here, it seems I am learning it...

Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Part 16

We have now copied the map, and most useful it has been to us! From the room with map we located another room to the south, full of scrolls and books, much as the one we found to the west as we came into this area. However, they seemed to be in much better condition, and we had good hopes that we might find out more about this place. Also in the room was a stone chair and desk. Oren was much taken with the chair, admiring its quality. As he sat in it, I noticed a glint from underneath the chair. There was a golden amulet, just resting there! I cast a spell, and was able to detect a magical aura around it. Being wary, I checked for traps, and finding none I reached out to take the amulet. Alas! It was trapped, with magical fire. As I touched it, great flames rushed outwards, filling the room. I was able to jump quickly behind the desk, and took no damage, but the others were not all so lucky. Poor Oren, being sat on the chair which was over the amulet, was blasted into the air, and then crashed into the roof. At the same time, all the books and scrolls were incinerated, along with the amulet. I think the others were a little cross with me, and I was sorry to lose the chance to peruse the parchments in this room, but it was a very shiny amulet...

We found some other rooms that seemed to have a theme to them. One room was blazing with terrible heat, and I was able to use my magic to lift a scroll case from a pedestal therein, without entering. Inside was a magical fireball scroll of some power, which Isaac is able to use. We also found a room that was a deep pit filled with water. There was a small, slippery ledge going all round the room. At the far end was a large, glowing gem, fixed into the wall. Oren appraised it, and thought that it was worth at least 10,000 gold pieces! We decided that I had the best chance of making it round, so the others tied a rope to me (again!) and I made my way around the ledge. Unfortunately, halfway round I slipped and fell into the water. It was icy cold, and I lost my breath and started to drown. Fortunately, Oren was able to quickly pull me back in before any harm was done. I tried again, but was so cold that this time I had barely managed 3 feet before I tumbled into the water again. They soon, had me out, and were keen to have me try once more. I was less keen, but the thought of the large glowing gem sustained me, and the third time was the charm!

When I got there, I unpacked my tools, and soon found that the gem was trapped with a magical device. It seemed a very powerful spell, but I decided to risk it, and this time luck was with me! I prised the gem out of its socket, and made my way back. The gem felt warm to the touch. More than that, it seemed to warm my whole body (which was nice, after my swim...) Oren seemed to have taken a shine to it as well, and we agreed to share custody of it. I hope this doesn't cause a problem later on...

We ended up in a room with a large pit in front of the door, and two sections going off west and north. In the west section a large sword was embedded in the floor. To the north, a skeleton was slumped against a wall, with an axe in its hands. Once more the party decided that I should go first, and tied a rope around me, in case I fell into the pit. This turned out to be a good thing, as when I went into the west side of the room (easily avoiding the pit) the floor fell away. The sword fell down into a pit, and I tumbled after it. The rope broke my fall, and the others were able to pull me back up before the floor closed up again. Having lost the sword, we decided to try for the axe. I went northwards (very carefully!) and was able to snatch the axe away without incident. I returned to the group, and Curbag and Oren examined the axe. Curbag wasn't too keen on it, for some reason, but Oren said it felt as though it had been made for him. The axe had a name engraved on it, Urthieln, and when we fought some dire wolves shortly afterwards Oren found that the axe was magical and seemed to do great damage. At last we have found some decent magical treasures! We may be rich in terms of gems and other valuables, but they will not help us survive this endless dungeon...