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Lazybones's Keep on the Shadowfell/Thunderspire Labyrinth
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 4592221" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>With the usual holiday slowdown, I've been able to spend more time working on the story. I'm approaching the end of the module, but am still not quite certain of where I want to go from there. Stay tuned.</p><p></p><p>LB</p><p></p><p>* * * * * </p><p></p><p>Chapter 57</p><p></p><p></p><p>After taking some time to rest and recover, with Devrem calling upon his healing magic to treat their wounds, the companions set out once more into the dungeon under the ruined keep. </p><p></p><p>They were alert to the likelihood of an enemy ambush, and Jaron scouted ahead, slipping in and out of the shadows as though he were a part of the darkness. While Beetle was better at remaining unseen, the other halfling was just a bit too flighty to be a reliable scout. Not that they could have escaped notice; their foe knew they were coming, and would have had ample time to prepare. </p><p></p><p>But for all their vigilance, nothing emerged from the dungeon corridors to threaten them. They made their way back down to the second level of the dungeon, where they found a scene of carnage at the bottom of the stairs. In addition to the hobgoblin grunts they had killed, there were fresh bodies there—“fresh” being a relative term, for it was clear that they had been animated undead, rotting corpses given necromantic life. </p><p></p><p>“More zombies,” Elevaren said. “I wonder where these came from?”</p><p></p><p>“There were a number of passages we didn’t explore, last time,” Jaron pointed out. </p><p></p><p>“At least they gave the hobgoblins some trouble, by the look of it,” Devrem said. And indeed there were a few hobgoblin corpses scattered amongst the hacked up dead, grunts that had survived the initial battle in the stairwell only to be killed by the zombies later. All of them had been thoroughly looted of any valuables. </p><p></p><p>“I wonder what happened to Splug?” Beetle asked, but none of them had any answer; there were no signs of the goblin anywhere that they could see. </p><p></p><p>They made their way forward, past the ruined sigil in the floor, to a chamber that contained another stair leading down. Based on Splug’s earlier feedback, they expected to find the hobgoblins waiting in ambush there, but the chamber at the foot of the steps was deserted. There was an open pit in the center of the room, which they gave a wide berth. As they began spreading out to search the area, they began to suspect that this part of the complex had been abandoned entirely. </p><p></p><p>They’d barely started poking around when a call from Beetle drew their attention to a corridor opposite the stairs they’d used to enter the chamber. “Look over here!” came the halfling’s voice, sounding startlingly loud in the uneasy stillness of the complex. </p><p></p><p>“So much for stealth,” Mara muttered, as they hastened to discover what their companion had uncovered. </p><p></p><p>The corridor opened onto an annex that was almost as large as the entry chamber itself. A nasty stink greeted them, which seemed to come from an empty cage of iron bars driven into the floor and ceiling on the far side of the place. The door of the cave was partially open; whatever resident had occupied it was likely long since gone. They found Beetle, and a message, which had been left for them on the wall to their left. </p><p></p><p>The message came in the form of the goblin leader, his fat body sagging against the iron spikes that had been driven through his wrists and shoulders, pinning him against the wall. Balgron’s head hung separately from a spike that had been driven through his open mouth. His eyes were open, and seemed to peer at them with accusation as they approached. </p><p></p><p>Above the goblin’s mutilated corpse, someone had taken the time to draw letters upon the stone, apparently from the blood of the dead goblin. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: red">THIS IS NOT FINISHED</span>, the grim warning read. </p><p></p><p>“An unpleasant threat,” Elevaren observed. But Devrem was more upbeat. </p><p></p><p>“The fact that they have not challenged us, and felt the need to leave this warning, may indicate that the route to Kalarel is now clear,” the cleric said. “We have to finish this, before it is too late.”</p><p></p><p>The others were not quite so enthusiastic—with the possible exception of Beetle, who was studying the goblin corpse with interest—but they followed the cleric out of the room, pushing deeper into the complex toward the inevitable confrontation with the evil cleric whose ritual continued to tear at the boundary between Nethir Vale and the Shadowfell.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 4592221, member: 143"] With the usual holiday slowdown, I've been able to spend more time working on the story. I'm approaching the end of the module, but am still not quite certain of where I want to go from there. Stay tuned. LB * * * * * Chapter 57 After taking some time to rest and recover, with Devrem calling upon his healing magic to treat their wounds, the companions set out once more into the dungeon under the ruined keep. They were alert to the likelihood of an enemy ambush, and Jaron scouted ahead, slipping in and out of the shadows as though he were a part of the darkness. While Beetle was better at remaining unseen, the other halfling was just a bit too flighty to be a reliable scout. Not that they could have escaped notice; their foe knew they were coming, and would have had ample time to prepare. But for all their vigilance, nothing emerged from the dungeon corridors to threaten them. They made their way back down to the second level of the dungeon, where they found a scene of carnage at the bottom of the stairs. In addition to the hobgoblin grunts they had killed, there were fresh bodies there—“fresh” being a relative term, for it was clear that they had been animated undead, rotting corpses given necromantic life. “More zombies,” Elevaren said. “I wonder where these came from?” “There were a number of passages we didn’t explore, last time,” Jaron pointed out. “At least they gave the hobgoblins some trouble, by the look of it,” Devrem said. And indeed there were a few hobgoblin corpses scattered amongst the hacked up dead, grunts that had survived the initial battle in the stairwell only to be killed by the zombies later. All of them had been thoroughly looted of any valuables. “I wonder what happened to Splug?” Beetle asked, but none of them had any answer; there were no signs of the goblin anywhere that they could see. They made their way forward, past the ruined sigil in the floor, to a chamber that contained another stair leading down. Based on Splug’s earlier feedback, they expected to find the hobgoblins waiting in ambush there, but the chamber at the foot of the steps was deserted. There was an open pit in the center of the room, which they gave a wide berth. As they began spreading out to search the area, they began to suspect that this part of the complex had been abandoned entirely. They’d barely started poking around when a call from Beetle drew their attention to a corridor opposite the stairs they’d used to enter the chamber. “Look over here!” came the halfling’s voice, sounding startlingly loud in the uneasy stillness of the complex. “So much for stealth,” Mara muttered, as they hastened to discover what their companion had uncovered. The corridor opened onto an annex that was almost as large as the entry chamber itself. A nasty stink greeted them, which seemed to come from an empty cage of iron bars driven into the floor and ceiling on the far side of the place. The door of the cave was partially open; whatever resident had occupied it was likely long since gone. They found Beetle, and a message, which had been left for them on the wall to their left. The message came in the form of the goblin leader, his fat body sagging against the iron spikes that had been driven through his wrists and shoulders, pinning him against the wall. Balgron’s head hung separately from a spike that had been driven through his open mouth. His eyes were open, and seemed to peer at them with accusation as they approached. Above the goblin’s mutilated corpse, someone had taken the time to draw letters upon the stone, apparently from the blood of the dead goblin. [color=red]THIS IS NOT FINISHED[/color], the grim warning read. “An unpleasant threat,” Elevaren observed. But Devrem was more upbeat. “The fact that they have not challenged us, and felt the need to leave this warning, may indicate that the route to Kalarel is now clear,” the cleric said. “We have to finish this, before it is too late.” The others were not quite so enthusiastic—with the possible exception of Beetle, who was studying the goblin corpse with interest—but they followed the cleric out of the room, pushing deeper into the complex toward the inevitable confrontation with the evil cleric whose ritual continued to tear at the boundary between Nethir Vale and the Shadowfell. [/QUOTE]
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