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The Durnhill Conscripts
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7281719" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 02: THE TOMB OF ZEHKAR</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Galen Thorne, human paladin 1</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 1</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Syngaard, human fighter 1</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 15 November 2017</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>Upon returning to the city, Galen suggested the adventurers stop by the Temple of Hieroneous to have their wounds tended to. This turned out to be a very good idea, for not only were they healed at no charge - Skevros had left word at the Temple that the trio was to be healed, upon orders of the king - but the clerics informed their paladin that the royal adviser had left a message for them: to meet him back at the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em> upon their arrival.</p><p></p><p>"I say, I wonder if this is to be our full-time meeting hall," mused the paladin. "A bar seems a strange headquarters for an adventuring team, even one entrusted with stealthy missions for the kingdom."</p><p></p><p>"Works for me," admitted Syngaard, "although it would be nice if Skevros would get the taps flowing again."</p><p></p><p>Upon their entry, the bald fighter saw with dismay that such was not to be. Skevros was there waiting for them, but he hadn't bothered with an illusion of a working tavern, especially now that his adventurers knew that Dougal's old bar was still out of business. "Greetings," said the advisor. "I trust that all went well?"</p><p></p><p>"Well enough," muttered Syngaard, still not pleased with his initial showing and less pleased at the thought of Skevros having watched the whole thing by scrying on the group through the iron rings he had them all wear. "We took out the bandits - that's the main thing."</p><p></p><p>"Indeed," agreed Skevros, not pushing the issue. "However, there was a cave opening behind the tower. I would like you to check it out."</p><p></p><p>"Might as well," said Syngaard. "We need to go back there anyway, to pick up all of the caravan goods stored in that keep. Hey, you got a horse and wagon we could use?"</p><p></p><p>"I'm certain something could be arranged along those lines." Then Skevros pulled a leather satchel up onto the table and pulled something from it, wrapped in a cloth. "And this is for you - I had planned on giving it to you before your first mission, but it wasn't finished in time." He unwound the cloth from the wooden wand and passed it over to Galen. "It's a <em>wand of cure light wounds</em>," he said. "I have no doubt it will come in handy."</p><p></p><p>"No doubt," agreed Galen, looking over at Syngaard - and having no doubt at all who would be needing it the most in the days to come, if their first adventure was any indication.</p><p></p><p>"Is this mission important to the kingdom?" asked Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"You may trust that all missions we send you on are important to the kingdom," replied Skevros. "However, this one is merely to ensure there aren't any other goblin bandits hiding out in the cave, but also, I must admit, to satisfy my own curiosity as to what might be hidden in there. In any case, here is your payment for services rendered thus far." Skevros handed over the bounties for the goblin bandits already slain - and their hobgoblin leader. Syngaard dumped his coins onto the table and gave them a quick count before returning them to the small pouch he'd been given. "Yep, it's all here," he announced, as the other two adventurers merely pocketed their own earnings without verifying their contents - trusting sorts, them!</p><p></p><p>"To be sure," agreed Skevros. "I will have a horse and wagon waiting for you in the morning. Good day, then, gentlemen."</p><p></p><p>"Wait," replied Kaspar. "What about the other two? Will they be joining us?"</p><p></p><p>"Not tomorrow, I fear. I have placed them on a different detail. I trust the three of you will be able to handle this mission by yourselves."</p><p></p><p>"To be sure," echoed Syngaard. "See you guys in the morning."</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>The three adventurers took off the first thing in the morning, Galen driving the wagon, Syngaard sitting beside him, and Kaspar sitting in the back. They had already spent some of their earnings the afternoon before; the paladin on a tougher set of armor; Syngaard upgrading to a thicker wooden shield; and even Kaspar investing in a set of ten throwing stars.</p><p></p><p>The ride back to the squat stone tower was uneventful, but the first thing they noticed upon arriving was that the bodies of the slain goblins and their hobgoblin leader that they'd left to rot on the ground around the keep were missing. There were bloodstains to show they'd been there, but no scuff marks to show them being dragged off or anything - just missing bodies. "Unusual," opined Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"Let's check out the keep," suggested Galen. "In case there are any bandits still about."</p><p></p><p>However, a quick trip through the levels of the keep unearthed nothing unusual - no bandits, and the treasure the trio had been forced to leave behind the previous day still intact. Syngaard was all for loading up the wagon, until Kaspar pointed out they'd be better served by checking out the cave first. After all, why load up the wagon just to leave it behind while they went exploring? - that was just asking for it to be stolen.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, okay," agreed Syngaard. But they unhitched the horse from the wagon and brought him into the keep, just to be sure no wild animals got to him or anything.</p><p></p><p>As they approached the cave opening, Syngaard thought he could hear a squeaking noise emanating from within. At first he assumed it was dire rats, but the closer he got, the squeaking noises sounded more and more like the stupid goblin language being spoken aloud. The bald fighter swore under his breath. Not more stinking goblins! He hated those little buggers! Not only were they a pain to fight, being so small and all, but Skevros had already paid them for having taken out the bandit gang - and that meant the only money they'd be seeing was the 10-gold-piece-per-head bounty.</p><p></p><p>"Wait," cautioned Galen as the fighter headed into the cave, morningstar at the ready.</p><p></p><p>"What?" countered Syngaard irritably, eager to get to the part where he crushed goblin skulls with his vicious weapon.</p><p></p><p>"We'll need light," replied the paladin. "At least we two will," he amended while looking over at their elven companion. Galen pulled out a pair of sunrods from his backpack - he'd bought nearly a dozen of them at a bulk discount - and passed one to the surly fighter. Syngaard grabbed it and held it in his left hand along with his shield, then resumed his trek into the cave opening. As much as he hated to admit it, the paladin had been right: the stone cave floor descended almost immediately, taking a hard left turn as it did so, leaving most of the light from the forest behind them. Before long, it would have been nearly pitch black in the cave had he and Galen not been carrying sunrods.</p><p></p><p>The squeaky goblin voices came from around the bend. Turning the corner, the light from Syngaard's sunrod illuminated a pair of the little pests, standing facing each other and deep in some sort of argument. They turned towards the unexpected light, saw a human figure approaching, and ran to attack. In the dim light - the goblins were at the far end of the sunrod's radius of illumination - Syngaard saw their approach and readied his stance, allowing them to come to him instead of charging right back at them. He hadn't had much luck with goblins; better they waste all of their energy running into battle rather than him doing the same.</p><p></p><p>Surprisingly, the goblins were both wielding longswords big enough for a human, although they also had their little morningstars clipped to their belts. Given the size discrepancy, they had to wield the longswords two-handed, the one racing up to Syngaard holding it over his head to crash it down at the fighter. Syngaard gave the goblin a good whack with his morningstar, not enough to kill it, sadly, but enough to mess up its aim with its oversized sword, which the fighter easily sidestepped. Galen and Kaspar had taken their places beside Syngaard by the time the second goblin approached, and Galen handily skewered it upon his own blade.</p><p></p><p>The first goblin, bloodied by Syngaard's weapon, apparently decided to try to live to fight another day and fled for safety. Unfortunately for him, the only safety was apparently the cave entrance the adventurers had used, for it tried running around the heroes to flee the way they'd come. Galen took a swipe at it and got a glancing blow with his longsword, but Kaspar was there to break the goblin's neck with a well-placed strike of his hand.</p><p></p><p>Looking about to ensure there were no other goblins approaching, the trio took a moment to check the bodies of the two they'd slain. They had nothing much in the way of value but their armor and weapons, and since the longswords were scaled for human use, Syngaard opted to claim the better-looking of the two. They then moved deeper into the cave.</p><p></p><p>Up ahead they saw a stack of crates, piled about five feet high and going from wall to wall across a narrow cave passageway. But as they approached the makeshift wall, they found two piles of bones scattered before the crates. Many of the bones had been crushed and broken, but they were intact enough for the adventurers to piece together that these had once been human skeletons. "There's no sign of any armor or clothing," pointed out Kaspar. "They may well have been animated, undead skeletons that were destroyed."</p><p></p><p>"Yes, and along with two skeletons, two human-sized longswords," added Galen. "No doubt these were the original wielders."</p><p></p><p>Syngaard looked down at his new sword stuck through his belt (for there were no scabbards), and decided he'd stick with his trusty morningstar for now. He turned his attention back to the crates, but glanced back at the piles of bones every now and then, fearing that at any moment they might spring back up and attack. There were no markings on the crates indicating their contents, so Syngaard pried open the top of one to find it filled with dirt and rocks. It was apparently meant as a wall of sorts, and once the fighter climbed up on top of the pile he saw goblin spears had been wedged in place, all pointing further down into the cave network, indicating the goblins had been trying to keep something further down there at bay - not an entirely comforting thought! Climbing over the pile, Syngaard held up his borrowed sunrod and saw the ceiling had collapsed just around the corner from the crate-wall, blocking off whatever passageway had been in place, but also opening up a sloped chasm down to a lower level. Once Kaspar and Galen had joined him, the three went cautiously down the gravel-covered slope, each step causing loose stones to tumble down the slope ahead of them and clatter on the stone floor ahead.</p><p></p><p>The slanting passageway led to a large, open room, carved from the stone given its rectangular shape. In the back of the chamber was a raised platform, upon which stood either a suit of plate mail armor or a statue - from this distance and in this lighting, it was hard to tell which. There was a passageway on both side walls, leading further into darkness. And on the floor were the slain remains of two goblins, their little morningstars still clutched in dead hands.</p><p></p><p>Fearful of undead, Galen cast forth his senses, seeking the telltale taint of evil. Neither goblin emanated evil - but then, there's nothing inherently evil about a dead body. However, there were four runes on the platform the armored figure stood upon, and three of them radiated evil to Galen's senses. Moving cautiously closer to the armored form - and once he got close enough, he could see it was a statue carved from stone - Galen's innate ability to detect evil suddenly sent alarms at the periphery of his vision, for at either end of the side corridors stood undead forms: a human skeleton to the left and two such creatures to the right.</p><p></p><p>"Skeletons!" the paladin warned to his friends, positioning himself to guard against the approach of the animated skeleton to his left. Kaspar and Syngaard likewise took up positions guarding against the two to the right. And, at some unseen signal, the skeletons all moved forward as one, advancing upon the adventurers. Kaspar struck out at the one who came toward him, shattering its breastbone with the power of his fist. Syngaard struck out with his trusty morningstar, grinning at the crunch it made as its solid metal head crunched bone. But neither skeleton was destroyed by these initial attacks, and they fought back with unnatural ferocity. Galen, too, was trading blows with his own undead menace, but the paladin had had the presence of mind to switch weapons to his mace, knowledgeable enough to know that blunt weapons were the best offense against an animated monstrosity whose body was composed entirely of unliving bone.</p><p></p><p>It didn't take long before the three adventurers had dealt with the undead menace and three sets of human bones littered the chamber floor. They checked out both side corridors; one led to a narrow room whose only contents were a sole bookcase holding books and scrolls written in a language or languages none of the conscripts had ever seen before. "Goblinigook," Syngaard named the odd writing. The other room was about twice the size of the bookcase room and it held only a wooden table and a chair crafted of bone; upon entering the room, Kaspar's presence activated a trap and the "chair" unlimbered and reconfigured itself into yet another animated human skeleton. Still, with three-to-one odds, the creature was handily dealt with. There were a few rolled-up scrolls littering the tabletop, but they were so brittle with age that they collapsed into fragments upon being disturbed.</p><p></p><p>Kaspar used his elven senses to confirm that there weren't any secret doors in the large chamber or either of the side passages or rooms, and then the trio examined the plinth upon which the statue stood. There were four runes carved into the floor beneath the statue, three of them glowing and one of them completely dark; of the three, one glowed at a mere fraction of the intensity of the others and seemed to be flickering. As for the statue, it was carved in one piece from a dark stone, of a (presumably human) warrior in plate mail holding a longsword by its hilt, with its tip touching a point between the statue's feet. The sword was quite obviously the real thing, not part of the statue, and seemed to be of masterwork quality.</p><p></p><p>"I don't like this," muttered Syngaard. "Betcha anything that statue's gonna come to life if we step on those runes or touch the sword or something and we're gonna have to fight it off."</p><p></p><p>"Possibly," agreed Galen. "But we won't know unless we try - and I'd like to get my hands on that sword, if possible."</p><p></p><p>"That may not be wise," offered Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"I ain't touchin' nothin'," admitted Syngaard. </p><p></p><p>"Nor am I," agreed Galen. Then he got an idea. "Maybe Mister Goblin wants to check it out," he said, picking up one of the goblin corpses by its belt and the scruff of its neck. "What do you think, Mister Goblin? Do you want to go touch one of those runes and see what happens?" Switching one hand to the dead goblin's hair, he caused it to nod its head up and down, then flung it onto the flickering rune. Syngaard took an involuntary step backwards, cowering into a corner of the chamber as the dead body landed on the rune.</p><p></p><p>As it landed, a blast of black energy exploded from the rune and covered the room. The statue crumbled into chunks, the "held" longsword toppling forward onto the edge of the plinth. The heroes each felt a sudden draining of their life energy as a <em>mass inflict light wounds</em> spell effect was triggered. At the same time, the flickering rune blinked out, turning as dark as its neighbor, leaving only two still glowing faintly - and then "Mister Goblin" and his dead companion staggered back upright in an unholy semblance of life, the result of an <em>animate dead</em> effect.</p><p></p><p>Syngaard didn't notice at first; he was too busy staring at the chunks of the statue for the slightest movement, certain beyond all reason that it would reassemble, come to life, and attack them. As a result, it was Kaspar and Galen who began the battle with the animated goblin zombies. Galen dropped his mace and grabbed up the statue's longsword, using it to slash at the nearest zombie. Kaspar reached into his robes and pulled out a pair of shuriken, holding each tightly between his fingers and thumbs and slashing out with them rather than throwing them. He gouged two channels across the undead flesh of the goblin he was fighting, and even though the undead thing barely seemed to notice, the monk felt he had done it some harm.</p><p></p><p>Belatedly, Syngaard realized they were only fighting goblin zombies and that the crumbled stone statue was just that - a stone statue that wasn't going to shamble to life no matter how long he stared at it in expectation. He raced up to the nearest goblin - the one Kaspar was fighting - and dealt it a powerful blow with his morningstar. Had the goblin still been alive, the blow would no doubt have killed him; instead, the zombie barely seemed to notice that part of its head was now caved in. "Sword!" called Galen, scoring another gash across the torso of the one he was fighting. "Use your sword!"</p><p></p><p>Syngaard didn't really see what the big difference was, but what the heck - he had to try out his new sword some time, and now was as good a time as any. Kaspar performed another double-slash with his held shuriken and then kicked the zombie back with his foot, and Syngaard brought his longsword slashing across the zombie's back, neatly severing its spine. It collapsed in a heap and didn't move. About the same time, Galen finished his off with his own sword-work, noting that the cuts he'd gouged into the zombie's undead flesh looked somehow burned.</p><p></p><p>"Is everyone okay?" asked Kaspar, wiping off the blades of his shuriken and replacing them inside his robes.</p><p></p><p>"I'm fine," reported Galen.</p><p></p><p>"Me too," replied Syngaard. "But I don't think Mister Goblin's going to ever be the same."</p><p></p><p>There were no other ways out of the cavern complex, so the trio gathered up the books and scrolls from the bookshelf, making several trips back and forth to lug them to the wagon parked over by the stone keep. Then they spent the better part of another hour loading up the wagon with the caravan goods stored in the keep. Finally, they were ready to return to Durnhill, to report in to Skevros.</p><p></p><p>Skevros made their drudge-work well worth their while, marveling over the contents of the small library (most of the books were written in draconic, an arcane language favored by wizards and based upon the languages of dragons) and offering them an even 3,000 pieces of gold from his own coffers for the lot. As neither of the trio had any use for arcane books none of them could read, they readily agreed. Skevros also examined Galen's new longsword, first with a practiced eye and then with a <em>detect magic</em> spell. "Curious," he said. "It would seem as if this blade is in fact magic, but its aura is somehow subdued - difficult to detect at all. It's almost as if it were somehow...fighting my magical attempts to determine its arcane properties."</p><p></p><p>Passing the sword back to Galen, Skevros remarked, "There are some further tests I can perform on the sword, but I will need some specific reagents I do not currently possess. I will make up a list; I believe we have found your next mission!" He then dismissed the team, with a warning to be prepared for another trip to the field in a day or two.</p><p></p><p>"Sucker!" scoffed Syngaard as he left the <em>Enchanted Flagon</em> with a bag of gold and platinum coins over his shoulder. Why anyone would pay that much for a bunch of stupid books was beyond him, but far be it from him to argue the point.</p><p></p><p>"This is quite a lucrative business we've entered!" enthused Galen. "Even after tithing to the church, there'll be quite a lot left over to spend on upgrading my equipment! My first purchase will be a fine scabbard for my new weapon!"</p><p></p><p>"And let us not forget that we have also rid the world of a pocket of evil, not only the goblin bandits but also the undead creatures in the cave," added Kaspar.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, that part's good too, I suppose," admitted Syngaard.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>This time the dice didn't hate me quite so much; as a result, I had no need to resort to paying Harry any dimes for rolling d20s for me. And equally nice, Logan's dice weren't as ruthless as they had been to us during our initial game night. As a result, not only didn't Syngaard get staggered once during the game, Galen never had to resort to using the <em>wand of cure light wounds</em> that Skevros provided (although I'm sure it will eventually see lots of use).</p><p></p><p>As for the "Zehkar" of the title of this adventure, Logan's giving no clues. I assume it's likely the warrior depicted in the carved statue, and that this masterwork/hidden magic longsword is "the sword of Zehkar" or something, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. (Man, it's a bummer at times not to be the DM who knows all of the secrets of the game world!)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7281719, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 02: THE TOMB OF ZEHKAR[/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Galen Thorne, human paladin 1 Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 1 Syngaard, human fighter 1[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 15 November 2017 - - - Upon returning to the city, Galen suggested the adventurers stop by the Temple of Hieroneous to have their wounds tended to. This turned out to be a very good idea, for not only were they healed at no charge - Skevros had left word at the Temple that the trio was to be healed, upon orders of the king - but the clerics informed their paladin that the royal adviser had left a message for them: to meet him back at the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i] upon their arrival. "I say, I wonder if this is to be our full-time meeting hall," mused the paladin. "A bar seems a strange headquarters for an adventuring team, even one entrusted with stealthy missions for the kingdom." "Works for me," admitted Syngaard, "although it would be nice if Skevros would get the taps flowing again." Upon their entry, the bald fighter saw with dismay that such was not to be. Skevros was there waiting for them, but he hadn't bothered with an illusion of a working tavern, especially now that his adventurers knew that Dougal's old bar was still out of business. "Greetings," said the advisor. "I trust that all went well?" "Well enough," muttered Syngaard, still not pleased with his initial showing and less pleased at the thought of Skevros having watched the whole thing by scrying on the group through the iron rings he had them all wear. "We took out the bandits - that's the main thing." "Indeed," agreed Skevros, not pushing the issue. "However, there was a cave opening behind the tower. I would like you to check it out." "Might as well," said Syngaard. "We need to go back there anyway, to pick up all of the caravan goods stored in that keep. Hey, you got a horse and wagon we could use?" "I'm certain something could be arranged along those lines." Then Skevros pulled a leather satchel up onto the table and pulled something from it, wrapped in a cloth. "And this is for you - I had planned on giving it to you before your first mission, but it wasn't finished in time." He unwound the cloth from the wooden wand and passed it over to Galen. "It's a [i]wand of cure light wounds[/i]," he said. "I have no doubt it will come in handy." "No doubt," agreed Galen, looking over at Syngaard - and having no doubt at all who would be needing it the most in the days to come, if their first adventure was any indication. "Is this mission important to the kingdom?" asked Kaspar. "You may trust that all missions we send you on are important to the kingdom," replied Skevros. "However, this one is merely to ensure there aren't any other goblin bandits hiding out in the cave, but also, I must admit, to satisfy my own curiosity as to what might be hidden in there. In any case, here is your payment for services rendered thus far." Skevros handed over the bounties for the goblin bandits already slain - and their hobgoblin leader. Syngaard dumped his coins onto the table and gave them a quick count before returning them to the small pouch he'd been given. "Yep, it's all here," he announced, as the other two adventurers merely pocketed their own earnings without verifying their contents - trusting sorts, them! "To be sure," agreed Skevros. "I will have a horse and wagon waiting for you in the morning. Good day, then, gentlemen." "Wait," replied Kaspar. "What about the other two? Will they be joining us?" "Not tomorrow, I fear. I have placed them on a different detail. I trust the three of you will be able to handle this mission by yourselves." "To be sure," echoed Syngaard. "See you guys in the morning." - - - The three adventurers took off the first thing in the morning, Galen driving the wagon, Syngaard sitting beside him, and Kaspar sitting in the back. They had already spent some of their earnings the afternoon before; the paladin on a tougher set of armor; Syngaard upgrading to a thicker wooden shield; and even Kaspar investing in a set of ten throwing stars. The ride back to the squat stone tower was uneventful, but the first thing they noticed upon arriving was that the bodies of the slain goblins and their hobgoblin leader that they'd left to rot on the ground around the keep were missing. There were bloodstains to show they'd been there, but no scuff marks to show them being dragged off or anything - just missing bodies. "Unusual," opined Kaspar. "Let's check out the keep," suggested Galen. "In case there are any bandits still about." However, a quick trip through the levels of the keep unearthed nothing unusual - no bandits, and the treasure the trio had been forced to leave behind the previous day still intact. Syngaard was all for loading up the wagon, until Kaspar pointed out they'd be better served by checking out the cave first. After all, why load up the wagon just to leave it behind while they went exploring? - that was just asking for it to be stolen. "Yeah, okay," agreed Syngaard. But they unhitched the horse from the wagon and brought him into the keep, just to be sure no wild animals got to him or anything. As they approached the cave opening, Syngaard thought he could hear a squeaking noise emanating from within. At first he assumed it was dire rats, but the closer he got, the squeaking noises sounded more and more like the stupid goblin language being spoken aloud. The bald fighter swore under his breath. Not more stinking goblins! He hated those little buggers! Not only were they a pain to fight, being so small and all, but Skevros had already paid them for having taken out the bandit gang - and that meant the only money they'd be seeing was the 10-gold-piece-per-head bounty. "Wait," cautioned Galen as the fighter headed into the cave, morningstar at the ready. "What?" countered Syngaard irritably, eager to get to the part where he crushed goblin skulls with his vicious weapon. "We'll need light," replied the paladin. "At least we two will," he amended while looking over at their elven companion. Galen pulled out a pair of sunrods from his backpack - he'd bought nearly a dozen of them at a bulk discount - and passed one to the surly fighter. Syngaard grabbed it and held it in his left hand along with his shield, then resumed his trek into the cave opening. As much as he hated to admit it, the paladin had been right: the stone cave floor descended almost immediately, taking a hard left turn as it did so, leaving most of the light from the forest behind them. Before long, it would have been nearly pitch black in the cave had he and Galen not been carrying sunrods. The squeaky goblin voices came from around the bend. Turning the corner, the light from Syngaard's sunrod illuminated a pair of the little pests, standing facing each other and deep in some sort of argument. They turned towards the unexpected light, saw a human figure approaching, and ran to attack. In the dim light - the goblins were at the far end of the sunrod's radius of illumination - Syngaard saw their approach and readied his stance, allowing them to come to him instead of charging right back at them. He hadn't had much luck with goblins; better they waste all of their energy running into battle rather than him doing the same. Surprisingly, the goblins were both wielding longswords big enough for a human, although they also had their little morningstars clipped to their belts. Given the size discrepancy, they had to wield the longswords two-handed, the one racing up to Syngaard holding it over his head to crash it down at the fighter. Syngaard gave the goblin a good whack with his morningstar, not enough to kill it, sadly, but enough to mess up its aim with its oversized sword, which the fighter easily sidestepped. Galen and Kaspar had taken their places beside Syngaard by the time the second goblin approached, and Galen handily skewered it upon his own blade. The first goblin, bloodied by Syngaard's weapon, apparently decided to try to live to fight another day and fled for safety. Unfortunately for him, the only safety was apparently the cave entrance the adventurers had used, for it tried running around the heroes to flee the way they'd come. Galen took a swipe at it and got a glancing blow with his longsword, but Kaspar was there to break the goblin's neck with a well-placed strike of his hand. Looking about to ensure there were no other goblins approaching, the trio took a moment to check the bodies of the two they'd slain. They had nothing much in the way of value but their armor and weapons, and since the longswords were scaled for human use, Syngaard opted to claim the better-looking of the two. They then moved deeper into the cave. Up ahead they saw a stack of crates, piled about five feet high and going from wall to wall across a narrow cave passageway. But as they approached the makeshift wall, they found two piles of bones scattered before the crates. Many of the bones had been crushed and broken, but they were intact enough for the adventurers to piece together that these had once been human skeletons. "There's no sign of any armor or clothing," pointed out Kaspar. "They may well have been animated, undead skeletons that were destroyed." "Yes, and along with two skeletons, two human-sized longswords," added Galen. "No doubt these were the original wielders." Syngaard looked down at his new sword stuck through his belt (for there were no scabbards), and decided he'd stick with his trusty morningstar for now. He turned his attention back to the crates, but glanced back at the piles of bones every now and then, fearing that at any moment they might spring back up and attack. There were no markings on the crates indicating their contents, so Syngaard pried open the top of one to find it filled with dirt and rocks. It was apparently meant as a wall of sorts, and once the fighter climbed up on top of the pile he saw goblin spears had been wedged in place, all pointing further down into the cave network, indicating the goblins had been trying to keep something further down there at bay - not an entirely comforting thought! Climbing over the pile, Syngaard held up his borrowed sunrod and saw the ceiling had collapsed just around the corner from the crate-wall, blocking off whatever passageway had been in place, but also opening up a sloped chasm down to a lower level. Once Kaspar and Galen had joined him, the three went cautiously down the gravel-covered slope, each step causing loose stones to tumble down the slope ahead of them and clatter on the stone floor ahead. The slanting passageway led to a large, open room, carved from the stone given its rectangular shape. In the back of the chamber was a raised platform, upon which stood either a suit of plate mail armor or a statue - from this distance and in this lighting, it was hard to tell which. There was a passageway on both side walls, leading further into darkness. And on the floor were the slain remains of two goblins, their little morningstars still clutched in dead hands. Fearful of undead, Galen cast forth his senses, seeking the telltale taint of evil. Neither goblin emanated evil - but then, there's nothing inherently evil about a dead body. However, there were four runes on the platform the armored figure stood upon, and three of them radiated evil to Galen's senses. Moving cautiously closer to the armored form - and once he got close enough, he could see it was a statue carved from stone - Galen's innate ability to detect evil suddenly sent alarms at the periphery of his vision, for at either end of the side corridors stood undead forms: a human skeleton to the left and two such creatures to the right. "Skeletons!" the paladin warned to his friends, positioning himself to guard against the approach of the animated skeleton to his left. Kaspar and Syngaard likewise took up positions guarding against the two to the right. And, at some unseen signal, the skeletons all moved forward as one, advancing upon the adventurers. Kaspar struck out at the one who came toward him, shattering its breastbone with the power of his fist. Syngaard struck out with his trusty morningstar, grinning at the crunch it made as its solid metal head crunched bone. But neither skeleton was destroyed by these initial attacks, and they fought back with unnatural ferocity. Galen, too, was trading blows with his own undead menace, but the paladin had had the presence of mind to switch weapons to his mace, knowledgeable enough to know that blunt weapons were the best offense against an animated monstrosity whose body was composed entirely of unliving bone. It didn't take long before the three adventurers had dealt with the undead menace and three sets of human bones littered the chamber floor. They checked out both side corridors; one led to a narrow room whose only contents were a sole bookcase holding books and scrolls written in a language or languages none of the conscripts had ever seen before. "Goblinigook," Syngaard named the odd writing. The other room was about twice the size of the bookcase room and it held only a wooden table and a chair crafted of bone; upon entering the room, Kaspar's presence activated a trap and the "chair" unlimbered and reconfigured itself into yet another animated human skeleton. Still, with three-to-one odds, the creature was handily dealt with. There were a few rolled-up scrolls littering the tabletop, but they were so brittle with age that they collapsed into fragments upon being disturbed. Kaspar used his elven senses to confirm that there weren't any secret doors in the large chamber or either of the side passages or rooms, and then the trio examined the plinth upon which the statue stood. There were four runes carved into the floor beneath the statue, three of them glowing and one of them completely dark; of the three, one glowed at a mere fraction of the intensity of the others and seemed to be flickering. As for the statue, it was carved in one piece from a dark stone, of a (presumably human) warrior in plate mail holding a longsword by its hilt, with its tip touching a point between the statue's feet. The sword was quite obviously the real thing, not part of the statue, and seemed to be of masterwork quality. "I don't like this," muttered Syngaard. "Betcha anything that statue's gonna come to life if we step on those runes or touch the sword or something and we're gonna have to fight it off." "Possibly," agreed Galen. "But we won't know unless we try - and I'd like to get my hands on that sword, if possible." "That may not be wise," offered Kaspar. "I ain't touchin' nothin'," admitted Syngaard. "Nor am I," agreed Galen. Then he got an idea. "Maybe Mister Goblin wants to check it out," he said, picking up one of the goblin corpses by its belt and the scruff of its neck. "What do you think, Mister Goblin? Do you want to go touch one of those runes and see what happens?" Switching one hand to the dead goblin's hair, he caused it to nod its head up and down, then flung it onto the flickering rune. Syngaard took an involuntary step backwards, cowering into a corner of the chamber as the dead body landed on the rune. As it landed, a blast of black energy exploded from the rune and covered the room. The statue crumbled into chunks, the "held" longsword toppling forward onto the edge of the plinth. The heroes each felt a sudden draining of their life energy as a [i]mass inflict light wounds[/i] spell effect was triggered. At the same time, the flickering rune blinked out, turning as dark as its neighbor, leaving only two still glowing faintly - and then "Mister Goblin" and his dead companion staggered back upright in an unholy semblance of life, the result of an [i]animate dead[/i] effect. Syngaard didn't notice at first; he was too busy staring at the chunks of the statue for the slightest movement, certain beyond all reason that it would reassemble, come to life, and attack them. As a result, it was Kaspar and Galen who began the battle with the animated goblin zombies. Galen dropped his mace and grabbed up the statue's longsword, using it to slash at the nearest zombie. Kaspar reached into his robes and pulled out a pair of shuriken, holding each tightly between his fingers and thumbs and slashing out with them rather than throwing them. He gouged two channels across the undead flesh of the goblin he was fighting, and even though the undead thing barely seemed to notice, the monk felt he had done it some harm. Belatedly, Syngaard realized they were only fighting goblin zombies and that the crumbled stone statue was just that - a stone statue that wasn't going to shamble to life no matter how long he stared at it in expectation. He raced up to the nearest goblin - the one Kaspar was fighting - and dealt it a powerful blow with his morningstar. Had the goblin still been alive, the blow would no doubt have killed him; instead, the zombie barely seemed to notice that part of its head was now caved in. "Sword!" called Galen, scoring another gash across the torso of the one he was fighting. "Use your sword!" Syngaard didn't really see what the big difference was, but what the heck - he had to try out his new sword some time, and now was as good a time as any. Kaspar performed another double-slash with his held shuriken and then kicked the zombie back with his foot, and Syngaard brought his longsword slashing across the zombie's back, neatly severing its spine. It collapsed in a heap and didn't move. About the same time, Galen finished his off with his own sword-work, noting that the cuts he'd gouged into the zombie's undead flesh looked somehow burned. "Is everyone okay?" asked Kaspar, wiping off the blades of his shuriken and replacing them inside his robes. "I'm fine," reported Galen. "Me too," replied Syngaard. "But I don't think Mister Goblin's going to ever be the same." There were no other ways out of the cavern complex, so the trio gathered up the books and scrolls from the bookshelf, making several trips back and forth to lug them to the wagon parked over by the stone keep. Then they spent the better part of another hour loading up the wagon with the caravan goods stored in the keep. Finally, they were ready to return to Durnhill, to report in to Skevros. Skevros made their drudge-work well worth their while, marveling over the contents of the small library (most of the books were written in draconic, an arcane language favored by wizards and based upon the languages of dragons) and offering them an even 3,000 pieces of gold from his own coffers for the lot. As neither of the trio had any use for arcane books none of them could read, they readily agreed. Skevros also examined Galen's new longsword, first with a practiced eye and then with a [i]detect magic[/i] spell. "Curious," he said. "It would seem as if this blade is in fact magic, but its aura is somehow subdued - difficult to detect at all. It's almost as if it were somehow...fighting my magical attempts to determine its arcane properties." Passing the sword back to Galen, Skevros remarked, "There are some further tests I can perform on the sword, but I will need some specific reagents I do not currently possess. I will make up a list; I believe we have found your next mission!" He then dismissed the team, with a warning to be prepared for another trip to the field in a day or two. "Sucker!" scoffed Syngaard as he left the [i]Enchanted Flagon[/i] with a bag of gold and platinum coins over his shoulder. Why anyone would pay that much for a bunch of stupid books was beyond him, but far be it from him to argue the point. "This is quite a lucrative business we've entered!" enthused Galen. "Even after tithing to the church, there'll be quite a lot left over to spend on upgrading my equipment! My first purchase will be a fine scabbard for my new weapon!" "And let us not forget that we have also rid the world of a pocket of evil, not only the goblin bandits but also the undead creatures in the cave," added Kaspar. "Yeah, that part's good too, I suppose," admitted Syngaard. - - - This time the dice didn't hate me quite so much; as a result, I had no need to resort to paying Harry any dimes for rolling d20s for me. And equally nice, Logan's dice weren't as ruthless as they had been to us during our initial game night. As a result, not only didn't Syngaard get staggered once during the game, Galen never had to resort to using the [i]wand of cure light wounds[/i] that Skevros provided (although I'm sure it will eventually see lots of use). As for the "Zehkar" of the title of this adventure, Logan's giving no clues. I assume it's likely the warrior depicted in the carved statue, and that this masterwork/hidden magic longsword is "the sword of Zehkar" or something, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. (Man, it's a bummer at times not to be the DM who knows all of the secrets of the game world!) [/QUOTE]
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