Session 9 (Life Is Like A Shadowy Alcove...)
Friday Night Irregulars
Session 09 (4.11.2014)
As told by Thyle (Eric)
Day 38
We took three days to rest and recover from our last expedition into the Barrowmaze. The wealth and riches we have recovered are more than I ever expected, and I consider myself quite fortunate to have happened across such a trove within the boundaries of the city. But the risk of death is always great, and I wonder often if my next voyage will be my last, as Guyvar’s was but three days past.
Our activities under the city seem to go unnoticed. And with our recruiting of henchmen having now been eclipsed by an appetite for war dogs, the number of speaking witnesses to our activities has been diminished. This is certainly to our advantage, as I still recall our unfortunate encounter and robbery in the city, predicated by the unwanted attentions of the Scarab. As I write this I think of Gump and I, and how nearly we perished in some nameless alley that morning. And now after our last adventure, I wonder if it would have been better for Gump had he died that day.
As usual, we assembled in the Fang in early morning prior to our departure. I noticed a new body amongst the hirelings, but as he appeared to be afflicted with some condition I decided it best to keep some distance from him. War dogs, mutes, imbeciles, and lepers make for fine companions when treated well, and their wretched station seems to compel them to return to our service. But, life is not fair and fortune favors the bold, so once again we descended under the sewers with those ignorant, brave or desperate enough to accompany us.
We are always greeted by silence as we enter, although somehow the silence seemed greater than usual. I do not know how this is possible. Perhaps this is the working of some resident evil priests in league with the necromancer we dispatched. The silence adds to the intangible, but ever present, air of dread highlighting the most disturbing aspect of this place – the feeling that we are willingly walking to our deaths. The Barrowmaze is much like a great crypt, excepting that the occupants want to add visitors to their cast of companions. As I looked over our less than silent entourage of men and beasts, I could feel the hungry eyes of our hosts upon us. I hope the morale of our hireling’s holds, as my powers against the undead are limited and I have little interest in wielding a sword.
After descending the hidden stairs under the sarcophagus, we turned north to continue our exploration, and then to the west where we had encountered the Mongrelmen. As we approached an ajar door to the south, we heard a strange humming and buzzing sound fromwithin. Meucci crept forward to investigate, and decided to close the door. The noise stopped, which never bodes well. We assembled a small group to investigate, and sprung the door ready to face the unknown. Shining a light into the darkness showed a pair of large flies seemingly waiting on of a pair of strangely preserved bodies. The flies rose to attack, and after a heated encounter the fighters were able to slay them, although Meucci and Sacco were injured in the encounter. With the flies dead, we began to search a number of burial niches in the room for treasure. I am uncertain of who caused it, but during the search someone disturbed a nest of rats which quickly flooded the room! Fortunately, my powers against the living are real, so I was able to incapacitate the lot of them with a whispered spell. Gump fell as well, not from injury, but because he is apparently equal in strength to a giant rat. Magic holds few prejudices, and has no mercy for the weak. It is the way of wizardry.
As my companions slew the sleeping rats, I slapped Gump back to consciousness. Would I have let him sleep, perhaps things would be different. We completed our search of the room, netting a wealth of coin, a potion and large ruby. A tidy profit for a non-fatal encounter. We turned our attentions back to the hallway. Mere steps away from the ‘jar of flies’ we observed slightly different stonework to the south, as if a wall had been hastily erected to block passage to the south. The dwarf believed it to be an easy task to dismantle the wall with a sledge, but the noise that causes will almost certainly attract unwanted attention. The priest had a brilliant solution by casting a spell of silence on a sling bullet, thereby allowing the dwarf to hammer away unheard. It is possible the priest is clever enough to be a mage. A short time later, the wall fell, and we were able to travel ahead. Ahead we saw a new group of burial alcoves, hopefully laying undisturbed and unsearched. The fresh wall before was somewhat concerning, as it was probably set in place to keep something inside. Given the dangers in the Barrowmaze, that did not bode well, but upon reflection I should have realized that the dead would not wall in the dead, but something foreign.
We sent Gump a bit ahead to poke and prod the floor to look for pits, and it was fortunate that we did. A stout cloth, perhaps of canvas, fell into the floor revealing a concealed pit. Oddly on the bottom of the pit, a mere ten feet away, the cloth was nowhere to be seen. I believe Meucci dropped some debris into the pit, which disappeared, leaving the bottom seemingly undisturbed. I suspect some sort of illusion was in play to conceal the true depth and end of the pit, so we chose to leave it be.
Gump continued forward prodding for traps. He paused for a moment by an alcove, and turned as if to say something, when some gray blur struck him with fury. He was propelled across the passage and impacted the wall with a sickening crunch. At that moment, I knew he had perished. I hoped Remy did not realize this yet, as I needed him to hold fast while Itried to fathom what was ahead. Something shapeless was moving, so instead of sending more men to their deaths, we set the dogs on it. I believe our archers also moved forward to engage, but I am not certain as the swiftness of Gump’s death stunned me. Through some combination of arms and hounds the thing was dispatched. It is at this point that some madness must have descended on the party. I did not recognize it at the time, but it is the only logical explanation for the strange behaviors of my companions in the hours to come. I suspect the Dwarf was afflicted first. Before I could approach Gump’s body, the Dwarf has set fire to it, and due to the cache of oil he carried, everything about it. The Dwarf is fortunate he did not add himself to the pyre. I watched him burn, and looking to my side, so did Remy. I was not to lose two loyal henchmen in one day, whether to foe or fear, so I whispered to Remy that we would come back to retrieve the poor devil’s remains
after it had burned out. This seemed to reassure him somewhat, but he has seen so much death that I am concerned that he will break. Loyal henchmen are very hard to come by. The rest of the party seemed unswayed by Gump’s death, and began to search the alcoves. We did not find much other than a small jade idol, but one of my companions, perhaps Meucci, detected a secret door in one of the alcoves.
To ensure we were not beset from the entrance while we explored the secret passage, the Dwarf stood guard near the wall he had toppled. The passageway led to more burial chambers, fortunately unguarded, so we were able to search them in peace and quiet. This was not the case for our companions, as they were attacked a wandering group of skeletons whilst we searched, and the silence spell muted calls for assistance. No matter in the end, as we later learned the skeletons fell to the group.
Amongst the alcoves we found the remains of two figures that must have been of some renown given their location. One was obviously a warrior, and gear was clearly of value, being a suit of plate, a battle axe and an ensigiled shield. But it was not the fighter’s arms that gave me pause, but the black robed body tightly grasping a tome to his chest. I moved forward and gasped, as I was able to see more details of the book. It was bound in red velvet with forged steel fittings, and perhaps tied closed with some creature’s skin. Certainly this was a spellbook, always a rich find! I tucked it away with my possessions, eagerly anticipating its reading when we returned.
We regrouped and continued to the north, discovering two more freshly mortared alcoves, although one had been burst out and lay exposed. Something strong perhaps had escaped? The second attracted the Dwarf’s notice, and again the madness I previously witnessed spread. With a crazed look on his face, the Dwarf affixed the burnt sledge head to his helm, and beckoned Xandar and another to use his head as a hammer!The first blow nearly brained the Dwarf, but he beckoned them to continue. The second blow was more solid, and his head pierced the wall, with his body stopped from continuing by his shoulders. It is at this time that the muffled screams started, and the Dwarf began to kick his legs, apparently in panic. With a last heave, those holding the Dwarf pushed him through the wall, which was fortunate as he was battling a zombie with only his headgear! The zombie was dispatched, and once again the madness seemed to subside. Could this creature be more powerful than it appeared and compelled them to release it? I have seen stranger things than this, so I must remain on guard to similar odd behaviors. And even after near death at the hands of that creature, the Dwarf’s trials were not complete. Searching the next alcove almost killed him by grub infestation, and only quick application of fire saved his life. I wonder if something compelled him to plunge his arm into the vermin?
With our party still strong, we continued exploring to the north. We soon came upon a columned with a collapsing ceiling, seemingly caused by water. We cautiously entered, and were beginning to search when an enormous snake appeared from the shadows. It struck our afflicted hireling, and slew him in an instant. I never knew his name. The remaining fighters engaged the snake with the help of some hounds, and I motioned Remy to stand at my side to guard the doorways should we be attacked while the others were engaging the snake. The snake was slain, and a quick search of the room yielded no treasure. A room to the south was also barren excepting debris from a collapsed ceiling similar to the columned room. The Dwarf climbed up into the ceiling to find the source of the water, and found access to a network of old sewers. The levels above and below this place are legion. No wonder we are beset by threats from all directions. At some point we may need to further investigate these sewers.
We continued a hallway to the west when we were attacked by a group of stirges. We have encountered these before, and they can be dangerous creatures. The beasts impaled both Leeroy and Remy before slaying them, and I could tell that Remy was near death. I implored the priest to heal Remy as I had vowed to not let him die in vain on this expedition, and the priest granted my request. Although I do not understand his god or faith, the support he provides the party is valued. I suspect he would loot my corpse before it was cold, but as long as I breathe I think he will remain civil. We searched the area around the stirges, and found a bit of coin, some jewelry and a silver dagger, a fine trove from foul creatures.
The party was wishing to continue, but as our magic was depleted and some of our fighters injured, I strongly advised that we did not want to overstay our welcome. The Barrowmaze is unforgiving, and I do not wish to become a permanent inhabitant. As we returned to the entrance we encountered a small band of skeletons which we quickly dispatched. We are fortunate that we did not encounter a stronger foe.
As we neared the exit, I asked the party to hold whilst Remy and I collected Gump's remains. The fire had burned out, and all that was left was a pile of scorched bones. I collected these into a spare burlap sack as Remy stood guard, after which we rejoined the party. Loyal hirelings are hard to find, and as always Gump was exactly where I expected him to be. I would like to reward his loyalty in some manner, but this time he is beyond my help as my skills in necromancy are lacking. At least I know we will not encounter him again in the Barrowmaze. We exited without further encounters. It is odd how the sounds of the sewers can be comforting, but compared to the Barrowmaze, anything but screams is a welcome change.
Before our next expedition, I will examine the spell book, and determine if any magic items are amongst the treasure we recovered. If I am fortunate, the spell book will contain the Identify spell so jealously guarded by those who know it. If not, we have sufficient wealth to pay for the service. Although I have not attempted to read it yet, the spellbook looks to have quite a number of spells in it, perhaps a half-dozen or more. With every find as this, my power grows. I look forward to the day when I have enough strength to collect an overdue debt from the Scarab and his minions.
Remy and I drank ale in Gump’s honor, and after they offered bread I could not help but order a wheel of strong cheese to go with it. I hope Remy’s nerve doesn’t break, as I see his skill with his sword is increasing with every expedition we complete. I worked to convince him that the Barrowmaze is not the end-all, but the best way to gain the strength we need to secure our future. Whether or not he believes me I do not know. But he took the 25 gold coins I gave him as a bonus without a complaint. And the outstanding thing about Remy is I did not have to ask him not to tell the other henchmen!