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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sniktch" data-source="post: 441904" data-attributes="member: 7704">The CryptsIke inspected the door carefully for several long moments before he declared it safe.  Beyond the door they found an octagonal chamber thick with dust.  The walls were lined with statues of stern dwarves, each with the same crown affixed to his head.  Plaques below each statue proclaimed these figures to be the great kings of Duernfast, and every king was represented, from the first to the twelth.  Directly across from the entrance was another door exactly the same as the one they had just opened.Ike found that door to be safe also, and they stepped through it to find themselves in a great crypt, the walls lined with niches piled with bones and crisscrossing tunnels honeycombing the area.  They stayed on the main thoroughfare, and soon they came to a four-way intersection.  The left passage seemed to lead to more of the same – more confusing intersections and niches piled with bones.  The right passage was lined with doors.  A brief inspection of the nearest pair of doors revealed inscriptions bearing dwarf family names, “Ironfist” and “Hammerhelm.”  Jack said that these were most likely family vaults for the noble houses.  Directly ahead of them the main passage terminated in a third set of double doors bearing the graven image of Moradin.“My guess’d be that we should stick ta the double doors,” Jack stated.“I wouldn’t mind checking some of the doors in this hallway.  If they are the family crypts of Duernfast then valuable treasures might be interred with the remains,” Artimas replied.This statement put Jack into an immediate foul humor. “Ye’ll not be disturbin any more o’ the dead here, wizard,” he snarled.Artimas raised an eyebrow, “Oh, no?  And you will stop me if I do, I suppose?”Jack ran his thumb down the blade of his new axe.  “Try me, wizard.”Eli stepped in.  “Remember, Jack, we are looking for clues.  It might be a good idea to examine every nook and cranny, or can we afford to risk missing something that would aid our quest?”Quinn also entered the argument. “Jack, you must take the high road and be more tolerant of others.  How can we expect to accomplish anything of good if we are constantly bickering amongst ourselves?”Outnumbered, Jack simply snorted and sat in front of the double doors.  “Fine,” he spat, “But I still reckon the double doors are the way ta go, an’ I ain’t helpin’ to loot dwarven tombs.”  He glowered at Artimas when he finished speaking.Eli nodded and turned to Artimas.  “Feel free to explore some of the side doors if you want.  I’ll wait here with Jack and any others who wish to remain behind and wait for you to finish.  We could use the rest, actually, my arm is still hurting from the the gash I received from that creature in the shaft.”Welby stepped up next to Artimas and nodded to the Crow to join him.  The half-elf shrugged and sauntered over.  Ike chuckled, said, “I suppose someone should tag along to keep you out of trouble,” and also stepped down the right passage.  Quinn indicated that she could use a break, also, and Grick would not leave her, so the quartet began to methodically open the doors and explore the small tombs.  They found nothing in the first dozen rooms they went through, simply coffins stacked upon coffins containing skeletal remains.  Artimas was nothing, however, if not thorough, and insisted upon continuing their search until all of the crypts had been checked.  Soon they had moved out of sight of the other four, who remained camped at the intersection in front of the double doors.Not long after, Eli began to hear noises from the left hallway.  It was a faint, stealthy sound, but he was convinced that something or someone was moving toward them from the other passage, and taking pains to conceal the sound of their approach.“Did anyone else hear that?” he asked, rising and moving in the direction of the passage.Jack and Quinn had been having a heated discussion since the other half of the party had moved out of sight.  They quieted and looked to see what the elf was doing.  Eli cocked his head and then paled noticeably, drawing his rapier and running back to join them.“Ghouls!” he cried.  “Sounds like a whole pack of them!”Entering the hallway behind him were indeed a half a dozen of the undead creatures, gnawing on old split bones and gazing at the companions with baleful bloodshot eyes.*****Welby was getting tired of searching these little rooms.  They had opened at least a dozen of them and found nothing more interesting than old coffins filled with bones, rats’ nests, and cobwebs.  He was getting ready to tell Artimas to stow it, and he could tell Ike and the Crow were feeling the same way.  Just one more room, he told himself, and then I quit.The chamber he entered looked like all the others he’d seen thus far.  Coffins were stacked in a moldering heap and scattered bones were strewn in the thick dust covering the floor.  He heard a rustling sound from the stacks of coffins and moved in for a closer look.  More rats, probably.He was not prepared for what happened next.  The stack of coffins fell over, crashing just to the side of him.  From behind the pile came a hideous creature - a long, segmented worm with many sets of legs and a head ringed with hundreds of tentacles.  Welby yelled in alarm and settled back into a defensive stance.*****“Voltare!” Jack roared and charged toward the nearest undead.  Grick was faster and leaped into the fray, delivering a solid jump kick to one ghoul that slammed it back into the closest wall.  Jack arrived just behind him and chopped into a ghoul at its armpit, driving his axe entirely through the creature.  It dropped on the ground in two twitching halves.  He continued his powerful stroke into the next ghoul, which raised an arm to ward the blow, but Jack cleaved right through the arm and smashed into its chest, driving into the ground.  He delivered a quick overhead chop before the ghoul could recover and it lay still.Two ghouls pounced onto Grick, drawing several long scratches on his arms with their filthy claws.  The one he had attacked ran past him, but Eli shouted a spell and a missile of force slammed into its skull, finishing it.  Grick went into a blur of movement, launching a flurry of punches at one of the ghoul’s heads that shattered its skull, but the other grabbed his shoulder and bit deep into his arm, paralyzing him.  At the same time the last undead clenched Jack’s weapon arm in its hands and bit into his wrist, freezing the doughty dwarf in place.Quinn strode forward into battle, brandishing her holy symbol and calling on Dumathoin to banish these creatures of the night.  The ghoul attacking her half-orc friend let go and ran back down the tunnel gibbering in terror, but the one that had just injured Jack snarled in hatred and bounded towards her.  Eli sunk an arrow into the beast before it crashed into her, its wicked nails scratching uselessly at her strong splint mail coat.  She pushed it back with her shield and bashed it repeatedly with her mace until she was sure it would not rise again.*****The Crow was the first to arrive in response to Welby’s shout.  He found the halfling standing rigid and stiff, a weird, man-sized worm encircling his small body, mouth open wide to feed.  Royston shouted and lunged forward, sticking the beast with his rapier and attracting its attention.  Multiple tentacles brushed against him as the monster scuttled forward and he felt his body growing numb.Ike and Artimas were next on the scene, crossbows in hand, and they discovered both of their friends standing paralyzed, the monster prepared to start feasting on the Crow.  “Carrion crawler!” Ike exclaimed. “I used to hate these things in the Ravensdale sewers!”They both fired their crossbows, and though Artimas’ bolt merely grazed the creature, Ike’s hit solidly and embedded itself in the monster’s flesh in the segment just behind the head.  Ike dropped his crossbow in favor of his mace while Artimas backed off and started spellcasting.The half-orc aimed his blow for the crawler’s head, but it dodged at the last minute and he only managed to crush a pair of its legs.  A beam of negative energy streaked over his shoulder and drew a line of discolored, rotting flesh along the monster’s length.  He tumbled backwards and just missed being hit by the questing tentacled maw, then rolled to the side and vaulted back in at a new angle.  This time he hit it above its left eye, ruining its vision on that side.  Unfortunately, this time the agile half-orc did not have time to recover from his swing and could only watch in horror as several tentacles wrapped around his forearm, immobilizing him.Artimas was ready for this to happen.  While Ike occupied the crawler in melee, he had cast his mage armor spell and surrounded himself with an invisible protective force.  Now he cast his last spell for the day, firing a magic missile into the beast’s wounded eye.  It didn’t slow, and he raised his walking stick, ready to smash it down when the crawler got close enough.*****A short time later Artimas and the others reappeared, looking slightly battered and worse for wear.  They told their friends about their battle with the carrion crawler and how Artimas had brained it while the rest of them stood around unable to move.  In return, they were told about the pitched battle with the ghouls.“Too many critters down ‘ere that freeze ya, in my opinion,” complained Jack.The Crow said, “I’m sure we’ll all laugh about this someday when it doesn’t hurt so much.”His comment broke the tension a little, drawing several amused chuckles and grins from his friends.  After the laughter subsided they pressed on, opening the double doors and stepping inside.</blockquote>

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