Mine Three

The Budgie Smugglers had returned to their temporary base, near Mine Number Two: El Cid [Shane], Moonlight [Chris], Sorrow [Jeff], Burrito [Darryl], Huilam [Jamie]. Tylin [Ian] was up. And Lammy was up [played by guest visitor Jamie's daughter Niamh]. Argile [Richard] took ill with marmalade. 

Day 8

Sorrow and El Cid were feeling a bit stressed out, so they indulged their vices (Obligation and Pleasure) [using the new inter-mission Indulge Vice rules, to reduce stress]. 

During the six hours while they were doing this, Tylin and Burrito went out scouting. They spotted another cave in the distance and went over to investigate. By the mouth of this cave, they espied a solitary elderly figure, dressed in a tattered robe, tending a garden.

Thorn

He was standing in bright sunlight, but he cast no shadow.

They watched for a bit, and then he headed into the cave. They had a brief reconnoitre to check out the beans and then returned to the group to report.

Burrito, Tylin and Sorrow viewed from behind a rock, while Lammy and Huilam had a chat with him.

He was called Thorn. The local gnolls didn't seem to bother him. While they were chatting, he suddenly raised his head and looked over at the rock Sorrow and Burrito were hiding behind and said "There is great evil there." They assumed it was Sorrow's IMAG eyes. Sorrow sloped off. Then Burrito tried to sneak close and into the tunnel, but he wasn't so successful; everyone, including Thorn, looked over at him.

He sheepishly joined the group talking to Thorn.

The entire group was invited inside into the cave. Sorrow and El Cid hung back - both had the evil IMAG gifts, and Moonlight hung back - his pet toad and El Cid's Mr Clucky freaked out whenever they neared Thorn.

In the living chamber there was an attached kitchen area, and along one wall, it was a workshop. 

Staff
of the
Phylactery

Six partly-made Staves of the Phylactery were along the back wall. Thorn manufactured them, it seemed to be his job, but to finish each one required the skull of a virgin girl; human, elf or half-elf. These six staves were each awaiting their skulls.

Thorn explained how it worked. The person who wants the staff must supply the skull, and place it on the staff himself. If an incorrect skull (non-virgin or wrong race) is brought and placed on the staff, then "The last person to handle the skull, dies."

Thorn offered them all tea. No-one was prepared to finish the tea at first, everyone taking little polite sips. That is, until brave Tylin did. It was very refreshing [and restored a Stress].

They left Thorn and rejoined Sorrow, El Cid and Moonlight to brief them on the new information. Then Tylin, Burrito, Lammy and Huilam snuck in through a back entrance that Tylin and Burrito had discovered earlier. This set of tunnels ended up connecting to Thorn's tunnels. There was a wet cave with dangling glowing phosphorescent grabby plant roots. And then a smart (but old and musty) bedroom with a magical chest of drawers.

Thorn encountered them in these tunnels, and he was a bit miffed that they had the audacity to skulk into his home like lowly thieves. So, they made sheepish mumbled apologies and left. Heaven knows what would have happened to them if they had destroyed all of the sentient guard roots, or had looted the bedroom.

Day 9

Early in the visit, Thorn had pointed out that there was another abandoned mine about two hours away, "... filled with skeletons". So, the next day, the entire group, horses and all, went off there, and relocated base.

There were two dead gnolls at the entrance. Dead maybe a week or two, their heads cleaved with axes.

Like the other tunnels, this one had been a gold mine too. With narrow single-file tunnels, and shored-up ceilings. 

There were several sets of skulls embedded in the walls; two skulls facing each other, at the same height off the floor. The group suspected that this was some kind of magical alarm system, so, rather than walk through them, they were careful to gingerly step over the imaginary line between the two skulls, or to squat and crawl beneath them. Deeper in, when there were two skulls on each side, and two imaginary lines, this exercise in gingerliness became more difficult.

Down a side passage, there was a pit that blocked the passage. It had a rickety wooden bridge across it. Huilam tried to fix it [with TINKER] but failed in a spectacular fashion, and all the wood collapsed into the pit. 

Scrabbling skeletons

Down in the pit there were some desiccated unmoving bodies, in rotted clothes, so El Cid climbed down loot them. There was some petty cash and some knick-knacks. While he was down there, he passed up the pieces of timber from the broken bridge. 

Lammy had a go at fixing it this time, but he used his Mend spell, and did a sterling job.

The party moved down further, but a group of skeletons came swarming down the tunnel. The party withdrew back across the pit, and pulled the bridge back as each mindless skeleton approached. It didn't take long until all the skeletons had fallen into the pit. They scrabbled around futilely.

The group continued down the now-clear passage into a chamber. This was where the gold vein terminated and so the cave was a large mined seam. There was broken mining equipment around, and with no exits.

Double tomb doors

They returned to the main passage, and off another side passage was a recently carved room (into the rock), with twin double doors, reinforced. But they were no match for Sorrow, and despite the intricate mechanism, he managed to move the bolt enough to prise one open.

Inside was a nicely carved room with four sarcophagi. No-one was brave enough to open them until El Cid volunteered. Everyone withdrew to the passage, and he stuck a crowbar in to prise up a lid. There was a little hiss. 

Inside was a wooden coffin. Since it was still daytime outside, he risked opening the coffin. As expected, there was an immaculate body inside, well dressed. It was a young woman. 

"Vampire!" growled El Cid.

He hammered a wooden spike into her chest. Not much happened; until black blood began to pool in the bottom of the coffin.

So, several of them helped him, and they lifted the coffin out of the sarcophagus, and carried it outside into the sun. There, the effect was more spectacular, and she exploded into magical fire, then burned down to a dry skeleton - with fangs.

The other three sarcophagi were dealt with in a similar matter. The vampire casualties were one woman, one man, one half-elf man and a gnome girl.

There wasn't much loot in the sarcophagi: just some petty cash and funerary items. Though, the first girl had a gold key with an emerald inlay.

Back in the tunnels, further in, they came across some ghouls. As it was single-file, El Cid had to fight them himself - two waves of two ghouls. He chopped them all down, but the last one scratched him, and it's foul grave filth paralyzed him. 

Peering into the next chamber, they spotted a number of milling figures. So, they dragged El Cid out into the sun to wait for the ghoul paralysis to wear off.