See, I'm not a Gnome!

 The crew: Bear [Ian], Debbie [Steven], Dexter [Jamie], Myrtle [Andrew], Oliver [Jeff], Ouzo [Darryl], Scuttle [Chris], with two marmalading back at the Bestial Maid Inn (Gillard [Kevin], Tu [Shane]).

[Steven has noted that he will be late, so Debbie is marmalading too, but is tagging along with the rest of us like a very attractive zombie.]

“So” questioned Dexter, “what’s next for us?”

There were a handful of leads/tasks that we could follow up on. So, a brief discussion ensued …

What Oliver imagines in the swamp!

“Kill Zarbo” stated Scuttle.
“Find those bastards that raided the REAL Temple in Penstoke” added Myrtle.
“Back to Grezbo and take the job clearing the swamp” proposed Oliver.
“What about that mansion I saw, in my dream … thing?” questioned Ouzo.
“And there is always that art recovery job in the red zone” noted Bear.

We decided to explore the caved in passage that branched off from the tunnel between the dead wolves’ cave and the burnt-out Slavers Lookout. 

It was the closest to where we were all hiding out (in the dead wolves’ cave) and did not involve the risk of wandering around Toluene.

“She won’t be needing this” noted Scuttle, pulling Gillard’s magic short sword from her gear.

Bear tied a rope around Scuttle and sent him off through the small opening at the top of the cave-in. After checking out the passage on the over side of the cave-in (well, at least to the end of the sixty-foot length of rope) he reported that it was all clear over there and we could safely enlarge the opening through the rubble so that Bear could fit through.

“Might take us all day though” Scuttle muttered quietly.

We snuck into Toluene to purchase some equipment, a wheelbarrow, pick, and a few shovels. The tools were artfully hidden beneath a pile of fresh vegetables so as not to arouse suspicion.
Bear did most of the work, Myrtle supervised, while Ouzo, Scuttle, and Oliver kept a watch on the side tunnel entrance in case anybody, or anything, came looking. Debbie played her lute in the dark.

“So, why’s your arm all black?” asked Scuttle, poking Oliver’s arm with his finger.

“Ouch” yelled Oliver jumping back, “that frigging hurt”
“You must be changing into a Gnome I reckon” Scuttle stated, nodding his head wisely.
“I’m not turning into a Gnome!” refuted Oliver, “Don’t be ridiculous”
“Yeah, Gnomes live underground and are quite black” noted Scuttle sagely.

After a lot of hard work, Bear’s voice echoed down the tunnel, politely requesting our return as he thought the passage was clear enough to get through.

“Right f’n now!” he barked.

We all gathered at the near side of the cave-in and peered at his excavation efforts. Rubble had been pulled down from the top of the pile and was stacked up back along the tunnel. A few timbers had been wedged in to prevent further collapse. The opening looked to be about four feet high and four feet wide, enough for Bear to squeeze snuggly through.

“What do you think?” asked Bear proudly.
“You should ask the Gnome” stated Scuttle, waving at Oliver.
“I … am … not … a … Gnome!” stated Oliver.
“Sorry” replied Scuttle, “the half Gnome!”
“Ok, ok, let’s go” interrupted Myrtle.

We squeezed through (Bear squeezed through, Scuttle strode through) and continued along the passage on the other side. This was a continuation of the natural passage through the rock, wide enough to proceed two abreast, and it led off into the darkness ahead. We proceeded, Bear and Dexter in front, with our lantern light bobbing and flickering around us.

After about a hundred yards, the passage opened into a large cavern. Water dripped from the tips of a forest of stalactites that hung from the rock ceiling some ten yards overhead. There were no matching stalagmites below though, and the drips plopped down into a small lake that covered the floor of the cavern. There was a drop of around three feet down into the water, and we could see two other exits from the cavern, one off to our left and one to the right. Both were at a similar height above the water. Our lantern light created deep shadows in those two exits, shadows which bobbed and shifted strangely as we peered into the gloom.

“Is that … something?” asked Bear peering at the shadows.
“You should ask the half Gnome” replied Scuttle, waving at Oliver.
“I … am … not … a … half … Gnome!” stated Oliver.

Dexter leant down and poked his long sword into the water.

“Bah, it’s only knee deep” he confirmed, “Ahhh … neck deep for you Scuttle!”
“Squeeeeeaak” squeaked something from the watery darkness off to the left.

A cat-sized furry creature skittered off into the left-hand tunnel and disappeared.

We all dropped down into the water, Scuttle on Bear’s shoulders, and made our way through the water towards the left-hand exit. Ouzo hung back at the passage exit, an arrow nocked into his bow.  Dexter clambered up onto the ledge and peered into the gloom. Suddenly, he flung himself violently back off the ledge into the water and backed away from the ledge.

“Back” he screamed, “there are ..,. things!”

One of the many giant rats!

And like lemmings off a cliff, a mischief of giant-sized rats poured from the left-hand tunnel entrance and started swimming straight towards us. Simultaneously, another mischief of rats emerged from the right-hand tunnel entrance and also attacked.

Dexter and Bear manage to hold them off while Debbie, Oliver, and Myrtle clamber back up next to Ouzo, who has been losing arrows into the swarming mass.

“Toss the Halfling” yells Myrtle.

Bear tosses Scuttle from his shoulders onto the ledge, while Dexter swings wildly at the rats swarming towards us. Dexter and Bear manage to get back onto the ledge, closely followed by the rats as they swarm up the side of the ledge and overrun us. Bear finds it challenging to hit such small creatures, but they cannot seem to damage him. Dexter has no such problems hitting, although he is soon yelling in pain as a rat bites into his arm. Oliver even steps forward and brandishes his quarter staff, killing at least one rat.

Pretty soon there is a pile of dead rat bodies, and no living ones. Dexter’s arm is red and swollen so Myrtle casts her useful Slow Poison spell. Bear kicks the bodies down into the water, and we look back towards the left-hand exit passage.

“Only nine” notes Bear, “let’s go”

We tentatively climb back down into the water and splash our way past the rat bodies to the left-hand tunnel. Dexter climbs up onto the ledge again, and Bear hands Scuttle down from his shoulders. The tunnel from this point is man-made, hewn through the rock, and leads gently upwards. We move forwards into the dark.

There is a strange gloom that surrounds this tunnel. Our lanterns do not seem to illuminate as far down the tunnel as we would expect. The air seems too chill, and Oliver notes that his black arm is aching a lot more than normal.

“Let’s just check the other direction first” Oliver proposes.

Everybody backs up, climbs back down into the water, and heads back past where we first arrived, to the exit we saw to the right. Scuttle rides on Bear’s shoulders again. As we are passing the original passage, a cherry lute tune echo’s from inside that passage and Debbie leaps down into the water to join us.

“Sorry” she apologies, “just tuning my lute and didn’t notice you all wandering off”

The right-hand tunnel is also man-made, but there is no strange darkness and Oliver’s arm does not ache here. Bear lifts his shield and leads off into the tunnel. After about 25-30 yards the tunnel opens up into another damp cavern. There is one tunnel entrance on the far side, but the lake in this cavern is much deeper. More like six feet deep!

Scuttle puts his excellent climbing skills to use and clambers around the cavern walls to the far entrance. He pounds in a spike and lowers a rope from the tunnel entrance down into the waters below.

“In case you want to climb up here” he yells.
“ .. ere … ere … ere” echoes his yell, back and forwards around the cavern.
“The tunnel just seems to carry on, but slopes down” he yells.
“.. own … own … own”
“Ask the half Gnome which direction it’s going” he yells.
“.. ing … ing … ing”
“I’m not a bloody half Gnome” states Oliver loudly.
“.. ome … ome …ome”

We reverse direction again and head back to the “gloomy” left-hand tunnel. It slowly curves to the right, and we soon come to a left-hand branch, a short tunnel that immediately opens up into a small room sized chamber, all charred and burnt as though a large explosion had occurred. Nothing to see in there though so we carry on along the main passage. Then another burnt out chamber just off to the left again, definitely a man-made chamber, but not part of any mine workings. Portions of the roof have caved in, and shattered stone has collapsed and covered whatever was in there.

The main tunnel continued to curve round to the right, with a slight upward incline. After about 35 yards we find another branch off to the left. This time it is not a burnt-out chamber, but a natural opening in the rock, that leads off into the darkness. The air at this intersection is unnaturally chilly, and Oliver complains that his arm is now throbbing with pain. Dexter also complains that his arm is starting to feel swollen and itchy again.

“Yeah” notes Oliver checking his chronometer, “it’s been 57 minutes since that last spell of Myrtles”
“Oh” replies Myrtle, “time for another”

Myrtle casts her last spell, another Slow Poison for Dexter, and Oliver casts a Detect Magic in each of the two burnt out chambers we have passed. Nothing of interest. Then we rest up and re-learn our spells in the least damaged chamber. During the hour that this takes, Bear and Scuttle keep watch back down the tunnel in the direction we came from, while Dexter, Ouzo, and Debbie hang about at the chilly intersection to make sure nothing surprises from ahead.

“Oi” whispers Ouzo, “look at this here wall. I figure it must be a hidden door!”
“But it’s like an ice box back there. And the door is trapped to buggery!” he states.
“No hurry, let’s just wait for the others” Dexter suggests.

Once the group is rested and are all back together again, Myrtle casts the Slow Poison on Dexter, [Slow Poison only lasts one hour, and the spell relearning process takes Myrtle one hour, so she needs to keep her final spell of three in reserve to keep Dexter healthy while she relearns, then cast her first spell of the next three immediately upon waking, leaving only one other spell for adventuring use] and we gather round and poke and prod at the secret door. Myrtle points out the likely opening mechanism to Debbie, and everyone else backs off down the passage while Debbie triggers the mechanism.

A large door shaped panel of rock silently slides back and off to the side. These is a small puff of displaced air but no trap effect, and Debbie calls everyone back. The passage revealed is very short, maybe two feet, and then there is nothing but darkness. The light from our lanterns has no effect, there is just nothing but black. Pitch black, magical darkness black.

Oliver whimpers from the back “Ow, ow, ow. My arm is really hurting now, let’s not go in there”
“Don’t be such a baby Gnome” Scuttle comments to Oliver, “Let’s go”
“I … AM … NOT … A … BABY … GNOME!” Oliver yells.
“Shhhhh” whispers Dexter.

Myrtle picks up a stone, waves her arms about a bit, and gives the rock a little rub. “Let there be Light” she commands, and there is!

Bear leads the way, single file, into the chilling darkness with the Light stone in one hand. Myrtle is right behind, then the rest of us. Ouzo jambs the door mechanism, and Oliver reluctantly follows at the rear.

The passage runs straight on for about ten yards, then opens out into a roundish chamber carved into the rock. A single opening leads on from the opposite side, but everyone’s attention is on the centre of the chamber where thirteen wooden stools surround a low stone alter. The stools all have a heart carved into their seat, and each heart has a small carved scalpel stuck into its centre. The alter consists of a stone table, heavily scratched and stained, sloping at about ten degrees with shallow gutters carved down each side that curve inwards to a shallow depression at the lower end. A hole was carved down through the bottom of the depression, like a drain!

“Malechai” states Myrtle, “that explains a lot. I shall Desecrate this alter immediately”
[One of the key duties of the VINGT-ET-UN Priest is vigilance against priests of evil, thus Myrtle has a strong sense of duty to eradicate anything of MALECHAI, one of the prime evil gods of hatred]
“Um … my dagger is vibrating a bit” notes Oliver, “you better hurry”

Everybody swung around to peer towards the only other exit, but nothing except darkness can be seen, or heard.

Oliver cast a Detect Magic. The alter of course, and something else, out past the exit.

Myrtle holds off on her Desecration, and we move into combat formation and head towards the exit.

“Why am I the only one without a magic weapon?” Bear grumbles from the front.
“Hey, its made of silver. Can’t be all that bad” quips Dexter.

A short, darkened passage links the round chamber to a square one. Quite a lot smaller though, with a familiar symbol carved into the stone floor, and a definite gutter around the perimeter. This gutter is filled with a thick dark liquid smelling strongly of rusty metal! The symbol matches that we saw on the rear door of the Smugglers Lookout Inn.

A large shadowy masked figure in an old cloak, floats in the air on the far side of the room, but it quickly turns towards us and glides slowly forward, over the symbol on the floor, and straight towards us. Bear and Dexter bravely step forward, across the blood moat, and raise their weapons. Debbie strikes up a jaunty tune on her lute, and Myrtle unsuccessfully casts a Turn Undead spell. [We mis-counted Myrtle’s spells and managed to sneak in an extra one before casting the Slow Poison for Dexter. Perhaps the Gods were sleeping, or perhaps Myrtle was just Lucky] Oliver’s arm becomes so painful it delivers a point of damage, so he, Ouzo, and Scuttle pull back to the round chamber, leaving the fighters to fight.

“Of course they’ll be fine, don’t be worrying your wee Gnome head about it” scoffs Scuttle.
“Oh, for F’s sake” mutters Oliver, shaking his head.

Bear swings his silver long sword, but it drifts right through the creature, unlike Dexter’s +1 long sword which connects with a satisfactory thud, dealing 3 points of damage. The shadowy arm swings out towards Bear, and fortunately glances just over his head.

“Stuff this” Bear yells, “get out. Now”

They manage to disengage from the creature [successful initiative roll for the next combat round] and we all scarper off up the passage and out the secret door into the original curving tunnel. Ouzo kicks out his wedge from below the door and it swiftly and silently closes. Oliver’s dagger stops vibrating, and we all relax, a little.

The main tunnel curved around to the right, so we follow this, soon passing another burnt out stone chamber on the left and then it opened up into a flooded room. A rope fastened to a steel spike in the wall dropped down into the murky water below.

“Oh” notes Myrtle, “we have closed the loop. It is a ring!”
“What do you make of these stools?” asks Scuttle, brandishing one of the wooden stools from the alter room, “they seem pretty sturdy”

Myrtle nearly blows a fufu and insists that it be destroyed immediately. Despite Scuttle’s initial reluctance, he eventually lets Ouzo have a crack at. Ouzo’s sword just bounces off the legs, without even making a mark. Bear has a go, and despite his mighty two‑handed axe smacking it sweetly across the seat, there is barely a dent on it.

“Ok, OK, losers” mutters Scuttle, “I nicked it, I’ll take care of it”

Scuttle carries it back to one of the burnt out chambers and starts up a little fire. The stool catches alight and is soon merrily crackling and popping. We gather round and watch it burn, a greasy smoke boiling off the wood and up to the roof of the chamber, as it slowly crumbles to ash.

Oliver points out that it’s been nearly an hour since the last Slow Poison was cast on Dexter, so Myrtle casts her third and final spell, Slow Poison, then curls up for an hour of rest and relearning. Oliver takes the opportunity to do the same with his spells, while the rest of the party discuss the merits of three‑legged stools. Bear stands watch.

After the hour, Dexter notes that his arm is feeling a lot better but is still very stiff and swollen. Myrtle casts another Slow Poison, and Oliver notes the time on his Wizards’ chronometer.

Myrtle insists that we return to the alter chamber and Desecrate the alter. She notes that there is some risk, but that she is very Lucky so not to worry. Everyone looks nervously around but we all agree to head back. We get back to the alter chamber without incident, although Oliver insisted that he was not going past the secret door and would “stand guard” there for them.

Everyone waits cautiously in the passage just outside the chamber while Myrtle bravely steps forward, past the twelve stools and rolls her dice onto the alter.[Dice are the Holy Symbol of VINGT-ET-UN and act as a form of material component for spells such as this one, Desecrate]

“BOOM”

A large boom echoes around the chamber, closely followed by a sharp cracking sound.

In line with the prearranged plan, everyone rushes into the room, grabs two of the stools, and then hastily retreats back to our burnt-out resting chamber. A small bonfire is ignited, and pretty soon all of the original thirteen stools are smoke. Greasy black smoke, that fills the upper half of the chamber and causes us to  hurriedly leave, coughing and spluttering.

“They’ll hate us now” chuckles Bear.

We head off down the last unexplored passage, which leads downwards from opposite the secret door. It is a narrow and natural stone passage which winds downwards for hundreds of yards. Just before it got too narrow for Bear to squeeze through, it opened out into what is obviously the old, abandoned coal mine workings. These were certainly the seventy-eighty-year-old coal workings that were located outside of the town. The shoring timbers looked ancient and fragile, and there were creaks and groans  that occasionally echoed back from the darkness.

“Hey” exclaimed Oliver, “my arm isn’t black or sore now! See Scuttle, not a Gnome!”

And it was true. Myrtle checked Oliver’s arm carefully and confirmed that the strange blackness was totally gone. She claimed that her amazing Desecration spell had affected a miracle!

We decide that travelling back through the passage we had just squeezed down was going to be a lot safer than wandering around in an unstable ancient mine, so we make our way back up the squeeze, around the ring tunnel, through the water cavern, and back to the wolf’s cave. Myrtle casts her final Slow Poison, and we all settle down for a decent night’s rest. Bear keeps first watch. Dexter’s poisoning seems to have run its course and the regular spells are fortunately no longer required.

Next morning, we are discussing what next when Scuttle makes a discovery.

“Hey Gnome” he says to Oliver, “check that transformation”

Oliver’s arm is black again!

Myrtle deduces that someone has re-consecrated the alter to MALECHAI, and that we have to return to the alter chamber and have another go. And that there is a definite link between Oliver’s arm, the dagger, and MALECHAI.

So, we repeat the whole trip. Back to the secret door, a Light spell, into the alter chamber where the alter is definitely consecrated, a Desecrate spell, a large BOOM, Oliver’s arm is no longer black, and we retreat to one of the (not smoky) burnt out chambers.

One and a half hours later, Oliver’s arm is black, and the alter is consecrated again.

“I guess my spell isn’t as powerful as whoever consecrated this alter” surmises Myrtle.
“Gnome” states Scuttle.
“I … am … not … an … f’n … Gnome!” contradicts Oliver.

We make our way back to the wolf cave, and Myrtle tells us that she needs to report all of this to the REAL Temple back in town. Dexter and Myrtle immediately head off into town while the rest of us rest and discuss the woes of the world. Bear stands guard.

Myrtle meets up with Pit the Procrastinator, a REAL Priest of the fifth level who is on duty at the Temple. [The REAL Temple in Toluene is home to a “retired” REAL Priest of the twenty‑sixth level, named Allistair Katala, who has established one of the more powerful REAL Temples in the Known World. He and his second, Brian Crab of the twelfth level, have around twenty Priests and a goodly number of Paladins resident in Toluene]

After Myrtle had lectured piously at the stunned Pit regarding the presence of a MALECHAI Temple beneath their very city, and how the Balance is swaying towards evil in their very vicinity, and that despite her very own best efforts to Desecrate the alter and cleanse the filth from their stronghold, that she, as only a Priest of the first level, was unable to do so and thus it fell to the local Temple to make a stand and do their duty to REAL, immediately, she spun on her heel and marched out of the Temple, leaving Pit staring wordlessly after her.

“That ought to do it” she told Dexter as they made their way back to the wolf cave.

We had a quiet night, and the next morning Oliver’s arm was no longer black. His dagger had also taken on a slightly different appearance and felt more “normal.”

We made our way back through the tunnels to the secret door. Obviously not so secret anymore, it stood open and shattered. There was no coldness or magical darkness in the passage, in fact the brilliant shine of REAL’s light could be seen radiating up the passage from the direction of the alter chamber. We shaded our eyes and made our way into the chamber. The alter was blazing with REAL’s light and we skirted around it and into the adjacent square chamber.

The blood gutter was dry, burnt clean, although the symbol was still carved into the floor. We could now see a further exit from this room on the far side, so we crossed over the symbol in the floor and entered yet another circular chamber. At the far side of the room a ladder was fixed to the wall and led upwards into a tall round shaft. The walls of the whole chamber had been blated with Light and looked almost shiny. A tattered and crumpled old cloak was flattened against the wall beside the ladder, and what looked like the faint shadow of a skeletal head was etched into the stone above it.

“Wow” whispered Myrtle reverently.
“See” stated Oliver, “I’m not a Gnome!”

Scuttle shot up the ladder for a look but was soon back and reported that it was a one-hundred-foot climb to a securely locked and fastened steel trap door.

We again retreated back to the wolf cave, and then snuck back into town taking a few rooms at the Inn of the Bestial Maid.

Ouzo though he could try the trick with the REAL Temple and made his way there to report about Zarbo the Were‑creature and request the provisioning of magical weapons to assist him in hunting down and killing the foul evil creature. Pit the Procrastinator politely laughed him out of the Temple.

Later that night we take a brief outing to visit the house that Ouzo had tailed Zarbo the Were‑creature and his buddies to, before they left town, and our subsequent raid of the Slavers Lookout. The house sits right on the edge of the restricted zone, with the front door on the side of the street being the only “legal” access. If we tried to access the rear of the house we would be in the restricted zone, and liable to run into guard patrols. The front door was locked, and despite our best efforts with the lock picks, it took Bear to give it a decent shove before we could get it. Carefully checking the dark and silent street behind us, we slip into the house and push the door closed behind us.

The door opened into an old shoddy lounge area. On the left a door led into a smelly and dirty kitchen where a back door led out into the restricted zone behind the house, and where a wooden trapdoor beckoned from the centre of the room.

Ouzo checked for traps and confirmed there was none, and it was safe to open.
Bear grabbed the iron loop and gave a tug, before leaping back with a yelp. A rusty old needle had shot out and jabbed him in the fleshy skin between thumb and first finger. Which immediately began to redden and swell.

Slow poison casts Myrtle.

The trapdoor opens into a reeking chamber below the floor, more like a slaughter house, with blood and gore scattered about. A powerful stench of rotten flesh causes everyone to retch and step back. Bear grins and clambers down. He spots another door in the side wall of the basement, and steps over a body to take a look.

“Ouzo” he yells back up to us, “get your useless arse down here and check this door”

Ouzo clambers down, eyes watering from the stench, and has a good look at the door.
“No traps here” he confirms, “open it up”

Bear grabs the handle and gives it a good tug, before leaping back with a yelp. Another rusty old needle had shot out of the handle and jabbed him in the palm. Which immediately began to redden and swell. He staggered over to the ladder, kicking Ouzo on the way, and clambered woozily up into the kitchen where the rest of us waited.

Slow poison casts Myrtle.

“Umm” Myrtle notes, “that is two I have cast now, with only one spell left. We need to deal with this within an hour or I cannot guarantee your continued good health!”

Grumbling, Bear drops back into the basement and kicks open the door, revealing a short passage to yet another door, steel and sturdy this time.

“No way” he mutters, “what is this place, the House of Doors?”

We gather up the body and drag it up to the kitchen. It appears to be one of Zarbo’s buddies, Toby, and he has been repeatedly ripped open by some large and powerful creature.

The body is wearing studded leather armour and has a multitude of weapons still on it.

Detect Magic cats Myrtle.

The Long Sword and the studded leather armour! A quick look around the rest of the house indicates nothing else of interest, so only the steel door in the basement remains to investigate.

Before the Slow Poison spells expire, we hustle across to the REAL Temple and manage to buy some Neutralise Poison spells at the rich after-hours cost of four hundred pieces of gold, which are immediately cast on Bear. Then back to the Zarbo house where Bear storms down into the stinking basement, dragging Ouzo by the collar, and thrusts him at the next steel door.

“Check it” he commands.
“Nothing” grins Ouzo after a thorough study.

But this time, Debbie comes to the fore, and tries to pull on the large handle. Locked as tight as a drum! And then she leaps back with a yelp, a rusty needle snapped off in her wrist. Unlike Bear’s previous needle exploits, Debbie’s wrist does not redden or swell up. [Debbie easily makes her saving throw against poison and is unaffected]

“Unlock it” commands Bear.

Ouzo slips his nifty little picks into the lock and deftly manoeuvres them around.

“Snick” goes the pick, which has just snapped off in the lock.

Ouzo steps back sheepishly and Bear charges in with his shoulder in a fit of frustration. The frame shatters and the steel door swings open with a thud.

This is obviously their armoury. It is a small room, but chock full of all sorts of weapons artfully displayed on wooden racks around the four walls.

Detect Magic casts Oliver. Nothing!

 

 

 

 

Ouzo's letter home

The cast: Bear [Ian], Dexter [Jamie], Gillard [Kevin], Debbie [Steven],
Myrtle [Andrew], Oliver [Jeff], Tu [Shane], Ouzo [Darryl], Scuttle [Chris]

Dear Mum,

Hope you are well and everything good back home. My friend Debbie is busy looking up at the ceiling. She does this quite a lot.

Things have been very weird here, with many of us having strange dreams and hallucinations which is weird. But we have made good progress in tracking the girl Zara who went missing and whose dad wants us to find her.

We found a secret place under the Slaver's Lookout inn. Below, in the basement was a secret door, but I could not open it, but did see a trap and left it to Debbie to fix, which she did by setting the trap off. She does not seem to be affected by lots of stuff, probably because of her curvy figure which keeps her safe.

Once we opened the secret door, it was all dark but Gillard took the lead. She is very brave considering she only comes up to me privates. She and Bear strode forth into the dark, and after a bit, they came across a cave-in, and only the little ones could get through. Scuttle went and had a look and said a new passage. We decided to check the other passage-way first, down some stairs, and we came to a big rusty door. I listened

with Scuttle and I could hear some low human male groans of agony. I was on a roll and then found a mechanical trap. Scuttle is good at picking locks who unpicked it and Gillard  opened it up.

In the room which was a torture chamber with a poor bloke tied down here. Myrtle got him off and cured him while everyone else hunted around but finding nothing. The bloke's name was Pedro and he said Zarbo took him and his brother and questioned them to find where the girl Zara was. So the mystery gets deeper. Zarbo is also looking for Zara. Pedro then said she is safe in the temple of Caribou Gorn [God of Nature]. Pedro's brother was dead - what a shame.  

Eventually, we found a secret door,  and it was not trapped. Pressing on a plate it opened up. The passage went on for many hundred of metres slowing going up. After a bit, we saw some light and a big chamber ahead. Scuttle went and had a look, and then came rushing back saying a big growly thing was comin' to get us. Then 3 huge wolves
came bounding towards us.

I started shootin' arrows while Bear knelt out the way. So did Dexter and some how we both missed. Dexter then got another arrow away (we used expensive silver ones just in case) and he hit. Full-on melee then started, and as usual we missed a lot, and when we did hit we hardly scratched them. The mighty Gillard took a bad hit, but bravely fought on. Dexter could reach over Gillard and ran one through real easy. Bear did a
mighty hit and the wolf began bleedin'. Gillard fell, but Dexter kept fightin' and protectin' Gillard's body. Dexter got bit, but shook it off, and another wolf bit itself. Bear got bit bad and missed while our great fighter Dexter killed yet another.  Myrtle healed Bear a mighty 1 point and this was enough. He swung mightily and wasted it. Poor Gillard lay
buried under the bodies of 3 wolves.

The party was very tired and sore. Scuttle took off to explore ahead and he saw an exit out. Scuttle came back and told us. We decided to head back  via the tunnels, stopped on the way to rest and heal. On the way up [to the Slavers' Lookout Inn] we checked the hotel owner's room found a chest and a key on him. We opened the chest and there was 2 vials and bags of gold. We went upstairs [of the inn] but there was no-one up there.  We did not know what to do with the hotelier [who was still tied up] with most of the party way too goody-goody to do what had to be done. 

Most of them needed a mum, like you, who showed what had to be done to get by.  We took the hotelier down to the cells and locked him in.

Lots of the party needed to rest up for at least 6  hours so we left for the Caribou Gorn temple late in the afternoon. We bought a wagon, and Pedro and his dead brother came with us. We travelled for about 6 hours to the nearest way-station.  Next day, after cures and sleep,  we carried onwards. A nice safe day and another way-station for the night. The mood of the party began to lift and the next day around lunch time we arrived at the forest. Pedro tells us we need to be pure of heart to enter and
find the Caribou Gorn place. I don't like forests very much and this one was real shifty. Me and the others made sure to not touch anything. After a couple of hours we felt like we ended up back where we started. Then we heard a big noise - started rushing towards us real fast:: bears!
"Can we shoot them, Pedro?" and he me "That would not be wise".

Then they magically turned into druids, something I ain't never scene before. They were real friendly, so we went with them to this real huge tree which they told me was the "grove". There were lots of people here, and we told them about the werewolves.  Zara was in the temple, and all of us except Oliver were allowed to go in and see her. We explained things to her and asked her to write a letter to her parents to tell them she was all good. The druids said they were not going to let her go until Zarbo was killed. Zara wrote a letter to take back, and the druids wouldn't give us nothing to help kill Zarbo. So, we decided to go to Penstoke [nearby town] where a Real temple had been ransacked, and ask them if they have some stuff to help with the killing of Zarbo  (like, a mighty sword for Bear).

Next day, we got to  Penstoke and contacted the Real priests. They told us what happened, and they said were arranging a reward. They also told us they had 1 prisoner and we asked if we could question him. Oliver did the questioning [while Myrtle used Thought Capture], and found out they were mercenaries who not know who hired them. His captain died and they were told to obliterate all they could. Oliver didn't get any more and the guard only added that one of the raiders was wearing a Malechai symbol [God of Hate].

We sat around  for ages chewing the fat tryin' to work out what to do. We decided  to go  to Gazebo, a week away, so we could get some silver weapons made to kill Zarbo. One day before we arrived, that night Oliver's dagger buzzed and an undead thing or two came out of the swamp. Myrtle tried to turn them but she had been hanging out too long with Oliver so failed. A third then arrived. I shot one but it kept coming. 5 of the buggers were then observed, so we did a runner. We then worked out  we probably  wouldn't be able to do in time so the fight went on. Debbie played some tune and even more appeared out of the dark. Myrtle and me started to  break camp and get the horses ready, the rest of the crew began to take them on. Things started well with the first two going down in the first round. Each round 2 more would arrive so we had to fight
real hard to keep from being overwhelmed. Second round we took down two more, still under control. Gillard then fell over her own feet and luckily did not get hit but the others still cleaned out the next 2. Round four kept things going well, but still more were coming out of the swamp. Round 5 and we only killed one round 6 killed two, and the horses
were harnessed and  camp broken so we began slowly moving away. Gillard, Bear and Tu fought a mighty rear-guard action as we got moving. Bear got hit and scratched but saved ok.  Dexter also just got away from a scratching before they took off and joined us in the moving cart where we slept and took turns driving for the rest of the night.

We arrived safely in Gazebo and we organized silver weapons. 

Debbie

Two long swords for Tu and Beat, and a rapier for Debbie [ten times normal price]. 

We had a spare week in town [while the weapons were made] and I spent the time not doing what you think I did. Instead, I read a good book called "The Day of the Kobold". It was good with lots of fightin' and killin'. 

We all felt good and rested after our rest. We did find out about another job worth thousands of gp's! We were tempted but decided to leave it for another time. We then left for Fresnel and had a easy trip back to Toluene. 

We checked the back exit to the tunnel under the pub [The Slavers' Lookout] and saw tracks that were about two weeks old. I cleverly sneaked in but all was clear. The others joined me me off we went. No sounds ahead so off we went. We found the desiccated body of the hotelier in one of the cells. Myrtle opened the cell and checked the body, which had all his fingers broken and he looked well beat-up [assumed he was tortured to death by Zarbo]. 

We then carried on along the passage back towards the pub. It looked like someone had disturbed the cave-in but only a small bit. We make it to the stairs up to the cellar. We listened at the door and heard nothing. Opening the door all looked undisturbed. We could smell smoke as we slowly walked up the stairs. Daylight flowed into the stone building from the fire-gutted hotel.

After some discussion, I went into  town alone to check out what was what. I went the long way round, and  first checked out the town notice board. A new job on the board and nothing about us. I then went off to a pub we had not used before [The Sign of the Bestial Maid] and asked about the burning of the hotel. 

Rag tag adventurers

There had been a huge blast in the middle of the night a couple of weeks back. Neville Campbell, the owner, and his dogs are missing and so is Zarbo who has not been seen since. 

The local thieves guild was more forthcoming. A bounty is out for a group of adventurers with a bounty of 1,000 gps! I reckon that is us!

I rejoined the group and filled them in. Dexter then went into town to check out the militia. Lots of halflings have had their heads pulled off but other than the fire of the hotel and the disappearance of the hotelier and his dog nothing else really.

Well, that's all for now Mum. Give Woopie a pat and a bone from me.

Your loving son
Ouzo.

(Edited by Myrtle)

A Series of Unusual Experiences

“Ha”, exclaimed Tu [Shane], “the back door!”

“Might be” said Myrtle [Andrew], “or might not be.”

After finishing off our scouting of the area we assembled back at the mine and reported to Captain Marion. It was resolved to head back down the mine shaft first thing the next morning, and we all had a good night’s rest, with no unwelcome interruptions.

In the morning we all rose for a hearty breakfast, noting that no one was left in bed marmalading! Then we prepared for tunnel exploration and confined battles, and all climbed back into the mine shaft cages and clattered back down into the mine shaft. At the big chamber at the bottom of the shaft we lit out lanterns, strapped on our shields, drew our weapons, and cautiously advanced back into the newest drift.

Bear [Ian] and Tu [Shane] lead off, with Myrtle [Andrew] and Dexter [Jamie] directly behind them, closely followed by Oliver [Jeff] and Debbie [Steven], then Gillard [Kevin] and Ouzo [Darryl], with Scuttle [Chris] at the rear. We had our lanterns blazing, big guys in the front, and were feeling confident that we could handle whatever we found in the darkness ahead!

We passed the location where we found and recovered the first body yesterday and pushed on along the drift. Tu [Shane] soon yelled back that we were coming up on three more bodies, definitely dead. Given all the yelling and noise we were making, Debbie [Steven] decided that fighting music would be appropriate and started up a joyful little tune to lift our spirits [Bless spell giving +1 to all our attack rolls]

“Sushhh” whispered Bear [Ian], “I think I hear something”

Suddenly a very loud growling noise came echoing from the darkness ahead, quickly followed the sound of heavy “feet” thumping towards us.

“Brace” yelled Tu [Shane].

Bear [Ian] and Tu [Shane] braced back, with their shields held out to the front, as a large, feathered creature came barrelling up the tunnel in front of us. And it was indeed an Owl Bear!

“Ha”, screamed Tu [Shane], “I’ve got this”

Battle commenced.

Debbie’s [Steven] music played on, shouts of encouragement rang out from the rear, Oliver [Jeff] fired off a few Magic Missiles, Bear [Ian] and Tu [Shane] battled on and eventually Bear [Ian] went down, Gillard [Kevin] stepped in, Myrtle [Andrew] cast Cures, Bear [Ian] got back up, and Gillard [Kevin] finally got in the killing strike with her magical armour piercing short sword.

Ouzo [Darryl] picked some feathers from the corpse, Tu [Shane] again cut out the beak and claws for his trophy collection, then we pressed on down the drift hoping that there was just the one monster inhabiting the area.

We passed another dead body, obviously one of the mine guards, dressed in chain mail, and after a further fifty yards we find the drift had broken into a large natural cavern. There was one other exit from the cavern, no doubt towards the surface, and the Owl Bear’s “nest” was easy to spot in the back corner of the cavern. Adjacent to the nest was a pile of old bones, and a partially eaten body of an elven fighter. We retrieved some chain mail, a long sword, bow, and assorted jewellery from the elven body, and turned towards the tunnel that led onward.

Bear [Ian] and Gillard [Kevin] took the lead and we pushed on into the narrower and totally natural tunnels beyond the cavern. We explored a few passages (that got narrower and narrower) before we finally found another large cavern with a creek flowing across it and out a large entrance to the outside. Sure enough, peering out into the light we saw that this was indeed the cave entrance we had discovered  yesterday.

We had not really found anything of interest, and certainly no other creatures or tracks, during our exploring so we headed on back to the Owl Bear cavern, gathered up all the “loot”, and started off to make our way back to the main mine shaft and then up the elevators to the camp.

“Wait” exclaimed Tu [Shane] as we passed the Owl Bear carcass. “Let’s just check its stomach, seeing as it eats all sorts of people and stuff”

Voila, lots of gross smelly icky stuff including a relatively intact hand with a ring on its index finger.
Into the loot pile with that, and then Oliver’s [Jeff] Detect Magic reveals that the ring and the elf’s Long Sword are both magical items.

“That’ll be mine then” states Dexter [Jamie] as he picks up the Long Sword and gives it a few experimental swishes around the cavern. [Jamie shares top rank on the treasure distribution list but has the only character that can use a long sword and pretty much automatically claims it. Then subsequently drops a rank on the list]

Back aboveground at the mine camp we reported to Captain Marion. Tu [Shane] waved the Owl Bear beak and claws in front of her.

“All sorted” he confirmed, “and we’ll take the sex slave thanks!”

“Noo, you shood be taking mee” shouts Dubull the gnome from the slave cage, “I am much more skilled than that skinny good for nuting (snicker) piece of human fluff, who can’t even see in the dark!”

We received the three gems previously offered and collected the girl. Her name is Tanya Hyde, and she used to work for Zarbo (the suspected werewolf) at the Slavers Lookout, and she also knew Zara (the girl we had originally been hired to find) from there. We stayed that night in the mine encampment and prepared to set off first thing in the morning. Preparation involved relearning and casting cures (Myrtle [Andrew]) until everyone was back at full health, re-memorising a full complement of magical spells (Oliver [Jeff]), gathering supplies (Scuttle [Chris], “And I didn’t even have to pay”), and getting a good night’s rest (everyone).

The trip back to Toluene was relatively uneventful. We got to the first fortified camp around midday of the first day, noticed that the ghoul bodies had been dragged off into some nearby marches, and decided to carry on for the rest of that day before finding an overnight camp, far away! Which seemed to be a fine thing as the night passed with no excitement, apart from some brief arguments about who should keep the slave girl warm!

The next day was also uneventful, and we passed the next fortified camp around midday. We noticed there some recent Orc tracks and carried on through the afternoon to camp on the trail that night. The night was not quite so uneventful as Myrtle [Andrew] and Oliver [Jeff] woke everyone during the second watch after hearing some extremely load and very nearby bird-like screeches.

“Orcs” whispered Tu [Shane], “keep the noise down”

Everyone quietly drew their weapons and we all kept low and quiet. VINGT-ET-UN was with us [successful roll against the maximum party Luck score (Myrtle-18)], and although we heard more screeching noises and the trampling of many booted feet passing nearby, everything quietened down after about ten minutes and the rest of the night passed with no more excitement.

In the morning we took a look over where the noises had originated and found two dead bodies of very strange creatures. They looked a bit like horses, but definitely not.

“Maybe Red Dragons?” queried Dexter [Jamie, the Ranger. After a very poor roll]

“Well, certainly not the wolves or 25-30 Orcs that passed through here last night” stated Tu [Shane].

We nervously carried on back towards town and arrived there somewhat later. [The DM messed up the trip duration and we arrived back safety a day quicker than it took us heading out!]

We returned the wagon back to the miners’ office, collected our 200gp per person reward, sold the various bits of armour and non-magical jewellery and gems (for 450 gp), and cautiously snuck the Halflings, and other members of the party known to the suspected Werewolf Zarbo, back to the Mistress and Crop. Oliver [Jeff] hustled off to the Mages Guild and organised some magical Identification of the Long Sword and Ring, at a cost of 400 gp. The Ring would be done overnight, and the Long Sword the following day.

There was much talk around town about a terrible attack that had occurred a few days ago in Penstoke (where we had come from a few weeks ago). Apparently, the REAL “temple” (more like a small shrine and austere priest’s accommodation) had been sacked and burned to the ground. The REAL priest, two local Paladin’s, and some other worshipers had been killed!

“Well, at least they can’t blame us for that” stated Scuttle [Chris].

We quizzed Tanya about her prior employer Zarbo, his friends, his typical movements, and the layout of the Slavers Lookout. A mister Malcom Clough owned the “Inn”, while Zarbo "ran"
the business there. Apparently, Zarbo and his two burly “friends”, Toby and Jack, were want to disappear for days on end, every so often. Tanya provided us with a description of the establishment, and particularly the few areas that Tu [Shane] had not managed to frequent during his previous exploits with the girls there. This included the owner’s private room on the ground floor, the presence of a locked cellar.

“Never been in there though” she noted.

Tu [Shane] and Dexter [Jamie] concoct a plan to visit the Slavers Lookout each night, “Just to see if Zarbo is around”, so they head off while the rest of the party settle in for a quiet night laying low in our rooms at the Mistress and Crop. We had taken two rooms on the second floor, one for the ladies and the other for the men. Of course, we set watches in each room, just in case.

 And weird stuff happened overnight! During the second watch (Oliver [Jeff] and Scuttle [Chris]) the door to their room silently swung open revealing a shadowy figure slipping in through the opening. Scuttle prodded Bear [Ian] and Ouzo [Darryl] to wake them, and Oliver [Jeff] let fly a Magic Missile. The figure bolted back out through the door and raced off down the stairs with Ouzo [Darryl] in hot pursuit. The rest of those in the men’s room alerted the ladies and followed after Ouzo [Darryl] as he disappeared into the misty darkness of the town.

Scuttle [Chris] pointed out that the strange figure had left bloody footprints on the floor, and bloody smears on the door handle and door frame! And by then Ouzo [Darryl] had actually disappeared.

“Did you see which way he went?” asked Bear [Ian], peering unsuccessfully down the three gloomy streets leading off from the door.

Sometime later, Ouzo [Darryl] appeared out of the darkness and spun some tale about following the figure into the restricted area at the centre of town, and onto the grounds of an old manor house with a clock tower. He said that once he heard the sound of growling dogs from the rear of the house, he had retreated and returned.

After some discussion among the party about what this might all mean, and what might have led the strange figure to attack the men’s room in particular, everyone settled back down for the rest of the night. Traps were set, and furniture piled against doors, in both the rooms!

Not long later, towards the end of the second watch, Oliver [Jeff] and Scuttle [Chris] heard a sharp crump as the trap on their door was triggered, and they again saw the door swinging open to reveal the same shadowy figure slipping into the room. This time they opened a lantern to bathe the figure in light, and Oliver [Jeff] cast another Magic Missile. As the burning missile delivered four points of magical damage, the light revealed a young boy, albeit around six feet tall, dressed in tattered rags. He appearance was otherwise normal, but as he turned and fled back down the corridor, they noticed that he was leaving bloody footprints on the ground, and the handle was also smeared with blood!

“Maybe It’s your dagger Oliver?” postulated Myrtle [Andrew] who had joined us after hearing this latest disturbance.

Oliver [Jeff] transferred to the lady’s room for the rest of the night, just to try and determine if it was his dagger attracting this very strange creature. Everyone stayed awake on heightened alert, just waiting for something to happen.

Sure enough, during the last watch, the window to the men’s room exploded inward and the same odd boy climbed in clutching a knife. He jumped to the floor just as Bear [Ian] launched himself in full attack mode. Bear’s [Ian] sword passed straight through the boy’s chest, as though he was made of insubstantial mist. But the boy’s return knife strike stabbed into Bear’s sword arm, and he felt more than just the injury! A chilling cold sensation penetrated his arm at the wound and began to creep along his arm towards his body.

The boy struck again before Bear [Ian] could get in a second (and probably ineffective) attack, which punched a knifed shape hole right through his shield, but fortunately did not cause any damage to him. And then, before he could launch his retaliatory strike, the boy just disappeared. One second he was there waving his knife about, and the next there was nothing. Bear [Ian] stumbled forward as the momentum of his thwarted attack caused him to overbalance.

Myrtle [Andrew] healed Bear’s [Ian] wound, and we erected a temporary covering across the broken window. We decided that Myrtle [Andrew] would stay on in the men’s room and try her Detect Undead spell if it returned.

“It’s all still chilly and weird” stated Bear [Ian], looking down at his wounded arm.

About an hour later, just before light, a dagger blade appeared through the sheet pinned up across the window, and a large gash was cut down through it. The damn boy creature tumbled in through the opening and rolled up into an attack stance just in front of Bear [Ian]. They both missed each other, and Dexter [Jamie] swung at it with his new magic sword, unfortunately missing. Then the boy struck back at Dexter [Jamie] and knocked him down with a 5 hp gash. Myrtle [Andrew] cast the Detect Undead spell and yelled “Not undead”. Oliver [Jeff] grasped the hilt of the cursed dagger to check for vibrations.

“My cursed dagger isn’t vibrating” yelled Oliver [Jeff].

Just then Scuttle [Chris] appeared from the darkness behind the boy and speared his silver dagger straight into the back of the boy’s neck, aiming to sever his spine. But the dagger just passed straight through it as though he wasn’t even there, and then he wasn’t there! Just disappeared, like a bad smell in a hurricane.

“What the ….” stammers Scuttle [Chris] as everyone looked around, checking the corridor and the street outside the window. Myrtle [Andrew] casts a Cure on Dexter [Jamie] and states “Let’s hope that’s the end of this nonsense, I have no more spells!”

The rest of the night (about one hour) passed quietly and in the morning Bear [Ian] and Oliver [Jeff] notice something even more weird than the strange happenings that night. The window wasn’t broken at all, no one apart from them recalled any of those events from the night, Myrtle [Andrew] and Oliver [Jeff] had their full complement of spells, and everyone felt fully rested, as though they had a great night’s sleep with no strange shenanigans!

“That’s super weird!” exclaimed Bear [Ian].

After some breakfast (room service, as no one was very keen to frequent the common room) and some friendly ribbing of Bear [Ian] and Oliver [Jeff], the group splits up to attack the day.

Oliver [Jeff] heads to the Mages Guild to collect the Ring, Identified overnight as a +2 Ring [+2 to all saving throws], drops off the magic Long Sword for its Identification, and then does some research regarding the Manor House that Ouzo [Darryl] mentioned during the strange “dream” from overnight. The Ring was given to Oliver [Jeff, shared the current highest rank on the treasure distribution list, and successfully rolls against Chris to claim the item].

Ouzo [Darryl] heads out to check with his local “contacts” about when Zarbo (the suspected were‑creature) and his two cronies last disappeared from the city.

Dexter [Jamie] unsuccessfully checks for bloody footprints or any other tracks around the local area, and Myrtle [Andrew] meets with the Art Dealer who wanted the party to “recover” some of his pieces that he was forced to abandon in the restricted “red zone” in the centre of town.

“What have you recovered so far?” he asked.

Myrtle [Andrew] replied “blah, blah, blah” and fobbed him off with some empty platitudes and promises that he would be the first to hear once we had recovered any of his goods.

At the end of the day Oliver [Jeff] picked up the Long Sword [+1 OV and +1 Damage] from the Mages Guild and delivered it to Dexter [Jamie] at our Inn. The Halflings, Scuttle [Chris] and Gillard [Kevin], laid low in our rooms, while Ouzo [Darryl] headed out to keep a watch on the Slavers Lookout, and Tu [Shane] and Dexter [Jamie] headed over to the Slavers Lookout to keep an eye on Zarbo.

“We won’t even look at the girls” winked Tu [Shane] as he followed Dexter [Jamie] out the door.

During the night, the party members remaining at The Mistress and Crop suffered from similar strange dream-type effects that had occurred the previous night. There were sightings of the same strange boy and people went missing, but then turned up in odd places. It was all very inexplicable!

But sometime just after midnight, Tu [Shane] and Dexter [Jamie] returned from their excursion to the Slavers Lookout. Ouzo [Darryl] also returned and reported that he had seen Zarbo and his two cronies leave the Slavers Lookout after midnight, had followed them to a house at the edge of town where they stayed for only a short time before heading out of town through the main gates.

“They’ll be gone for a few days” stated Ouzo [Darryl] “if they stick to their normal pattern”

“It’s now or never” confirms Dexter [Jamie].

So we all equipped up for a sneaky exploration of the Slavers Lookout, and head out into the misty darkness, makeing our way stealthily across town.

“chink, chink, chink, … chink, chink, chink … chink, chink, chick”

“Shut up already” whispers Ouzo [Darryl] from the darkness ahead.

At the back entrance to the Slavers Lookout, first Ouzo [Darryl] and then Scuttle [Chris] fiddle with the lock for a bit and decide that the front door will be easier.

“But look at this strange symbol etched on the door” points out Ouzo [Darryl], “some sort of five petal arrangement within a circle”.

We all look, then we all stealthily creep round to the front door.

“chink, chink, chink, … chink, chink, chink … chink, chink, chick”

First Ouzo [Darryl] and then Scuttle [Chris] fiddle with the front door lock for a bit, until Scuttle [Chris] steps back, wipes his brow, and whispers “After you”.

Ouzo [Darryl] eases the door open and skulks in first, followed by the rest of us.

We are unable to unlock the door to the owner’s room on the ground floor, behind which we can hear snoring sounds, but Ouzo [Darryl] makes quick work of the lock to the cellar and most of the party descends quietly down into the cellar behind Ouzo [Darryl].

“chink, chink, chink, … chink, chink, chink … chink, chink, chick”

Tu [Shane] and Oliver [Jeff] position themselves to either side of the door to the owner’s room and settled in to keep guard there in case he woke and came out to investigate.

The cellar appeared to be a dead end, just containing a few storage boxes, crates of wine, and other dusty junk that you might find in the cellar of the local Inn and flophouse. But a more thorough investigation revealed a trapped Secret Door. Myrtle [Andrew] points out the likely opening mechanism to Debbie [Steven], everyone steps well back, and she has a good poke around. [Debbie has the best saving throws in the party and is often voluntold to open traps etc.]

A sparking and violent electrical discharge washes over Debbie’s armour and she lets out a small squeal. [luckily only 2 points of electrical damage after failing her saving roll]

Baer [Ian] leads the way into the narrow passage revealed after the Secret Door swung open. Then in single file behind Bear followed Myrtle [Andrew], Dexter [Kevin], Ouzo [Darryl], Debbie [Steven], and Gillard [Kevin] bought up the rear.

The passage led straight ahead and soon opened up into a small room carved into the rock. An opening in the floor at the centre of the room revealed iron steps leading down into darkness.

Meanwhile, back up on the ground floor of the Inn, Tu [Shane] and Oliver [Jeff] heard a brief piercing whistle from behind the door of the owner’s room and prepared themselves for a scuffle. Tu [Shane] drew his sword, while Oliver [Jeff] rehearsed his Magic Missile spell and began to sweat!

The door swung violently open, and a huge dog bounded through, closely followed by a bare‑chested man in sleeping shorts but carrying a hefty cudgel.

“Blam” went Oliver’s [Jeff] Magic Missile into the man [3 points of damage]

Tu [Shane] attacked the dog, which was right in front of him, but his swing was way too high, and he stumbled forward into the dog’s violent attack.

[Shane rolled a 1, followed by a miss, and “fumbled”. Stumble forward into opponent’s free extra attack at +2. This resulted in two attacks by the dog on Tu, one fortunately missed, but the other rolled six damage, reduced by 3 due to Tu’s Chain Mail armour, resulting in a 3-point wound]

“Blam” went Oliver’s [Jeff] second Magic Missile into the man [5 additional points of damage] and he collapsed to the ground.

The huge dog had its jaw clamped around Tu’s [Shane] left arm and was vigorously worrying at him. Hindered by the dog’s grip, Tu [Shane] struggled to hit it, and to do much damage when he did.

“Blam” went Oliver’s [Jeff] third and final Magic Missile into the dog [4 points of damage].

Tu [Shane] and the dog were snarling and shouting at each other, spinning around and trying to get in decent blows, to no avail. The dog’s teeth were fortunately skittering off Tu’s [Shane] armour, but unfortunately Tu [Shane] was struggling to get in any decent blows.

Oliver [Jeff] whipped out the cursed dagger and had a swing but couldn’t hit successfully.

Finally, Tu [Shane] managed to get in a lucky blow, and the dog collapsed to the floor, a pool of blood slowly expanding out from its body.

Tu [Shane] found the owners keys in his room, and the owner was shortly gagged, well tied, and locked into his own room.

“We better go help the others now” Tu [Shane] boldly exclaimed.