AtD 018: Into Ancient Darkness

With plans laid, the party set off again on the morning of the 25th of Laerdonna. Heading west from Dunstone they crossed the river and skulked through the woods. The summer sun beat down on the wood-shrouded hills, and the party made good time. Retracing their steps, they encountered nothing of note and rested overnight in the Bat Cave.

The next morning, they resumed their journey and reached the monastery as the sun stood high in the sky. Cautiously creeping around the ruin’s perimeter, they reached the mausoleum without incident.

Once inside, they plotted their next move. Ozloc wanted to ensure they would not be trapped below ground and insisted on the party sending the statue down into the crypt (or whatever it was) below the mausoleum. The wise—or perhaps craven—warlock wanted to time the time it took the statue to return to the surface. Cunningly Bodrum used a new ritual he had learnt—silence—to mask the sound of much of the statue’s descent.

With this final preparation, the party again set the statue in motion. Its descent revealed a spiral staircase leading downwards about 30-foot into a large high-ceilinged room. Saeldur—going ahead of the party—reported back that a single bone-choked passageway led away from the chamber to terminate in another room featuring an altar and a mummified creature clutching a slender object (which was later discovered to be an iron javelin).

Disturbingly a giant carving of a skull decorated the floor, and four niches in the walls featured blasphemous amalgamations of statues and skeletons.

Undeterred by the sinister demeanour of the place, the party pushed forward to inspect the bone pile. However, Thonn—chafing at all this caution—strode forward into the bone pile. He awoke four skeletal guardians.

The battle was swift and brutal. Although Balasar and Gromm were injured, the undead abominations were quickly despatched. Because Bodrum had blessed several party members during the fight, the party pushed on as they did not want to waste the spell.

Thonn was again in the party’s vanguard. The first through the deep bone pile, he bravely (or perhaps foolishly) trampled over the large skull design inlaid into the floor…