*Session 3 was overshadowed by some interpersonal drama that had implications on the group attendance. It still turned out to be a successful session.*

Session 3

Archibald Lysanderoth and King Dragon finally came along and rejoined the party. Of the three doors there, they decided to pick the right-hand one at first, which was barred with a heavy log, and encountered a mummy. Thoroughly unprepared for such a foe, it was Evelyn the Elf who saved everyone’s bacon by casting “Protection from Evil” on herself and throwing herself right onto the enemy, hitting it ineffectually with a stick. He, unable to touch her, and she, unable to hurt him, created a stalemate, keeping the foe away from the others — for a time. (6 turns)

The others used the time thus bought to think of something, but came up empty. At one point the snowman ventured forth to attack the mummy too, to no effect apart from suffering a wound.

In the end Evelyn, supported by Bob’s spear and aided by her slight advantage thanks to the spell, prodded the mummy back into the sarcophagus and kept it down while the others lifted the sarcophagus lid from the floor and slid it back over the enemy.

At this point, the snowman decided to leave and play with his retainer, the Berserker Andy, outside in the snow.

As they retreated from the room, the mummy pushed the lid off again, so they quickly scrambled out, shut the door and barred it again.

Taking the forward door next, they encountered a room with an obvious deathtrap — a ceiling that drops down on the room — and a single exit on the far side. Arkbald the mage found out that by activating the trap on purpose there is a window of about 15 seconds until it recharges.

Dropping the trap and running across it before it gets pulled up again, they broke down the opposite door and found a room with a mysterious elven statue, Dwarvish runes on the wall, and a treasure chest.

At this point, a great argument broke out, Nameless and Silent felt unappreciated and stormed off. Arkbald and Jay felt that the expedition was pointless now and left as well.

The rest of the team — the Elves, Lysanderoth, King Dragon and Kyrill the Killer — sat down in front of the statue and sorted things out. They felt they were prepared to go on, and Evelyn the Elf deciphered the Dwarvish script. To her chagrin, it read: “Never trust an elf”.

They all agreed that the content of the message, while overblown, might very well have merit in the situation. So they decided to crack open the treasure chest from the side, and in this way successfully avoided a poison needle hidden in the lock.

50 gp richer, they searched the room for more and found a secret door behind the statue. Again, a room, this time with a statue of the ancient Mage Hugsar Nice the Wise, famous inventor of the lost spell “Lava Pit”.

And three zombies! Remembering the great success of Protection from Evil, Evelyn told Lysanderoth to use it this time, and capitalizing on the spells protection and clever maneuvering, they bundled the three zombies together with a long rope, until they fell. Then they simply sawed off the immobilized foes’ heads.

(GM thought: Are zombies evil? They are “mindless”. But I think Yes. “Brought forward for some wicked purpose”, it says, therefore I judged that they must be affected by the spell.)

At the feet of the statue of Hugsar Nice, there was another treasure chest, which they also cracked by force from the side, gaining the jackpot: 1000 gp and jewels worth 600 gp. Apart from that, the room held a bookshelf with a good number of scrolls, which they all packed up.

What to do? They decided not to share this money with the others in the group, except for sharing the scrolls and the gold needed for them with Arkbald. This way, the whole of the money would be invested in making the magic-users of the team more powerful.

Additionally, this hideout, protected by the trap and the statue, would make for a fine, quiet home base.

On the way out they took to the last door and found an angry guard dog, chained to the wall to protect a sack.

They left the crypt and hunted some rabbits to feed the dog with fresh meat, were nice to it and freed it from the vicious chain. On a natural 20 they made “Fluffy” Evelyn’s new best friend.

In the sack they found a number of stolen purses, rings, and assorted jewelry, with a combined worth of 450 gp. Apparently a group of robbers used this hideout, Fluffy, and the erstwhile skeletons to keep their foul gains safe.

Well, now these gains would be used for magic spell transcriptions.

Furthermore, actual gold in their actual hands, Evelyn and Lysanderoth were less thrilled about their earlier idea to give these gains to Queen Maeve to make her feel better. “She is a queen, she has enough”, declared Evelyn. She whistled for Fluffy, and together they returned down to the road and turned their horses west, towards the town, to go on to King Norn.

.

End of Session.

ODnD & Delving Deeper
Snowman 1
Snowman 2
Snowman 4
Snowman 5

Image: Jan Antonin Kolar on Unsplash