On the morning of the next day the weather remained cloudy. The journey through the forest was familiar now and they met no person, monster nor creature along the way. The last mile or so had no path besides the trail the party had beat the day before.  The ruins of the tower were the same toppled down walls and moss covered flagstones that they had seen before.

OOC Party is Devin, Preston and Kara.

Day 18. Time: 9:00am. Weather: Cloudy and dry. Vision: Daylight. Movement: 20’

"Here we go," Devin said as he lit a torch and pried up the trap door.  He made his way carefully down the stairs, trailing his free hand along the wall for balance.  At the bottom he made room for the others and listened to see if anything were about.

There had been enough time on the trip here to fill Devin in on the direction to the Harry's lair, and she had done just that.

At the site, Preston was next, Kara trailing. She also lit a torch. Hopefully they could be in and out without concern and before even the one torch expired, but it was better to be prepared.

Provided there was nothing present or heard, she indicated readiness to move north.

The stairs were slick with slime, Devin was wise to be careful as he lead the small party to the den of Harry the thief. The hallway was dusty and quiet with the faint smell of forgotten chemicals.

Devin and Preston opened the door to the rats nest to find the room occupied by three shuffling reanimated human skeletons. Scattered around the floor was more silver pieces, hundreds of them.

OOC Declarations!

Day 18. Time: 9:10am. Weather: Cloudy and dry. Vision: Daylight. Movement: 20’

Devin’s Torch: 1 turn used
Kara’s Torch: 1 turn used

Surprised to see skeletons, Devin fumbled with his free hand for the symbol of Auril around his neck and stuttered out a prayer to repel them.

OOC: Devin Harper rolled 10 using 2d6.  Turn Undead.
Devin Harper rolled 4 using 2d6.  HD Turned.

Kara and Preston gave way to allow any fleeing skeletons to pass by if they had a need to do so.

The skeletons came forward their bony claws raking at Preston. The very young man was able to get his shield up to deflect one of the skeleton’s attacks but the other skeleton slashed a wound on Preston’s arm.

Then blessed by Devin the holy light of Auril dispelled any shadow and sent the three skeletons cowering to the opposite side of the chamber. Silver pieces glinted in the torchlight all over the flagstones.

OOC The skeletons will remain cowed in on the opposite side of the room. The characters can go destroy them if they so wish. Preston is now on 0 hit points, so walking and conscious but unable to do strenuous activity.

"How bad is it?" Devin asked the armsman.  "I can keep them back, while you two get what we need."

He keeps his symbol gripped tightly, holding the undead back from them.

As long as Devin could hold them at bay, Kara went to open the door to where Harry had been killed. She would open it just a crack at first, to get a look in and ensure it was unoccupied.

If so, she opened it all the way, checked again for emptiness, including spiders on the ceiling, then went in to recover Harry's head if he was still there. Preston would be at the doorway, ready to shut the door if it needed to be shut in a hurry.

If occupied, what she did depended on what was inside.

The undead skeletons remained unthreatening as they huddled in the farthest corner away from Devin and his raised holy symbol.

Kara crossed the room of rats nests and the scattered silver pieces to reach the door to Harry’s bedchamber. The door opened to reveal the smashed up furniture and the corpse of Harry.

Looking again before entering to ensure nothing was inside. If so, then she quickly went in, removed Harry's head and rejoined the others.

If this was successful, she said, "Devin, I have his head. While the silver would be nice to take as well, let's worry about it some other time." She had Preston open the southern door if it had closed, so they could make their way back out to the exit.

"Close the door behind us to trap them in," Devin said, backing out behind the others.  He was as eager as Kara to get out before they ran into anything worse.

Preston could shut the door while Devin kept the skeletons at bay.

The wrecked room looked much as the party had left it. Kara entered and approached the corpse of Harry. She crouched to begin the grisly work of severing Harry’s head from his body. As she moved the body beneath it’s clothing the flesh rippled and moved, from around the body emerged three giant centipedes that had been gnawing at the fresh meat. Each of the centipedes was around one foot long.

Neither party is surprised. Declaration.

Kara called out to those in the other room, "Wake me if need be, Preston!" and then cast sleep. Even if it affected her, she reasoned Preston could wake her, and she could then dispatch the centipedes before taking Harry's head. And if there was anything else hiding in here, it would remain asleep until long after they departed... assuming she could get the spell off first.

"What does that mean?" Devin asked in confusion as he'd lost sight of the woman in the other room.  He looked over at the other man as he continued to hold up his symbol to ward off the skeletons.

The magic spell was successful in putting all three of the giant centipedes into an enchanted slumber. Kara was unaffected.

Kara quickly eliminated the centipedes with her dagger, then went back to doing what she had planned to do before- removing Harry' head quickly, exiting th room, leaving the silver behind, and then proceeding with Devin and Preston to the exit, shutting the door behind them.

The centipedes were slain in their sleep and Harry’s corpse was beheaded. The skeletons were left with their silver pieces and the party exited the dungeon safely.

OOC

Day 18. Time: 9:40am. Weather: Cloudy and dry. Vision: Daylight. Movement: 20’

Devin’s Torch: 3 turns used
Kara’s Torch: 3 turns used

They were out, but still needed to make it back to town. She kept a careful watch and slow but steady pace so Preston did not fall behind as they returned to Fourtower.

If they made it successfully, she told Devin she would meet him and the others at the Moorland Magpie Inn after she collected the bounty money. Of course, he was welcome to come with her if he chose, it was just an option if he had more pressing things to do first. Then off to collect the bounty.

Devin was very happy they'd made it out, perhaps more exciting than he'd hoped, but still successful.

"I'll come with you," Devin opted of Kara's bounty plans.  No sense having her jumped with that much gold.

The return journey to Fourtower Bridge was as uneventful as the journey to Modnar’s Cellar had been. He trio reached the towers by not long after midday.

At Athalgrim’s tower the bearded warrior affirmed that group’s success with a mute nod and invited them into the tower. The walls of the tower were decorated with the broken shields of his enemies. The fighter signalled for Devin and Kara to wait in the hall whilst he entered the magical vault in the basement to fetch their bounty. He returned with a purse of one hundred gold pieces which he presented to Kara.

OOC Kara and Devin receive 19xp each for the delve.

"Perfect," says Kara. "A pleasure doing business with you."

She paid Preston his gold, and then reminded him he might want to stick around- after all, Derry had promised him more treasure for carrying his pack on their last trip, and she did not see Preston get paid for that.

That left 88 gold- 22 gold for each of the rest of them, so she gave Devin his since he was present, then went to the inn to recover what she had left with Derry, as well as give him and Wyndham their share as well.

"Thank you kindly," says Wyndham, squirreling away the gold.
"So is it back to the tower? Now that we have funds, maybe another henchman?"

"Well, we should still wait for you and Derry to heal," Kara pointed out. "So perhaps in another day or two."

"And no more henchmen for me. I'd like to learn the spells from the spellbook I found, but to learn even one of the most basic of them would cost at least a thousand gold. And after how many trips to Stonehell, I'm not even a quarter of the way to that? So, it is an expense that I just cannot bear any longer."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:09, Tue 15 Mar 2022.