Sunsebb 7, 584
When
neither Badd, Occa or Nason say anything about training, you get tired
of waiting after a few days and head back into the Greyhawk Ruins.
Soon you are back on the third level of the dungeon, in the room where
you fought the orcs and ogres, and where you found the large treasure.
There is a tunnel running southeast out of the southeast wall, so you
follow it.
After about 10' or so it curves sharply to the northeast and continues
descending. After another 10' or so the rough rock of the sides of the
tunnel are replaced by nicely dressed stone and it levels out. It runs
for a further 30' or so, ending at the opening to a chamber.
Reaching the opening, you look in. The chamber is 40' X 50' (15'
northwest, 15' southeast, 40' northeast; 10' wide opening in middle of
northeast wall). Dominating the centre of this 20' high chamber is a
statue of a horrid mottled brown and green humanoid. Four gold trimmed
semicircular tables with two chairs apiece each face the statue. Three
sets of stairs to the northeast lead upwards: one to a set of double
doors down a short (10') passage; and two more - to the left and right
- that lead up to the balcony that encircles most of the room. Torches
flare in sconces along the balcony.
In here are six monsters: a small ogre and five large orcs. They jump
up and rush over to greet you, in that warm and loving fashion that
these creatures have when they see humans, elves and gnomes...in other
words with weapons bared.
Stump gets right back into his combat mode and rushes one of the orcs, showing them his sword.
"Kill them! Kill them all!" yells Badd. He turns invisible and manoeuvres for a backstab at one of the orcs.
Tragon draws his longsword and moves to meet one of the creatures. He takes whatever comes his way.
"Spell hurlers and archers, take
down the ogre, fighters, at my side," Logan says as he weaves with his
enchanted blade at the nearest orc.
Nason casts two magic missiles at the ogre, which blast into the monster.
"Die!" commands the ogre in a guttural, mutilated form of common. Nason does not fall, however.
Stump squares off with the
largest orc, who chops into the warrior with a battle axe for 1 hit
point. Stump retaliates by missing.
Tragon, meanwhile, makes a point
of having another orc's axe bounce off of the breast plate of his
armour without damaging him, then lops off the monster's snout.
Badd suddenly appears behind
another orc, swinging wildly and missing just as wildly. The orc spins
around to face the gnome and drops his axe.
Robert strides into battle and kills an orc. Another rushes him.
The ogrish cleric is hanging back, preparing to try another spell.
Logan weaves his sword, and manages to miss the orc that Badd was attacking.
"Erm, just testing," says Badd apologetically. He disappears and manoeuvres for a backstab on the ogre cleric instead.
The orc swings at him but misses.
"Lornard, Logan, attack something! Nason, keep pestering that ogre with magic missiles until we can engage him."
Tragon keeps trying to lop off body parts of his orc until it dies.
The paladin's orc clangs his axe off of Tragon's armour again, as the paladin next lops off an arm, killing him.
The elf arches an eyebrow and fires a magic missile at the ogrish
cleric. His three missiles blast into the monster. He shouts another
word of command at Logan but mispronounces the word so nothing happens.
Nason tries to cast his last magic missile at the cleric, then
remembers that he is only trained to first level as a mage. Then he
begins throwing daggers at the cleric. His dagger flies wide.
Stump swings again but still misses. His foe fans as well.
The next orc attacks Robert, who dodges the axe rather easily. The
warrior's strike with his defender is true, though, and the monster
drops.
The way is open to the ogre, and Robert and Tragon rush him.
As the paladin attacks the ogre lunges at him while mouthing another
spell, but misses. Tragon fans. Robert fans as well. Badd pops out of
thin air and stabs at the ogre, but misses too.
Stump and his orc continue to circle each other, deflecting each other's attacks.
Logan squares off with the last orc, and the elf draws first blood, all but killing his enemy.
Nason spins about and attacks the orc but misses as well.
Tragon again misses the enormous target standing in front of him. The
ogre, for his part, gives up on that spell stuff and proceeds to miss
the paladin with a club. Tragon misses again. Robert, though, lands two
hits and kills the monster.
Two orcs still survive, and it takes a few more minutes of intense
battle before they are vanquished. Stump takes 2 more hit points of
damage in the process.
You search the bodies.
The orcs carried but 2gp apiece; but the ogrish priest had a scroll, a key, 22gp and an azurite worth 13gp.
Going up the stairs to the balcony above you find little more of
interest, save for a metal grate over the entrance to the chamber.
Close by are two barrels filled with a foul smelling liquid that makes
your stomachs turn when you catch a whiff of the stuff.
You finally look up the last flight of stairs, which ascend over the
course of 10' or so to end at a set of double doors. You note that
immediately prior to the doors, in the left and right walls, are two 5'
wide openings.
Stump goes and looks through the openings.
Two ogrillon jump him! One from each opening.
Stump attacks the ogrillon on his right.
The elf pulls out his crossbow and fires on the left ogrillon.
Tragon draws his sword and attacks the ogrillon that Stump is not engaging.
Stump is not surprised and reacts quickly, fanning his blade, then
taking a quick one-two in the jaw for 4 hit points. The second ogrillon
hits the warrior in the kidney for 6 hit points.
Logan's quarrel flies over the second ogrillon and embeds itself in the door beyond.
Tragon arrives and stabs the second ogrillon, getting his attention.
Next, Stump fans again, but manages to deflect the ogrillon's attacks.
Tragon puts his shield between himself and the other monster, then
reaches around it and plunges his bloody blade into the ogrillon a
second time, killing him.
Robert reaches the battle and digs his bastard sword into the remaining ogrillon.
Stump is belted again for 6 hit points before finally connecting, all
but killing the monster. The ogrillon's final attack misses, and Robert
finishes him off.
"Good one!" exclaims the warrior.
Searching the ogrllon, you find 4gp in all. The areas that they came
out of are small, triangular shaped, 5' deep alcoves. Searching them
turns up nothing.
You open the double doors at the end, after Badd pronounces them clear.
Beyond the passage and stairs continue up for another 5', then there is a chamber.
You advance and look in, seeing an octagonal-shaped chamber (right wall
runs east for 15' (locked door in centre), then northeast for 27',
north for 15', northwest for 10' (10' wide passage with stairs going up
for 5' to a set of double doors), west for 15', southwest for 27' then
south for 15' to hopefully close up).
This place is empty. There is a 10' X 15' oval hole (oriented along the
longitudinal axis of the chamber) in the ceiling which apparently opens
into a room above.
"I was going to say," says Kelene, catching up with you, "That statue back there is of the god of ogres."
Stump moves in and looks up into the hole, wondering what's up there.
Nason says, "The god of the ogres? I wonder if that is significant."
He also looks up to where Stump is looking.
Tragon shrugs. "It probably means we'll meet more ogres."
Tragon heads up the stairs, his sword drawn.
"I don't suppose he's called Nogoz?" asks Badd hopefully. "That would explain a lot."
He joins in the gazing-at-the-ceiling.
Looking up, you do indeed see that there is a room above, though you cannot make out its full dimensions.
You also see four troglodytes looking back down at you.
They jump at Stump, Nason, Tragon and Badd, uttering the ancient war cry of the troglodytes as they do so:
"Ribbit! Ribbit! Ribbit!"
The first monster lands on Stump, scratching and biting for 11 hit points.
Nason also has a trog land on him, hurting him for 12 hit points of damage.
Tragon deflects his attacker with his shield.
Badd - invisible but making noise - gets bitten for 6 hit points of damage.
The trogs next start flatulating, filling the air with the same noxious
odour as what was emanating from the barrels in the previous room.
"Eep!" says the invisible Badd. He runs away from the marauding troglodyte, vomiting as he retreats.
The trog catches him one more time for 2 hit points, then turns to face Robert, who is advancing.
Nason says, "I need help here badly."
He does a roll and gets away from the troglodyte, but not before being
clawed for 1 more hit point. Coming to his feet, he finds himself
behind the trog that had been attacking Badd, and so he stabs the
monster in the back, killing him.
Tragon attacks the trog in front of him as he fights off a wave of nausea.
"Now I know why they ribbit."
The paladin jabs his foe, striking a vital and killing him.
Logan the elf looks for a good shot and fires his crossbow at one of
the stinky reptiles. His bolt strikes the trog that had attacked Nason.
Logan feels his strength ebb as the foul fumes have an effect.
Stump tries to hold his breath while he fights back. The fighter dodges a claw and drives his blade into the troglodyte's thigh.
Robert arrives and has a go at the other trog. A single chop with his blade and the monster drops.
Stump swings again as the rest of you move to help, and opens a wound
across the monster's belly. Unfazed, it bites him for 2 hit points.
Robert attacks from the rear and kills the monster.
You inspect the fallen monsters. Each of them carry several brands.
Those of a skull and scythe have been marred by scars. More recent
brands depicting a taloned hand are more prominent.
"Yeah!" the elf cries and then realizes too late that he inhaled the vile fumes of the trogs.
"BLEECH!" he vomits as a stream of brown and green erupts from his mouth.
"Yuck!" he says afterwards. "There went lunch."
Badd becomes visible again.
"Eugh," he says, wiping his mouth. "That's one breakfast I didn't want to see twice."
He looks down at the various bites and scratches with which he's been
decorated by the troglodytes. "Can I get some healing here, please?"
Kelene bounces over.
"Bend over, sweetie!"
Badd takes a deep breath, then grabs his ankles.
She kisses his posterior, and Badd feels the Power of Corellon surge
through his nether regions, returning him to full hit points and
leaving the imprint of her lips on his left cheek.
Nason says, "I need some too."
Tragon lays hands on Nason.
The elf is healed for 6 hit points.
"Is this taloned hand a symbol of that ogre god?" Logan asks Kelene.
The drow inspects the brands.
"It is," she replies.
This is an octagonal-shaped chamber (right wall runs east for 15'
(locked door in centre), then northeast for 27', north for 15',
northwest for 10' (10' wide passage with stairs going up for 5' to a
set of double doors), west for 15', southwest for 27' then south for
15' to hopefully close up).
This place is empty. There is a 10' X 15' oval hole (oriented along the
longitudinal axis of the chamber) in the ceiling which apparently opens
into a room above.
Tragon continues up the stairs, sword drawn.
Nason follows.
Stump goes too.
Amberle follows as well.
Clutching his butt and hopping from foot to foot, Badd follows too.
Logan follows with a loaded crossbow.
You ascend the stairs to the northeast, and stop before the door. Badd and Nason pronounce it safe so you open it.
Beyond is an odd shaped area. There is a 10' square landing immediately
inside the door. To the left a flight of stairs heads up to the
northwest for 10'. After that is a 10' wide passage running northeast.
From that direction come growling sounds along with the noise of
someone swearing and whimpering in gnomish.
Opposite you is another flight of stairs running up to the northeast for 10', ending at another set of double doors.
To your right is an odd shaped chamber (from your door the wall runs
right for 20', then northeast for 20', northwest for 10', then south
for 15' or so to close up. A worn bench winds all around the edge of
this chamber. Various old bones and junk litter the corners.
Invisible and silent, Badd goes northwest then northeast to find out what is happening.
Nason follows Badd in a stealthy manner.
The rest of you wait.
After a few minutes Nason
returns and reports, "There is an owlbear ahead trying to get to a
gnone that is suspended from the ceiling. The Owlbear is on a chain, so
we should probably try to kill it with missile weapons. Once it is
dead, we can check out the gnome."
"An owlbear, huh?" says Robert, after a prolonged silence. "This dungeon is starting to get big-time."
With that, he draws his defender and strides off to the northwest to see the owlbear for himself.
A moment later you hear a loud crash, followed by a deafening shriek.
Tragon shakes his head, draws his longsword and runs off after Robert.
Nason follows after as well.
As soon as he is within range, he will start throwing his daggers.
Lornard also follows.
The elf loads his crossbow and follows.
Stump follows Tragon.
Kelene brings up the rear.
Amberle just waits for the outcome. "Let me know if someone get's a scratch."
So, everyone rushes off after Robert but Amberle.
Rounding the corner to the northeast, you see that it is just a 10' jog, then the passage continues northwest.
After a further 10' the passage opens up into a chamber.
Tragon, Stump, Nason, Lornard, Logan and Kelene come charging around the corner.
They see before them a chamber (about 20' X 30': 10' northeast, 30'
northwest; passage in 0' - 10' section of left wall; passage running
northwest out of opposite wall left half).
Hanging upside down from a rope in the ceiling is a gnome, trussed up from one end to the other.
Just rising to his feet inside the chamber is Robert, who evidently
took a fall. Attacking him is an owlbear, attached to a long tether.
Two more owlbears are near the opening to the left passage. One might
be a female...for she has big boobs, a shapely rear, and long, fluttery
eyelashes.
What they do not see, however, is the invisible Badd lurking just at
the entrance. Tragon and Stump both trip over him, and also go
sprawling into the room.
Robert continues to avoid the owlbear's attacks, while the other appears to be more interested in the lady bear than you.
"Well I see ya all have it under control. I will just hang here for a wee bit longer the view is breath taking."
"Careful there young'un, if you keep on ya back like that the critter going to claw ya good and fierce like."
"That's it, weave and jig, weave and jig. Now stick him good with your blade! Woot that's how it's done!"
"Hold on now, are you pointing that there bow at me or the critter!"
"Could I make a suggestion, instead of throwing that dagger of yours.
Maybe ya could cut that rope over yonder and lower me down. Just a
suggestion and all. No rush. I am not going anywhere soon."
"Oh, shut up," Robert replies as he attacks.
The warrior drives his blade into the 'bear one more time and the monster drops.
Tragon gets up and attacks the second male owlbear. His blade lands a
glancing blow, which gets the monster's attention. With a bellow it
turns on the paladin, who manages to fend off its attacks.
Lornard shoots his longbow - or rather arrows with his longbow - at the second male owlbear. Both arrows fly wide.
The female owlbear sashays off down the passage to the southwest.
Logan fires a bolt at the remaining owlbear. The bolt bounces off of Tragon's steel plated backside.
Stump gets up and goes to assist Tragon. The fighter swings his sword, but misses.
Then, from back down the passage to the southeast, where you left Amberle, you hear the yelling and bellowing of more monsters!
"Stump and I will deal with the owlbear! The rest of you figure out what's attacking our flank."
Tragon attacks the owlbear, knowing that each miss wastes time that may cost someone their life.
Stump continues to fight.
Logan reloads and fires at the owlbear again.
"Oh, sounds like more trouble is ah coming! Cut me down and I'll lend ya my sword arm!"
Badd rushes over to the strung out gnome.
Badd slices through the rope, and gently lowers the talkative gnome down to the ground.
"Hi," he says "I'm the Gnome Avenger. But people just call me Badd."
Lornard turns and head back to where Amberle is, to see what assails you from that direction.
Robert hurries back with the ranger.
From behind you, you hear Amberle's voice yelling, "We've got company from behind!"
The paladin dodges another claw as he fans with his blade. Sidestepping
the second claw he misses again. The owlbear snaps his beak at Tragon
and hoots.
Stump, meanwhile, swings wide again. He really needs to train.
Logan shoots another bolt, but misses.
"Oh, pooh!" says Kelene, and attacks the owlbear with her glowing shortsword from the rear. Her blade sinks into its posterior.
You hear more shouting from back the way you came.
"As soon as I get out of this mess," Stump thinks to himself as he continues
to fight.
Tharn takes a moment to compose himself. He coughs, clears his throat
and pulls the hood over his bald head. "Thank ya very much laddie.
Tharn O'Bley is m' name. And if you would not mind loan m' a blade or
two until I locate m' stuff, I'll gladly help ya with the critters."
Tharn then steps into the shadows near the walls and tries to blend in
with his natural ability and skills and heads to the sounds of the
fighting. "Let's go find us some fun, aye."
Tragon continues to attack the owlbear. "Logan, go help the others."
Nason heads in the direction that Amberle is in...
The elf draws his sword after holstering his crossbow and moves towards the way they came.
Stump, Tragon, Kelene and Badd remain in the chamber with the male owlbear. The girlybear is nowhere to be seen.
Tragon swings wide again with his longsword. The owlbear bites his arm for 7 hit points of damage.
Stumps' blade finds it mark and the 'bear hoots again. Kelene, who you
are now realising is a half decent fighter when she wants to be, stabs
the monster again and it drops dead.
Looking down the passage to the southwest, you see that it extends for
some 20' before opening up into a large chamber to the west. A short
flight of stairs down takes up the first 10'. In the last 10' section
of the left wall is an opening.
The sounds of battle behind you are intensifying.
Tragon nods to the others in thanks. "We need to help our friends."
He charges towards the battle.
"Yes, indeed," Stump nods, as he rushes towards the battle as well.
Badd turns invisible, and follows the sounds of battle.
Kelene brings up the rear.
Kelene, Tragon, Stump and Badd come charging up, and see a battle in progress before them.
Lornard is engaging an ogrillon with an arrow sticking in him at the top of the stairs.
Robert is rolling around on the floor at the bottom of the stairs with another ogrillon.
Another humanoid is about to confront Amberle, who is sitting at the bottom of the steps.
More monsters are down there as well: six more ogrillon and ten small ogres - three of them in clerical robes.
Also in the chamber at the bottom of the stairs you see a mysterious figure.
"Shazam," Logan says and then points a finger at one of the clerical types.
"Cough," he says as he hurls a piece of rotten cabbage at the ogre
clerics. Suddenly a plume of noxious vapors erupts around them.
You hear the monsters coughing and choking inside the cloud.
The masked and caped newcomer jumps at another ogre and chops him in
half. Another monster attacks, though, and the avenger takes 3 hit
points of damage.
Nason slinks into the shadows and tries to sneak up behind an ogre.
Lornard and the ogrillon facing him beat each other ineffectually.
Amberle uses Command to DIE! on the ogrillon about to attack her.
The monster drops. The cleric clobbers him, killing him.
Robert, meanwhile, kills his ogrillon. Another one attacks him.
A strange gnome appears beside Amberle. He sees that she is unhurt, but about to be attacked by another ogrillon.
Nason appears at the bottom of the stairs and lunges at an ogre,
surprising the fellow. However, all of his attacks are turned by the
monster's thick hide.
The monster turns with a bellow and attacks the elf!
Lornard continues to attack the ogrillion with his longsword.
The ranger slashes the monster and it howls as its right eyeball falls
out of its mutilated socket. It punches at the ranger, though, and
catches him with a quick one-two, for 4 hit points.
Robert faces his latest attacker and buries his blade in the ogrillon's thigh. The ogrillon flails away but misses.
Amberle dodges her latest attacker while missing with her weapon.
Tragon engages the closest, convenient monster. He avoids
entering the cloud of noxious fumes. The paladin finds himself facing
an ogrillon who comes charging up the stairs in search of food, fun and
frolic. Tragon fans badly, as the monster bruises his knuckles on his
plate mail.
Badd finds something worth backstabbing. He moves in quickly on another
ogrillon, taking him by surprise and landing a glancing blow with his
blade. The monster spins around with a yelp!
Stump moves to help out Nason. The elf looks like he will need it, as
he gets clobbered for 8 hit points. He misses with his sword. Stump
arrives, and slices into the monster.
Tharn tries to tumble to the side of the orgillion that is confronting
Amberle and attempts to backstab or hamstring the big brute. The
monster sees the gnome coming and sidesteps the attack.
Logan aims his crossbow at any of the choking creatures and fires. A bolt buries itself in a cleric.
The caped marauder, meanwhile, takes out another ogre.
The battle continues...
Lornard steps under a fist from the ogrillon, and then disembowels the monster, killing him.
Another ogrillon hurries up to fill the gap.
"Ha!" says Robert, as another humanoid misses him, and then he chops the fellow down.
"Eep!" says Badd, leaping backwards and disappearing again, to find
something else to backstab. The ogrillon lashes out and connects with
the gnome as he flees, bestowing 6 hit points of damage.
Logan reloads and fires again. This time he misses.
Nason says, "Thanks Stump, I need some help."
He swings at the ogre again.
The elf and the ogre connect simultaneously. Nason suffers 5 hit points of damage and drops. The ogre, badly hurt, still stands.
Stump faces the ogre alone, and misses with his sword.
Tragon attacks the ogrillon again. And, if the opportunity
presents itself, he shield bashes it back down the stairs. The ogrillon
bruises his knuckles on the paladin's breast plate again as Tragon
connects. The paladin's second swing, though, misses.
The ogrillon attacking the lady cleric manages to miss.
Amberle swings her mace, giving the orc something to think about, "Hey sugar, how about a smack?"
"Huh?" says the monster. She clips his ear with her mace.
"Let's see you sidestep this, ORC!" Tharn attempts to once again find
the tip of his weapon a new home. His swing is wide, as he strikes the
steps with his hammer.
Meanwhile, the masked marauder is keeping his distance from the rest of you, as he chops down another monster.
Tharn continues to press his attack on the ogrillion.
"Lucky that there step got in me way or I would have planted this her pike in your skull, orcscum!"
Lornard engages the ogrillion who stepped in place of the last defeated
foe. He fails to avoid a haymaker, and takes it in the chops for
4 hit points.
He attacks with his longsword, opening a large wound.
The ogrillion curses him in its own foul tongue, swings again, but misses.
Tragon continues to attack his ogrillon. The monster is faster, though,
and punches him in the kisser for 4 hit points. Tragon returns the
favour with his blade, and the monster drops.
One of the ogres jumps over the body and attacks the paladin next!
Badd attempts to backstab the ogrillon who hit him. The gnome reappears
and sticks his shortsword into the belly of his attacker. Badd gets his
ears boxed for 5 hit points of damage.
Against Amberle, her ogrillon belts her for 3 hit points.
Amberle continues her attack, physical and verbal.
"Pucker up sweety, this one should be better." She gives the ugly brute
an air kiss followed by - what hopes to be - kiss from her mace. Her
hopes are in vain as he misses badly. He clobbers her again for 3 hit
points.
"Oh looks like I am needed somewhere else. DIE!" Tharn uses the
commanding influence of the Earthmother to hopefully drop the ogrillion
so Amberle can finish it off.
The monster drops and Amberle crushes his skull.
He then heads over to Nason to heal the fallen elf.
Logan the elf switches weapons, from crossbow to blade, and attacks the
nearest enemy. That happens to be an ogre, who drops quickly under the
impetus of the elf's glowing blade.
Stump continues battling his ogre until it falls. Unfortunately it is
Stump who drops, as he hakes it over the head for 10 hit points of
damage.
Robert faces another ogrillon as Kelene rushes forward to either help
Stump or kill his attacker. The warrior lands a glancing blow as the
monster misses him with its fists.
Off in a far corner, the masked marauder gets ogre blood on his tights as he kills another monster.
Right now, Nason and Stump are down. Three ogrillon remain: on Badd,
Lornard and Robert, respectively. There are two ogres battling Kelene
and Tragon. The clerical types are still engulfed in the stinking
cloud, choking and retching.
The gnome avenger retreats, becoming invisible once more. The ogrillon swings at him as he vanishes, but misses.
Amberle looks around for those who need help either healing or hitting with a mace.
Tragon attacks the ogre in front of him. "Tactically, this battle is a mess."
The paladin barely misses the ogre as he sidesteps an attack.
"Logan, you seem to be really good with that sword. See if you can help us winnow the odds a lot further."
"Have at them, if anyone has any missile weapons, take out the choking
clerics," Logan grins as he attacks the nearest enemy with his blade.
That enemy is the ogrillon that Badd has been trying to deal with. The
elf cuts him down handily.
Tharn uses a cure light wounds on Nason then rushes over to Stump to attend to the fallen gnome.
Lornard continues to try to finish of the ogrillion he's engaged with.
he swings at the monster but misses. The ogrillon lands a haymaker for
2 hit points.
Robert finishes off another ogrillon.
Kelene gets hit for 5 hit points from the ogre who toppled Nason. With
a giggle she sticks her glowing shortsword into the fellow and he dies.
Lornard and his foe exchange misses, as Tragon does likewise with his
ogre. Kelene blows a kiss at the paladin and then misses the ogre with
her blade. Robert wastes no time dealing with Lornard's ogrillon, and
the monster falls. Logan turns to help Tragon as well, and guts the
monster with one fell swoop.
Those of you with missile weapons pick off the three clerical types
while the clerical types in your party patch up Nason and Stump.
Nason and Stump recover to see that the battle has ended victoriously.
Nason is at -6 hit points and will be out for 6 days. Stump is at -5
and is out for five days.
You note that the masked marauder has vanished.
Searching the bodies, you find 301gp, plus 11 gold armbands (60gp ea.).
The oldest of the ogre clerics had a leather box amulet hanging around
his neck.
You look through the doorway to the north, and see a large feast hall
(40' X 60': 25' southeast, 25' northwest, 40' northeast; door in middle
of opposite wall; door in southeast and northeast walls, 20' - 30'
sections). Balconies in the south and west corners overlook the floor.
Two raised ledges, 20' in length, run along the back wall from each
respective corner. These four raised areas are accessed by flights of
stairs going up to them.
At a table in the centre lies the remains of an unfortunate adventurer
who became lunch. Little remains of the person but for some bones aznd
gristle. The table is surrounded by chairs and is littered with dirty
plates, cutlery and drinking mugs.
You see nothing else of interest in here.
Lornard, battered and bloody, keeps his sword out and remains on the alert.
"Who was that masked man?" he asks the group in general.
Tragon shrugs. "I don't know, but he'd be a valuable addition to our team."
The elf warrior/mage pockets the amulet for later examination.
"Up the stairs?" Logan asks as he looks at the dead man on the table. "Anyone have a detect magic spell? I am all out."
Nason says, "Let's get out of here. I need some rest!"
Tragon wipes his blade on the front of one of the dead ogres. "We need to let Nason and Stump recover."
Tragon sheathes his blade and picks up Stump, draping him over one of his shoulders.
"The Gnome Avenger is done for this day!" declares Badd. "And will
retire to the inn for substantial quantities of ale." He cocks his head
at the other gnome. "Waddya say?"
"Only if I buy the first round," declares Tharn.
"Oh, there'll be plenty of ale-buying to go around" replies Badd
merrily. "Usually I just wait for Tragon to buy himself a flagon, and
then I drink it."
Amberle says, "Wonderful, let's get moving before something else shows up."
You scrape Nason up off of the floor and exit the dungeon.
After an uneventful walk you arrive at Castle Greyhawk and make for Akitrom's Tower.
In the Tower you are greeted by Akitrom and the other party members:
Occa, Orlon, Rage, Malbar and Gilstrock. They see that Nason and Stump
are rather beat up. There is also another gnome with the returning
adventurers.
"Who are you, anyway?" asks Robert.
You also note that Zanax, Darian and Drandar are not present. Indeed, they have not been present for some weeks.
Nason and Stump are put to bed for a few days.