The Knights of the Spoon

The scouting party decides there are no look outs and return to the ship. Anchor is dropped in the same place and this time Will and Tom are left to guard the ship. The rowboat is hidden in the reeds as before.
This time the party taken a northerly fork on the path through the marsh. In time it leads between two spurs of the hill. Large animal footprints are seen in the mud. Eventually the path leads to a cave entrance in the hillside.
Our heroes decide to sit and watch for a while and thus strike out for higher ground. Hidden behind a few bushes they watch and see a giant lizard eventually emerge and disappear into the marsh. 20 mins later it returns with a frog leg dangling from its mouth.
Rob is lowered on a rope in order to view the inside of the cave. unfortunately it is too dark compared to the bright outside and he cannot see much. Meanwhile, Isis is considering whether she can add the lizard as a Friend on DruidBook. She takes Minerva and DolphinBoy and they hunt for a giant frog.
Shortly she returns with the frog and approaches the cave entrance. The lizard spots her and she starts to chant. Within seconds it is transfixed, the chanting continues and ends when Isis gives the frog as a gift. It seems the lizard has accepted the friend request!
The rest of the party descend and enter the cave – two more lizards are resting there and don’t appreciate the interruption. More frogs are caught and Isis makes another friend.
Within the cave are two passages. The party head towards the north one. The lizards are too large to enter so Isis sits with them while the others explore.

Amber and Rob lead the way, they find a door slightly ajar. On the other side is the sound of clinking armour and lizardy voices. Amber thinks that there is a large party of foes so the party elect to move on. Several rooms/cells are found, each with a bed and a chest. Each chest contains a statuette, a few electrum pieces and there are one or two vials of oil. Another room contains a metal chest and has wooden masks of crocodile and snake heads hanging on the wall. Again, the party moves on. Eventually a door is found where chanting is heard. It seems that one voice is leading others in prayer. The party return to the mask room as it had another exit. A short passage ends at a curtain which covers one side of a large room. Through a slit in the curtain Amber can see an altar with a single lizardman praying.

Varys steps up to the curtain and casts Sleep – the figure slumps. Rob and Amber dart in to retrieve the prisoner – it will be taken back to Sulescu for questioning. However, as they drag the figure back towards the curtain a giant snake emerges from the altar. It bites Amber and she falls to the floor. Morgan, followed by Bael, rush out to help. Bael strikes a chord and Morgan swings his sword. They rock out! Rob is distracted by the power of the twiddly bits in Bael’s riffs and is bitten by the snake. Morgan is digging the groove and swings for MASSIVE DAMAGE! In three strikes the snake is dead! The sleeping lizardman (plus staff) and the two poisoned thieves are dragged behind the curtain. The lizardman is bound and gagged and the party attempt to return to Isis and outside.

From the clearing a path is found that leads to a door in the side of the hill. The party enter and in a sideroom they meet some lizardmen. Battle ensues and many lizardmen are slain (about 10). However there are clearly more, inluding a big guy, so the party retreat.
Back in Sulescu, Marcus asks them to investigate further and attempt to ascertain how many lizardmen there are. While in town several party members feel stronger and Bael feels that his inspiring songs are more inspiring.
On returning to the seas it is felt that there might be watchers on the headland, so a scouting party is dropped. They scour the hillside but only encounter sheep and a shepherd who knows little of the local reptillian fauna.

It was decided not to chase Sigurd. Instead they bashed down the barricaded door and found an empty cabin with a porthole swinging. Whoever was in here escaped with the captain.

The party sail back to Sulescu to report back to the big bossman. He is pleased with progress and the fact that the vast majority of the contraband has been confiscated.

On one of the maps is a X near a promontory a few miles west of Sulescu. This could be the destination of the weapons that Sigurd was smuggling. Marcus despatches the party to investigate.

They sail up an estuary and drop anchor. Bael is left aboard to compose sea shanties and the others make landfall. They explore a bit and find a path through the marshes. It leads to a clearing…

Following the battle Bael attempts to sweet talk some info out of the big fighter guy using his bardic abilities.  He tells them that he is the captain of the ship, Sea Ghost and his name is Sigurd Snake Eyes, and they are transporting cloth and brandy. He gives a few more facts but won’t expand on whether anyone else is on board.

Rob takes Will and Tom off to investigate the foc’sle. They discover a galley and the general chandlery store. They also find a barred door. Rob uses Isis’ iron spikes to jam both doors to this room closed – he’ll come back and check them out later.

Rob, Will and Tom then turn their attention to the rear of the ship. Meanwhile Bael, Varys and Isis check the dead bodies, and loot Sigurd’s pockets. They find some coins and gems, and two keys on Sigurd.  The dead sailor also has some coins and a key, as does one of the other sleeping sailors.  The other sailors just have a smattering of small change.

In what would almost certainly appear to be Sigurd’s cabin Rob finds a pile of letters from various women who claim to be his wife – seems he is sowing his seed widely, also there’s a letter hinting at complicity in some level of smuggling operation with someone whose grasp of language is not high – humanoids, or some savage tribe…?? Also, there’s an interesting journal of a voyage away to the far south, on the Sea of Dread! It seems there’s an island with cannibal savages, terrifying giant lizards and friendly natives. All topped off with the promise of lashings of treasure. After Rob finishes reading it out there is a consensus that a ship should be chartered to sail out to the Sea of Dread to make a fortune. The name is surely just poor marketing.

However, back to the job in hand. A chest is also found but it only contained clothes. A metal box is found under the bed. Rob manages to detect a trap so no further action is taken.

They explore the other cabin, it looks like it was occupied by the mage that Amber used for target practice.  A small chest is found and is dragged out on deck.  Rob fails to pick the lock so someone (history fails to record who) forces the lock with their sword.  A cloud of green gas billows over the deck and Rob, Amber and Isis are overcome.  They fall to the floor and cannot be roused, although they continue to breathe.

Based on one of the letters found in Sigurd’s cabin Bael is convinced that other persons are on board and is worried about a surprise attack. Because of this, all able party members (minus Varys) descend the companionway to explore the lower deck. Down there they find the crew quarters with little of interest. The hold itself contains barrels (presumably brandy) and rolls of cloth. The bilges contain the usual rats and filthy water. There is a glint of something in the distance, but no one wants to check at this time. There are two rear cabins. There is a chest in the port cabin which contains clothes, a broken metal crossbow and a metal box.  The box is locked but a key found on the dead sailor matches the keyhole.  It contains 200 sp and a dagger made from a strange grey metal.  The crossbow is made from a similar metal.

7Jul2014
Picture the scene – a tavern in Sulescu, The Woolpack. Something of a dive.. The noise starts to rise on one corner and there is the sound of breaking bottles. A fight breaks out. After a few minutes the town guard arrive and in true police state style they arrest everyone in the joint.
The scene changes to a lock-up. In one cell we see the heroes of our story – Rob Anybody (T1), Isis (Elf Dr1), Minerva (Elf F1), Bael the Bard (Ba1), Varys the Nervous (MU1), Amber Goldapple (T1) and Morgan (F1). It seems that they are picked out for special attention as they are taken to see the Governor of the town, Sir Marcus Palathetos.

He tells them of trouble with smugglers and that he can’t trust anyone in the town so he is turning to strangers. In return for their help he will free them. Other mercenaries went to investigate an old manor house on the cliffs. They returned with evidence that it was the base of the smuggling operation and then went out to explore further but never returned. It is expected that a boat will arrive tomorrow night. It must be captured and the leaders brought in for questioning. In support he offers an excise cutter and two sailors/guardsmen (Tom and Will). He will also provide other kit where possible.

Bael speaks on behalf of the others and accepts the task. He asks about taverns that the local sailors frequent – it may be possible to pick up gossip. Amber also thinks she can use her charms to get info.

The party decamps to The Dolphin. However, Bael’s attempts to engage the local fishermen in chat result in a tirade of anti-Ducal and anti-Thyatian invective. He manages to calm the situation by singing a song of the old Traladaran heroes and their battles with the Gnollish invaders. Amber has little success either and they both call it a night.

The next morning they go to investigate the burnt out ruins of the manor – there is little of real interest those. A cave system from the cellars leads to an isolated beach/cove which must be where the loot is landed. A brass ring in the ceiling of the sea cave suggests a signal lantern would be hung. But no other clues (or treasure!) are found.

On the walk back to Sulescu they ponder on their options and Isis visits a stone circle to pray to Tamra. Eventually, Bael suggests that they take the excise cutter and wait in the shadow of the cliffs. When they either see a ship or see lamp signals they should approach the ship and board it. Everyone agrees in principle so they return to Sir Marcus to report in.

He isn’t surprised to hear of the anti-Thyatian sentiment and is happy with the proposed plan. They ask for lanterns and grappling hooks – they will be on the boat.

After sunset our intrepid smuggler-busters depart. The boat rows out around the headland and waits about 50m offshore. All are alert for sounds or flashes of light. Eventually a clanking sound is heard – probably an anchor chain. Bael suddenly realises that the smugglers will be loading a small rowboat so the party need to head out and board before the booty leaves for shore. Isis sits in the bow and uses her superior night vision to scan the horizon. She sees some lantern flashes so flashes back. Further flashes respond and then nothing. Eventually Isis is able to pick out the shape of a masted boat. Visrys joins her in the bow – the plan is to cast a Sleep spell at the boat and then board. Isis announces that she can see figures moving on deck, they are probably loading the row boat.

Once they are close enough to hear the voices of the sailors Viserys casts his Sleep spell. Within a minute a cry goes up about sleeping on the job. By this point the cutter is around the other side of the ship and the two thieves attempt to throw the grappling lines. As Morgan and Rob start to climb a head appears over the side a cries out that they are being boarded. Morgan engages with one figure and Rob with the other. The rest of the party scramble up the lines to join the fun.

The battle is somewhat hairy. Morgan and Minerva slam down a lot of hurt on one guy but he seems to be really tough, however he is un-nerved by the attack and fails to land any serious blows. A mage on the poop deck casts a magic missile but is unable to do more as he is cut down by Tom and Will following an arrow or two from Amber.

The battle ends when the tough guy surrenders having seen the mage and his companion fighter both go down. Morgan and Minerva have both taken heavy damage…

We thought about the message for a while and then decided to open the far golden door.   Beyond was a long room with an altar on a dais at the far end.  The decoration left us in no doubt that this was a temple to the element Air.  Behind the altar was a print of a right hand on the wall.  Tanara went up and placed her hand on the print.  A voice asked what the temples were called, and she said ‘the temples of the elements’.  This was obviously the wrong answer for a strong wind blew up and started knocking us around.  We retreated from the temple, and both Tanara and Pavel were feeling very badly wounded and looking for a way out.  The niches at the far end refused to teleport us though, so we were stuck here.

We tried the door to the south, and found a similar room, but decorated as a temple of Fire.  We then tried the north door, and found a temple of Earth.  Obviously the wizard was a fan of disco.  However the north temple also contained a beautiful maiden and a panther, so we quickly shut the door and hoped she hadn’t seen us, for we assumed that she was one of the witches.  Tanara readied the Lightning Bolt spell in her ring, as we dashed for the Air temple again.  This time Oin took the lead, and when the question was asked, stated boldly ‘the temples of Earth, Wind and Fire’.  This was obviously the right answer, as there was a click, and a secret door opened in the wall behind.  We dashed through, and into a circular room.  In the centre was a statue of a dragon’s neck and head, forming a throne, and with a black gem in one eye of the dragon.  Around it were three other dragon neck and head statues, each with a single blue gem in the right eye.  One shone brightly, but the other two only glowed dimly.  Behind these were three alcoves.

We examined the statues, and then tried the alcoves.  Tanara stepped in an vanished, so the others followed.  We found ourselves on a dais at the end of the room with double doors at the far end.  Beyond the double doors, we found ourselves in an octagonal room with two pairs of doors, and a silver arch.  Hanging from the centre was a black gem on a long chain, but still too high for us to reach.  A motto above the arch warned us in an ancient tongue that if we passed, we would join the treasury, which we took to mean that the spell that had caught Bryan was still operational.

We cast around for a while to work out how on earth we could possibly reach the gem, 30 feet above us, until a suggestion from Oin reminded Tanara that she still had a Levitation spell that she had not used.  Once cast, retrieving the gem was easy.  We opened the far doors, and found another room with a dais.  Stepping on the dais returned us to the central niche in the circular dragon room.  The final niche sent us to a similar suite of rooms, but the central room was full of much treasure, which didn’t appear to be illusionary after all.

We returned again to the circular chamber, and realised that we needed to charge up the black opal on the pillar.  We snuck back to the temple of Air, but spotted that the panther was waiting for us there.  Fortunately, Tanara’s Sleep spell was sufficient to dispatch it.  The witch was nowhere to be seen, so we crept onwards into the obelisk room.    The black opal vibrated as we got it close to the obelisk, and we found shallow depression on the top where we placed it.  The glow of the obelisk peaked and then suddenly vanished, and the black opal now glowed.  We removed it and rushed back to the circular room before the witch could intercept us.  Rapidly we placed it in the dragon’s eye.  There was a great noise and flash, and the other three gems shone brightly and shattered, as did the black opal.  The three other dragons crumbled to dust.  Tanara, who had sat on the throne, disappeared.

The other two found the unconscious elven maiden in the temple, and when she was recovered, discovered that she was no longer possessed.  Bryan suddenly returned to flesh in the corridor.  Tanara found herself on the throne in the chamber above with the coffins.  Gradually we reassembled the much sundered party and retrieved all of the wizard’s treasure.  Then we returned to the surface with the grateful elven maidens, to a hero’s welcome in the elven village.

We cautiously opened the secret trapdoor at the top of the ladder and peered through to see a chamber lit by a blue light from a brazier, with a throne and three coffins.  We rapidly shut the trapdoor again, fearing to wake the witches.  The long shallow stepped corridor rose steadily and ended in another secret door than opened onto the corridor from the main chamber.  We decided to cross and try the other stairs that we had found, but as we entered the main chamber, an ogre leapt onto the pile of rubble and threw some stones at us – Alki was hit.  We fanned out to surround it and leapt forward.  It swung ineffectually and was cut down.  We continued onwards.

The other stairs (behind the secret door in the map room with the painting of the Madonna with the…) led down a series of windy flights until we entered another 30 foot square room with a 10 foot stone cube in the centre.  This one seemed to be lacking the gelatinous cube though.  We easily found the secret door in the cube, but the chamber within was empty.  We checked, and the ladder led into the throne room again.  The long shallow stepped corridor ended up by the main chamber, again.

Oin decided that he wanted to re-visit the room with the red eyes in the corner. His plan was to have Bryan throw a lighted torch into the corner by the eyes, cover his mouth and nose with a damp cloth to protect against the gas and to examine the shelves. The plan was well executed with Bryan accurately lobbing the torch into the corner. However it began to unravel when the gas caught light and a huge flash of flame filled the room singeing his beard and burning exposed flesh! Bryan also took minor damage. Everyone else laughed.

We returned to the prison block to interrogate Merdiz magician again, and get some more rest.  He elaborated on his story of the throne room, so we went to check after we had rested.  We were nervous of what might be in the coffins, but were running out of other options.  The coffins were stone and carved with indecipherable symbols that we were unable to read.  Next to the throne was a lectern with the book on it, and also a quill.  The magician had said that he had received a shock when he had tried to touch it, so we delegated Titus to try, as he was the most Lawful amongst us.  He was able to touch and unclasp the book without issue – it proceeded to speak aloud and recited a poem which revealed something of the location of the witches and the need for a black opal to destroy them for ever:

Come woodland folk and gather near
the tale of the wizard’s keep to hear
Whence, long ago in a younger age
the Black Opal was held by Elyas the mage.

The Opal increased his magical grace
But he kept the stone in an open place.
three witches wishing to heighten their POWER,
rained flame and stone upon his tower

Elyas trapped each witch in a dragons eye.
But without the opal, they did not die
As Elyas raced to retrieve the Stone,
a granite mountain crushed the mage and his home.

the spell ne’er completed the three witches wait
In eternal suspension until by some fate
their souls are released upon innocence sweet
then revenge they will reap upon all that they meet.

The quill quivered in Titus’ hand when he touched it.  We though it would write something of its own accord, and it finally did, in response to repeated promptings.  It seemed that it would answer yes/no questions.  One useful question as to whether the witches were in the vicinity was answered with a no.  However Oin then tried to be clever and outsmart it with a series of complex questions that didn’t actually tell us anything, and it seemed that we could only ask it five questions, so it soon stopped responding and we were left having found out nothing useful.

As a result of normal dwarven stupidity, we were again at a loss, so decided that we would have to risk the blue disk lift.  We returned to that room and summoned the disk with the command ‘Pah’, having first lowered a lantern down the shaft to see that it was deeper than our rope was long.  All 10 of us climbed on the blue disk, ignoring the warning sign about maximum capacity and we said ‘Nwad’ to get it to descend.  It descended rapidly for a great time, and we guessed that we were now far, far underground.  It finally stopped atop a dais in a room that was otherwise  a copy of the one above.

We opened the double doors to see a similar corridor, but longer with 3 niches on either side, and a total of seven statues of ecstatic running adventurers.  We opened the doors at the far end, into a larger room, with double doors on the far side and a silver arch on either side wall.  Bryan recognised the silver arches from his dream.  Beyond the arch on the right wall was a vast chamber piled high with treasure.  We assumed that this was an illusion and trap.  Beyond the arch on the left side was a similar, but empty chamber.  We assumed that this must be the one that contained the opal, as Bryan has seen in his dream.  The room didn’t appear to be trapped, but when Bryan entered, there was a blinding flash and he was turned to metal.  The metal statue then floated out to the corridor and placed itself in a niche.  This explained the other statues, although they had obviously been running towards the treasure.

Blocked from the silver arches, we opened the double doors.  Beyond was a corridor, ending in a door, and with doors on either side.  The door on the right side opened into an opulent bedroom, with women’s clothes and make-up.  The strangest feature was a niche on the far wall, closed off by a barred gate, and a lever (and a ladies feathered hat) on the wall next to it, which we guessed was to open the gate.  The door on the left hand side of the corridor was locked, and we had no means to open it.

We opened the door at the end of the corridor, and entered the room beyond.  It was dominated by a statue of a large, fat man, sitting on the floor, with his open mouth towards the ceiling.  On each of the north, west and south walls was a barred archway.  We quickly linked this to Zoe’s observation that the codes on the labels of each bottle of wine ended in N, W and S.  Pouring some of the wine from the Champagne bottle, which ended in N, into the mouth of the statue caused the north gate to open.  Some of the party entered, while others remained in the central room in case the gate closed and we needed to reopen it.

The room beyond, down the flight of steps, was small with three alcoves, marked 1, 2 and 3.  Oin entered the alcove marked 3 and disappeared.  Tanara followed him, and Pavel followed her.  The others waited in the room.

Oin, Tanara and Pavel found themselves in another small room, this time with four alcoves marked from 1 – 4.  They stepped into alcove 4 this time, following the sequence of numbers in the code at the bottom of the Champagne bottle, for we had noticed that there was no number higher than 4 in the code.  We reached another similar room, and left via alcove 2, into another similar room (we should have marked each room, but were dashing so fast that Tanara hardly had time to not down the sequence of events, let alone mark the rooms.  We left this one via alcove 4, and arrived in a different room, with three alcoves on one side, doors on the other three sides and a stone obelisk in the centre, which sounded like what Bryan had seen in his second dream.  After talking for a while, it suddenly told us that we must answer three questions:

What is your name? – Tanara Silverleaf.

What is your quest? – To find the black opal.

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow Do you know the name of the last creature that you killed? – (long pause as Tanara checks her memory) No.

Correct.

The obelisk now allowed us to ask three questions.  After some muttered discussion we asked it where the Black Opal Eye was – in the empty domed room, hanging from the ceiling.

Then we asked it how we could return Bryan from his metallic state and it said that he would return to normal when the witches were defeated (no pressure there then).

Finally we asked it how we could defeat the witches, and hit the jackpot, as it started declaiming a long list of information.

Beyond the three temples of the elements,
the Black dragons eye waits for thee
find its secret through nearby magical ways
that have waited for many long years.
Beware the tricks of old Elyas
and return here with the Black Opal Eye, to give it power.
Then, set it in its place and behold
the end of great sadness; the beginning of life
the destruction of evil and the end of strife.

Refreshed after our drinking bout, and keen to not descend further into the depths, we returned to the room with the wall of red light, but were unable to throw any more light on the problem.  Since we had explored as much of this wing as we could (aside from the cell full of cobwebs), we returned to the central hall and tried the other wing.

The corridor there soon ended in a T junction with a door opposite.  We checked the door and found an imposing corridor beyond, lined with two alcoves on each side.  Each alcove contained a unique platinum statue of a running adventurer with an expression of delight on his or her face.  We found these rather unnerving and it took a while go past them.  At the far end was another door, beyond which a low moaning sound could be heard.

We opened the door and saw a circular room with a high ceiling.  In the centre was a large well, and at the other three cardinal points were stone statues with their mouths open.  Between one pair was written ‘PAH’ and between the other pair was written ‘NWAD’.  We debated these words, and as we repeatedly said ‘PAH’ a blue disc appeared rising up the well.  When we said ‘NWAD’ it disappeared again down the well.  It appeared to be some sort of magical elevator, but once again we had no wish to descend.  It also seemed to descend rather quickly – maybe it is designed for ascending rather than descending.  The moaning appeared to come from the air blowing across the open mouths of the statues.

The corridor on the right of the T-junction bent round to some blocked descending stairs.  Just before them was a door to a recently used kitchen, showing that this wing was actively occupied.

The other branch of the corridor turned, and then branched again.  The new branch had 4 doors on it.  The first led to a room lined with shelves and jars, and with a horrible smell that made us gag.  We could also see little red eyes looking at us from the corner, so we beat a hasty retreat.  The room next to it was also shelved, but empty and bare.  Both doors on the other side of the corridor opened into the same empty room.  The corner of the room had been blasted out though, and we could climb down through the rubble to a stairway.  We ascended the stairs, which ended in a door.  Listening we heard some gutteral arguments, so we burst in.  Five orcs were on the far side, having an argument and we quickly closed to battle.  The battle was short and one sided, although Pavel was seriously wounded and needed to be healed by Zoe’s staff.  We looted the bodies, finding some coins, and also an open stone chest in the corner of the room, which contained more coins, a magical bow (nabbed by Tanara) and three bottle of a different wine – Red Dragon Crush.  Bryan rapidly took a large swig and collapsed again, so we continued exploring.  The door from the room proved to open onto the end of the other branch of the corridor, so it seemed that we had completed this branch of the level as well.

Bryan finally awoke, and said he had had another dream.  This time he had been facing a stone obelisk, which had been asking him a question.  In the dream he knew the answer to the question, but now he was awake he couldn’t remember the question or the answer.

We returned to the central hall and with trepidation opened the doors on the far side.  The mage we had rescued had told us that he had been captured by the witches beyond this door.  Beyond was a huge corridor, lined with alcoves, but empty of statues in this case.  We sent Bryan forward to scout.  The far end of the corridor was blocked by a heavy velvet curtain, but he peeked behind it.  Beyond was a dias, surmounted by a brazier from which came a blue light.  Around it were 3 coffins.  On the far side was a throne.  We beat a hasty retreat, assuming that the coffins belonged to the witches.  We were loath to tamper with the blue lit brazier for fear that it might be part of a spell restraining the witches, but were confident that we had found the throne mentioned in the wizard’s scroll.

Returning to the right side of the level, we resolved to descend the stairs that we had found in the blasted chamber.  They ended in a 30 foot by 30 foot chamber with a 10 foot stone cube in the centre.  As we entered, we were surprised by a gelatinous cube, but were able to fight it off and kill it.  In a niche to the left, we found a ladder ascending.  Oin found a secret door in the central cube, and Bryan found one at the top of the ladder.  Opening Oin’s one, we saw a small room in the cube with a chest on the far side.  Pavel stepped forward to prod the chest with his sword and was almost decapitated by a blade swinging out of the roof.  He survived though and was able to lasso the chest and drag it out without being hit again.  We prised open the chest and found some coins and bottles of a third kind of wine – Champagne de le Stomp.

Bryan, of course, pops the cork and takes a swig. He falls asleep to the sound of Oin muttering ‘du Stomp’, shrugging his shoulders a lot and saying ‘Haw Hee Haw Hee Haw’. On awakening he reports that the champagne was delicious and he dreamt of a large black gem hanging on the end of a chain (not Rahasia’s pendant), a sense of dizziness and an empty room with a silver arch…

The buried tower seems to have only a single entrance and no windows, so we advance towards the door, hugging the side of the cavern in case someone is watching us through the solid metal door. The door is covered in incomprehensible runes. We try to read them, but they are incomprehensible. At a loss for anything else to do we turn the knob and open the door. Beyond is a majestic 30′ high vaulted corridor stretching into the blackness. We note, with interest, that the corridor appears blackened and sooty as if there has been a fire there at some point.

We advance cautiously down the corridor, but are still surprised when two men rush towards us out of the darkness. One wounds Bryan, but not badly, which turns out to be a mistake, as it just irritates him. It does spoil his aim for a round though, so it takes two rounds before we finish them off. They are equipped with leather armour, short swords and shields, and have some coins and two bottles of wine on them, which seems strange.

We continue and enter what would be a majestic octagonal hall, were it not that its roof has caved in, apparently in the same fire. The rubble has been cleared from the perimeter of the hall however, so we can get to the two passages on the side walls and the doors on the far side. We opt to try the passage on the left-hand side. Another vaulted corridor stretches away, again blackened by fire. It ends in a bronze door, with a pair of blackened wooden doors, one on each side, half-way down.

We open the left-hand door, and see a short corridor paralleling the one we are in, with a door at each end. We open the door to the left and see a huge red dragon, which turns, roars and belches flame at us. Half the party are fried and drop to the floor, but Titus, Tanara, Zoe and Hasan realise that there is no way that a dragon could live in such a small room (this isn’t some sort of fantasy zoo-dungeon after all), and the flames have no effect on them. The realise that the dragon is an illusionary trap, and that their companions have just fainted because they think they are dead. They rapidly start reviving them and persuading them that the dragon did not exist. There is a further door from the room, which we pass through, and into a room with a strange glowing wall on the left hand side. We ignore this for the moment, as it looks like another trap, and go through the door on the far side. We enter a long room with a great pile of treasure at the far end. The stupendous amount of moolah on display affects many members of the party who go rushing towards it, only to hit the real wall of the chamber halfway – the treasure is unfortunately just an illusion again.

Disheartened, we decide to rest for the night, as it has been a long time since we last slept. In truth we do not know whether it is day or night in the world above, or how many days might have passed since we entered this labyrinth. We spike the two doors shut and post a guard, but have hardly had any sleep when Zoe is roused by some creatures trying to batter down the door of the chamber. They sound like orcs, and we send Oin and Pavel around through the other chamber to confirm that this is the case. We retreat into the room with the red wall, and spike the door of that chamber as well, to buy time, while we investigate the red wall. Oin walks into the glow, but instantly returns to the chamber through the wall. Tanara tries as well, but at a run, with the same result. This seems not to be an entryway into another part of the tower, as we had assumed. We start to plan a two-front assault on the orcs who are now in the first chamber, and attacking the second door, but while we do, Bryan starts bashing at the spike door himself, as if wanting to attack the orcs. The orcs, frightened that there might be a monster in our room, flee, and we let them go, and continue our night’s rest.

On awakening we try the door on the other side of the main corridor. It leads into another corridor, with a series of doors down the sides, leading into cells. The first two are unoccupied, but recently used, and well maintained, with clean straw and unspoilt food. The third is obviously long abandoned. As we open the door to the fourth, we hear an invocation, and Zoe, Alki, Hasan, Pavel and Tanara fall to the floor, asleep. Bryan and Oin rush in and find a manacled prisoner starting on another invocation. They hit him, quite a lot, but only with the flats of their blades, and subdue the prisoner, who collapses and begs our pardon for his attack. Interrogation reveals that we wandered in here, as most of the population of Mystara seem to do, and got lost, before being captured by two powerful ladies. We show him the sketches of Silver and Melissa and he recognises them, so we assume that two of the witches have possessed these maidens. He also tells us of a powerful magically protected book that he found behind the northern door of the main chamber.

The fifth cell contains an elven maiden from the village who Hasan recognises. It seems that she is being prepared for possession by the third witch, as they are unable to get access to Rahasia.

The sixth cell is full of large cobwebs, so we decide not to investigate it.

Returning to the corridor, we open the bronze door at the far end. Beyond is a large library, heavily burned. The long table and chairs have been charred, and most of the books are cinders. We find one with some text legible though, which says:

“Once the three are snared in the trap I have prepared for them, I…after this, I will take it to the throne and.. .the destruction shall signal… banished for all eternity.”

We open the other door, and find a map room, lined with map racks and with a large map table in the centre. We examine the maps, and find many of the cubby-holes contain wine rather than maps. Bryan opens a bottle and takes a large swig, and collapses to the floor. We check him, but he just seems to be unconscious, so we continue to collect the bottles. They all have the same strange label, and are identical to the bottles we found on the two men who attacked us earlier.

Finally, Bryan rouses and tells us that he had a strange dream, where three dragons attacked another smaller, one-eyed dragon. He also tells us that the wine is not very good quality.

Tanara tries some wine as well, and it has the same effect. She even dreams the same dream. While she is asleep, the rest of the party check the room and find a door concealed behind a map rack. Beyond it are some stairs going down – obviously long unused.

The room beyond is a luxurious bedroom with coordinated accessories.  On the bed are two panthers that unfold themselves and charge towards us.  They take a liking to Bryan, since he looks (and smells) like a mouse, and start playing with him and Oin.  Oin swings and actually hits with his axe.  A second stroke almost decapitates the panther.  Bryan also hits the second panther, and kills it with two strokes.  Pavel and Titus join in but both miss. After some more vague fencing with the second panther we decide to stop playing with it and put it out of its misery, which Titus does by repeatedly bludgeoning it.

In the room we find two secret doors.  One leads into a study that also opens into the original corridor – on the table we find 3 sketches of elven maidens – one is Rahasia, and Hasan identifies the other two as Marissa and Silver, who were kidnapped by the Rahib from the elven village.  There is also a plan of the village, and a scroll with a word of opening for the secret door in the bedroom.

Armed with this new-found knowledge, we say the word to open the door. There is a click as the lock releases.  We push the door open.  Beyond, a narrow corridor slopes down into the darkness.  We proceed down the corridor, which finally opens out into a vast cavern.  At the far side of the cavern is the ruins of a tower, crushed by the collapse of part of the roof of the cavern. Only the lower storey appears intact.  Ruins of the tower are scattered across the cavern.  Oin mentions that this looks like the abode of a darker evil, and so we beat a hasty retreat, given Akbar’s warning about getting the story from the dragon guard.  The question is how we get through the steel door.  Or maybe we need to check out the kitchen?  We obviously need to clear each level before proceeding lower, and facing something we can’t handle.

We return to the octagonal room and take the last exit.  This opens into a corridor that ends in another octagonal room, with alcoves at the cardinal points (other than the one the corridor enters from).  The three alcoves are barred with gates of heavy iron bars.  The north one says Kesini and the other two say Kasana.  These names match the alcoves that we saw in the dining hall in the first basement (although that only had one Kesini and one Kasana) – maybe these are the other ends of those teleportation points.  Or maybe Kesini means In and Kesana means Out in Siswan.

We check the north door and hear nothing, so open it.  There is a bare 20′ square room beyond, with a rough cut tunnel entering on the far side.  In the centre is a large snake.  We close the door rapidly.  Then we stop and think, and realise that this must be the dragon guard.  Good thing we didn’t charge in and try and kill it.

Hasan talks to the dragon guard, as the sort of almost son-in-law of Akbar.  It answers Hasan, and tells us a story:

Elias was a nice wizard who helped the elves long ago, but was attacked by three evil witches, seeking the Black Opal Eye which would make them invincible, who dropped a mountain on his tower – Grey Mountain.  Elias perished, but trapped the three witches in the tower under the mountain.  The elves built a temple in his memory (which we are in – hence all the statues of an old bloke with a beard).  The dragon guards the route to the tower, but fears that the Rahib has found an alternate route (which we know he has, because we found it).

We ask the dragon about the ring and the medallion.  He tells us another tale:

I fought the Rahib and his panthers in this room and fought him back, although he was sorely wounded in the process.  Akbar found him and healed him, and entrusted him with his black jade ring, which is hidden under a paving slab.

Hasan recovers the ring.  We return to the upper level and find the medallion.  On the way, we are ambushed by the gelatinous cube, which attacks Baik, but fails to paralyse him.  We slice and dice it like jelly at a children’s party.  We continue, having grabbed Schrodinger’s Treasure from it.  We insert the ring into the medallion, and remove it – the writing on the back now just says ‘Rahasia’.  We return to the dragon guard.

The dragon guard tells us more:

The medallion is a pendant of protection, and ‘Rahasia’ is the trigger word, and it will protect us from evil magic in an area around the medallion, but it will only work three times.  Three is the number. Not four.  Five be right out.  Two means that it will work once more.

The dragon allows us to pass, and we proceed down the corridor towards Akbar’s treasure and the tower.  There is a rockslide at the end, which turns out to be a concealed door.  Beyond is the treasure vault, with a steel door in one corner.  There is much treasure in here, including a sword, a snake headed staff, a ring, a vial of potion.  The ring has little carvings of animals on it.  The vial appears to be a healing potion.

We find the other secret door of which the dragon spoke.  The door opens into another narrow tunnel descending into the darkness, although this one seems more travelled for the floor is smoothly worn.  We emerge into the cavern which we have already seen.