Characters:
Wynter
Veblen
Luthien
Fuzzy (NPC)
Veblen decides to go swimming in one of the pools (he is already wet thanks to Luthien who shoved him in) and quickly discovers the horror of...
a giant goldfish.
The party moves on, led by Luthien down a hallway which exits the chamber. In the hallway the group hears a bellowing and crunching sound. They quickly go up against the wall and conceal themselves. What they do not realize is that the bellowing came from the other side of the wall, but they quickly learn as a huge fist smashes through, clipping Luthien. Combat ensues, and the party does battle with the giant shambling undead creature which they had previous fought at the Druid’s Tree. Once again they are victorious, but his time they dismember the creature and Veblen decides to keep its head. The various parts are thrown into the pools.
After getting by a trap and dealing with some kobolds the group comes to what looks to be an ancient vault within which there is a wrack, a book shelf, a pot, and in the corner a swirling mist of blue light. The group decides that the light is either a disintegration field or some sort of teleportation device. They decide not to investigate to heavily after the rope they place within the light disappears, leaving only blue sparkles behind. Camp is set up for the night so that Luthien can regain his “read magic” spell.
The group awakens after an uneventful evening, and Luthien discovers that the rune upon which the swirling light sits reads “remove.” Again, fearing disintegration, the party decides to leave, only to discover that the corpse of the creature has come back to life (minus its head, which bellows from the sack at Veblen’s side) and is not pleased. They flee back down the hall and Luthien and Veblen hide in the pools. Wynter is about to join them when he realizes that he has a hamster in his pouch, and that it will likely drown if he hides under water, and so he takes up position around a corner. The creature comes in and Veblen goes toe to toe with it, while Luthien sneaks up behind it with. For the third time the party defeats the creature and quickly leave.
Back upstairs they open the door at the end of the hallway and find a room with spider webs in it. A nest is ripped open by the door as it swings inward, and thousands of hand sized baby spiders start to skitter toward the group. Wynter uses an oil flask to light up the spiders and the room, and the party heads out of the keep, which is now on fire in its rear rooms.
The group decides to head back toward town. They travel for about a half an hour, and then Veblen notices a strange clearing in the woods off to his right. In it he finds a statue of a beautiful sylvan woman with long flowing hair and a slender figure. Her face is downcast, covered in shadow. The others also note that the shadow cast by the statue is that of a centauress. No explanation can be found for this unnatural phenomena.
Behind the statue Veblen notes that there is a mausoleum which seems to be carved from white marble as well, though it looks more like tree trunks which have petrified into the form of a tomb. There is a set of oak doors which are latched shut. Above the doors written in a strange dialect of elven is a name; “Feather Silvandantilis.”
Beyond the doors is a simple room. Light shines in through a circular skylight in the ceiling. There are old leaves and twigs strewn throughout the room. In a pile of leaves Luthien discovers some sort of gemstone that looks very much like a cat’s eye.
In the front of the room is a table, and on the table is a gray bottle, shaped much like an urn.
Suddenly all goes black, and the party hears the doors slam shut and latch, and then the floor goes out from beneath them. In short succession each party member blacks out.
When they come to they find themselves lying on a smooth marble floor. There are marble pillars lining the walls that seem to have vines carved into them that climb to the domed ceiling above. The light in the room comes from a giant chandelier which hangs down from the middle of the room. In it are hundreds of candles. Four arched hallways lead out from the room.
From the first hall Luthien hears a sickly slithering sound. He surmises that it is quite possibly a gelatinous cube like those the drow use to keep their caverns clear. The group opts to go down the hallway opposite this one.
As the group enters the second hallway they find that their torches are being blown out by sudden gusts of wind. Luthien pulls out some of the glowing moss he had gathered and uses it to illuminate the hall.
Wynter notices that there are blast marks on the floor. He also notes that there is a perfect 5’ circle in the center of the hallway where the blast marks don’t go. The group continues ahead, and are suddenly cut short as a burst of flame produces a fearsome looking foe in the form of a fiery Salamander who is armed with some sort of pike. He attacks, and quickly dispatches Luthien and Veblen. Wynter manages to get to the circle, as does Fuzzy, and they set of two shockwaves of cold which destroy their foe. As they step out of the circle, Luthien’s pouch begins to glow, and he and Veblen are lifted from the ground in an eerie light. They find themselves to be painfully brought back to life, and after a few excruciating minutes they are fully healed. The Cat’s Eye jewel has brought them back to life.
The party continues on down the hallway, which angles downward and curves around until the group finds itself in what looks to be an ancient garden. There are four marble benches in the middle of the room which surround a fetid pool of black, rotting liquid. Dead vines, trees, and leaves little this chamber, and there is the thick smell of decay; a far cry from the sweet fresh air of the halls above.
The group searches the room, and after a few minutes of exploring a Shambling Mound bursts forth from the pool. There is combat, during which Fuzzy is severely wounded. The gem is employed again as well. In the end, however, the party is triumphant, and the Shambling Mound is defeated. Luthien discovers a red gemstone, and the others find coins strewn throughout the area.
There is only one other way out, and the group finds that it leads up and out into the main chamber where they started. The slithering can now be heard coming from the hallway which they had first gone down. There are still two other hallways to be explored...
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