A Clean Sweep

Eleasis 2, 1373 DR, Ruins on the outskirts of Pommeville

Nosila decided that we should burn the body of the lich— after all, it got up once right? Roscoe and I both yelled “loot the body first” at about the same time, and the halfling got to work grabbing the most valuable looking things from the corpse— a gold pectoral, gem-studded bracers, a jeweled mitre, a gilded mace, and then, amazingly, he found more hidden under the body— a silk pouch filled with diamonds, a silver ring and a silver and emerald necklace. Several of the items radiated magic. As the barbarians lit the corpse, Bryrgar noticed that the braziers in the corners gave off no heat, and though they were heavy, loaded them into his “war wagon” for a source of continual (if cumbersome to move) light. But, we had to assume for now that none of these wonderful items were the lich’s phylactery, so we went back through all the areas we had missed earlier.

We first went back up the steps, then through a door and into a long tunnel we hadn’t previously explored, and soon heard faint calls for help. Assuming we were the only live beings in here, we thought it was a trap of some sort at first, though Roscoe checked thoroughly and found none. We followed some footprints on the dusty floor to a door, and upon getting it open, found a bedraggled human in a 10’ by 10’ cell, apparently forgotten by his undead captors. Morn, a local farmer, was thankful we’d found his cell, and told us of his abduction while sleeping in his home— perhaps the undead needed fresh victims for something? There were no other occupied cells and Morn was quick to head home once we pointed him to the door out.

Our Chultean couple next found a room that had been a torture room long ago— six skeletons (thankfully the non-animated variety) still hung on the various devices.

We gave up on that way and went back down to the hall where our dwarf had found the spiked pit earlier. This time Roscoe was with him and he was able to find a switch that kept the pit from opening again, and we crossed it to see what lay beyond. We soon came to a room with ransacked crates, rusty weapons and ripped open sacks strewn about, and were picking up the few coins we saw scattered about, when Roscoe somehow noticed, under a chest, that there was a loose flagstone. Prying it up, he found a compartment with a pouch with three rubies hidden in it. What a find! All the while I was mentally appraising the gems, and being quite happy that Roscoe was having such luck while we were working together— he reminds me of Cognoggin, minus the explosions. Widget took an interest in the multitude of shiny things, and once I assured everyone that he wouldn’t damage the valuables in any way, we poured some of the loot into my backpack for him to “inspect.”

Our undead magnet Bryrgar led us to the remaining unsearched tunnel, where we encountered a room full of chests, coffers, and zombies! Actually, I never got close enough to be sure they were zombies, as they were dispatched before I got caught up with the taller folk. I heard Charzth howl at one point, even though he wasn’t at all close to the combat, and Roscoe is now studiously avoiding his gaze.

Thankfully we were soon distracted by more loot. In addition to so many coins that we could barely carry them out, there was an amulet (obviously magical, but we’ve yet to figure out what it does), two gold statues of Tiamat, and a gem-encrusted copper bracelet.

We’d seen pretty much all there was to see, and hadn’t found a phylactery. I reminded Bryrgar of the mausoleum he’d found, and suggested that there was a chance there was more to it than a mere crypt. We made our way out of the ruins and were soon in the graveyard, inspecting the vault. Roscoe went in first, and came back out immediately as about ten skeletons began to rise inside. Bryrgar, with skill not before used in such a dramatic fashion, held up his holy symbol— and all the skeletons immediately turned to dust. I offered to go back in with Roscoe to watch his back while he investigated, and he soon found a concealed door. We quickly redistributed all that we were carrying and headed through this hidden portal, descending stairs and walking down a long, dark passage. We eventually came to a dead end, which seemed suspicious. We were right to think that, as Roscoe soon found another door. First we noticed the scorch marks on the bottom of the door, then we recognized the still-smoldering cloak, and the fact that the floor looked like it was moving. Centipedes! This time we finished them off, and examined the room from the inside. Roscoe found a gold symbol of Tiamat in the pocket of an old rotting robe, and Bryrgar found a concealed door that took us behind a statue in the altar room next door.

It seems we’ve found everything we can here, and Aseir has told us that Giles party was thought to be headed to the ruins in the Qurth Forest. After getting supplies for an extended journey, we plan to head there.