Day #2

Dearest Grun,

Well, we had a short but eventful round of adventuring, today! It’s still early afternoon, if that, but we’re all so worn down that we’re actually resting the day out in a former temple to an evil god. I hope it’s now former..

After descending through the trapdoor and a very long ladder, we found more of the family crypt. I’m still trying to figure out how they got the bodies down this far - and why? We found another door, and a landing with two sets of stairs, both heading down. Even I am getting a little tired of always descending; although the house was on a hill, we have quite a trip back up if we find no other exit!

The stairway to the left had a terrible stench, so of course we followed it. We found a ransacked, fouled family crypt with undead humans and rats attacking us. It was ugly - although Drusilia raised her arms and caused the undead to flee, we agreed that they must all be put to rest. Everything had been desecrated there, except for a large door with Drusilia’s holy symbol on it. Trap aside, we agreed to leave that alone. The hall at the end was collapsed by someone - we left well enough alone there, too.

The stairwell to the right had no crypts at all, but a large bronze door, decorated with the skull and knife of a death god. This we had no compunctions about opening, except that Trap noticed an odd-looking latch and decided we should leave while he figured out the trap. He figured it out by opening the door and setting it off - thank the gods he has good reflexes, as a stake-filled pit trap opened beneath him!

Trap was able to close the trapdoor (finally, I threw him across the pit so he could grab the door handle and be pulled to close it), and then convinced us that he had figured out how to disarm the trap so we could cross in safety. I actually stood at the door so he could stand on my shoulders and work on the trigger at the top! Of course, being practical, I tied myself to the door handle while he worked, which really bothered him for some reason when he was done disarming the trap. “I stand by my work!” he announced, folding his arms and glaring at me while standing next to me on the trapdoor. “Open the door!” .. he was all but stamping on it when I told him I had plenty of extra rope to tie him with, too. Finally, I opened the door, some broken pieces of arrow dropped down, and the halfling fell to the bottom of the pit.

I’m afraid I laughed, Grun, I couldn’t help it, once I saw he’d missed the stakes, but after all the storm and fury, there he was, stuck with a mummified Duergar in a pit!

I stepped into the other room, untied myself, and lowered the rope to pull him up. He actually spent time searching the body (ugh!), and came up with a few pouches and weapons. I was laughing and chiding him as he dusted himself off.. and then he handed me a mithril waraxe.

....

Pardon me, I was just admiring it for a moment again.

....

I was so shocked, I even let him take the rope and close the door again to try the trap one more time. Apparently, he got Drusilia to stand at the door, because the next time it swung open, the elf was hanging from the handle. Trap jumped across the pit, to see the other side of the door, I think; Fafnir wisely followed and the door was shut, as Trap was ready to try to fix the trap one more time! I think he’ll be dreaming about that one for a while.

Of course, he almost immediately set off the next one - impatiently, he stepped across a line of warding runes that only Drusilia could see. This caused many skeletons to appear and try to kill us. We managed to reduce them to dust, except for poor Trap’s, who just couldn’t do much (read: any) damage to his chosen one with a halfling-sized backpack as a “club.” We dispatched it for him, but not before he’d smacked a large obsidian statue with the mithril axe I handed him, and scared himself half to death. Everything in here is evil - statue, altar, runes.

Fafnir started exploring, and found a torture chamber, and more cells. I got to kill a zombie and a four-armed skeleton, but I was starting to feel I’d had enough for one day. We were all getting fairly injured after all the battling. Of course, the next room we found had the ghoul in it. I really thought that was it, Grun, we were in no shape to even try, and we had no choice!

Together, we hacked and burnt it down. What a moment! Drusilia and Fafnir made sure to destroy (and ransack) the ghoul’s altar and search its rooms, and found both treasure and a map that I think we must follow. It leads near the Barrier Peaks - we may have to visit!

So, now, we have started quite a treasure hoard, and have a bone wand that must be destroyed, and we’re recuperating in the former temple. I think we can say former, since the ghoul is gone. Maybe we’ve actually destroyed the evil in this place!

Saying that, Grun, I felt such a sense of purpose and grace, as I can hardly describe..

I think perhaps Moradin has smiled upon me! Your cousin is now a cleric of her people. I’m awed, Grun, and must end this long letter for now.

Yours in prayer,
Ghelt