House Rules

This campaign will be strictly Forgotten Realms (no spells, feats, deities, Prestige classes, etc. from other “worlds”), and with only races found in that setting. All characters will be based on “3.5” rules.

Characters can be made with 32 points using the Point Buy method. Everyone starts at 3rd level in Waterdeep. Multiclass and favored class rules are in effect.

There will be no more than 5 PCs at any time. We’ve tried playing with more in the past and it decreases the enjoyment for the DM and players.

Character sheets will be in PCGen format (give your changes to Kristin so she can add them to the DM’s roster) or the sheets here: https://rpgs.wererat.net/pcs/ so that the DM has access to them as needed.

In addition to experience points for game play and attendance, Hugh is also basing experience awards on timely-written journal entries, bios and other things character-related that help evolve the game world and make it easier for him to spend what time he has working on the campaign. A good background will lend itself to plot hooks for the characters.

Players unable to attend a session must make arrangements with Hugh to run your character for that session. A missed session will usually yield 75% experience.

No character or inventory item, etc. is in play unless it has been approved by the DM. This includes characters that have gone up a level since the last time Hugh has okayed a character sheet. Things discussed between characters that effect game play do not happen if the DM is not made aware of them.

Main books/sources used for character creation
PHB 3.5
DMG 3.5
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
All 3/3.5 Forgotten Realms Campaign Accessories
Complete Arcane/Adventurer/Divine/Warrior
Races of Stone/Wild/Destiny
Stormwrack/Sandstorm/Frostburn

Materials from other WotC 3.5 books may be used on a case-by-case basis.
Some Dragon Magazine articles, approved on a case-by-case basis.

Character Death & New Characters

Character deaths happen, and resurrection isn’t always an option. If a character dies heroically, the player may create a new character at the level the old character would have been at had they been resurrected, with the addition of that session’s experience points. Characters coming into the game in this fashion have to make sense for the story line.

The new character’s starting funds are half of what is shown in the DM Guide on table 5-1. All magic items must be approved by the DM.

Monster Roster

Undermountain, Yawning Portal Entrance
30 goblins
1 gauth (avoided)
1 gelatinous cube (avoided)
1 manticore
1 undead ogre
1 wight
16 crawling claws
4 dire rats
1 wererat (charmed)

North of Waterdeep
5 worg
5 goblins
6 skeletons
1 level 3 necromancer
1 gargoyle

North of Redlarch
5 ghouls
1 werewolf (wolf form)

Triboar
1 level 4 rogue

North of Triboar
6 goblins
1 ogre

North of Longsaddle
1 juvenile white dragon
9 orcs
Sanura’s doppelganger

Kryptgarden Forest
8 wolves
20 forest kith
12 drow

Mysterious Courtyard/Tower
4 vampire rose bushes
6 archer bushes
1 living iron statue
4 or 5 ice mephits
1 large fire elemental
a whole lot of skeletons

Skullport
4 zombies

Waterdeep, Dock Ward
3 wererats
4 ghasts
28ghouls
1 osqiup
2 fihyrs
1 human necromancer/surgeon
11 humans
2 blood hulks
‘Mr. Skin’

Creature Types:

• aberration
  
• animal and beast
  
• construct
  
• dragon
  
• elemental
  
• fey
  
• giant
  
• humanoid
  
• magical beast
  
• monstrous humanoid
  
• ooze
  
• outsider
  
• plant
  
• undead
  
• vermin
  

Loot

Undermountain, Yawning Portal Entrance
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds, Eleioni
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds, Kanelyth
214 gp
1 moonstone
Full plate and “duck” helm, cursed, Eleioni
+1 Greatsword, Eleioni
Ring of Protection +1, Flic
Silver Circlet of Charisma +2, Flic
Wand of Magic Missiles, Flic
Bronze Pendant, Eleioni
4 orange “healing” potions
Boots of Elvenkind
Wand of Levitation, Flic
Rod of Wonder, Sanura

North of Waterdeep
Wand of Lightning
Bracers +1 of Necromancy
Arcane spellbook
Amulet of Moander

North of Longsaddle
34 gold pieces
2 Moonstones (50 gp each)
+1 Keen Battleaxe

Kryptgarden Forest
16 masterwork nets
1 drow spellbook, Roywyn

Mysterious Courtyard/Tower
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds
Potion of Fire Resistance, Seren
3 red-tipped arrows, evocation magic, Seren
+1 Fortunate Dagger, Seren
Ring of Protection +2, Roywyn

Waterdeep
Silver key with three pearls, Flin

*stuff in this color has already been used or divided up for funds
**stuff in italics hasn’t quite been identified....

Eleioni's Bio

Let me start by saying I believe most people in the world are generally good people just trying to live their lives the best they can. Don’t get me wrong, I do understand that some are as evil as the demons of the nine hells, but they don’t make up the majority of people.

You see I’ve lived most of my life in Westgate. My parents were on there way home when I was born, almost three weeks early. My mother was unable to travel, so they decided to set up shop right there. My father is a weapon and armor smith, and an extremely good fighter. My mother is no stranger to fighting either— fast, agile, and graceful— she proves that sometime a maneuver can be more damaging then pure strength. Their plan was to go back to his home town and settle down, open a shop, and have a small family. With this turn of events they decided to temporarily start their shop here and when I was old enough to travel they’d move on.

When I turned five, my mother had a second child, my sister. So again we couldn’t travel for a while. After a few more years they decided to just stay where they were. Business was good and the people were generally nice, once you got to know them. We all helped in the shop. My sister and I would clean up the store and help organize things. Once we were old enough we were taught to sharpen and polish the weapons and armor that was sold to us. Mother did most of the selling and dealing with the customers. When I was ten, my father gave me my first dagger, and taught me how to use it. I soon learned how to fight with both hands nether one being better then the other. I still have it; I keep in strapped to my right wrist in a special sheath. Life wasn’t all work, often I would train with either my father or mother. I learned to fight and use armor as well as how to run a business. It was a good life growing up.

When I turned fifteen the strangest weapons I have ever seen were sold to us. Mercurial Long swords, they were sold as a set. I was told that if I could learn to use them I could have them. So I practiced everyday, it took me almost six months to be able to wield just one. It was another year before I could use both at one without being more damaging to myself then to my enemies.

When I turned twenty I decided to do a little adventuring myself. With my parents blessing I was off to find my own way in life. I’ve been home twice now and things are going well for them. My sister left to do her own thing shortly after I did and I haven’t seen her since. I hope to bump into her one of these days, but for now I just have to trust that she’s doing well.

Character sheet: Eleioni Di Giorno [Aasimar Fighter]

Cause of death: killed by Sanura’s doppelganger while remaining party watched.

Sanura's Bio

Sanura, a (mostly) human of Mulan descent, is a priestess of Bast from Mulhorand. She has the typical black hair and sallow skin of Mulan, with feline-like pupils (and mannerisms) passed through the generations of her family from Bast. Not unlike her deity, she has been stricken with wanderlust and is traveling through the Realms as a cleric of Sharess, and is amazed at the sights available among the humanoids that live outside of paradise. Most recently, she found herself drawn to the city of Waterdeep, which is reported to be nearly as beautiful as her home in Skuld.

During her travels, she has actually made an effort to treat non-Mulan humans with more respect than would be due them if they were in Mulhorand, but she is still struggling with the sheer number of peons (indeed, it is difficult to differentiate them from the nobility) and non-humans that throng Waterdeep. She has entered a contest in which she is teamed up with others to find an item in Undermountain; she is hoping to learn more from relying on a small group of unrelated peoples than she’s managed in the town above. She does miss the group of cats that had been following her around the city prior to the contest.

Character sheet: Sanura Sehet-ib-Bast [Priestess/Cleric of Bast/Sharess]
Monster sheet: Sanura Sehet-ib-Bast [Doppelganger/Cleric of Sharess]

Cause of death: originally replaced by a doppelganger (no one noticed), the doppelganger was killed by Kor’tac after it killed the rest of the party. Status of “real” Sanura is unknown.

Certain Death

Murtul 1, 1374, Undermountain

Since I had not arrived at the Yawning Portal with a pre-registered group to join the “treasure hunt” contest, I was partnered up with a rather diverse group: Kanelyth, a being with a hawkish appearance and big, beautifully feathered wings (she could be a priestess of Horus-Re, in look if not demeanor), Eleioni Di Giorno, an aasimar that was born outside of Mulhorand (I did not know the gods took mates from non-Mulan humans), Shoshiro Tanaka, a soft-spoken Shou (of any non-Mulan humans, the most likely to gain my respect), and a half-drow named Flic. Normally I would not waste my time with an elf, and especially not a drow elf, but he is a magic user so I will give him the benefit of the doubt as to his worth. If we win, not only will we have to split the 10,000 gold piece prize, but we’ll secure work as an established adventuring group.

Having signed up, we were told to retrieve a 1’ tall wooden idol of Mystra from the dungeon below, and we descended as a group 140’ below the building. Though several groups had gone ahead of us, no one else was in sight. The first chamber had a sandy floor so I grabbed a handful for good luck. We were soon exploring in no particular pattern, coming to a room of stone pillars, a metal disc gleaming on the floor in the center. Attempting to carry a magical torch into the room proved impossible; I attempted to detect magic only to learn that whatever prevented the light spell also prevented a detection spell from working. Shoshiro was examining a strange skull on the end of an ever stranger skeleton that was wrapped around one pillar. There was also some writing on one wall that translated from Old Thorass to “Certain Death” with an arrow pointing towards a tunnel where said Death must be waiting. A few of us went into the center of the room to stare at what turned out to be a just a coin, and a rat darted out of the room— Flic sicced his owl familiar on it.

That turned out to be somewhat costly attack when the snow white bird was spotted by a group of goblins, who in turn discovered us. While the males in the party chose to fight the dozen little creatures, Kanelyth and I decided to throw the coin out of the room, hoping it was the source of magic-dampening (which prevented Flic and me from casting spells against our attackers), but it didn’t appear to help. Stranger still, a small beholder came into the room just long enough to watch the skirmish, departing when the final goblin decided to tuck tail and run.

I healed people up as best as I could, and we followed a trail of blood left by the retreating goblin. Shoshiro found a secret door, thanks to the goblin’s trail, while Flic’s owl found a gelatinous cube heading in our general direction— we decided to follow the goblin. We found the goblin, dead from its wounds, a little way past the secret door. I had opted to attempt to detect magic as my companions explored. Shoshiro found a strange hole in a bench at the back of a tunnel— I could see a disc-shaped area of magic in the bottom, but wasn’t entirely sure why it was there. I tried to “dip” my staff into it, as I had a suspicion of what it was for. I was right, but the magical circle sucked the staff right out of my hands; I do not think I’d want to visit wherever that staff ended up.

Moments later, as we were exploring a bit further along, I heard Eleioni say “hello” and a started cry as he was attacked by something from the dark! The something turned out to be a manticore— and the ugly creature was obviously hungry for humanoids. It attacked ruthlessly, nearly killing Flic and his owl, and seriously wounding the rest of us. Shoshiro managed to sneak behind it and stab it between the shoulders— I think that was the killing stroke. I healed everyone up as best as I could while the Shou suggested checking the manticore’s lair. That paid off as we found two vials containing cure potions and 200 gold pieces. Eleioni took a potion immediately.

We are probably only an hour into the contest and resting already, but at least we won’t be coming out empty handed.

Passing Through

I was just passing through Waterdeep when I heard of this contest. I found it interesting: go into Undermountain and retrieve a 1’ tall wooden statue of Mystra. Now I wasn’t part of an adventuring group, but I really had nowhere to be so I decided to see if I could find one to join. As luck would have it was able to group up with a few others who also seam to be traveling alone for the most part. It didn’t take much talk to convince them that we could get the prize, and a steady source of income would be nice also.

So we descend into Undermountain and I ask if anyone is good at finding traps. Shoshiro said he could and so he lead the way with us trailing a short distance behind. It didn’t take long before we realized he needed a light source, and being as I can see well enough with no light at all, I didn’t think to grab a lantern. He was handed an everburning torch and again took the lead.

We then came to a room that had a gold coin in the center of it. I thought it was a trap, but when the magic torch entered the room it went out. Apparently it was a magic dead area, so we waited there with the torch while Shoshiro went to examine it. I admit I soon lost interest until someone mentioned there was writing on the far wall. I then walked across the room into another hall and stood there with the torch so it could be read. I got bored again as people tried to determine if there was a trap, and what it was. The next thing I know Flic, a drow spell caster, said we had some company coming form one of the halls. It turned out to be some goblins.

It turns out that Kanelyth is damn good with a bow. Unfortunately I couldn’t hit anything for a while there. I guess I was having an off day. Flic and I were surrounded at one point, but we survived. Mainly because this strange creature entered the room and the goblins fled in fear from it. It then left. Sanura was able to heal Flic back to consciousness, and we continued on. It turns out that Sanura is a follower of Sharess otherwise known as Bast apparently. I can’t say I’m familiar with that deity, but she seems decent enough. Honestly I do believe everyone here will make a good team as soon as we learn each others’ strengths and weaknesses.

We traveled for a while longer following the trail of an injured goblin till we came across his corpse. We then decided to keep going in the direction he seemed to be heading, figuring he was trying to get somewhere. After a while of walking we came to a large room. I saw an odd shaped head peek around the corned. It looked right at me.

“Hello.” I said both to warn the others that we’d been spotted, and hopefully to show we meant it no harm.

“Dinner.” It replied as it came at me.

The next thing I know Sanura was looking down at me and my swords were under that beast. I got up grabbed my bow and started to shoot at it. Eventually it fell and I was able to retrieve my weapons. After searching its lair we found some healing potions, which I took because I still needed a lot of healing. Now, an hour or so into our expedition, we need to rest for a while. Ah well, I’m having fun.

Shoshiro's Bio

I was raised from birth in the Province of T’u Lng, Shou. From as early as I can remember I was being trained to be a ninja for my honored lord. I embraced my training and committed my life to the teachings of my masters with all I could offer. I achieved much and at 16 completed my training. I joined the ranks of my fellow ninjas. We scouted and prepared our clan for war. And in certain situations it became necessary for us to eliminate our enemies. We approached in the night and emerged from the shadows. Often times if you saw me at all it meant you were about to die. I did my job and did it well.

However a day came were I was to assassinate an evil general who was about to attack our clan. I killed the man, but in the process I killed his 7-year-old son. There could be no witnesses. My actions were made public and it was determined that my actions had brought shame to our clan and I was dishonored. I was expelled by my lord until had destroyed enough evil I to cancel out the loss of the innocent boy that I had killed. I have been branded by a mystical tattoo of a burning devil across my back and as I destroy evil creatures it will slowly disappear. When it is no longer there I will be able to return to my people with my honor restored.

I give up my life to do well and will protect those who need protected. However I am not a fool and will not throw away my life if it is not necessary. Ninjas are trained to do what they need to do.

Character sheet: Shoshiro Tanaka [Ninja]

Cause of death: accidentally killed by Sanura’s doppelganger’s fireball from a Rod of Wonder.

Kanelyth's Bio

Kanelyth is the name I shall use for my Walk of the Four Winds. Eagle’s Child - does it mean anything, or did I just like the sound? Certainly, it represents a goal; I plan to fly like my namesake, and the sooner the better!

The elders told me - Walk! And walk I did, although a hop, skip, and jump for joy had some winged assistance now and then. My glides grow longer every day, and more controlled (some of my first leaps had rather embarrassing endings). I used to console myself with the thought that no one else could see me, and perhaps that was the reason for the Walk.

Why do we send our young folk into the unknown to learn to fly? When a full quarter never return, why not find some other manner of testing, of teaching? I suppose we each find our own answer to that... but I know that I would not have it any other way for myself. I have already seen so much, yet so little of the whole!

I will not tell you where my home is - somewhere in the Spine of the World, as others call it. I suppose I could have stayed nearby, practicing flying to the exclusion of all else, and gone home in triumph within a short time - but why not do more? I’d listened to many discussions about the rest of Faerun - time to see for myself.

And, of course, the best place to do that is the city of Waterdeep. Truly, everyone has heard of the place. To see my first sunset over the ocean - how I envied the gulls! I spent several days walking the city, watching and learning, before I began to wish for some company. When I overheard talk of a contest at the Inn up the street, I turned in for a look...

Character sheet: Kanelyth [Raptoran Fighter]

Cause of death: killed by Sanura’s doppelganger after seeing her kill Eleioni.

Flic's Bio

Flic, a half-drow sorcerer from the Dalelands, with his familiar Owl.

Character sheet: Flic [Half-Drow Sorcerer]
Companion sheet: Owl [Familiar of Flic]

Cause of death: rhinoceros summoned to help party.

Quest for Honor

I have left my region of Shou, because I have no honor. I have failed my lord and will not return until I have regained it or will return via the spirit world. I have joined this group to fight the evil, which dwells beneath Waterdeep. I will protect the group I have joined to the best of my ability and will present my share when we complete this task to my noble lord. I have begun my journey today and my group is a rather interesting mix of beings.

The warrior seems honorable and will fight in any situation, even if it means certain death. I have witnessed him fight outnumbered, to protect the sorcerer from a horde of evil goblins. He was the first to attack the great demon, which attacked us later.

He has made a powerful ally.

The sorcerer seems to have knowledge of arts that were and are a great value to us. His power can be used to achieve much, but for good or evil. This I am not sure. I feel as if he is only here for the money.

That brings me to the bird and the cat. I have little interest in either of them. The cat seems to have come from a world that has no honor and she carries herself accordingly. Her ability to heal people however has great value and she needs to be protected. I have never seen a creature quite like the bird. She is a warrior and yet carries no sword. I too will use my bow whenever I can, but I am no warrior and make no illusions about being one.

I am worried about our current position. I have no idea were in this labyrinth we are and fear that no one else does as well. I am not sure if we are making any progress either. No matter if we succeed, then we succeed. Otherwise I will kill as many demons as possible and die with some of my honor being restored to me.

Greetings

You may call me Flic. My true name was taken from me not long after birth and is of no matter to me. I come from an ancient land that holds great wonders and greater dangers. My mother would tell you I am one of those dangers. She has always hated my ability to wield magic. Father says it is not natural to do such things without training. What do they know? Simple fools.

I have set out on my own to learn to perfect my skills and develop new powers. I will return home one day, not as their stupid son who sets the house on fire once a week, oh no, I will return with such power as to rule my homeland. So far my travels have went well, I even found a place that does not seem to mind my Drow heritage. I feel one day it will become a great hindrance though. Something inside me has always said that I will one day come face to face with my true father’s people. And when that day comes, they will learn to fear me.

I have spent some time in this town, Waterdeep. Recently I found a treasure hunt, I feel I will have to join a party of people I do not know, but they will come to know me. I also feel that I and my trusted friend Owl will find a great deal more danger in this hunt than could be expected. Time will tell.

Autonomous Collective

The Inn actually has a hole in the floor, leading beneath the city.
Somewhere down there is an idol, and the first group to find and retrieve it gets to split ten thousand gold pieces, and perhaps go on to further adventures. Interesting! But I am part of no group. Watching and waiting paid off, however, as other curious but unattached folk made themselves known. I don’t know what made the person in charge round us up (taking up too much space?), but suddenly I found myself agreeing to enter the contest with a group of total strangers.

It was Sanura, the vaguely feline, tarted-up female cleric, who named us the Autonomous Collective, and Eleioni, the silver-eyed-and-haired aasimar fighter, who was tapped as party leader. This did not stop him from allowing the quiet, sneaky man in black to lead the way. Also with us was a dark-skinned elf mage, Flic, and his companion, Owl. Joining a party that had a snowy owl in it seemed to augur well...

The subterranean maze was truly immense! For a while, we could see where other parties had passed, but soon we were on our own. Our first trial involved a room full of pillars, one gold coin on the floor, and an aura that nullified all magic once we were inside. This made it hard for some folk to see, when the magical torch went out! Eleioni quickly moved to the other end of the room and stuck the torch in another passage, so that we could decipher some writing on the far wall.

Actually, I was more curious about the coin on the floor. Was it dropped by mistake, a child’s prank (ie. glued to the floor for laughs), or the source of the anti-magic field? The others kept warning me away from actually touching it, so I looked and listened. Apparently, the message on the wall wasn’t in a modern language, and there was a big snake’s skeleton further down one passage which the man in black and Flic wanted to smash “just in case,” and then the owl found a rat, and then the goblins found us!!

I was laughing at the man in black hiding above the entrance to the passage the goblins entered from, but he had a purpose - scattering caltrops in front of the creatures and stopping their charge. They threw several javelins at us, hitting Eleioni, and I threw the coin in return. Sadly, I missed - but nothing else happened, either. While Sanura chased the coin, the rest of us attacked the goblins. My arrows were deadly when they hit - these creatures are weak! But there were a lot of them. When Flic shouted that more were coming from behind us, I knew we should make our escape and headed for an unoccupied hallway. Unfortunately, the gods had other plans for us...

Everyone at least began to follow me, but the goblins swarmed into the room and piled onto Flic, who could not defend himself magically (despite Sanura finding the coin and throwing it from the room, magic still failed to work). I tried to startle the creatures off by shouting and rattling my wings at them, but they only laughed. They laughed at Sanura when she shouted, as well. Sanura went after the goblin attacking me, so that I could pull out my bow and shoot the goblins attacking Flic and Eleioni. The man in black was also dispatching goblins right and left, but Flic was on the floor, and at that point a giant floating eyeball drifted down yet another passage and scanned the room!

Throwing a quick prayer to Tuilviel that the newest arrival would not attack unless provoked, I waded into the fight to reach Flic’s body. Eleioni was really hitting a goblin-killing stride, so I was able to grab the elf and head for the door unharmed (even by the floating eyeball, which merely watched me watching it). As Eleioni killed the last goblin in the room, the eyeball floated back up its hall. I offered Flic’s limp form to the cleric, but Sanura was casting something at the wall. She then announced that the words and arrow warned of certain death if we followed that path!

While she then attended to Flic, getting him back on his feet, we all discussed which passage to take. I was all for following the floating eyeball, which at least hadn’t attacked, and wasn’t in the Certain Death hall, but the others mentioned seeing a single wounded goblin run away back the way we’d come, and feared another attack if it brought back more friends. This made sense, so I conceded the point, and we followed the man in black as he traced the goblin’s bloody trail to a secret door. I wonder how many other groups they’ve ambushed this way?

The secret door led to many more passages and rooms, with little but dust for our efforts. We found the goblin’s body, and a privy, and the owl nearly flew into a clear ooze that filled the hallway. Owl kept Flic informed of the ooze’s movements, while we searched several paths, rooms, and doors. Finally, we all reached a big, arched chamber, one I could stretch my wings in! Halfway down it, there was a smaller arch, and as we got closer, we could see something peer around the edge of the door.
Eleioni said hello, but the manticore called us dinner and promptly slashed and chewed him into unconsciousness!

It got Sanura pretty badly, too, as she ran in and pulled Eleioni to safety. The man in black and I shot arrows into the thing as fast as we could, while the owl circled overhead and a restored Eleioni dove back into the fight. The owl touched the manticore and somehow transmitted a painful shock to it, but was smashed into the floor for its trouble - poor owl, poor Flic! Flic was swearing up a storm and casting magic missiles into the monster from behind a pillar, while our arrows weakened the thing and Sanuora threw daggers. I found out how painful its tail spikes were, and the man in black disappeared - only to reappear behind the monster and stab it in the back! Eventually, we managed to kill it, and much healing ensued.
Thankfully, even Owl survived - barely!

The monster’s lair was full of bones and not much else, but I did find enough arrows to replace the ones I’ve used, and some healing potions to save for future emergencies. What a contest this is turning out to be!

Moving On

I took the first watch and mentioned that we should extinguish the light, so we don’t attract any unwanted attention to ourselves. Much to my surprise my advice was followed, and I kept watch over my sleeping companions for the rest of the day and some of the night. I was getting a bit groggy when Flic came over and offered to keep watch so I could rest. Gratefully I agreed and fell asleep quickly.

When I awoke I was going to take watch again for much the same reason as before, I don’t need light to see. Kanelyth was already there and seemed to be enjoying herself, so I donned my armor and started to clean my weapons. Partway through Kanelyth said something I didn’t quite hear. I looked up just in time to see her get slammed against the archway by a huge club. Then this large hulking ogre comes in. By its lifeless eyes we figured it was already dead. I was going to charge it when Sanura said to wait a sec, so I pulled my bow and fired an arrow which did absolutely nothing. I admit I’m not as good with a bow as some others are, but it should have done some damage, after all it was a clean shot. Sanura tried to make the undead creature run from us as most clerics like to do, and she did a hell of an impressive job, however, this ogre didn’t even seem to notice it.

Looking around I could tell we weren’t having any real affect on this creature. Even Flic’s spells or Shoshiro’s abilities were causing little to no damage. So I did the only thing I could do, pulled my swords and attacked.

The next thing I knew Sanura was healing me. I figured she had run out of healing because I was still very badly wounded. We walked a few feet and came to a place where we could hole up and did just that. Unfortunately we didn’t stay there long.

I guess they were restless because the left me there to go do a little exploring, after promising to return. I went back to cleaning and sharpening my weapons when I heard a large crash. Fearing the worst I ran to were the noise came from. Turns out they had toppled a statue after discovering that it moves. When they found gold in the base of the first statue they decided to topple another statue. So I helped and that was when Flic mentioned that we had company coming. Quickly we all ran back to the one room and quickly prevented the doors from opening. We all stood so quietly I could hear my heart beating. Whatever was out there attempted to open the door, but when it was unable to it moved on. We waited there for another hour or so before deciding to move on.

After traveling for a while we eventually came to this room. There is a lever in the middle of the floor and a shaft above it. It doesn’t look good from my point of view, but you never know. Now we’re discussing our next move and whether or not we should pull the lever.

Abandoned Rear

Murtul 2, 1374, Undermountain

I can’t believe how much rest this group seems to need. I think we rested about 20 hours, maybe more, and it didn’t seem to help! I did get to know my comrades a bit better, though I obviously said something confusing, as I’ve been getting propositioned a lot. All I mentioned was that my deity, Bast, goes by the name of Sharess in the rest of the Realms outside of paradise, at which point the males in our party began making me “offers.” I don’t believe they had anything to offer, at least, not while we’re in Undermountain.

It was Kanelyth’s watch while some of this silliness was going on, but everyone abruptly became serious as we saw her get smacked with a club by a hulking figure in the dim light from our everburning torch. I yelled for everyone to get back from monster, which we determined was an undead ogre, and I attempted to turn the foul thing while Kanelyth quickly gulped down the healing potion we’d found earlier. I felt the power of Sharess (I’m trying to remember to call her by that name) coursing through me as I attempted to chase away the undead thing, but whatever was animating it was stronger than I. My comrades were whittling it down little by little with arrows, and Shoshiro and Flic were preparing to light it with my oil and a spell, when Eleioni decided he could fight it by going toe-to-toe with it! It hit him so hard I thought he was dead, and it nearly killed me as I ran to stand between it and what I thought was the aasimar’s corpse. Luckily, Flic was able to light the oil with a spell, and with the damage from the rest of them shooting arrows at it, the undead creature fell.

Moments later, that same small beholder glanced in to our room, and then simply glided on past, off to do whatever it is beholders do.

I was so irritated by the entire situation— how can we hope to compete in this treasure hunt when we get attacked in our camp? We have no map, no hint of where the item we seek is located, and this is a mass of dank, dark, dangerous tunnels. What I wouldn’t give to be in the dry desert heat of Mulhorand right now! I tried to calm myself and pray for the power to heal my new friends. By morning, I was able to heal Eleioni; I got him healthy enough to be conscious, but held of healing him entirely— I need to be able to help the rest of the group if the need arises. I knew he’d regain his health faster if he rested; we opted to leave him in a relatively safe room while we carefully explored some areas nearby.

We found a long chamber lined with statues of male and female human warriors in various poses. Flic thought they looked a little too well-sculpted, but since they looked to be made of the same stone as their respective bases, I think they are genuine statues, not humans turned to stone. We couldn’t learn much from them—there had been writing on them at one point which had been scratched off. I noticed a faint enchantment spell on each.

We attempted to slide one, to see if anything unusual would occur. It fell over, cracking into hundreds of pieces, and we found 14 gold pieces in a little hollow underneath where it stood. That was all the excuse Eleioni needed to come see what he was missing!

Kanelyth was horrified by the destruction of such a nice statue. I agreed not to help break any more of them, but Eleioni helped Shoshiro and Flic push another over, revealing a crevice containing a single moonstone hidden beneath the statue. Suddenly Flic looked up and said “Someone’s coming!” just as his owl flew into the long room. We quickly headed back to our “safe” room and tied the two doors shut with rope. Flic accused me of groping him as I grabbed him around the waist to add my weight to the rope securing the door. (As if I’d use such an excuse. For the record, he is definitely male.) Soon, we heard dozens of booted feet clomping past our hiding place, and something attempted to yank the door open, but was unable to with our combined weight keeping it shut. The booted army moved on, eventually out of earshot. Just to be sure, we stayed put for at least another hour, barely speaking above a whisper.

We decided to head out and search for our treasure in a different direction. I healed Eleioni up a bit more, since it was obvious he wasn’t going to stay and rest.

We came to an amazing room, lined with gold and marble, and containing an intricate throne made of bones. There was a definite snake motif— perhaps it was dedicated to Set. There was, however, a lone, purplish and bloated dead orc in the room, so my comrades decided to avoid it at all costs. Perhaps we’ll go back later.

We went back to the room where we’d been destroying statues earlier. Shoshiro got us through a trapped door we’d ignored earlier (getting nicked by a blade in the process!), and we walked through a maze of smaller passages, eventually coming to a room with a lever in the center of the floor, and a shaft in the ceiling. I’m curious to see which of us cannot resist temptation and pulls the lever.

The Fine Line Between Courage and Stupidity

There is a fine line between courage and stupidity. Some of us need learn that there is only so much we can do to help the situation around us. We need to rethink some of the situations that we get ourselves into, and try to do, to make things better. We need the look at situations better and see what we can to make things better. We are bullying are way through this dungeon. We need to slow down and look at what we are doing. And maybe that way we won’t have to spend 23 and a half hours resting and 30 minutes actually looking for the prize. I think if we can slow down we can use the skills we have to make things better.

I am however quite pleased with the evil that we are destroying. We have destroyed 2 major demons and have done some serious good. If we can kill demons like that, we can do a lot of good in this world and we can get our honor back. I am not sure what we were supposed to do with the statues, but I think the room with the dead orc and the gold light could have helped us along the way. It might be a good idea for us to go back and look at the room more deeply.

Duck Hunt

Murtul 2, 1374, Undermountain, continued

After tying a rope around the lever, Shoshiro pulled it and the lever moved. Nothing happened. So, we tried it a few more times, with the same results. So much for that! We wandered a bit, and found a room with a large door and a big magical seal on the floor. Flic asked me to check them for magic, and sure enough, I could detect summoning and binding spells. This was apparently too interesting, as we chose to leave them in quest of safer fare.

Another spate of wandering brought us to some big double doors— nothing could be heard beyond them. I am not sure why this was, because, upon opening them, we were confronted by an entire goblin army, complete with campfires, in a chamber that must have been about 80’ by 150’. As my comrades hastily closed the doors and prepared to run, I cast Calm Emotions on the goblins that were first to reach the door— they could hold back the rest of the army for a minute while we made our escape.

We ran for quite a distance, eventually running right into a room with two sarcophagi in it. I quickly noted that one contained something that was undead, and convinced my new friends that it would be worth opening and providing true rest to the creature within. It didn’t hurt that magic was detectable in both that and the other tomb. The first opened (the one that didn’t have an undead creature in it) contained a skeleton in full plate, with what appeared to be a dragon helm and a greatsword. All carried magic. One quick tug on Eleioni’s armor later, and our aasimar warrior was donning fine new armor and carrying a new sword. Next, we turned to the other sarcophagus. As my friends pushed back the lid, a red-eyed, rotting woman leapt out; my goddess’s divine power quickly had the undead thing cowering in a corner as my comrades finished it off with a ranged assault. We had to, actually, because poor Eleioni discovered he could barely move, covering only about 10’ between attacks!

The battle was over almost as quickly as it started. Flic grabbed the three magic items on the creature, pocketing a silver circlet, slipping on a gold ring, and, after blasting one of the room’s walls, declaring the wand the wight had possessed cast Magic Missiles. He seemed pleased.

Eleioni was not so pleased with what he acquired. We could not remove the helm or the armor, and odder still, what we thought had been a draconic motif, upon closer inspection, appeared to be more “duck” in nature.

There was nothing we could do about it, so we went back to wandering the random passages of Undermountain, hoping to happen upon something good. We managed to not get attacked by some orcs as we passed them, and eventually came to a 5’ crevasse in the floor. There was a glint of metal at the bottom. I cast light on a pebble to get a better look— below us were a skeleton and a bronze pendant, and— movement! Suddenly, a dozen or so disembodied hands leapt out of the pit at us, grabbing and scratching with filthy nails. I spent most of the ensuing battle healing my comrades as they each in turn (with the exception of Flic, who managed to evade the things) looked as though they would succumb to their wounds.

Things were finally starting to go well when those goblins caught up to us. Four of us had no trouble leaping across the pit to (relative) safety, where we could continue to fight the remaining crawling claws without so much interference. Eleioni, who was not only wearing the cursed duck armor that sapped his speed, but was carrying, by his estimation, at least 150 pounds of additional stuff, attempted to lunge across the pit as well. He dropped like a stone, making a sickening crack sound as he hit the bottom. As I scraped a remaining hand off of Shoshiro, Flic took off after two lingering goblins (he’d been picking them off with Magic Missiles). I then looked down and could see that Eleioni was still alive. But, he would not toss his gear up to us, and there was no way we were strong enough to pull him and his gear up— plus, he had the only unused rope left among us. Flic came running back letting us know that more goblins would be in pursuit, so we told Eleioni to be quiet and dowse his light, while we ran off through the nearest doors.

A Prayer to Lathander

As I lay at the bottom of this crevasse I can feel the end approaching. I’m wearing the cursed armor that we found, and only one thing crosses my mind. This sucks. I’ve covered myself with debris and I hope my companions survive long enough to get me out of here, although there is little chance of that. My only real regret at this point is that I am unable to help them get out of this labyrinth. I close my eyes and silently pray to Lathander…

“I have but one request and I pray you listen, Lathander. Help them get out of here alive. I am unable to do anything for them so I must rely on you. Please, let them all get home.”