MONDAY, MARCH 16TH - THE ORDER OF THE FLAGON : SESSION 3 RECAP
We left off last time with Ulbrik leaping into the water, sinking into the murky depths while his friends looked at one another in shock.
Rhonin reacted before the others could, and left into the water after their dwarven companion. Unable to see in the dark water he had to feel around with his hands until he found the dwarf by the feel of his chain mail. Grasping his friend, the monk kicked off from the bottom of the pool, using his strength to propel them both back up to the waters edge. Milosh and Forlan lent a hand and pulled their two wet comrades out of the pool.
“They are things down there at the bottom,” Ulbrik sputtered, spitting out water.
“What things?” Rhonin asked.
“Not sure,” the dwarf replied. “Bodies maybe.”
Milosh called to mind the cantrip, Shape Water, and began using the spell to move the water out of the pool back through the archway nearby into the room with the drainage grate. It took some time, but eventually they were able to drain the pool of the majority of the water so they could see the items at the bottom. There were in fact, the remains of several less fortunate adventures. All they found of use was a black leather pouch and a rusty dagger. The pouch contains some coins which they split up amongst themselves.
After doing what they could to dry out a bit and compose themselves, the party decided to try the wooden door that led out of the room. After checking it thoroughly to ensure it was not trapped they decided to open it with Ulbrik leading the way into the next chamber. As the door opened, the dwarf looked inside to assess what lay beyond. It was a small circular chamber, the only furnishings a small circular table and an overturned wooden chair in the center of the room. Atop the table set a tarnished goblet of some sort. A tarnished metallic framed piece of art hung on the wall directly opposite the door they had just entered. Along the right wall, he could make out what appeared to be a small wooden chest.
Relaying back to those behind him what he saw, the dwarf took a step into the room. As he did, he felt the stone floor give way beneath him, dropping him down into a dark pit. Rhonin reached out to try to grab the dwarf, but was just a second too late. The fall was short, only about ten feet, but there were rusty spikes at the bottom of the pit. Several of these wounded Ulbrik as he impacted the bottom.
Looking around in an effort to orient himself, the dwarf saw the remains of a less fortunate soul off to the side. An adventurer long forgotten and nothing but bones remained.
“Give me a hand,” Ulbrik called up to his companions. Working together, the three were able to pull the dwarf out of the pit.
“A devious trap,” Forlan said, looking down into the hole.
They carefully leapt the five feet over the open hole to the room beyond. Each of them took in the objects in the room. Rhonin and Forlan moved over to check the chest while Milosh and Ulbrik moved over to the table.
Investigating the chest, the monk found that the lid appeared to be trapped. A thin metallic wire went from the lip of the lid down through a small hole in the chest behind the lock. Taking a chance he cut the wire in an effort to disable whatever the trap might be. Carefully lifting the lid they found inside an unlit torch, a small coin purse, a holy symbol to the goddess Selune, a small black stone orb, a mace, a small silver statue of an Elf maid playing a lute and several light blue small gems.
They divided up the items then looked at the framed artwork on the wall. Forlan looked it over, and found that the small frame was tarnished, but appeared to be silver. The colors on the canvas it contained were faded and worn from age and exposure to moisture rendering it unrecognizable. The sharp eyed elf noticed a small hole in the floor just below into the right of the picture. Checking it he found a similar hole several inches up on the wall just above the hole in the floor.
“What do you make of this?” Forlan called over to his companions.
Rhonin looked at the openings, then back to the chest.
“Perhaps it was part of the trap from the chest?” the monk said unsure.
It was as good a guess as any. The others shrugged. Rhonin moved the picture, trying to see behind it. He checked to make sure it was not trapped. Once he was satisfied it was safe, he removed the artwork from the wall and found behind it a small hole about five feet up from the floor.
He peered into it, but whatever lay beyond was dark and being human he did not have the gift of dark vision.
“A peep hole,” he said looking back at his friends. “If someone was watching us, they may be gone now.”
Putting his ear to the wall, Forlan listened for a moment. His keen Elven hearing could make out what sounded like movement behind the wall. It was not much, but he was certain he had heard something move.
“There is something back there,” the Ranger whispered to Rhonin.
Ulbirk heard and walking forward, he gripped his warhammer in both hands. The monk saw him approaching.
“Want to help us get this wall down?” he asked the dwarf.
“Aye,” Ulbrik replied.
As he walked toward the wall, he began to chant, tapping into the divine link to his god calling forth Detect Evil and Good. Forlan leapt back over the pit, giving himself some room and protection, then drew his long bow. Milosh pulled the table over and then moved behind it, placing it between himself, the wall, and whatever lay behind it.
Unleashing the spell, the dwarf felt the presence of Undead behind the wall. His countenance immediately changed, like a sudden thunderstorm his demeanor changed.
“We must destroy what is back there!” he bellowed, drawing back his hammer. With a dwarven battlecry he brought the hammer down from over his head with a two handed swing. The weapon landed with a blow that sounded like a thunder clap, the sound of splitting stone echoed through the small room. Several loose stones around the site of the impact collapsed outward into the room, dust flew up obscuring briefly the hole that the enraged dwarf had opened.
Ulbrik peered through the debris looking for the signs of what he knew lay beyond. At first there was nothing, but as the dust began to settle, the dwarf saw movement, a withered, decaying arm shot out from the hole reaching for him. An arrow flashed past the Cleric, piercing the head of the zombie and sending stumbling back into the space behind the wall. A Ray of Frost flashed by reaching into the space, chilling undead flesh.
“Come on!” Ulbrik cried in Dwarven, urging his foe to come at him.
The wall bulged and collapsed outward into the room as several zombies stumbled out into the room, low moans escaping long dead mouths as they pressed forward toward the living. Ulbik drove his hammer into the forehead of the lead zombie, crushing its skull and sending it reeling backwards towards the alcove it had come from. Forlan struck the second with an arrow, but it did not fall. A beam of frost leapt out to strike the same zombie, but stubbornly it pushed forward. Rhonin finished it off with a couple of quick blows sending it down the floor where it lay unmoving.
The last of the corpses struck at Ulbrik, its first fist glancing off the chain mail he wore without effect, but the second fist landed a solid blow that caused the dwarf to grunt in pain.
With a roar Ulbrik swung his hammer, but his blow missed, his aim thrown off by the blow the creature had dealt him. Forlan fired an arrow over the dwarf’s head, the arrow piercing the eye of the zombie and pinning it to the wall behind it.
Satisfied their foes were dispatched, they checked the alcove where the zombies were hidden and found it empty. Ulbrik took a healing potion offered by Rhonin to heal his wounds while the others took stock of their situation and moved to check the wooden door on the left wall. Forlan listened at the door, and hearing nothing, made room for Rhonin to check the door for traps and to see if it was locked. The door was not trapped, but he did find that it was locked. He spent a few moments with his lock pick tools and was satisfied when he felt the last tumbler fall into place.
“The door is unlocked now,” he told his companions.
Steeling themselves the group lined up behind Ulbrik who took the lead as Rhonin opened the door.
This is where we will end the first part of the recap for this session. Check back with us in a couple of days when we put up the last half of the recap for session 3. Thanks for reading and we will see you back here next time back here in The Maze.
