Session 20: Tomb of the Kings

With the swamp abomination slowly dissolving back into the muck from which it came everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Weapons were not stowed however as tensions between Alton in his new drow form, his old group of adventure companions, and this new mysterious woodland elf remained high.

The elf, Elarios, lowered his bow and and stepped cautiously forward. Introductions were made all around, with the group admitting they were lost and seeking a lair of lizard men while Elarios claimed to be on a vendetta against a group of orcs that had destroying his village and slaughtering his kin folk. He also claimed knowledge of caves to the north where lizard men tracks could be found. Putting his quest to slay orcs on hold he agreed to join the group and lead them to the lair of the lizard men.

In less than an hour the fog of the swamp began to lift a bit revealing a cliff side that butted up against the corrupted swamp waters. Soon a dark entrance into the cliff face was found. Krius in the front lines lit his faithful lantern while Rhin unsheathed his axe and joined him. The group then cautiously crept into the cave.

The chill air in the darkness of the cave was oppressive. The flickering light of Krius' lantern illuminated a medium sized chamber with a pair of ten foot tall ornate double doors at its far end. As everyone was busy examining the doors Elarios noted that the area looked as if it had been undisturbed in years, no lizard men tracks whatsoever. Before this discovery had a chance to unnerve the group the air suddenly got colder and the shadows darker, a pair of insubstantial twisted human forms materialized between the group and the double doors in front of them. At the same time a third form materialized in the middle of the group as whispers of a mad man began to assault their minds.

Suddenly Rhin went berserk, clawing at his head muttering about the voices, he hefted his axe and planted in the back of his nearest companion. Prophit staggered under the blow and lurched forward. Alton with an unhealthy knowledge of all things shadow informed his friends they were being attacked by wraiths, undead souls of men driven insane, often used as guardians of tombs and temples. The one in the middle of the group was a particularly nasty form known as a madness wraith who's very touch could make enemies out of friends.

Prophit was quick to act, taking Alton's knowledge to heart he pulled forth his holy symbol and invoked his god. Holy energy radiated out pushing the madness wraith against the far wall of the cavern where it let out a ear splitting howl.

The rest of group was quick to act. Weapons were raised, and quickly put to use. Rhin's wits were back at least partially, as he charged the madness wraith looking for revenge. Krius and Mannon concentrated their attack on the other two undead, holding them at bay.

Alton, Elarios, Rhin, and Prophit quickly defeated the wraith of madness all the while fending off its attacks on their sanity. Attention was then turned to the spectral forms guarding the great doors.

Krius had one pinned with a holy challenge and Mannon was blasting the other with curses and blasts. Soon with the combined effort the wraiths were driven back behind the huge set of doors to regenerate their spectral forms.

Determined to enter the tomb and plunder its riches Mannon set to work on the strange locking mechanism. A quick scan and he determined the doors were trapped and the only way to disarm the trap and open the vault was to put himself in harms way by reaching into small hole in the door. As he began to finagle the the lock he heard a dangerous click and quickly removed his hand as a large stone slab rushing by. Had he been a split second slower he would have lost his hand for sure. The same procedure was repeated with the second door, this time with some assistance from Alton's spectral cat Sage, who triggered the trap loosing his shadow paws in the process. He let out a howl as he regrew them to inform Alton of his displeasure and then vanished back into the shadow until called upon again.

Mannon quickly unlocked the second lock as Rhin and Krius stepped forward to open the ponderous doors. Behind them, nothing but rubble, a collapsed passage completely blocked off with no way forward.

After a bit of speculation it was determined that this was likely a false tomb entrance and that a second entry way would need to be found.

With that the group returned to the daylight outside. Elarios found the trail of the lizardmen and the group began tracking them again. Eventually their path led to vegetation covered cliff wall. Elarios astute powers of observation found a hidden passage behind the vegetation and pushing it aside revealed another dark corridor into the cliff wall. Along with darkness was a musky, oily smell. Lizardmen.

Krius re-lit his lantern, Alton summoned magical light and into yet another cave they went. Stepping cautiously on slippery stone the group descended into the gloom. Once inside they noticed the floor of the cave sink and in the depression was foul water with an oily sheen on top. Further into the cave it looked as if the path continued on a large log floating in the water.

Once again Elarios' elven eyes picked out detail the rest had missed and noted that the log was not a log but in fact a giant crocodile lying in wait to messily devour any foolish enough to step into the water.

Undeterred by malign floating lizard logs Krius stepped forward with javelin in hand. He gave a mighty throw and missed the crocodile completely. As the large beast dove under the water eyes and snouts appeared. Soon a small throng of lizardmen was upon the heroes hissing, spitting, and swinging large clubs while somewhere from the dark gloom small darts were finding their mark in the paladin poisoning him.

Full melee broke out. Alton and Mannon relied on their magic for defence, while Rhin and Krius dove into battle head first. Prophit and Elarios attacked from the rear...

The characters present:
* Alton/Morrainna (Aaron), drow wizard
* Mannon (Dave), halfling warlock
* Prophit (Jeff), human cleric
* Squire Krius (Matt), human paladin
* Rhin No-Clan (NPC, ran by DM), dwarf fighter
* Elarios Amanodel (Mark, absent ran by Dave), elf ranger

Rumors and clues gathered (this session):
* False tomb entrance found.

Treasure found (this session):
* None

Foes/traps/tricks overcome (this session):
* 3 wraiths
* false tomb trap
* 1 crocodile (no XP, fight ongoing)
* 4 lizard men (no XP, fight ongoing)
* mysterious darts (no XP, fight ongoing)

Experience gained (this session):
160 each player