CURRENT DATE/S:
07/11/4709

PREVIOUSLY:
Having continued their journey through the Fangwood, the party happened upon the remains of a dead human, bitten by a serpent in a mysterious lake. The only clue to his identity was a pouch of Tamran coins, and a strange emblem sewn onto the pouch similar to that of the living god, Razmir. With yet another mystery to solve, the heroes continued further towards the crypt, where they were faced with the arduous task of scaling the cliffs of Serpent’s Gorge, only to then be forced to cross the river bearing the gorge’s name, in order to reach their destination – Kassen’s crypt. The heroes soon learned that something had gone wrong when the bodies of several horses were found dead outside of the crypt, and two villagers slain inside. As the heroes investigated, they were set upon by a gang of skeletons, with 4 of the 5 heroes falling in battle. As the last of the heroes was about to fall, a spirit, who appeared as a likeness of Kassen himself, and sent forth a wave of holy energy which destroyed the remaining undead. As the heroes recovered and rested for the night, a distant howl could be heard coming from deeper within the crypt…

EVENTS:

After resting for the night, the heroes heal up thanks to Kal’s knowledge of divine magic and natural healing remedies. The heroes found 2 doors, one being to the west which was secured with a lock even too difficult for Evarl to pick, and another door to the east which was found to be unlocked. The door, once the bodies were removed, opened into a corridor of sorts with several passageways going off in different directions. Evarl was the first to enter to corridor, followed closely by Zevan. Just inside the entrance, the heroes found several brooms and a pile of empty saddlebags which appeared to have been left there by the townsfolk. Zevan recognised the leather-working of the local tanner on one of the bags, which confirmed this fact. Still in the distance, the heroes could hear a disembodied moaning.

Evarl decided to take the left passageway, whilst Zevan took the right in order to cover more ground. Evarl found a similar corridor leading to the east, with more corridors off of either side. Zevan discovered the same. Upon examination, Zevan discovered clawed and bloody tracks which appears to be coming backwards and forwards across the floor. Possibly distracted by the markings, Zevan failed to notice the trap door which activated as soon as he placed his boot firmly against the pressure plate. With quick reflexes, Zevan was able to grab a hold of the edge of the pit before plummeting to his death. Evarl quickly made her way to his position and as she reached out to grab his hand to help him up, she smirked. Due to the darkness Zevan could not see, but Evarl, with his elven vision was able to see that at the bottom of the pit, a series of pillows laid out at the bottom that would have broken his fall. Zevan, somewhat embarrassed by his panic, refused to be helped up, and instead made his own way back up to the dungeon floor. Evarl meanwhile advised the others of the trap, just as Kal located a lever on the wall of a side passageway. The activation of such, he decided, was best left with more “skilled” hands than his own.


After a careful examination of the area, with the use of Nell’s light spell, it was discovered that that the area was that of a maze, and that some of the floors were possibly trapped. This was later confirmed by Sam who was not quick enough and fell into a bed of pillows even after using the broom handled that the heroes found at the front door. At the bottom however, he found a small coin pouch with a single platinum piece, a key and a note. The note claimed:

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Three to open, but be quick, for the door will only open for those who work together.

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h6. The heroes deduce that the area must have a puzzle of sorts associated with it, and was part of the initiation. Evarl carefully activated the lever only to hear a distant clicking sound as though part of a mechanism has been triggered.

The heroes decided that the best course of action would be to identify the traps, as where there was two, there would be others. Whilst looking for traps, the heroes discover several traps and a total of three levers. Nell discovered a solid stone door in a southern alcove without any type of lock or handle. The group deduce that the levers may activate the door and so set about to plan a way through the traps to allow each person to be able to make their way to the door before it shut.

The plan was executed, and Sam used one of the broom handles to wedge open the door just as it was about to close, leaving a small gap for anyone to fit through. After running through the door however, the heroes were confronted with a further choice – a T-junction. Checking for the tracks, Zevan noticed that the clawed tracks continued in both direction, the most recent towards the East. This was also the direction of the moaning which abruptly stopped when the heroes began making their way down the corridor. Soon after, the moaning was replaced by whispering.

Another corridor led off to the west, whilst the corridor the heroes were on continued down to a closed door – a room where the whispering appeared to be emanating from. Whilst the other heroes prepared for what was in the room from a distance, Evarl stealthily made his way to the door. Closer examination showed signs of dried blood and claw marks. The door was solid, and appeared to be bulging as though something was behind it, forcing it closed.


Evarl tried the handle and found the door was not locked, and its mechanism recently damaged. As he prepared to open the door however, Evarl, and the other heroes, were surprised as the sound of a firing crossbow echoed through the halls…