We're gonna need a new thief

I only had two players for Session 12. One of the regular has not been to play for several sessions so who knows. Another new person who joined came twice and I have not heard since. This is normal for Roll20 games.

This adventure was based on the Pathfinder adventure Crypt of the Everflame. But I made a lot of changes to get it to fit in my campaign. It is no longer a starter dungeon with some undead and some harmless traps. I made all of the traps lethal and added a wererat sub-plot.

Session 12: The Mausoleum of the Everflame

Players: Lakima (Magic-user), Eathwund (Fighter), Daen (Dwarf Fighter NPC), Kasir (Human Cleric NPC), Mead (Human Thief NPC).

The adventurers were approached by the Church of St. Cuthbert. The Everflame torch that is in their care for the town has gone missing. They have just a few days to locate it because it is the centerpiece of the Winter Festival. To make matters more grave, their old friend Marta (Cleric of St. Cuthbert) took some guards to investigate and disappeared.

The adventurers Lakima, Eathwund, and Daen head over to Clearwin’s oddities early in the day. Lakima picks up the Continual Flame Staff he commissioned and seems pleased with it. They then head for the Church of St. Cuthbert. While passing through the Town Square they check the stocks for Billy the thief who they have not seen in several days.  Billy is not present but two men are in the stocks. One of the town guards tells them they were arrested for stealing from a farmer’s cart.

Lakima speaks to the two thieves attempting to discern their character. Eventually, he settles on the younger of the two, a man who tells them his name is Mead. A discreet bribe to the guard gets the thief released. Mead agrees to accompany them.  I was not expecting this at all but I quickly put together some statistics for Mead (thief 2) and created a token on the fly. The name came from the Book of Random tables.

At the church, the Abbot tells them about the missing Everflame torch and their friend Marta. They assure the Abbot that they will find the Marta and the torch. The abbot introduces them to Kasir, a thin-looking man who the abbot assures them is a seasoned priest used to adventure. At the Mausoleum that used the hold the torch, they are met by a guard who lets them in once he speaks to Kasir. They do a search of the chamber directing Mead to search the floor. The thief tells asks what he should search for? Eathwund finds a flagstone that has been levered up and not put back down correctly. Daen lifts it and they see a dark shaft leading down 20 feet. There is a wooden ladder in the shaft. Lakima tells Mead to climb down and report back. Mead argues that it is too dangerous but eventually agrees to do it. Getting the all-clear from Mead everyone descends into the catacombs.

The corridor leads to a chamber with many solid pillars. Mead reports a pit trap in the floor, “I found a trap!” The pit trap is open and they see the body of a Church guard sprawled at the bottom clearly dead. Tracks lead past the pit but there is no easy way to pass. Lakima tells Mead to lead them south around the trap. The thief takes three steps and falls into another pit trap. Daen is sent down on a rope to check on the thief. Unfortunately, nothing can be done, Mead is dead.

We're gonna need a new thief

Daen now takes the lead. They hear wailing coming from the north. Possibly a human voice. Heading in that direction they turn east and come to a locked door they cannot get past. They return and head north. The wailing gets louder and they come to a door that is barricaded shut on the other side. The wailing stops when they call out. A man's hysterical voice tells them to go away. Kasir tells them it sounds like the Church Guard Roldare. Despite a lot of effort, they are unable to convince Roldare to open the door. He wails about gnashing teeth and shining claws. Giving up on Roldare they move on and encounter an enormous beetle eating a giant rat. The beetle attacks and grabs Eathwund in its mandibles. Eathwund is practically chopped in half and falls to the floor unconscious. The rest hack away at the beetle until it is dead. Kasir casts two Cure Light Wound spells on Eathwund before he bleeds to death.

They continue north and encounter a pair of shadows in a chamber with a smoldering fire. The shadows are killed fairly quickly. The smoke makes visibility difficult so Lakima pours water on the fire. Great plumes of smoke fill the chamber. They retreat to the locked door again. Daen tries but is unable to chop it down with his ax. They return to the chamber with the fire and find a key on the edge of the firepit and an unburnt dagger in the middle of the pit. Using the key they are able to open the door and see a circular chamber. A pillar supports the roof in the center of the room. The pillar is full of hundreds of small holes, arrowheads poke out of the holes. Lakima goes to read some magic runes on the floor just as the pillar starts to spin, firing 100s of arrows out in all directions. Everyone is hit by arrows, including the distracted Lakima. Eathwund opens the door to the north and he and Kasir duck behind it. Yelling finally convinces Lakima and Daen to join them. Lakima is hit by several arrows.

The trap of 1,000 arrows

The next chamber has stairs leading down. Before they can descend they are forced to kill two monstrous rats that emerge and attack. On the next level, they come to a crossroads. They smell rot from the east, hear dripping water to the west, and splashing water to the north. On the floor is a message carved in ancient common tongue admonishing those who enter from despoiling the dead. They decide to head east. They enter into a catacomb full of carved alcoves stacked with human skeletons. Mindful of the warning they avoid touching the bones. They do find a backpack with fresh blood on it. Inside is a note from someone called the “Rat King” ordering an investigation of some tunnels found behind a collapsed wall.

They open a stuck door to the north and surprise eight rat creatures the size of small humans that stand on hind legs. Two of the creatures are even wearing human clothes and carry swords. In the corner of the room, they see their friend Marta lying on the floor. He is covered in wounds but looks alive. Lakima attempts to parlay with the creatures who just hurl insults back at him. Then some of the creatures begin to slink forward their intent to attack clear. Lakima casts Phantasmal Force from a scroll and summons an enormous cat. Telling the rat creatures that the cat-god is upon them. All but one of the rats run to the far end of the chamber in fear. One stands firm yelling at his companions, “It is a trick!” But he also seems reluctant to try attacking. Lakima convinces the rat-men to leave, leaving Marta behind. They step aside to let the rats pass. Kasir runs to Marta’s side. He uses his last Cure Light Wounds Spell. Marta looks better but is still incoherent. At the north wall of the chamber is a sturdy iron portcullis. Daen and Eathwund try but neither can lift it. They see iron chains ascending above the gate.

They pick up Marta and head back to the crossroads. Heading north they find a chamber with a fountain of clear water. Daen tries it and is healed. Everyone then drinks from the pool and all of them receive some healing. The water is given to Marta and some of the bite wounds close. Marta becomes coherent. He tells them that he led four guards down into the catacombs where they were ambushed by the rat creatures. He fought as some of the guards fled. Eventually, the rats piled over him and he blacked out. He remembers passing in and out of consciousness. The wererats told him they were making him part of the family. He heard them talking about entering the catacombs from the sewers at the request of a Rat King. They found and stole the Everflame and went ever deeper. They used an iron wheel to the west to open the portcullis. Then they found tombs of Knights of St. Cuthbert. But they disturbed an undead creature which attacked killing their leader. They fled out of the tombs.

The adventurers with Marta now able to walk, head west into a number of flooded chambers. The water is soon 2 feet deep and it is murky so they cannot see the floor. Mindful of traps Daen borrows Eathwund’s polearm to check the depth of the water every few feet. They find a flooded room with three tombs. On top of one tomb squats a giant frog. Recently killed rat-men float face down in the water. They attempt to move quietly through the chamber past the frog but the frog attacks and it is joined by two more frogs. The first frog they encounter jumps and lands in front of a surprised Daen. The frog then swallows Daen whole. Another frog jumps in front of Lakima. Daen pulls out a dagger and tries to cut his way out of the frog. Outside of the frog the battle rages. Lakima and Eathwund manage to kill one frog and then move on to the one that swallowed Daen. Eventually, they are able to kill the frog and pull Daen out of its mouth. Meanwhile, the frog Kasir had been fighting flees out a hole in the wall that sounds like it leads to the sewers.

Shaking it off they head north and enter a large chamber. On the far wall, they can see a large iron wheel with a chain attached. Daen moves quickly across the chamber and steps right in a deep pit. Weighed down by his armor he disappears from sight. Eathwund throws his grappling hook attached to a rope after the dwarf. In the depths, Daen sees the rope and holds on. He is pulled to safety. More cautiously Dean taps the floor with the polearm and skirts the edge of the pit. He finds a 5-foot wide bridge over the pit leading to the wheel. Eathwund and Daen grab the wheel and manage to spin it four times before the chain becomes taught and will not move. Eathwund volunteers to wedge it in place with his bastard sword. As they turn to leave, large rats emerge from holes in the walls and splash through the water towards them. The rats are large but not giant - but they have poison dripping off of their incisors. They kill the six rats quickly but Eathwund is bitten. Luckily, he shrugs off the poison.

They head back to the room with the iron gate and confirm it is open. But Marta is wavering and looks pale so they vote to return him to the church for healing. On leaving they meet the guard again who asks if they found the torch yet? They are dripping wet and everyone but Kasir has fresh wounds. They wave off the guard and head on their way. They escort Marta to the church and summon the abbot. Everyone gets healing from the priests. After a brief discussion with the abbot, they return to their home for rest so they are ready to tackle the quest again the next day.