Back to the dungeon

Now that the players had taken the numerous hints to get back into dungeon delving we had a lengthy dungeon session. First with some travel to find the dungeon and then a dungeon delve. The travel portion was for the most part created on the fly reacting to what the players were doing. The dungeon was from an adapted adventure. I adapted Advanced Adventures Module #2: The Red Mausoleum by James C. Boney published by Expeditious Retreat Press. The adventure was written for OSRIC so the conversion to Swords & Wizardry was straightforward. I created some maps in Dungeondraft and rewrote portions of the adventure to better fit my campaign. It was great to be back in a dungeon again where the player choices are constrained a little bit.

We also had a new player joining. He played the character Fenris who is usually an NPC.

Session 123: The Red Mausoleum

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Aldus (human cavalier), Fenris the Filch (human thief), Domago (human cleric NPC), Ian of Darkhollow (human cavalier NPC).

The members of the Company of the Black Dragon have spent more than a month resting at their Manor House in Edgerton having dealt with the White Worm. During that time increasingly ominous attacks by undead coming from the nearby moors have led the Castellan to request their aid.

Lakima continues to work on his plans to create a flying ship for the Merchant Adventurers Guild. Alrix requests that Clearwin create magical gloves to improve his dexterity. He leaves a deposit to pay for the research.

After a meeting of all members of the Company, the group agrees to take the commission to find the source of the undead coming from the moors. As the moors are a short distance away, they decide to ride to the village of Hamlin on horseback. The village seems to be at the center of the attacks, having been decimated a week earlier. They arrive in the village and find it deserted. There are only a few blood stains on the floor of the inn to suggest any trouble. Animals are still in their pens and the buildings are undamaged. The horses are placed in the Inn stables and they set out on foot for the moors.

Only Lakima and Eathwund have ever traveled in these moors before a few years earlier and this was further to the north. They find a maze of pathways possibly animal tracks and a lot of bogs and marshes. The deeper they go into the moors the more visibility is reduced by a low-lying mist. As the sun begins to set they have found no clues and seen no undead so they decide to return to the village. They arrive shortly before dark.

In the Inn, they find another traveler, Phillip Loxley, a halfling adventurer, is found in the inn near the fire enjoying the free ale. Loxley tells them that his party of adventurers was in the moors looking for undead for the bounty offered. They set up camp and were attacked in the middle of the night. He believes that all of his companions were killed. Loxley does tell them of meeting a spry, old man during the day in the moors who told them of a mausoleum made of red stone that is sinking into the moors. He shows them the location on a simple map of the area. Loxley tells them that he plans to spend the night in the Inn and head to Edgerton in the morning.

The members of the company set up watches in the Inn and barricade the doors. Fenris takes several lanterns, lights them, and places them around the outside of the Inn. The night is quiet until Eathwund and Alrix are on watch. Looking out the Inn’s window, Alrix sees a human jogging into the village along the road. The human male comes right up to the Inn and tries the door. Finding it barred shut he knocks on the door and yells to be let in. After some discussion, a suspicious Alrix finally lets the man inside. The commotion awakens the rest of the company (Loxley continues to sleep undisturbed). Lakima and Alrix question the man who tells them his name is Multen. He joined a group of adventurers in Edgerton a few weeks ago and they have been trading undead bounties (in the form of heads from zombies) for gold. This night they were camped in the moors and attacked by zombies and skeletons. The camp was disrupted and everyone ran in different directions. As the fallback plan was this Inn he headed for the village. On the way, he kept encountering wandering groups of zombies. In the confusion he was only able to grab his pack, he has lost all of his other possessions. Multen tells them he plans to stay at the Inn to see if any of his other companions make it out of the moors. The company then tries to grab some rest for the remaining hours of darkness.

Early in the morning, the company sets out again into the moors. This time with the notion to find the mausoleum Loxley told them about. Lakima asks the arrow of direction to show them the path to the undead and it swings about in a wide arc from the northeast to southeast. They decide to head directly east. After a few hours of following paths through the moors, they come to a slowly moving stream 20 feet across and 3-5 feet deep. Not seeing a place to cross, Lakima asks the arrow of direction for the nearest crossing. The arrow points north. They follow that direction and in the early afternoon, they come upon a rickety footpath bridge across the stream. Fenris easily makes it across and finds a boot print in the mud on the other side. A rope is tied to a tree to make the crossing easier and everyone crosses – Alrix crosses last after changing to his true form and flying across.

Everyone sets out east again. One more time Lakima uses the arrow of direction asking for the direction to the Red Mausoleum. The arrow points south-south-east. They head off in that direction. The mists become thicker as they head in this new direction and everyone has to be careful not to step into a bog. The sun begins to get low in the sky but they decide to continue onward. In the distance, Fenris spots an enormous being dressed in red peering at them from over some low trees and bushes. The being is motionless and the height of a hill giant. Fenris approaches stealthily and as he clears a thicket of bushes; he sees a platform of red stone sunk in the bogs. Atop the platform are four 12-foot-tall statues of human warriors. In the middle of the platform is what looks like a stone altar or tomb made of a different stone.

Fenris waits for the rest of the company to catch up to him. Once they have Lakima asks Fenris to investigate. Climbing up onto the platform Fenris approaches a statue and sees that it has runic writing on the handle of a weapon. He manages to decipher a word in the language of Mor. Possibly a name. He relates his findings and is sent back to investigate further. Each statue has a different name written on a weapon handle. In the center of the platform, he finds what is clearly a stone tomb with more writing on it. He is unable to decipher the writing on the tomb as it is slightly different from the other writing.

The members of the company all climb up onto the platform and Lakima casts the spell Comprehend Languages to read the writing on the tomb:

“My name is unknown.

My world was of the dim past. My people are

gone. Here I lie for want of a door, or I would

join my ancestors in the red depths.”

Lakima tries shouting out the words they found on the statues in the language of the kingdom of Mor in different orders. Finally, after one sequence a stairwell appears in the center of the platform leading down inside. There is no noise or movement in the stone, the stairs just appear as if they have always been there. Fenris is the first to descend into the platform and he lights a lantern to allow him to see.

Below they find a chamber with walls made of red stone blocks. The floor is painted with thousands of faces. Some in groups, some alone, some looking out at the viewer and some to the side. They can see no pattern in their faces. Stone pillars hold up the high ceiling. The entire group descends into the chamber. There are five doors leading from the chamber none of which appear to be locked. Fenris fashions a rope to hold the first door they find shut and they move to the next. It opens easily and they find a hallway. The hall leads to another strange chamber. Thick iron bars block two passages from this chamber and an archway with a stone head above it leads south.

Examining the pillars in this chamber Fenris finds they are pierced by numerous slots. They decide to move on and follow a passage to a small chamber with a stone tomb in it. The tomb lid is pushed back and a red mist rises and forms into a wraith-like figure that reaches out for Aldus. Aldus keeps it at bay and Domago brandishes his holy symbol driving the wraith away. The tomb is found to have a skeleton and a rusted sword. Returning to the chamber Fenris examines the slots again and sees a trigger at the back of them. He shoves the rusty sword they just found into the slot and the pillar begins to hum. But nothing else happens. He pulls the rusty sword out and sets it on the floor. The hum stops. As he circles, the pillar the stone face above the arch opens its eyes and a booming voice calls out in an unknown language. Domago, who is wearing the Helm of Comprehend Languages, says that it is asking for a password.

Aldus tries stepping through the archway but he finds his progress is blocked by an unseen force. He can see the room beyond but he cannot reach it. Lakima decides to cast Atanzibar’s Acrid Finger and melt the iron bars. But they find that the acid splashes off of the bars and falls burning to the stones below – not doing any damage to the stone or the metal that they had assumed was iron.

Puzzled, the group decides to return to the first chamber. Here they explore some more and find two huge faces carved into the south wall. One of a bearded man looking down at them and the other an angelic female with her head looking up to the heavens. The group decides to try the door they had tied off. The rope is removed and they find a hallway blocked by another set of iron bars – although much less sturdy than the other bars they found. Lakima casts Strength on Aldus, and Aldus is able to easily bend the metal bars out of the way. They step through the gap Aldus has created and open a door into a large room. The room has a large number of stone coffins on the floor and pillars hold up the ceiling. On the north wall, they find a brass plaque that Fenris translates as commemorating a pyrrhic victory by a group of men called “The Knights of AqHoor”. A door leads north to a stair headed down. At the bottom of the stair, they see a short hall blocked by a faded red tapestry. Fenris fires a crossbow bolt at the tapestry and sees it rip through the fabric and clatter into something beyond.

Aldus, Domago, Lakima, and Eathwund descend into the chamber. Fenris waits above with Ian the squire while Alrix waits on the stair. The curtain is pushed aside revealing a large chamber bare except for two very large stone coffins held shut with bands of thin silver. The group approaches the nearest coffin and Eathwund snaps the metal bands with his sword. Aldus shoves the stone lid to one side and they see a skeletal figure resting inside clothed in a tattered black robe. After a pause glowing light appears in the eye sockets and the creature sits up and speaks.

The creature tells them that it is Silandra, a creature cursed and held in this stone tomb for more than a thousand years. It claims no knowledge of the dungeon saying it was entombed somewhere else. It asks them to please release their lover who is in the other sealed stone tomb. Alrix and Lakima question the creature about its nature and it is elusive in its responses. Finally, Lakima loses patience and yells for Eathwund and Aldus to attack. The creature points at Domago and whispers, “begone”, and Domago vanishes.  Aldus and Eathwund attack with swords. Lakima strikes the skeletal creature with the staff of power. Alrix fires arrows from his bow. The creature touches Lakima and again whispers, “begone” but Lakima recognizes the teleportation spell and successfully resists. With a final volley of arrows, the creature is destroyed and turns to dust. In the stone tomb, the group finds a potion, a scroll, and a magical hammer.

They immediately move to the next stone tomb. Aldus breaks the bands of silver and shoves the stone lid aside. A similar black-robed, skeletal creature resides in this tomb, but this one is ready and leaps out at Aldus clawing through his armor and attempting to teleport him away. Aldus successfully resists the spell. Eathwund and Aldus strike the creature repeatedly and Alrix hits it was several arrows until it too is reduced to dust.

Once the fight has subsided, Fenris checks to see if the group is okay. He is startled to find that Domago is missing. The second tomb appears to be empty. The group spends a few minutes recovering. At this time, they see a light approaching the chamber of pillars and tombs and soon Domago appears. He tells them that he was teleported to a hallway filled with burial chambers. He followed it out into the entrance chamber and made his way back here.