Ghost of the Forgotten King

I was hoping to get one more full session in from the modified 3E D&D adventure Barrow of the Forgotten King I was running for my Swords & Wizardry campaign. But it did not happen. The players rushed through the remaining part of the tomb. They almost missed fighting the Betrayer or picking up the big magical treasure at the end. They had become so on point with their intention not to rob the tomb they almost missed out. The Forgotten King practically had to throw his sword to them before they sprinted out of his tomb.

Thankfully I anticipated this and had a short encounter written up to cover the remainder of the session. This was an original encounter I wrote up the day of the session - Zarin's Tower.

Session 75: Barrow of the Forgotten King part 3

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Aashdoshan (human necromancer), Alonso (human fighter), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Domago (human cleric NPC), and Vervork (human fighter NPC).

After the encounter with the Tomb Spider, (in the previous session) the adventurers rest for a few moments. Aashdoshan produces three potions of healing and one each is given to Alonso, Eathwund, and Vervork. Now that the fighters are feeling a little better, they decide to move on. Vervork keeping a close eye on their wounded prisoner Leera.

Lakima sends the Glow Minion forward down some wide steps and it triggers an illusion. A scene plays out in which a man raises his sword as if to signal an attack. Soon the illusion vanishes. Lakima asks Leera about the illusion and she shrugs. The stairs lead down to a platform between several chambers. Stairs lead down into each chamber. In the chambers, they see several upright stone sarcophagi. Fenris checks them and tells everyone that the sarcophagi lids are carved to represent trapped men. Red rubies are set in the carved eye sockets. Before Fenris can pry one out, Lakima stops him. Telling the thief that avoiding robbery so far in the tomb has allowed them to bypass some of the defenses. They pass down another set of wide steps and see a second illusion. The man appears again, this time leading a goblin army against a human king. The two leaders meet and fight until both are killed. Leera says that this is a representation of the Forgotten King fighting the Betrayer. Lakima asks why this would be the illusion in the Forgotten King’s tomb but Leera has no answer.

The path leads down a few more passages and then into one end of a very large chamber. In the distance, they see a circle of blue light. In the center of the circle kneels a fighter clutching a longsword. Near the fighter is an overturned chest with gold coins spilling out from it. Before anyone can advance, Lakima warns that this looks like a trap. He sends the Glow Minion deeper into the chamber. The light from the phantasm illuminates an empty throne against the far wall of the chamber past the circle of blue light. Before the throne, gold coins scattered on the floor reflect the light. As there does not appear to be any other exits from the chamber, Lakima uses his Wand of Secret Door detection to spot two doors on the north wall of the chamber at either end. He uses the Arrow of Direction and asks where the tomb robbers went and it points north. By this time almost the entire party has entered the chamber (Aashdoshan holds back in the darkness) and viewed the strange scene. Lakima points at the secret door to the north and finds the lever to open it. He tells everyone, “This is the way, north!”

 Vervork calls out, “Wait!”. When asked why he says that he thinks the unmoving figure in the chamber is his ancestor Valdemar. He wants to investigate (yes the DM used an NPC to push the party into a fight). Lakima resignedly tells him to check. As Vervork nears the figure it becomes clear that it is the skeletal remains of a man. The skeleton holds a glowing sword that is thrust into a crack in the stone floor. As Vervork nears the skeleton, a ghostly human form materializes on the throne. The figure calls out, “Who would disturb the rest of the King!” Vervork responds to the challenge, trying to explain who he is and why he has come. The ghost will have none of it, accuses Vervork of being a tomb robber, and threatens to kill him.

Vervork stumbles back to the rest of the group but the ghost does not follow him. Lakima surmises that the ghost is held back by the sword. He tells Eathwund to go collect the sword. Eathwund advances and pulls the sword out of the skeleton’s hands carefully. He hefts the glowing sword and backs away slowly. As he backs away the ghost follows him, just on the edge of the blue light cast by the sword. The entire group moves through the secret door. But Fenris calls out that the ghost is ahead of them and waiting in the next chamber. They head back to the large chamber and the ghost arrives back at the throne again.

Lakima tells Eathwund he has an idea and asks Eathwund to return the sword to the skeleton. Then he casts Animate Dead and directs the skeleton to attack the ghost. The skeleton moves forward and the light falls on the ghost pushing it back until it has no place to go. It then cries out and its appearance changes to that of a horrible barrow wight. Its gaze falls across all of the adventurers in the chamber. Aashdoshan, Vervork, and Lantosh are struck with temporary insanity and fall gibbering to the floor. Lakima yells for everyone else to attack. Alonso and Eathwund attack with their swords. Eathwund lighting his sword on fire to burn the wight for more damage. The wight reaches out and strikes the skeleton but its draining ability does not work on the soulless skeleton. Lakima strikes the wight with the Staff of Striking and Alonso and Eathwund finish it off. Once the wight falls, the adventurers stricken with insanity recover.

Lakima lets the skeleton collapse. Vervork looks over the skeleton and tells them that he believes it is the remains of his ancestor Valdemar. He takes the family sword from its grasp. Looking over the bags of gold scattered about, Lakima hands the Bag of Holding to Fenris and tells him to scoop it up. “We no longer have to fear any curses.”

The adventurers head north through the second secret door from the chamber. It leads to the same room they saw before. A wide stair leads north. The room shows more signs of having been ransacked by the tomb robbers who are apparently still ahead of them. Four skeletons lie on the floor. Aashdoshan calls for a brief halt while he animates the skeletons as minions.

Fenris leads the way up the stairs which enter a large dome-ceilinged room. Many stone pillars hold up the dome. Sunlight streams down from a hole in the center of the dome shining onto a raised tomb in the middle of the floor. The sunlight appears to form a curtain of light around the tomb. Lakima quickly realizes that it cannot be sunlight because he calculates that the sun should have gone down by now. A glow of gold can be seen from a tomb in the center of the raised dais. In the center of the dais is a gold-lined depression in which lies a body. Lakima looks around but sees no one and no exits – and yet the tomb robbers could not be far ahead of them.

As the glow minion steps further into the chamber casting light into the darker corners, a pair of tomb robbers step out from behind stone pillars. The hobgoblin shaman Krootad and his master the man Leera called Xeron.

“Stop there! That is far enough,” Xeron calls out, “Perhaps we can parlay and make a deal?”

Lakima suggests that if the tomb robbers leave now, perhaps they will not be killed. Xeron laughs at his threats. He requests only that one of the adventurers reach into the tomb, remove the sword found there, and hand it over to the tomb robbers. While Lakima and Xeron talk, Fenris slips into the shadows and begins to sneak his way quietly along the wall to maneuver behind Xeron. Before Fenris can get into position, a fight breaks out.

Krootad illuminates Alonso with faeire fire. Alonso, Vervork, and Lantosh rush across the chamber toward the hobgoblin to attack. Meanwhile, Eathwund rushes toward Xeron. Before he can reach him, Xeron changes form into a gigantic thirty-foot-long snake. Fenris, who was about to stab Xeron in the back, turns to run but is struck by a tail whip from the snake and is crushed into the stone wall. The snake lunges at Eathwund and bites him. Eathwund manages to push the snake off before it can inject any venom. Nearby, Lakima uses magic to summon two elvish archers. The elves look briefly confused, but once Lakima yells for them to attack the snake, they pull out longbows and begin firing arrows at the snake. The giant snake bites Eathwund again and this time manages to inject poison into him. Eathwund collapses to the stone floor and blacks out.

Lantosh and Alonso fight the hobgoblin shaman and strike it several times. But the hobgoblin pulls out a flask containing a healing potion and drinks it regaining its health. Vervork sees Eathwund and Fenris in danger and he changes direction and charges at the giant snake. He is unable to hit the snake, but it distracts it long enough for Domago to cast neutralize poison on Eathwund. Aashdoshan arrives as well and cuts his wrist to allow some of his life energy to pour into Eathwund, reviving the fighter. Aashdoshan’s skeleton minions protect their master while he does this. Aashdoshan then sends two skeletons to help Alonso with the hobgoblin shaman. Eathwund gets his revenge on the giant snake finally cutting it down. But as the snake falls, Xeron rises up in its place. Eathwund sees that Xeron actually is not a man, but some sort of reptilian creature with scaled skin and the head of the giant snake. Eathwund and Vervork strike Xeron and the creature fights back with its staff. Just before it appears ready to fall it hisses, “curse you” and then leaps at Domago and bites the cleric on the wrist, pumping venom into him. Eathwund strikes Xeron down.

On the other side of the chamber, Krootad the hobgoblin shaman continues to fight off Alonso and Lantosh. Seeing Xeron fall, the hobgoblin yells a battle cry and attacks with renewed vigor. He strikes down three of Aashdoshan’s skeletons and tries to make a run for it. Alonso strikes him as he runs but Krootad manages to grab hold of Lakima and use him as a human shield, “back off or the Wizard dies!” he yells. Lakima yells for the elves to attack and burns Krootad with his acid finger spell. The hobgoblin tries to make it to the exit but he falls dead in a heap.

Everyone pauses to take stock. Eathwund tells Domago that he should cast neutralize poison on himself but Domago states that he feels fine. Lakima yells at Domago to do it anyway. When the cleric uses the spell, he begins to feel nauseous and throws up lumpy green bile from his stomach. Eathwund burns the muck with his flaming sword. Eathwund searches the corpse of Xeron and finds a backpack full of treasure and Valdemar’s journal that was stolen from Vervork’s family.

Fenris has by now made it to the tomb and tells everyone that the coffin is lined with gold plates. Lakima admonishes him not to rob the tomb. As he says that a ghostly figure of an ancient king appears before them in the chamber.

“I am King Theron, thank you for protecting my rest”.

Lakima asks the ghosts for a quick way out of the tomb. The ghost gestures at the ceiling, “you must climb out through the light to reach the outside”. Lakima tells Fenris to climb up to the exit and toss down a rope. As they start making preparations to leave, the ghost speaks again, “Take Merthuvial, I have no use for it in the Lands of the Dead.” Alonso does not need any more urging. He reaches into the tomb and picks up the longsword lying there. The ghost asks if the people of the lands still remember his deeds. Lakima makes a statement about making sure they will. The ghost nods and watches them go. Aashdoshan is the last to leave the chamber. He needs help getting up the rope and he pulls his last skeleton up behind him. As he takes a last look down the ghost says to him, “Do not let those items control you, make a wise choice.” And then it is gone.

The adventurers climb one by one through the glowing sunlight exit and enter a small stone chamber. Fenris has already found and opened a door in the chamber side. It leads out onto a hill. They have exited under the statue of the Forgotten King beside the river in the village of Hookhollow. The group set out following Vervork toward the Keep. Almost immediately shocked citizens scream and close doors and shutter windows. The adventurers look about trying to figure out what is causing the commotion until Domago tells them it is Aashdoshan’s animated skeleton. Aashdoshan reluctantly lets the skeleton fall into a heap beside the road.

Back at the Keep, Vervork’s brother Lord Roland warmly greets them. They cured his son not two days before and now they have put an end to the curse on the family. After a good night’s sleep, everyone meets in the High Hall for breakfast. Vervork tells his companions that he has agreed to his brother's request to stay and help run the fief at least until his nephew is a little older. Lakima tells him he can call on the Company for aid at any time. Alonso talks to Roland about his desire to join the nobility. Roland tells him he would be happy to take him on as a knight. But once he outlines the duties it brings, Alonso decides not to make this choice for now. The Company remains in Hauger Keep for several days while everyone recovers from the fighting. Eventually, they say their goodbyes to Vervork and set out on foot for the Hillside Villages where they hope to catch a riverboat north.

The company makes it on foot to the village of Tahn. As it is late in the day, they get rooms at the Goose and Feather Inn. The next morning, they are able to book passage on a small riverboat headed north to Edgerton. The boat is owned by Lennox and his son Tern. They set out north. A few hours later they see a crowd on the eastern bank of the river. Travelers on the road to Edgerton have stopped near an excavation. Even a pair of riverboats have stopped here. They see a new excavation in the side of a hill that has uncovered an ancient-looking large stone obelisk. What is more amazing is that from the river they can see a pair of people floating in the air above the obelisk. Below them, three tents have been set up. Lakima asks Lennox if he will stop so they can find out what is causing this. Lennox happily agrees, “this wasn’t here when I passed a few days ago, I want to find out what’s going on.”

The company disembark and head toward the obelisk. They see that it is walled off by some simple cloth barriers. A busker seeing them walk up launches into his sales pitch, “Come one, come all to Zarin’s Tower of Wonder! See the rune of ancient magic, fly like a bird and escape the bonds of the earth! It is all guaranteed to be a completely safe and wondrous experience. For only 1 silver coin amaze your friends!”

Lakima goes over and purchases a ticket. He walks up and examines the obelisk which is carved with deeply cut runes which he does not recognize. A busker tells him he need only touch a specific rune (which is pointed out to him) and he will fly up into the sky. Lakima ignores the busker and casts Detect Magic. He sees immediately that the runes are a permanent magic spell. A pair of runes show particular power. But he is unable to discern the purpose. Lakima heads back to the main tent and demands to speak with whoever is in charge. The rest of the company fan out amongst the crowd and take in the spectacle. A dwarf named Oren who sold Lakima the ticket calls for the owner. A dwarf named Zarin comes out from inside the main tent and speaks with Lakima. Lakima angrily tells Zarin that he has no right to be fooling with magic he does not understand. Zarin is indignant and tells Lakima that it is all duly registered in Dolmvay. He is the owner of the land and the obelisk that he recently found. Lakima then offers to pay for the ownership of the obelisk But Lakima only offers 1,000 gold and Zarin scoffs at the offer, stating that he can make that much in a month. Lakima walks away.

Lakima gathers the company together and tells them he would like to investigate further. Since Lakima was the only one in a hurry to get back to Edgerton, the rest agree. They pay Lennox to stay the night covering any penalties he might receive for being late to Edgerton. The company set up tents in a nearby field. As the sun goes down, the stream of visitors to the obelisk comes to an end.

Early the next morning, all of the members of the Company buy tickets to view the obelisk. The dwarves running the show sell them with a quizzical look. Lakima casts Comprehend languages and finds he can read the obelisk runes. Many of the runes just detail the history of the town of Jenkel and some local battle that was fought. But one rune indicates a portal and another indicates levitation magic. Alonso touches the rune for the portal and a doorway opens in the side of the obelisk. Alonso goes to step inside but then notes that there is no floor. Only a drop down into darkness. Alonso asks for a rope but then Fenris suggests they just use the levitation rune on the side of the obelisk. One by one the adventurers tap the rune and float down inside the obelisk. As they begin to disappear one of the dwarves runs up and yells at them to come back. They ignore him.

The heroes float down into the darkness. After about twenty feet they see a reddish glow at the bottom of the shaft. After sixty feet they come to a solid floor. A doorway leads out into a large cavern. The ruins of ancient buildings lie buried in dirt and rock. Nearby they see an open fissure full of brightly glowing magma.