Adventurers
The adventurers made a trip from Redwood Keep back to their own fort to pick up a body of archers and heavy footmen, intent on heading down into the depths below the monastery and needing someone to keep watch above. They returned to the monastery, stationed their guards and descended the stairway down.
The air down below was warm and the sounds of metal steadily striking metal echoed through the corridors. The party started making their way towards it before opting to turn down another corridor leading away, towards a doorway beyond which they could hear unintelligible voices. They burst through the door into a room featuring jail cells and torture implements, including a rack and a cauldron of boiling oil, and a trio of startled hairy ones. The adventurers hacked them down. Apart from an oddly warm skeleton stretched out upon the rack, they found little of interest in the room and continued on.
Following the snaking corridor, they turned a corner and found themselves confronted with several skeletons, bones encrusted with black runes, stood outside another door. The two sides clashed, and Koko called upon Mar Nod to repel half their number. As the front rank of Rarder and Hats struck those that remained, each skeleton burst into flames and engulfed the pair. The human was protected by his enchanted shield, but Hats took the blast full on. Nor were the skeletons seemingly harmed by the fire, and they fought back against the party.
Knuckles, keeping watch at the rear, heard a scraping sound, and right next to him a secret door opened from which two maroon-robed figures fell upon the thief, one heavily armoured and wielding an ornate mace. At the same time, the door behind the skeletons was flung open and more hooded figures poured out.
Hearing these figures begin chanting, the adventurers and retainers with ranged weapons fired through the scuffle to try and disrupt any spells. One arrow clattered into Rarder’s armour and sent the fighter stumbling, but the others flew true and downed all but one of the hooded enemies. This last fellow managed to cast his spell and for a second the party were plunged into darkness, but then Rarder’s ioun stone gleamed and sucked in the spell. Enraged, the fighter charged through the last of the skeletons and cut the figure down.
Meanwhile, Mandras and Koko rushed to the aid of Knuckles, forcing the two figures back but unable to land any telling blows on either of them. Finally Koko stepped back and plunged an enchanted fear into the armoured man’s mind. Terrified, he turned to flee but Mandras and Knuckles gave chase, slaying him from behind. The final figure lasted little longer before he too was slain.
Panting, the party entered the recently vacated room and found a secret door at the back which led to the door through which Knuckles was ambushed, creating a loop with two concealed entrances. The looted the room, a rather comfortable waiting room, of its fancy contents and started making their way back towards the surface.
As they got near the torture / jail room, however, they found their way blocked by several well-drilled rows of bristling spears and bows. The hairy ones opened fire and lobbed several flaming flasks of oil at the adventurers, dousing the unfortunate Hats in more fire and leaving the dwarvish retainer at death’s door. The party quick retreated back to the previous battle scene and desperately started searching the various rooms they came across for any further secret doors. Alas, they couldn’t find anything, and from the area they’d fled they could hear an ominous sound of something heavy being dragged along the ground…