At the Bottom of the Pit

The platform raced down into the darkness and cleared a breach, and the party descended into a large chamber. It was overwhelming: the crazy screaming free fall into the darkness; attacked from both above and below by undead creatures born from the vines of unholy, demonic adversaries represented by barbarian totems, buried deep in the mountain; the uncertain fate which awaited everyone at the bottom of the Pit!

Llewellyn cracked, feeling the fear overtake him! He was frightened, and his hands began to tremor. Yet, at that moment, Tamroohk felt a sense of peace and calm befall her; that, regardless what was happening, a sense of serenity. And Siegride, busily engaged in bloody battle against the marauding onslaught of ghasts, could hear the sound of the sea roil in her head; could feel the crashing waves; the pounding surf; the anger and might of an ocean building within her! And all of that energy was being channeled into wielding the might of her Goddess against these creatures.

Along the ceiling, the white vines stopped their crawl and simply protruded from the opening. They traveled no more through rock and stone.

Leaping from Ma'yah's shoulder, the pseudo dragon took to the air and circled the party. The pseudo dragon could see the platform, suspended by the four chains, descending rapidly into the inky black, illuminated only by a bolt of sunlight streaming from above. The party fought on, swinging their axes, maces, and daggers fiercely into the ghasts - their pale, fleshy bodies scorching in the light. On the chains above them, a horde of ghasts were crawling down to meet them in combat on the platform while, below them, another group of ghasts were crawling up the chains to meet them.

When the pseudo dragon returned to Ma'yah, the party could see the ground rapidly rushing up to meet them! The platform had to be stopped or it would run headlong into the earth below! Tolman bolted to the central control and shifted the leaver to the center "hold" position and the platform jolted to a halt, and many of the party lost their balance and slammed to the surface of the platform, prone.

In the direct light of the sun, the ghasts' skin boiled and they exploded, leaving only silence. They were no longer being pursued by the ghasts from above or below.

Vongur - the enchanted amulet of a Dwarf's head - was quick to note that the party had emerged from the hole above into a large lava tube. Strewn on the earthy floor here were debris from former construction attempts: large timbers, twisted steel, large cogs and gears. And in the rubble, the bones of long-dead dwarven miners who met their fate falling into the pit only to die here. It was a cold and desolate place.

Further, Ma'yah - prone on her back - noted that there was lettering written on the side of the wall but it was too small and too far away to be legible. Immediately, the pseudo dragon leaped from its perch to fly across the expanse and land beside the lettering. It arched its back and craned its neck, looking back towards Ma'yah. "Do not be alarmed," Ma'yah could hear an accented voice, but it came from inside of her head. The pseudo dragon was communicating with her telepathically.  "The writing is Dwarven. Scrawled in blood. It reads, 'Tanelorn'."

When Ma'yah recovered from the shock of using telepathy, she revealed what the pseudo dragon had told her to the rest of the party. Instantly, Siegride nearly buckled, feeling the intensity of emotions like anger and frustration and a sense of deception overcome her; Isthmeira was not amused.

Realizing that they were relatively safe and that the attack had ended, the party investigated their surroundings, healed their wounds, and discussed their options.

In their searching through the rubble, the party had recovered the former possessions of the miners:

• Small statues and holy symbols: Berronar Truesilver, Claggedin Silverbeard (smiling, bald, bearded dwarf, bearing an axe).
  
• 4 500 GP Gemstones (1 Alexandrite, 1 Topaz, 2 Acquamarine)
  
• 1 5,000 GP Gemstone (Ruby)
  
• 17 50 GP Gemstones (Bloodstones, Quartz, Moonstone)
  
• 627 Golden Dwarven Doubloons  
  
• 1 Potion (steel vial, cold to touch, unknown); 1 Belt (unidentified); 1 Ring (black opals, ravens, unidentified)

Ma'yah cast Detect Magic on the recovered items and learned that the potion, belt, and ring all exuded strong dweomers of magical energy.

Aside from tools, oils, ropes, and other possessions, the party also found grated landings that could be fitted as extensions to the platform as to reach the wall of the Pit.

In the meantime, Tolman noted a new entry in his Diary of Correspondence. It was from Twyst.  

Greetings friend Tolman.

I do hope my correspondence finds you in good health. Mine, astonishingly, persists.

Facts: the countryside is littered with refuges and half-man, half-ogre (hideous creatures) patrols who’re apparently under order to slay males and retain females, for whatever insidious reasons; corpses litter the roads; refuges are scavenging for food and shelter; at night, the skyline is riddled with fires. My entourage and I steered clear of regular trails.

Rumors: I hear Rhackdalia still stands but the Queen will let it fall; I hear the Pastore Wood, Hills, and Highland are enslaved; Shyn-Levenson still retains order and flies the Forethian Flag; Shyn-D’hnare has mounted an adequate defense.

In Shyn-Bhokerdown; all order is lost here; the Magistrate has fled; the armor is undisciplined and aiding only in its corruption; it’s at best a tent city of panicked thousands fleeing the island; passage on remaining vessels are going to highest bidders; scoundrel captains and quartermasters selling standing-room only passage to Sphant, Floreth, or Shyn-Valour.

It will take time to identify a trustworthy mariner or tradesman. Until such time I’ve taken a modest room in the back of the Rusty Hook.

Good travels, friend.

The party explored the lava cave, traveling both to the east and west. To the west, the lava tube descended into further darkness and apparently went on for at least three miles before the party turned back; to the east, Vongur proclaimed that the party was traveling uphill and gaining elevation, and in another 3.5 miles, that fresh air could be felt on their skin and faces. The party eventually found that the lava tube exited from a concealed cave to a cliff-face. Experiencing fresh air and wind for the first time in nearly a week, the party looked over the hills and snow-covered terrain that would eventually lead them back to Rhackdalia.

But Tamroohk and Siegride - they weren't done yet and they weren't ready to leave. They convinced the party that the totems embedded in the rock represented a growing, festering seed of evil that - if left unchecked - would unleash a garden of horrors. It needed to be destroyed, and in the same fashion that the totem in the White Stands was destroyed: dug up, chipped into fine pieces, and burned with oil. Tamroohk was sure of it: these totems (representing a Mosquitto, a man with a frog in his mouth, a Wolf, and a Raven) needed to be destroyed, and she wasn't going anywhere until that was attended to.

Returning to the platform, they affixed the steel grates to the edge and began their work. The party dug out the totems and chipped the wood, causing the sinister white vines to wither - which was good because fresh ghastly embryos were forming and sprouting from the vines. They chipped, chopped, and dropped pieces of the totems to the bottom of the Pit, where other members of the party created bonfires to torch their essence. The effort took nearly a cycle, and on the 1st of Bloom, the party emerged from concealed cave along the cliff-face and left the mountain side.

The party spent about a day and a half traveling through the wilds and avoiding Preen Pass, as suggested by Twyst. The party could see evidence of the siege upon Rhackdalia and encountered some of its grizzly consequences: the dead corpses of unprepared civilians who attempted to flee towards the mountains but died from exposure. Attending to their bodies, the party pushed on, only to encounter the outskirts of the Fens and to witness the distant wall of Rhackdalia. What they saw took their breath away.

Most of the Fens had been cut back and burned away by an army creating a distribution and supply chain straight to the walled city of Rhackdalia. Fires littered the horizon and black columns of smoke were everywhere. The party could make out battalions of organized army consisting of half-ogres and ogres moving, storing, and distributing supplies, rations, and siege equipment, flanking six sides of the walled city. They could make out lines of much smaller, defenseless humans who were likely taken prisoner by the half-ogres, being herded away from the siege zone and towards Preen Pass. They witnessed many dead bodies, crushed horses and wagons - victims who attempted to flee, bargain, or otherwise plead with the army with no success. And commanding those battalions were enormous, 15' tall blue-skinned humanoids with wiry white hair - their bodies thin and emaciated from possibly decades of malnourishment.

Vongur, Gorbash, and Tamroohk confirmed that those were Frost Giants, and possibly part of a clan lead by a Jarl on this island. Some of the party members recalled Ma'yah talking about the book she borrowed from the Overreach on the Frost Giants of Rhackdalia, which described their traditions, history, and customs.

Realizing that there was no way that the party could hope to sneak into Rhackdalia without attracting the attention of the army, Tolman volunteered to sneak in by night to investigate the situation, using the secret tunnels the party had encountered in their bouts with the shady characters at Fenwater Abbey. The iron gates that had once protected those entrances and exits had been torn away, and by the looks of it, those who had tried to use it had been slaughtered as the subterranean corridor was stained with blood.

On the inside of Rhackdalia, Tolman found that nearly all of the city was boarded up and evacuated; stores and shops looted; those who had the means and ability to escape already had, whereas those who stayed (the infirm, the weak, diseased, elderly, the poor) were all that remained; they formed long lines for food and other resources. The beautiful library was burned down; the stone buildings of the Commercium and Croupier had been locked and sealed; the gates to the Mhorovia District and its castles (the home of the infamous Houses of Mhorovia, Morley, M'lahn, and Witherdew) had been sealed.  Some clerics of Widetree Abbey appeared to have remained and tended to the grief-stricken. Tolman found a sizable defense force of trained soldiers along the wall of Rhackdalia, but their only grace was the wall - their numbers would never stand the might of the army on the other side. Patrols of women soldiers were in the streets, and Tolman overheard their desperate conversations ... they believe that the Queen is sending reinforcements and that a flotilla of Florethian ships will appear on the horizon at any minute, and that more soldiers will come flooding in to the city from the harbor, and that they will be saved ... Tolman saw no ships in the harbor and an eerily-still sea.

Tolman returned to the party describing what he had found. It was the evening of the 2nd of Bloom, Rose: 47, and the party remained hidden in the foothills to the Fens, wondering what next to do ...

R

Descent Into the Pit!

Weary from their eight or ten minutes of grinding through dozens of ghasts, the adventurers realized that they needed to rest up immediately.

They made their way back to the rotating dias spindle that would take them to the higher levels of the mine called Jackal and Ram, and exited this part of the mine called Drake.

The party made their way back to the holy church of Berronar Truesilver on Jackal and - over the course of a twenty-four hour period - accomplished a number of small tasks:

• In an increasingly-disturbing display of butchery, Ma'yah skinned one of the baby basilisks and made baby-back-basilisk kabobs over a fire;
• The party healed themselves up and prayed to their deities;
• New hit dice were acquired for leveling up, but all party members still couldn't take advantage of their new abilities without training ... most everyone is at least three levels higher in experience but no training take advantage of their new abilities;
• The party attempted to fiddle with various settings of the central control panel on Ram, releasing the mines' cleaning solution on the Jackal (a gelatinous cube) which got busy dissolving errant stone and rock;
• The party came very close to locking themselves in the mines for a very long time ... I didn't elaborate on that during the session but it was a very tense moment for me ... they almost crippled the spindle ... would not have been too fun ... but that didn't happen;
• The party finally decided to return to the Drake and continue their slaughter/investigation of what the heck is going on down there.

In returning to the Drake, the party found its spooky corridors surprisingly vacant of ghasts. It would appear that the party did a relatively good job at vanquishing nearly all of them that had been haunting this level of the mine, and they explored its depths further.

Drake is distinctive in that it wasn't built with the intention, care, or craftsmanship of the upper levels. It was built hastily, erratically, and there were odd shifts in elevations, mine starter channels that went no where, very narrow shafts, and no uniformity in the dig.

Further, the weird white vines and trees and leaves that literally grew from the earth and wound its way through the cavernous underground was unsettling: when cut, the vines would emit a bubbling white froth smelling strongly of ammonia, and that very liquid-like substance would prevent the vines from burning without the assistance of oil. But that wasn't the most disturbing thing about it.

When the party entered a larger space, they discovered the true horror of the relationship between the vines and the ghasts. Everywhere in this room, tucked away in the walls between the vines and roots and leaves, small white embryos of ghasts were nestled, with little vines that fed into their bodies like umbilical cords feeding that ammonia nourishment into the small fetuses ... they found a ghastly nursery!

Horrified, the party moved deeper into the nursery area and encountered much older specimens - perhaps toddlers and some around the same size of a six or seven year old child - suspended by vines against the wall, or, laying on the floor. It was shocking and terrifying as these beings were conscious and opened their gooey white mouths for the first time, branding teeth that they haven't ever used, confused by the party's presence but most likely very hungry.

Just then, one of the older ghasts stirred, and straighted up from its cradle of vines, and said:

Be ... Our ... Ghast ...
Be our Ghast ...
Let your next breath be your last ...
We'll rend the flesh from your bones
And we're truly up to the task!
We will tear, we will rip,
We promise quite a trip,
There will be oozing blood and gore
While we eagerly chew your lip....
You will sing and you will laugh all day,
For as a ghast you will say ...
Be ... OUR ... GHAST!
BE OUR GHAST!
BE OUR GHAST!

And with that, the party immediately exited while Siegride called a Shatter spell from the heavens and obliterated the lot of them.

Moving on ...

... the party encountered an enormous chamber. In the center of this chamber was an enormous 30' diameter gaping hole in the earth, and from it, enormous vines and tree trunks spewing from it and reaching out into the cavern. Four thick chains descended into the pit. Meanwhile, suspended next to the pit were four huge stone columns connected with thick chains that reached far up into the darkness of the ceiling which couldn't entirely be seen; there was, however, something large and circular suspended above the pit, obviously held there by the four counter-weight of the columns. Chains of various sizes were found throughout the chamber, apparently providing some support for this elaborate contraption, and there was another control panel.

The party ejected the panel and found one block missing from the usual four. They inserted a Drake control block and rotated a subject block that was there to a diagram of a circle. When they executed the command, a huge 20' diameter wooden platform descended from the ceiling to rest just above the opening to the pit.

Tamroohk leaped across the 10' expanse to land on the platform and investigated. There was a single control stick that had three positions: down, hold, and up. Just then ... Elan noticed that one of the large chains suspending the platform kind of jerked ... and went quiet.

As the party was exploring this, Vongur gently prodded and reminded the party of a few items that they had collected in their investigation of the mine. The first was a Sunburst subject block that they inserted into the control panel and unlocked, which caused a loud rumbling and a burst of sunlight some 20' in diameter to shoot into the cavern. Then, Vongur gently reminded the party of the sun and time calculations written out by hand found in York's apartments. They realized they were maybe just ten minutes away from an apex based on their current date (translated from the Dwarven calendar) ...

... and that ray of sunlight was slowly crawling across the chamber, moving with the slow journey of the sun so far overhead. As the sunlight touched the vines and trunks emerging from the pit, they smoked, recoiled slightly, burned. It wasn't enough to harm the vines, but it was obviously not very comfortable for the things.

The party began to quickly think through their options. They could wait until the sunlight was entirely over the pit and then descend, but the sunlight would eventually move on and they may not have enough time to get to the bottom of the pit and back up before their sunlight expired.

On the other hand, they could descend now, taking advantage what sunlight was available to them as it moved across the platform and spilled into the pit.

Excellent adventurers that they are, the party opted to go now, quickly, and descend into the pit! They all boarded the platform and Ma'yah threw the control stick into "down", and the thing lurched downward, moving at a very rapid 30' per round (six seconds).

What this created was a 4-dimensional set of movement on the battlemap. You had the pit at 30' diameter, the platform at 20' diameter, a 20' diameter sunbeam moving across the battlemap at a rate of 5' per round (six seconds), and a 30'/round descent motion into the bowels of the space! Every round, the sunbeam would move just slightly to cover more of the platform.

Meanwhile, ghasts - nestled in the crannies of the vines and trunks in the pit, were awoken and leaped from their cubbyholes and hideaways to land on the platform to engage the party! There was close melee combat as the battlemap was restricted ... the ghasts that touched the sunlight burst into flames and their flesh boiled, taking 1/2 their hitpoints in damage every round due to exposure, but they were still able to attack! The party had to make saving throws against poison to avoid the stench of the ghasts, and, on every hit, they had to roll saving throws against paralysis! Every time a ghast was dispatched, more would take their place!

It was epic! Siegride cast a Thunderwave that shot five ghasts clear off the platform; Tamroohk wrestled with several of them, throwing them off the platform, too; Tolman was stabby and took down several of them with his blades; Llew was immediately poisoned from the stench but still managed to use his bardic abilities to cause some of the creatures to flee; May'ah was hit and paralyzed, only to be luckily Lesser Restored by Siegride; Gorbash took heavy damage but was still chopping them up; and Elan ... well, she tried shooting stuff but generally missed, but, connected on one or two shots!

Basked in sunlight, the pseudo dragon's scales adapted from the pale white of sickly underground vines to a golden shade of yellow and looked as if he was going to abandon poor Ma'yah to her paralyzed fate ... until she was Lesser Restored and snapped back to life, whereas the pseudo dragon seemed to change its mind and hang in there with Ma'yah ...

The suspended platform fell into the pit, descending further ... on round 4, some 120' down, the party then discovered the source of all things bad. An ominous sound was heard as the platform kept descending. Buried in the rock, suspended there for maybe a millennia or more, broken totems, askew in the rock, but still very intact. The totems depicted the head of a mosquito; a raven; a wolf's head; and a man with frog caught deep in its throat. And from the seed of these totems grew the wicked white vines and trunks and trees that wrapped into the earth, growing, living, giving birth to evil! Most of the party looked on in horror - they recognized the totems of the Barbarian tribes that used to populate these lands, for they had encountered them before in the grizzly White Stands! They were the symbols of Anguta, Tekkeitsertok, Amaguq, and Agloolik - the Night Stalkers - the evil ones of the ancient people! And buried as they were, they were still growing, and very much ... alive!

And that's where we left off! Next time, we might actually wrap up this adventure!

R

Ghastly Encounters Part II (14th of Bearguard, Rose: 47)

The party had just enough time to heal themselves and talk about what to do next when, out of the darkness, came more undead. More packs of ghouls came after the party in each direction.

A few rounds into the melee, though, Tamroohk heard an odd sound. "Yak ... yak .... yak ..."

And another round more, Tamroohk could see a shambling form in the darkness, it's voices (and there were many voices) becoming louder, repeating "Yark ... yark ... York .... YORK!  YORK! YORK!"

Emerging from the darkness came a horrifying image. A slithering aberrant mount of lips, mouths, tongues, teeth, and eyes, crawling across the floor and standing erect, crying out: "YORK! YORK! YORK!" Tamroohk successfully saved against Fear and started hearing its gibbering ...

... meanwhile, other party members started hearing and seeing the thing, too. The pitched battle lasted 10 rounds (three hours in real time, just one minute in game time). Ghasts were still attacking from every side, and the thing was inching closer. And each attack, party members rolled a 1d100 to hear what the Gibbering Mouther had to say, and these are the things it said! Not all things are listed here - just the things that the party heard the Mouther say! (Warning: A lot of this isn't suitable for children, or adults for that matter ... The Gibbering Mouther is very cruel)....

3	Checker fool! The black must skip over the red, to and fro!
6	Run! Run to the farthest point! Run there and there you will find Tanlorne!
8	Cheese! Anything for cheese!
10	Twist the knife and deeper it will go; lives you will take; loosen your grip for you stab your friends.
11	Cherish your children for, one day, I will eat them.
12	Voice, Voice - I am Their voice! My voice gives Them relevance! I will ask the questions that nobody dares to ask!
13	You will die at the Wall. You will die at the Wall! You will DIE at the Wall! You will all die at the Wall!
14	Vow I this for this I know with all certainty: within Cycles of Twelve, Ansara shall be mine!
17	Bloody hands, bloody hands! Blood-soaked, your talons tear your way to the heart and intestines; you consume the kidney; you lick the lung; the meat you rend is the flesh of humanity.
20	[In Barbarian]: We glide. We fly! We spread like a disease. Released, our will is on the wind, the bitter taste on the tip of every tongue, for you are the cook.
21	[In Dwarvish]: Qwartzhollow. Qwartzhollow! Herein I will breathe Quartzhollow’s name and when I’m to exhale, I shall visit the dreams of every Dwarf of that name. I will feast upon their fear.
24	Your nose isn’t the only thing that’s bleeding.
26	[In Barbarian]: “You have given shape to our buried flesh. Listen for our voices in the churning sea.”
27	In Pax Arcana, its match sits impotent and eyeless. It will beg for your mercy. It will do anything for your attention.
28	Puncture! Rupture! Pierce and skin! Cleave! Swing! Cut and poke and rend! Please, bring your steely weapons closer so that I may gently kiss your naked skin ...
30	Tanlorne! Tanlorne! You must go to Tanlorne! It’s closer to me!
33	The skies will conspire against you. I feed your noxious breath.
34	Hate! Hate! Hate is everything, it’s all I feel, within me is the byle, the spittle anger and malice! I am hate! I am living hate and anguish! hate hate hate hate hate
40	Everyone you cherish will burn. Forgive me, I am a liar. Rather,  everyone you cherish will sing a chorus of your praise. They will know you for what you are. Woops, I’m lying again. Rather, I will tell you the truth: those whom you cherish the most will come to speak to you in my voice.
43	[The Voice of your Mother]: If I could have reached up my cunt and pulled your unformed fetus from my womb, I would have.
46	Quickly cut the noise from me, you cunt!
47	Bury your fears in my bosom; I miss your touch - I will kiss away your tears; I will consume your fear.
48	Find the hole and fuck me, you bitch!
49	Mine is the voice of Agoolik, and He does not forget nor forgive the trespass of His enemies.
50	Chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, CHEW CHEW CHEW!
51	The corpses of all your friends and family may be found downed in the harbor, Llewellyn. Take a trip. Take a boat. Peer down into the watery depths. You will see their faces. You will listen to their screams.
52	You were raped at Pax Arcana, your simple mind expunged of the experience. Would you like to know who violated your cunt?
57	The Druids will pay for their interference!
58	Our fate rests in your inaction and inattention. Your fate lies in the mercy you can convince us to show you.
59	You will find yourself on an endless sea; your friend will have never known dry land; your friend will hold the key to finding Tanlorne; your friend will betray you; her name is Aleshya.
60	No! Shatter and silence! Speak none of it! They can’t go to Tanlorne! Should they go there, they will find the implements to destroy us!
61	Ahhhh!
64	[In Dwarvish]: “PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN I’m in PAIN my body it’s biting me, I have no skin, we have so many eyes and so many teeth, my body is in pain!”
66	Choice.
67	No one will trust you when you return to the Parish: you will not be given quarters; you will not be given soup; others will believe you to be a liar.
70	The Song of Clearwaters will be a sad one. Your son will bear your scars.
73	At night, when you try to dream, you will only dream of me. Me. Me and my words. My mouths. My tongues.
74	Come - you will join in our chorus! You will speak as we speak! For the imprisoned! We speak for the Imprisoned! Freed! They will walk upon the earth again!
75	[In Dwarvish]: The name Rockhammer died a long while ago. How? A plague, one that devours the flesh from the insides, consumed your family, Vongur. We ate them.
76	Noodley appendages!
78	Shrill voices will visit you in the night, Tolman. They will be ours, whispering into your mind. Listen for us.
79	You’re so pretty, so beautiful, so delicious! I want to lick your skin and tantalize you, bring you to a flight of ecstasy you’ve never experienced.
81	[In Dwarvish]: My friends, my friends, there’s no exit here; no exit. There’s only an entrance; entrance; gateway; opening; portal. Tanlorne is on the other side! Side, side, side.
85	Know this, Champion: As Isthmeira’s reign over the oceans weakens - and my tide rises - you allowed it to happen.
86	Maggots! Maggots! Maggots in my hands, maggots in my eyes! Tooth, nail, scratch, claw - rip them out! Rip them out!
87	[In Dwarvish]: An Emissary walks among us! An Emissary of Barronar Truesilver! I’m afraid of the Emissary! I’m afraid!
88	Bring me my fighting trousers.
89	When Rhackdalia falls, a silence will awash the earth; the voice of mankind will be hushed; his homeland reclaimed, Jarl Lars will rise, and reunite the Wintergale Clan.
91	[In Dwarvish]: “No, don’t run! You can’t run! Down into the Pit, boys! It’s a safe passage, a safe way … it’s the Khannel Duegar!” (followed by laughter)
97	Traitor! Traitor! There is a traitor among you. You have been sold out.
98	Ma’yah Ma’yah Ma’yah Look LOOK LOOK LOOK closer! Closer into eye! See what it sees! Witness: the last moments, the last breathes, the last shrill cry of pain, ever taken by your sister, as the Wall falls ...
100	LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR!

The battle was pitched and furious. "YORK! YORK! YORK!", it screamed and howled.

The party's spell casters were nearly depleted from the last encounter and there hadn't been much time to rest and regain their abilities.

When some ghasts were dispatched, others would come and take their place in the attack!

When the party would approach the Gibbering Mouther, various saving throws had to be passed as to not become stuck in the gooey surface of the ground they were standing on, and then they had to suffer its monstrous bite! Gorbash fell, Tamroohk fell, and Tolman nearly bit it, too!

Luckily, Seigride had supplies of Keoghtom's Ointment on-hand and vigorously massaged fallen comrades back to health.

Finally, on the 10th round, all was quiet. The party members had concluded that the Gibbering Mouther was the last manifestation of York, one of the owners of the mine, that had apparently earned a reward for his digging and didn't quite find what he was expecting.

Nearly one minute had passed in game time.

When we return, it'll still be around 9am on the 14th of Bearguard, Rose: 47.

R