Read The Tomb of Koban Hairfoot – Part 1 for a refresher of how the adventurers came to be where they are now.
(This adventure is one of a series of adventures of some folks playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, using the 1st Edition rules.) Play was suspended in this adventure just before Christmas 2015. It has taken about four months before play was resumed. It seems some of the adventurers or else the dungeon master were all variously sick over the winter and early spring. But finally everyone was healthy and available to play again! When play was suspended, the party was in the dungeon beneath the tomb of Koban Hairfoot. They are all searching for the Pendant of Winstone, a powerful, magical artifact that may be able to cure the villagers of Crystal Shores from their turning into zombies. The party has found the Necklace of Harbinge, and have retrieved it from around the neck of the long dead cleric, Koban Hairfoot. The party had found an underground library just as play was suspended last. Now, to continue….
Day #2-29 (Fireday, 9th Dewsnap, 4333 BCCC): The party spent some time searching the books in the library, more than an hour, in fact. They had Tureg, Douag, Opalent, Lightstep, Gwenette, and Falafela searching through the many books on the shelves, with Vandin holding a torch in the center of the room so folks would have some light. Vox was standing guard in the hallway outside the library with another torch, and Clayton was staying out of everyone’s way. The dwarves Douag and Tureg and the halfling Lightstep, due to their shortness in height, had to limit themselves to searching through books on the lower shelves or to books and papers that were on the floor, but the halfling Falafela stood on one of the two chairs in the room so she could reach higher shelves. The party had to be careful handling most of the books, as most of the books were quite ancient and fragile.
After about 50 minutes of searching, just after two new torches were lit to replace the others that were about to expire, Opalent chanced to find a rolled up scroll behind a couple of books she had just pulled off the shelf. Opalent gave an exclamation of joy and interest, and showed the others what she had found, as when unrolled the scroll seemed to have something to do with the Pendant of Winstone. The scroll had a drawing of what the Pendant had been described as looking like by Karnack when they were all at Karnack’s castle; however, nobody could read the language that was written on the scroll. Opalent carefully rolled up the scroll again and placed it in her backpack for safekeeping. Then the party continued searching. Clayton remarked that it would be quite useful if someday all of the books in this library could be conveyed to Karnack’s castle, although this was not the expedition to accomplish that at this time. After another 20 minutes of searching, Lightstep found an interesting book. It seemed to be a manual containing a workout regimen that could be followed to increase an individual’s strength, agility, and endurance. Although nobody could read the language the workout book was written in, there were plenty of illustrations that made it clear what it was about. Lightstep stashed that book in his backpack. At that, the party felt they had found all that they could for now, and decided to move on with their exploration of the dungeon. Their marching order was Tureg and Vandin in the front row, followed by Falafela and Lightstep, then Gwenette and Opalent, Clayton and Douag, and then Vox brought up the rear. Vandin and Vox each had a torch.
The party then retraced their steps. They took the hallway going left from the library for about 30 feet, turned left, went another 80 to 90 feet, turned right, then went straight for another 70 to 80 feet, passing one of the entrances to Koban Hairfoot’s actual tomb. When they got to the end of this passage, they would have to go either to their right or to their left. They had already come from the left, so they decided to go to the right. They also noticed that at the intersection of the hallways there was an iron grate in the floor. The iron grate seemed to be set solidly into the floor stones, so did not seem like a passage to a different level. They found a small rock to drop through the grate, but they could not hear it hit bottom. They decided to bypass the grate for now and continue on their way.
Upon starting down the right-hand passage, it only went a little more than 10 feet before it branched to the right and left. The party took the passage to the right. After a little more than 50 feet, the hallway turned left, then after 20 feet it opened into a circular chamber that was about 60 feet in diameter. Religious frescoes (somewhat faded) were painted on the walls, and there were a number of shelves that held humanoid skulls upon them. There was also what looked like a marble altar on the far side of the room. What alarmed the party, though, were six skeletal monks wearing tattered brown robes that were standing on guard holding ceremonial scythes, three on each side of the room. The party watched the skeletons carefully to see if they would attack, but they appeared quite lifeless. Finally, Falafela borrowed Vandin’s torch and approached the altar to search for traps. The other members of the party spread out to guard the skeletons in case they were to come to life and try to attack Falafela or anyone else.
After several minutes of examination at the altar, Falafela was satisfied that there were no traps around the altar. In particular, she had been looking for a trap door under the altar. Also, when she got close to the altar, she could see it was made of polished obsidian instead of marble. It had a smooth slab top, with two solid legs, one on each side. Douag then suggested that someone should lie down on the altar to see what happened, and Tureg said to Douag, “You go first, buddy!” Falafela then returned to the party and stated, “I was really scared!” Although some party members were suggesting the party should attack the skeletons before they came to life, Falafela said that the party should instead treat the dead clerics with respect. As the rest of the party had barely ventured into the chamber, Vox asked, “Should we all enter the room and check it out?” Douag said to check out the skeletal monks to see if they had anything of value.
Vandin retrieved his torch from Falafela, and he and Falafela and Opalent then approached the altar. The other six party members each watched one of the six skeletal monks. Opalent retrieved the scroll that described the Pendant of Winstone from her backpack and placed it on the altar, but nothing happened. Then Lightstep approached the altar and took the Necklace of Harbinge from around his neck and placed it on the altar. Similarly to the scroll, nothing happened. Lightstep and Opalent then took back the scroll and necklace and secured them among their possessions once again. Vandin then examined the altar, looking for any irregularities in the stone floor around the altar, but he could detect nothing out of the ordinary.
Opalent then suggested tapping the skeletons with her 10-foot pole, but Vandin suggested smashing the altar instead, and then a general argument ensued. Finally Lightstep cooled everyone down, and suggested leaving the chamber and continuing their explorations. Before leaving, though, Lightstep said some respectful words to the long-dead skeletal clerics. “Rest well, noble warriors, may you continue your eternal vigil forevermore.” The group resumed their marching order of Tureg and Vandin, Falafela and Lightstep, Gwenette and Opalent, Clayton and Douag, and Vox. Vandin and Vox still carried the torches.
The party then returned to the three-way hallway junction near the floor grate, but this time they took the other passage they had not yet explored. After taking that passage, it immediately turned right, went about 50 feet, then turned left. Another 15 feet, and it seemed to veer to the right and left. The party could hear water running, sort of like a running stream of water over rocks. Vandin searched the entrance to this new junction for floor traps, finding none, and then they all took the left-side hallway. They could see a small waterfall of sorts. There was a 6-foot wide recess in the central wall on their right, and water was coming out of a narrow slit in the 10-foot high ceiling. The water then trickled down cobblestones on the vertical wall surface, collecting in a small pool at the bottom. There must have been small drain for the water at the bottom, as it did not overflow the pool. The party also noticed several tubular iron bars across the top of the pool. At about this time the party had to light two more new torches, marking that they had been in the dungeon around three hours so far.
While Opalent was searching around the pool of water in the floor for secret passages, other party members discovered that they were in a sort of octagonal chamber that was about 40 by 50 feet, except the center of the room had a large column that effectively reduced the room to a circular hallway. They could walk around the central wall with the waterfall and return to the room’s entrance. Opalent didn’t find any secret doors, and then Vandin also failed at detecting any sliding stonework doors. By now, they had been in the dungeon about three and a half hours. The party were getting ready to leave this area when Opalent decided to check one more time for any secret doors. She tried pressing on rocks under the waterfall as high as she could reach (which was close to 8 feet high as she is 6’1” tall), when all of a sudden a rock she was pushing on depressed with an audible click. Then Vandin helped Opalent push against the wall, and a secret door was revealed! Vandin held his shield over his head to protect his torch from the waterfall, and he exclaimed, “There are stairs leading down!”
The party descended the stairs in their accustomed marching order. At the bottom of the stairs, the hallway turned 90 degrees to the left. When everyone made it to the bottom, they all felt creeped out. While the stonework of the walls was of much the same construction as the upper level, these walls (and the floor) were covered with numerous streaks of iron rust and what looked to be dried blood. In addition, there were many humanoid skulls inset with the floor stones! It was also eerily quiet, with no dust or cobwebs. Everyone could feel the hair stand up on the backs of their necks. Lightstep asked, quietly, “Does anyone else feel a chill run down their spine?” Tureg answered, “Yes!”
The party started down a long, straight hallway. After about 40 yards, the hallway turned 90 degrees to the right. It then went straight for another 30 yards, although there was a side hallway to the right about 30 feet down the hall. They could see that this side hall led into a chamber, and that the former door to that chamber had been charred to cinders. Looking into the room, it was about 20 feet deep and 30 feet wide, with three charred skeletons on the floor. One of the skeletons was pointing to a charred, broken podium that was lying on its side. There was also a broken Circle of Protection on the floor, as well as a burned book. The book appeared like the fire had started inside it and burned its way out through the cover.
Falafela carefully examined the broken Circle of Protection, and then the charred podium, but found nothing of interest. Opalent wanted to examine the burned book, but Lightstep tried to talk her out of that action. Douag said that Opalent should examine the book, but when all was said and done, Opalent decided to leave the book alone. They all then left the room and continued on down the dark hallway. They turned the 90-degree corner to their right, went another 30 feet, then the hallway widened to 20 feet wide for 30 feet. There was also a recessed door on their left. Vandin checked that door, and was able to open it with several pushes of his shoulder….
This is where play had to be suspended. What lies behind the door? What other surprises lie in wait for our intrepid party of adventurers? Stay tuned for future adventure postings!
(to be continued)