THE CHARACTER ROSTER

• Maervahr - Magic-User 6
• Rhinock - Half-Orc Fighter 6
• Kek - Fighter 5
• Wine - Cleric 2, Keen Eared Listen 1-3.

We hire our usual Link Boy and 3 Porters for a total of 4 sp, paid by Maervahr.

We check for available Mercenaries in Gren:

• 2 Slingers - 3 gp
• 4 Heavy Hobilars - 6 gp each, total 36 gp a day. We pay a total of 18 gp each, paid by Kek.

An Ox and a Cart is purchased and paid for by Rhinock.

It is determined that there are no known airships in this campaign.

We are headed back to Delbo, a ruined city near Qarn. It is surrounded by a wall that is partially collapsed. The towers are mostly all collapsed and are now only piles of rubble. There is a keep on the hill by a graveyard and a large den built amongst the rubble to the north side with an opening that descends into the earth.

There is also a standing tower with no doors or entrances. When Maervahr uses Clairaudience on the tower and all other locations, they all seem empty.

As we ride forward, eventually the Ruined City of Delbo comes into view along with the walls and openings.

We enter the city and see no further movement. The place is silent and dusty. We hear a long low howling noise in the north direction that is coming from the other side of the city. To get there we must climb over branches and ages of monster activity. We see a large pile of rubble in the center of the city that is about 15' wide and 15' tall. It is here that lies the opening that descends into the earth.

We rolled a 4.

We head into the cave at a downward slant…Meanwhile, our Linkboy holds onto Maervahr's lantern but the Hobilars are reluctant to descend with us into the cave.

We judge that this is a 30 degree descent into the earth and soon discover the scent of wet fur. Suddenly, there is a roar like a Bear that is heard from beyond, from somewhere in the blackness.

Maervahr casts Shield on himself while Wine casts Bless. Rhinock's sword glows in a 20' radius.

Kek goes for the magic oil in his backpack just as an enormous Bear with arms like tree logs charges in on all fours. The Bear's forehead has a strange glowing white orb, like a pearl or moonstone glowing dimly.

The massive Bear charges at Kek. Kek has an AC of 0. Kek dodges both blows and then the Bear stands up on its two legs and is about 13' tall. It extends out its arms and roars in anger.

The Bless spell goes off and Kek uses the magic oil on his blade. Rhinock can make an attack roll to hit AC 7. The Bear attacks Rhinock and he takes 5 damage.

The Slingers and Hobilars are not sure what to do and are hesitant to attack.

Maervahr casts Lightning Bolt at the massive Bear. Just then, a beam of white light comes forth out of the forehead gem and shoots at Rhinock. He must make a save versus wands and Rhinock fails his save and is now completely blind. He has a -4 to hit.

The Lightning Bolt spell does 12 damage and Rhinock hits for 8 damage. Kek hits for 9 damage while the Slingers all miss. The Hobilars move to engage and Wine steps back, does not follow. One of the arms hits Kek for 5 damage.

Maervahr casts Phantasmal Force to create a flood of Ghouls to envelop the creature. The Hobilars and Slingers all scream in fear from the ghoul.

The Bear creature is cut down by the two Fighters which nearly falls on top of the Hobilars and Slingers. It crashes into the ground and the glowing gem on its forehead fades to black.

After examining the lifeless body of the Bear, it looks like a gem is embedded into its forehead. We must make a loyalty check or morale check for the Hobilars and Slingers, but they stay hesitantly behind us.

We can smell the tell tale signs of the beasts resting place. In the rear end of the cave are the skeletons of men along with a large pile of electrum pieces and a glimmering pearl.

Around one of the skeletons necks is a dangling amulet.

Behind all of this, behind its lair, is a thin tunnel that is only wide enough for one man. It continues down into the darkness.

• 5,700 ep.
• Glimmering Pearl.
• Silver Amulet with Green Luster.

The silver amulet has a leaf design with notches on the bottom and the back has hidden notches. It looks like it may fit into something.

The glowing orb is cut out from the Bear. Meanwhile, we find something covered by dirt and on the ground near a human skeleton: a dagger of great age. It appears to be crafted by Elves and has a curved blade. It feels crafted well but there is nothing here that is magical.

Maervahr can carry another 500 coins in weight. We gather up all of the treasure, between the Porters and our characters and head out.

We are 40 minutes away from the cart and leave the electrum behind for now. We can see that there are two 5' wide exits through the back of the cave. Maervahr's Shield spell is almost expired but we head down the thin tunnel to see what might lie within. The tunnels appear to be far too thin for the massive Bear Creature.

The tunnel continues on for 15 minutes and is winding infrequently. We come to an intersection and have the choice of going either left or right.

As we go left, we are moving in single file and moving down the narrow tunnel. After 15 minutes, we hear a small chorus of low gruff moans coming from behind us.

Kek runs past Wine to cover the rear. Rhinock goes the other direction as well.

As the party re-orders ourselves, Kek and Rhinock are now at the back of the 7 Mercenaries. We can see shapes moving into the light…

Our Slingers have padded armor and their slings so they are not equipped to engage these in melee.

We hear shuffling and shouting as two daggers are unsheathed in the darkness followed by another moan. There is a yell of pain from one as something is attacking the Slingers.

Kek runs into the darkness and smells death all around him and some big moving shapes. He can't see anything. Rhinock is advancing with his sword, which is glowing, and it illuminates the area revealing 3 creatures that look like the Giant Bear but their skin falling off and they have no eyes in their eye sockets.

We must hit AC 8.

Kek hits for 4 damage and one of the creatures strikes him. There is 2 damage dealt to Kek.

Rhinock switches with Kek to get in front, swings his sword and hits, dealing 8 damage.

Maervahr and Wine move up with a lantern.

Rhinock takes 6 damage from the undead beasts, which have super strength. Wine gets behind Rhinock to cast a spell and Maervahr moves the slingers behind him.

Kek destroys one of the Zombified Bears while the one behind it moves over the body and swings at Kek. Kek blocked the attack.

These creatures always attacks last as Zombies.

Rhinock hits for 11 damage but the Bear Zombie does not give up. Another one strikes but Rhinock blocks the attack.

Cure Light Wounds is cast by Wine on Rhinock for 4 hp. Kek hits for 9 damage as a 3rd one moves forward to take the dead ones place. Kek has a -2 AC.

There is a Morale check but the final creature not giving up. There is 5 more damage on the Zombie Bear from Kek and then Kek hits again for 2 damage. Rhinock switches with Kek and cuts it down for 10 damage.

There are 3 Zombie Bear bodies on the floor and each have a pitted pearl like object in their foreheads. They appear to be decayed from the inside and filled with paper like fragments.

Rhinock hands a torch to a Slinger that is positioned in the back of the party and Maervahr hands his lantern back to the Linkboy.

We continue forward.

We continue through the thin tunnel for another 10 more minutes and do not find much besides dirt to inspect. Eventually, the tunnel widens to a 10' wide tunnel and we can hear movement in the distance. It is coming from up ahead in the darkness, just outside of our range. We can hear the laughing of some creature.

Maervahr casts Protection From Evil on Kek. Kek fires two arrows into the darkness and then we hear more movement coming from that general location. Kek Hits AC -1 and AC 1, both arrows hit!

There is 10 damage dealt from Kek on the unseen creature when both arrows hit. The unseen creature comes tearing out of the blackness just as Protection From Evil goes off on Kek.

The Creature that emerges has gold claws and a stump. It is babbling and screeching with delight and pulling its claw hand back over its head. The arrows that struck it pop out, leaving behind no wound.

The Creature with the Gold Claw misses Kek on a charge but Rhinock hits, dealing 10 damage with his magic sword. As his blade strikes, it deals a smoking wound!

Maervahr goes Psionically Invisible.

The creature has AC 5 and it takes another 10 damage from Rhinock. It moves to attack Kek but misses due to the Protection from Evil.

Maervahr has 2 silver dagger which he attacks with and actually does damage. After the creature drops, it is sliced and diced! The body moves no more as it tries to curl its body around the gold claw.

There is a wooden door built into the end of the tunnel that ends in stone blocks. The fallen, humanoid-like creature was wearing only tattered robes. Maervahr's silver dagger cuts into the dead flesh as he cuts off and takes the gold claw.

• Gold Claw.

As a side note, JACK ran the game on Friday and a Ranger got enough xp for 2nd level.

The only garments on the Creature are the thrashed robes and we can see in the room beyond is a stone wall made of big masonry blocks. The wooden door is reinforced with iron bands. Maervahr finds inside a small pocket within the tattered robes, a journal…but what is written?

The name inside says “Rupernick”. There is a small bullet point of an adventurer's notes. Maervahr can read some names:

• Sora, Tom, and Bellenwick. They came to Delbo to plunder riches but were warded off at the prison. They had to reorganize the next day when they found Sora was missing. The final note says “Oil Oak Wand”. The author wanted to use it but it had a dark aura around it. The date in the journal says: 484.

Wine and Kek listen at the door but hear nothing on the other side. Maervahr searches the door but finds nothing.

Rhinock opens the doorway at the top of the stairs from inside the tunnel. This opens up to a rectangular shaped room with old crates that are all falling apart. There is an alcove in the northwest wall with a shelf that is also adjacent to the west wall. We find a dustpan and a broom along the north west wall, next to a shelf.

The stonework looks like the area was widened intentionally and we find some crude stones inside the room. It is definitely “intentional masonry” and not natural. The crates' tops are mostly collapsed in revealing scraps of leather and some metal fasteners inside. It looks like the crates have taken damage from weapons. These types of fasteners are like nails used for holding the crates.

There is nothing much in the northern alcove and it looks like the objects are a normal broom and dustpan. We begin tapping on the walls to look for secret doors. Lookind for a secret door near the alcove, we find something. On the long shelf, one of the arms that support the shelf goes into the stone wall and is made of metal. We find that the long shelf has give as if we could lift it up. The shelf rotates up and the northern alcove grinds open, revealing a hallway. It terminates in some stairs which lead to a door on the right.

The stairs go upward and at the end of the stairs, we can see above the final set of stairs, a trapdoor in the ceiling. Going up to the trapdoor is a rope ladder with wooden planks.

Rhinock opens the right side door gently.

Inside this next room are more crates and a large pantry behind a second door. The pantry contains crates that look very old but have taken no damage. Inside the crates are several spoiled rations and old foods along with some decayed spices and some skins full of liquid. The liquid smells dank and old.

We check the wooden pantry door and find that it has a lock on it. The lock is a couple inches wide and built into the door and we also find some metal hinges on the left side.

We head back out.

It has been about 2 hours of adventuring in these tunnels and we find no more trace of the gold clawed Creature's body or robe. There are no tracks that are discernible and all the remnants of flesh are gone, as if the entire creature evaporated.

The corpses of the Bear creatures are still here and we have the Hobilars grab the corpses as we head out the way we came in.

We manage to leave the cave unscathed and travel back to the outskirts of Delbo where we find our Porters and Mounts. They tell us that nobody has passed by during the day.

Each of the Hobilars can carry 100 to 600 coins and there is 500 coins of weight between Kek and Wine. We manage to grab the 2000 ep and could camp here or head back.

We decide to camp in the wilderness.

Kek sees 6 shapes the size of dogs in the darkness. They are 12“ away. He yells really loudly to our group, “WAKE UP!”

There is a Reaction Roll for the creatures and as a result, Kek scares off the creatures who start scampering off back down the hill. Their eyes were glowing in the firelight but fade away as they leave.

The rest of the night passes uneventfully as we are camped outside of the Ruins of Delbo.

We brought our whole contingent into the ruined city. As we are approaching the city walls and just a few yards from the opening, we can see that atop the wall and emerging out of thin air, are six 4 Legged Creatures, They look like Men with beards and hooves. They perch atop the walls of Delbo and we can see that they wear bands decorated with gems. They gaze at us with an intense stare.

“Through their travels we have felt the use of Psionic Energy and sought to watch over the area for an evening, to see which creatures may have been responsible.”

By what means…what.

They say that the creatures, “By killing the bear, we have slain a Child of the Moon. The Child sought defense from interlopers. What they have found is unwelcome news.”

“As for the graveyard, we discovered a nest of Ghouls and Ghasts.” We tell them of what happened to some of our group within the Graveyard and they say “We will investigate the graveyard presently. If we see any evil within, we will destroy it. However, you must perform a burial for the Ursine Moon Bear.”

They also state that if they find any secrets of evil here, they will travel to High Dell and to Castle Shin to bring news of the City of Delbo.

The Shedu-like beings fly off and over to the Graveyard. Suddenly, knives and beams of Psionic energy cause an explosion within the mists of the Graveyard followed by several low moans and screeches. These sounds we can hear as they carry on the wind. The Psionic energy destroys whatever was found there. Suddenly, a door opens to another dimension and the beings fly through the door which then closes with a loud crack.

Dust rises over the graveyard.

We take some time to looks over the items we have found and cast Detect Magic. The leaf amulet does not have any magic but the pearl does have magic.

After this, we leave back to the large cave opening in order to bury the Ursine Moon Bear as agreed. Our contingent travels to the north and for about a half hour, we work to pull out the Ursine Bear's body. The Hirelings begin moving rubble to bury the Bear in a cairn, which they do with feverish enthusiasm, We cover the corpse with rubble and make a large cairn for the special beast.

After we prepare some rites and prayers, 3 hours have passed and we depart for the graveyard, We did have a brief encounter with a Jackal but it ran off.

Still shrouded in the mist, we pass into the area of the graveyard. As we enter, the clouds seem to darken. Our party passes amongst the tombstones and we can see some figures lying on the ground.

There is a large amount of Zombies and Ghouls here including also a Wight that now has a huge hole in its chest. All of the bodies are still smoking slightly and appear to have been punctured by projectiles that no longer exist. One of them is now missing a head. We check through their bodies but find that most are without clothes or possessions. However, we did find a gem on the Wight.

• Good Quality Amethyst Gem.

We head toward the old graveyard shed that is found at the rear of the graveyard. Here, we find more fried undead. We then come to the place where Ithimyr, Gruhl and Morric were slain and then find the same sarcophagus that they saw. This one has the imprint on the slab of the sarcophagus. We see that an amulet would fit inside the leaf imprint. Kek puts the leaf amulet in the slot.

As he does this, the stone melds into the amulet and the top slab detaches physically with a low pop. We heave the lid over and inside is the buried corpse of a Human. Around the torso, which is clad in Chainmail of Elvenkind, is a pyramidal shaped prism. Light dances crazily upon its surface and it emits a low light, a rainbow light, from the prism.

Kek immediately retrieves the armor and puts on the magic Elven Chainmail, which fits a Human perfectly. Elven Chainmail is non-bulky and only weighs 75 lbs.

Did we find any Elvish writing? Yes, there are two bits of Elvish writing, Written on the headstone is a name. RANFIL of the NORTH.

There is a gold filament that connects chain the pyramid to the amulet. There is a word inscribed upon the gold filagree, an Elvish word, “SHEEL'SADORIN”.

We have come to learn that this is the NAME OF THE OBELISK associated with an Elven Treasure Vault, a lost OBELISK.

We may be able to gain some sort of Elven document that might show the location of the Obelisks. However, the Elves do not keep written records, they only remember things and recall them. It is also possible that we could find an Elf from WUN'RA and if we perform a great favor for such an Elf, they may be able to provide a location of this Obelisk.

However, it is known that the Prism we hold is the key to the Obelisk called Sheel'sadorin. There will be some magical warding enchantment that surround the forest of the Obelisk but the possessor will not be thrown astray by these wards. If the location is found, we would be able to gain entrance.

Looking at the world map, there is a huge pyramid, which is the Capital and where many Elves live.

Maervahr knows that the impression of the leaf comes from the forest of Wun'ra and from the location of the Elves legendary Obelisk. The Forest of Wun'ra is far to the North and these types of Obelisks will be magically hidden throughout Wun'ra and are known to have stored treasures from time immemorial.

There are two more Sarcophagi in the graveyard. After 20 minutes of digging through the sarcophagus we find no secret compartment. We check out the Shed.

The shed was constructed out of good wood but is now crumbling due to age. Inside the shed is a heap of earth about 3' tall with many animal bones sticking out of it. We also see scraps of brown cloth. The piled earth is moist and has a fresh appearance to it. We also locate some gardening tools, that are rusted and old.

We plan to take the prism to a Sage in Criss Antha and Maervahr is able to find a faint trace of magic on the prism. Wine looks through the prism and sees rainbow lights cast upon his face. We do not see anything through it.

It is now the morning of the 25th.

Kek claims the Elven Chainmail and the other cursory magic items.

Back at the old shed, Kek kicks open the door and slashes the mound. Grubs go flying this way and that as we see that the floor is covered in Rot Grubs!

Several living Rot Grubs fall out and then Maervahr casts Burning Hands, which toasts all the Grubs.

Underneath the pile of dirt is an old rusted key which would have been pretty ornate in its original heyday.

The remaining Sarcophagi throughout the graveyard are all completely empty but we do find several claw marks inside them. There is no shroud of burial and the names on the sarcophagi are as follows:

“Yorin and Fekwin of Delbo”.

There are no visible dates on any of the sarcophagi.

We head back to the shrine and find that the front door is stuck so we open the side door. Inside we once again find: racks of brown robes, cloaks, and to the south is a stone font with a panel removed. An earthy smell arises from inside. We also see the remnants of femurs and such but most of the corpses have been removed.

We open the door and find that there are no whole undead remaining from our previous visit. These are the remnants of undead but we do not see anything new. Wine says a prayer to Nefer to avenge Sonloin.

In another part of the shrine is a low pool filled with dust or ash with a low stone disk around its circumference. We removed a gem and some stuff off the side last time. Small holes are driven into the ceiling above the pool to allow the smoke release from a small fire.

Through the southern door, after we open it eventually, is the corpse of a Thief that we found long ago. It is otherwise an empty room. We do not find anything so Kek decides to set fire to all the corpses. The Thief and Ghoul remains are cooking.

We head back to Gren just before nightfall.

The journey is safe and we are not waylaid.

We find that there is no way to identify some of the magic items we found by appearance or magic aura. It is possible that this type of magic pearl restores spells from casting but there is a 3rd option that is another, more rare pearl.

WINE TAKES THE MAGIC PEARL (id 39).

Kek sells the Elven Chain for 7,500 gp.

The amethyst is 500 gp (or 400 gp sold at a loss).

We each get: 521 pp, 1 gp, 1 ep, 7 sp, 5 cp.

2994 xp each.

The END DATE is Seed Moon the 25th, 495 in CRISS ANTHA.

Wine trains to Level 3 and will be ready on Rose Moon the 5th, 495.

We get an additional 96 gp and xp from the Gold Claw, EACH.

Adaeril owes 1,900 gp on his loan. The date of the loan is Seed Moon the 27th, 495. Adaeril pays 8600 for the loan and training.

He will be active again on Rose Moon the 7th, 495.