Our town, Gren, is a frontier town of about 2,000 people located between two small lakes and is situated on the edge of a vast expanse of grasslands. To the northwest are some forested mountains. An old Chapel lies nearby, just inside the grasslands and is known by our party to have dungeons beneath it, the location of our latest adventures.

On the vicinity of Gren:

• There is a small mining hamlet to the south west called Copper Hollow.

• The eastern lake has a small fishing village located on it's shores called Nob.

• Gren manages the trade between Copper Hollow and the rest of the region.

• To the northwest is a forest surrounded by a mountain range. It is said that there is an organization of Rangers that guard a druidic circle found there.

• There are vast hills to the south, overlooked by a large ancient keep. It is said to contain numerous dungeons beneath it and to be extremely dangerous. Some say it is home to hundreds of orcs, gnolls, and other types of hostile creatures.

• In the unexplored hills to the northeast are reports of flying beasts.

During the downtime in Gren, our group heard some new rumors.

• Maervahr hears a rumor regarding the cursed ruins across the lake. According to this source, Syrah, the Head Priestess of the Temple of Riswa, knows the reason why the “dead” that are occasionally seen across the lake are cursed.

• Halzgaz, a new addition to the party, hears that the source of the river that flows through Gren is watched over at its source by a Circle of Druids. The Druids are said to keep the waters pure and enchanted.

Our cast of characters:

- Maervahr, Human Magic-User and Psion.

- Halzgaz Buggard, a Dwarf Fighter.

- Iskandar, Human Magic-User.

- Vella Sloan, Human Cleric.

- Tsanu, Half-Elf Cleric / Magic-User.

- Porto, Halfling Thief.

- Gil, Cleric / Fighter of Nefer (to replace Tsanu later).

Today, it is lightly raining.

We have a party of 6 this time. We head out back to the Chapterhouse and the vicinity and find no visible signs of anything having been changed, or at least nothing important to note. The great dead spider corpse is still there but it is now missing two legs. It remains still and unmoving.

Porto moves up to the building, sneaking, and sees two giants spider legs that were severed from the corpse. It is as if they were torn off, with nasty spider muscle tissue and sinew sticking out. There are no other big tracks on the ground and only silence heard from inside the Chapterhouse.

The door is cracked open and there are still bloodstains on the ground. The inside still looks empty and nothing has taken up residence within.

The dwarf, Halzgaz, takes out a shield and a broadsword and we enter the dungeon and take a turn to the right. The doors of the dungeon will close on their own and monsters can open doors freely. We are also using the rules for spiking doors.

We enter what must have been the master bedchamber. We proceed further in, passing through rooms and halls previously explored, and come to a short hallway that has a chained door. This is the big metal door we discovered some weeks back. The chains are linked by a padlock and we find a couple of zombie corpses nearby.

We can hear the sound of some kind of machinery going. It is a muffled sound, a constant low rumbling and humming noise.

With a dwarf's stonecunning abiliites, we note the following rules.

While actively seeking, a dwarf: - can detect grades or slopes on 1-3 (d4). - can detect new constructions / passages / tunnels at 1-3 (d4). - can detect sliding or shifting walls / rooms at 1-4 (d6). - can detect traps with pits, falling blocks, or other stonework at 1-2 (d4) or 1-3 (d6). - can determine approximate depth underground at 1-2 (d4) or 1-3 (d6).

We see into the large room, a room that is bisected by portcullises.

Monsters can echolocate and have infravision in the Underworld. Those monsters will have bright red lights show up for their eyes, if viewed with infravision.

As we look toward the darkness ahead there are visible scrapes, criss-crossing on the stone floor as if something was dragged or scraped. Halzgaz moves forward to get a closer look and believes them to be made by something metal. The scratches span a range of 2' and may have been made over the span of several months.

The machinery sounds seems to come from below ground, from a pair of great rotating wheels that were once guarded by two undead ogre creatures. At the end of this chamber is a single large lever that is attached to a big metal box by a big chain. The lever can be pulled back and the chain goes up to the wall then back down to the floor.

The chain connects at an angle and to a coil wrapped around like a winch. On the ground is a crack outline or thin separation of a square block that looks like a large trapdoor.

We contemplate momentarily if it is a trap and decide to investigate but find none. The metal box is connected to the floor and cannot be moved. We throw the lever back, preparing for what we might unleash, and the winch turns. A cloud of dust poofs up from trapdoor and it lifts upward. The block is a few inches of thick stone and as it rises up from the ground, an opening clears.

A loud sound is heard, the same heavy machinery that was heard previously. We can see stairs descending into another area below and Maervahr's lantern light shines 20' down, and then we can't see further.

Halzgaz descends into the black and waits for his infravision eyes to adjust but there is nothing but blackness. He does see a very faint area of heat but the form of it is very fuzzy and there is just a hint of heat in a 60' area. The opening from the trapdoor is about 10' wide.

Suddenly, there is another loud noise as the chain gets caught on something then stops at the end of the chain. We each decide to descend down to join up with Halzgaz. As the stairs go down and we each descend, we follow the path taken by the dwarf. We can see the stone floor up ahead and a stone room. The room just drops off with blackened remnants of something that once lined the edge, like burnt wood. We also notice the faint smell of burnt remnants and see that there is an open area to the south.

His mama always told Halzgaz to go left, so we do. To the left, we find a room with a door leading to the west along with some holes in the ground. They are about the diameter of bolts or big screws and there is nothing attached. They are just empty bolt holes but there is some noticeable discoloration, as if something was once attached but is now gone.

Maervahr did not obtain keen hearing, which is a normal listen check that is made at character creation.

We extinguish all the lights and listen. The sound of dry, soft movement as if made by something walking slowly. Emerging from the area beyond are 4 zombies, once some form of a humanoid, standing about 30' away from our group. Our clerics immediately attempt to turn them but the zombies are not turned immediately. It is not until Tsanu makes the attempt and is able to turn all of the zombies. Although they are not attacking, we begin our attacks.

Maervahr throw a flask of burning oil but he missed. The rest of the group, more adept at fighting, all get parting shots as the zombies try to retreat. The zombies are dispatched quickly and once again, we are left in an empty room. It is dark beyond and appears to be a long room.

A loom comes into view along the wall to the right with some partly woven black cloth nearby along with some silvery looking thread. The table it sits upon is made of grayed wood. Also found on the table is a rack containing 13 to 14 vials of a dark red substance, the rack is as big as Halzgaz's fist. The dark red substance has no scent and it does not slosh around at all. Little flecks fall out that appear like dried blood or another dried secretion that is like blood.

Someone finds a box filled with a powder of an off-white color along with another box filled with off-white colored shards. They appear to be some kind of bone shards. We take with us the vials and the silver thread.

A silver hammer made from this is estimated to cost 140 gp.

We also take the fine black cloth after detaching it from the loom. The silver thread weighs about 100 coins.

Meanwhile, the Zombies come back and charge at us, as they do. Melee combat ensures and we hit one. Halzgaz, the dwarf, takes a hit for 5 damage and Tsanu is also struck, taking 8 damage. Tsanu succumbs to the blow and is dropped into a coma!

In front of us is a drop off into another area filled with darkness, the lantern light does not illuminate any further. We push open the back door as the fighting continues.

Maervahr uses a psionic ability of Clairaudience to hear 30' down below, into the darkness and beyond, but hears only the sound of the grinding machinery. Iskandar finds the bottom as he climbs down a 50' ladder and pulls out his lantern.

The lantern illuminates a big chamber and right in from Iskandar is a rotating 15' diameter wheel. The reflection of moisture is visible on each of the slats of the wheel.

At this point, the group has joined Maervahr and Iskandar and we decide to head back to Gren. Tsanu comes out of coma after 10 minutes and has a mighty gash along her stomach and side that is multiple inches thick. This will leave a big thick scar, assuming Tsanu can get back to recover. She will have to remain in bedrest for 1 week.

We are rewarded with 24 XP each!

The majority of the group waits 2 days to recover from our recent expedition. Then, we decide to head back to explore the north room. It is a mirror of the south room that had the holes in the floor.

We open a door in the north east, unleashing a foul smell but the room beyond is empty. There is a small piece of some kind of “triangular thing”. It is whitish-brown in color, 1“ thick and made of vellum. A crudely triangular shape. Halzgaz finds a piece of rotten zombie flesh.

Does the tringular object appear to be a magic component? Unknown.

Meanwhile, Halzgaz believes the flesh was recently hacked off of a zombie. Another wooden door has been hacked off. Through the bits of broken door there is another door opposite, on the other wall.

A rope still hangs there and Gil descends first followed closely by Porto. They see a faint heat signature on the wheels which continue rotating slowly. The bodies of several unmoving zombies are bent and broken. We notice that they are noticeably missing portions of their flesh, their old rags hanging off in some places. Their torn flesh was ripped in multiple places and there are teethmarks. Flat teethmarks…some of them, an inch wide…

We descend the flat stone staircase that we fought the zombie ogres in and find ourselves in a natural cavern. To the right is a small alcove with a wooden door. We can see a keyhole on the door which is flush with the surrounding cavern wall. The air is cooler than it was in the large room above. Porto figures that we are 130-150' below the surface and he checks the door for traps.

It turns out that Iskandar is keen eared and he attempts to listen at the door but hears nothing. Porto fails to open door and finds that it is sealed and locked firmly.

At that moment, we hear a cacophony of noise rise up from further down the hall. RATS!

The swarm of rats advance on us, rushing forward in our direction however we still do not see them. Our light only extends 30' down. Suddenly, emerging at the edge of the light are several big, rats…giant rats…and there are over 20 of them!

The party immediately attempts to throw some burning flasks of oil at the group. One of the flasks hits and the other flasks crash off target but still cause splash damage. 10 of the giant rats drop to the ground, burning. The rest of them join us in a swirling melee. 14 total giant rats.

Combat ensues and eventually we are able to destroy all of them without losing any of the party members.

After the fight, we quickly leave the dungeon and head back to Gren without any hindrances along the way.

We are selling the thread which is worth 230 gp. We also have collected 2 gp and 10 sp,

Our reward is 82 xp per character.

Our game date at the end of the session is the 25th of Blade Moon.

For some downtime activity, Maervahr studies the vial of dried blood and tries to find a way to pull together a research library for the group, He also continues his studies of the Elvish language.

When sharing spells with the other Magic-Users of our group, Iskandar and Fandillas, Maervahr FAILED TO LEARN: Magic Missile, Sleep, Detect Magic, and Identify.

Maervahr LEARNED: Hold Portal and Feather Fall.

In exchange, Tsanu and Iskandar learned the Burning Hands from Maervahr.