7 - How many S's are there in the word Massacre?

Date
The 26th of Reaping, the Moons day

Players
Karen - Fighter - Level 3
Melark - Magic User - Level 2
Harley - Halfling - Level 2

Hirelings
(all played by PC's)
Werdic the heavy footman (fourth expedition), last survivor of a murder spree in his monastery.
The Broken Shield - Mercenary company of (now) 3 heavy footmen with special tactics: Wade, Louis, Templeton
Ratik the Bowman
Reijel the Heavy Footman
Tikresia the Heavy Footman
Puawisa, a former friar
Flitglas, an eager beaver
Dryxia, looking for that one last big score
Edrig, the BowmanOg the Torchbearer, last survivor of a previous expedition


Adventure Log
Coming back, Karen was met by a gentlman in the Singing Swan, as she came in through the back door once again covered in blood "from her medical supply business." It was Andel, the man Nolan the innkeep contacted for Karen about some real estate. He had a lot of questions for her about what she wanted. Pink or Chartreuse, when her husband would be back, a private home (gasp!) or the standard unprivate one? Roof included? Schools? A good deal on a condo? Karen noted no slums, a roof, and, preferably, an established neighborhood with no Halflings.

Settled, they geared up the next morning and headed to the Heifer. Werdic already had a table and the three remaining members of the Broken Shield were there, along with Ratik, waiting for them, with Og & Vog nearby. A large train of men had just left, The Cloven Hooves, and bets were being taken at 2-1 against, this being their first foray. Denkel the Elf was drunk at the bar, complaining about the load he had lost on "those guys!", jerking a thumb at the party. Hirelings were recruited! Both heavy footmen, both bowmen, Og but not Vog, and a couple of light footmen, including a former friar with flagellation marks and Flitglas, an eager beaver.

They decided to return to the Barrowfields, bought holy water, and headed off, getting some stares from the gate guards since they were a heavily armed group of fifteen leaving the city. Shortly they arrived at the barrowfields, again, a light mist developing and it getting colder, but the mist burning off as they got to the barrows proper. As if it were inviting them in. Flitglas was seen to be a bit lippy by Karen, so he and Ratik the bowman were left to guard the donkey and wagon up top while the rest of the party delved in, through the hole, down by rope in to the darkness of the first chamber, The Vaulted Room.

They shifted immediately north, to the room with the trapped lintel stone. Figuring out that there was pressure plate, and wanting to see what was behind the door with the skeletons that opened up when the lintel dropped, they all packed in to the room, Harley keeping people from stepping on the plate ... including Reijel who almost did. Karen opened the door that hte skeletons had come from, with Dryxia at her side. It was PACKED with skeleton warriors, glowing red eyes, forming a shield wall, 2 wide! The scene in the main room was chaotic, with fifteen warriors packed in to a 20x20 room, trying to not step on a pressure plate, while Karen and Dryxia held the skeleton men in the hallway from entering. Shouts, questions, jostling, and the skeleton men in the rear pressing in to their front ranks, Who-concert style! Oil was deployed by Templeton, showboating by using his cup-hand as a catapult after Og refused to light the oil ... it wasn't allowed by the TorchBearers Guild to engage in anything resembling "useful activity!"Skeletons were slain ... but the last one stabbed Dryxia! As he lay dying he grasped Karens arm, looking in to her eyes, asking her to tell him about all the loot behind the skeleton, the last big score he was looking for. Karen told him it was full of gold, a HUGE score! Lying, to make it not seem like it was a dead end hallway only full of skeleton men, as it actually was. As Dryxia finally died the last words he heard were Harleys "How much is Dryxia's armor worth?"

Morale was low, several men were openly complaining. The party headed east down the main corridor, taking a little offshoot before "the giant snake room." There they found another dead end full of burial niches, and looting the funeral coins they came away with their first haul: 115 copper coins, a pair of silver earrings in the shape of a swan ... with some bits of ear still attached, a silver dagger that glowed with a silver light when picked up! They were not amused by the copper pieces.

Continuing in to the room with the snake and all the pillars, Kaaren, for some reason, looked up, probably since the snake had dropped on her from the ceiling the first time she was in this room. And her eyes met those of a naked man, hanging from the ceiling. He dropped to the floor in front of her with a sickeningly belly-flop *plop*. And then five more also belly-flopped on to the floor! She stabbed the one in front of her as it raised its head up, and the other clambered to their feet and began attacking! Wade, next to Karen, had his jugular torn out by the teeth of one of the men! It wasn't looking good to stand next to Karen ... The rest of the naked men were quickly dispatched and the party went on their way, through the north hallway ... with Karen staying behind to discretely behead Wade ... just in case. Finding a side passage and a door, they explored it, Karen first, after hearing some moaning coming from behind the door.

Karen opened the door and went in, finding a temple with black pillars, the nave having a 30' tall statue of the grim reaper, lit by their shadowy torch light, with a bony arm outstretched to them, as if to beckon them in to the room further. In front of it was a pit, with moaning coming from it. Karen found a Dwarf in it, almost starved to death! Arnd Cobblestone, who fell in the pit a week ago and was left there by his party. They went off to look for a rope to get him out and never came back. And he was PISSED at them. The Crazy Ones. He'd trust an elf before he trusted them again! But, he was grateful for the party and joined up, being a holy man and wearing his hammer & sickle symbol proudly on his plate mail breastplate! And the party had their first Henchman/XP Siphon, at level 2 at that! He told them that the statue would answer questions if you gave it a bag of gold, so Melark placed a large sack of 500 coins in its hands ... which it then crushed to ashes which disappeared! Its eyes lit up, Nergal the God of Death spoke to him: "Ask and I shall answer!" Melark got a potion and dagger identified as magical, found out the treasure room was "North, always North!" before the statue stopped answering questions. They vowed to remember this room as an alternative to having to deal with Drez the Unspeakable.

They continued down the main corridor and came to a crossroads, to the right was a door that they heard stone scraping sounds behind. Opening it, they found a room with a small camp of eight men talking. They jumped up and grabbed weapons when Karen entered ... but Arnd pushed past her ... it was the Crazy Ones! Arndt was PISSED! He was frothing mad, shouting at them, shoving their leader Rand, swinging at him with his hammer, which Rand kept dodging. Finally, someone else tried to calm Arndt down, one of the Crazy Ones, but, seeing as he was about to gut him, one of the hirelings shot him through the eye! It was on! But it didn't last long, as all of the Crazy Ones died, except for the last who surrendered. Arndt, being pissed, tied him up and threw him in the pit they had left him in ... after finding a small cache of 310gp that he told them about, hidden under the floor stones. Oh, the humanity!

The crowded out east, finding a hallway to the north, a hallway to the south with red glowing moving around somewhere in it, and a long wide hallway to the northeast. At the end of it they could make out torchlight moving around a figured in armor fighting other figures in armor and both seeming to fight naked men! Not wanting to get involved they headed north, because that's where the God of Death told them to go to get treasure. (The greatest treasure of all being Dyrxia's friendship, remarked Karen.)

They came to a side corridor west, but continued north to a door, behind which they heard running water. Inside there were burial niches and some skeleton bones ossified to the walls, water tricking down the walls like flowstone from the ceiling, covering everything in a thin layer of calcium. They began looting the burial niches. A big honking diamond ring. 58 gold coins. And then, one of the skeletons broke free from the wall! And the others did also! Seven of them!The party tried to form up, but the skeletons were mixed in to them! Down went Reijel, stabbed in the gut! Down went Tikresia, killed by a skeleton! And they were tough skeletons! Resisting their stab wounds! Louis was killed also! And Arnd, their new friend! An XP siphon no more! Werdic was in the corner rocking back and forth facing the wall, scared witless, and had peed himself! Templeton was pounding at the door to the room, trying to get out, breaking his mug-handed left hand and his right hand bloody from clawing at it with his fingernails! Puwisa was on the floor, having stripped off his breastplate and baring his back, flagellating himself madly! Edrig was sitting cross-legged, softly crying. Harley, gut stabbed by a skeleton, and close to death. Melark took out the orange gemstone and tempted fate. Once. Thrice. three times he used it, and lived!

They gathered their traumatized hirelings, ignoring the narrow passage revealed when one of the skeletons broke free from the wall. Back they went to The Vaulted Room. Calling up to those they left behind to guard the hole ... they heard no answer. And then Flitglas lowered the rope. Thirteen went down the hole. They found a fourteenth. And only three came back up alive and no scarred, psychologically. Trudging back to town they paid their tax: 30gp, and went back in while their hirelings scattered, shell-shocked.

A close call.




Deaths & Loot
Reijel, stabbed by fossilized skeleton.
Tikrosia,  stabbed by fossilized skeleton.
Dryxia, stabbed by a skeleton warrior
Wade, jugular torn out by crazed naked man
Louis,  stabbed by fossilized skeleton.
Templeton half-handed, morale broken, traumatized
Werdic, last survivor of a serial killer at his abbey, traumatized.
Edrig, a betting man, traumatized.
Puwisa, seen too much shit now, traumatized.

7 Skeleton Warriors with glowing red eyes
6 crazed naked men who fell from the ceiling
6 members of The Crazy One's band
7 fossilized sksletons

115 cp in funeral coins
Silvered dagger that glows silver when held
Silver swan earrings (50gp)
300gp in a bag
10gp in a pouch
58 gp in funeral coins
Big ass diamond ring 50gp.