REWIND 2: The Eights and the Lakeside Ruins

 This is the original group's 2nd adventure. Let's see how they fare after losing their Magic-User so recently.

Party: The Eights in a Hole

Adventure: #2 “Lakeside Ruins”

Session Number: 2

Session Date: 2/16/26 (Loshdain, Thaumont 13. AC 1000)

Adventure Background:

The remains of an ancient town or village lie along the western shore of Lake Windrush, North of Threshold. Most believe the place was built in the times of King Halav, and the Golden Age. In truth, it was even older. Built by the mysterious Hutaakans centuries before.

Many adventurers have poked around the stones over the years, and it is widely believed to be devoid of monsters or treasures. That doesn’t prevent the occasional party of beginners from taking a day or two to explore them and see if anything remains undiscovered.

“The Eights in a Hole”:

Durlum Stronghollow: (Male Dwarf). A stout warrior who is keener than he looks.

Ivana Borotsky: (Female Cleric) A passionate, if untutored cleric.

Konstantin (“Kon”) Maras: (Male Fighter). An artisan’s son that dreams of adventure.

Corwyn: (Male Thief). Hails from Darokin. He is a nimble, if somewhat unscrupulous, thief.

Oldor Undertree: (Male Halfling). A formidable warrior, despite his size.

After secretly selling Anton’s grimoire to a shady character on Fogor’s Isle who goes by “Three Fingers Karl”(despite not seeming to be missing any digits), Corwyn heard a rumor about the ruins up by the lake. It seemed there were recently exposed catacombs beneath the rubble that had not yet been explored. Having had done more extreme things with less to go on, Corwyn put it to the Eights that they should hurry there before someone else does. The other members agreed. It was a short distance (even closer than the gnome burrow), and after the paltry payout of the burrow, some real treasure was in order!

During their time in town, Kon had picked up a pack mule. It had no name. He simply called it, “Hey Mule.” It was a placid enough thing, but it would nip at people’s cloaks, pulling at them. An irritating habit to be sure, but it seemed especially fond of Ivana’s cloak’ This amused Corwyn to no end. Kon was apologetic to the point of embarrassing the cleric. She knew Kon meant no harm, he was a simple man. His constantly drawing attention to the matter, though only served to make Corwyn grin more.

With fresh supplies and healed wounds, the Eights set off in the morning of Y1. It was a beautiful spring morning and promised to be a fine day. The walking was easy and the path was straightforward. All one had to do was keep the lake in sight and you couldn’t get lost.

They saw nothing but a few waterfowl along the way and reached the ruins by mid-morning. The ruins themselves looked like nothing more than a few crofts that had succumbed to time and the elements. But closer inspection showed the remains of sweeping arches, carefully carved frescoes in intricate designs, and other features more elaborate than what one fins on a mere hut.

That said, several structures’ remains were barely more than two stones on top of one another. The whole area was littered with moss-covered and half buried stones that were too regular in shape to not have once been part of a structure.

Durlum looked closely at some of the remaining walls, tapping one with his axe haft. “Solid work.” He said. “Not ‘Dwarf Solid,’ but pretty good for man-folk!” Corwyn rolled his eyes at Durlum, but also grinned. The Dwarf could be so sour sometimes, even an attempt at a jest was a pleasant change.

“Maybe we should try one of the more intact buildings.” Oldor remarked, “If there’s an entrance to below that wasn’t spotted before, it’s probably in one of them.” Ivana nodded and pointed, “That one there looks a bit bigger. Maybe it was a temple or a meeting hall?” The party headed toward it as the mule reached for Ivana’s cloak hem, only to be gently swatted on the nose by Kon.

A whole corner of the building’s walls was missing, so gaining entry was no issue. The roof was a distant memory, so the inside was bathed in sunlight. While there no signs of furnishings to indicate the interior’s original purpose, the layout did suggest a temple or chapel. There was a low stage of sorts at one end that could be a pulpit. More interestingly, there was a hole in the floor just in front of the stage. It appeared the floor’s flagstones had partially collapsed over a hidden -or blocked- stairwell leading down under the ground.

“Well that was easy!” Corwyn joked. “I thought we’d be spending all day poking at rocks, seeing if there was anything underneath. Shall we go?”

“Hang on a moment,” Durlum said, “Should we check the other buildings first or head straight down? I don’t know if I like leaving all those potential hiding spots unchecked behind us.”

The party debated for a few moments before deciding they would check down the steps briefly -just to see what was there- before ascending again and giving the surface ruins a full sweep. Kon tied the mule to a scrub bush that had sprouted in one corner as Ivana lit Anton’s lantern, which still carried.

The stairs were short and wide, only descending about fifteen feet before ending in front of some double doors. They looked as if they had not been touched in centuries. A good sign they were the first to reach them!

Corwyn stepped up and took out his tools. “Hold the light a bit closer, would you?” he asked the cleric. The thief squinted at the lock and latch for a long while. Then he extended his scrutiny to the surface of the doors themselves, then finally the doorframe and threshold. Finally he leaned back and sighed. “Yep. There’s definitely something fishy about that lock.”

Kon took a half step forward “You wanna step back then, Cor?” But the smaller man shook his head.

“No. You could set it off by forcing it. I’m not completely sure, but I’d guess it’s got darts or poison needles ready to fly.” At the mention of poison, Kon’s face paled slightly. He still had bad dreams sometimes about the cobra that he’d nearly stepped on back in the burrow. The thief continued, “I’ll have to try disarming it or breaking the spring.”

“Corwyn,” Ivana said warningly, “The poisons used on things like this; they don’t just make you ill, you know. It could kill you.”

The little man failed to suppress a grin. “That’s what makes it fun!” he said and set to work. A few moments later, there was a sharp CLACK and everyone looked suddenly at Corwyn in concern, but he was smiling, holding a slender steel needle in his hand.

“Ta-daa!” he laughed, tossing the needle into the corner, far from everyone. “That was the good news. The BAD news is that the lock is rusted tight. No chance of quietly finessing it open.”

Kon grinned and said, “You wanna step back now?”

The doors swung violently inward with a crash as Kon’s boot struck them. Ivana shone the light inside to quickly see what or who might be waiting, but the rooms was empty save for a curious statue in the center and two doors, one at each of the far corners. Corwyn scanned the floor quickly for any signs of tripwire or pressure plates, then the group entered the room.

The statue was slightly smaller than man-sized. Maybe about the same as an elf. It was humanoid, and carved wearing formal looking robes of an unfamiliar style. It looked like a statue you might in a temple or on a palace grounds, except for the head. Instead of human, or elf, it was like the head of a dog or jackal. On the front of the dais were carvings in strange letters. None of the group could read them. Still, Durlum shifted his helmet and scratched his head. “The letters. They remind of something…”

Ivana nodded. “I’ve seen carvings like that on other ruins around here and to the South too. I think they are from Halav’s Age.”

“Perhaps that’s it.” the dwarf agreed, “I don’t recall anything about Halav being a kobold, though.”

“Is that a kobold, you think?” asked Oldor. “It’s taller, and looks more… civilized.”

“Whatever.” Corwyn said. “It’s just stone. There’s no gems or anything on it, and it’s too heavy to move. That makes it precisely worthless. Let’s move on.”

Ivana frowned disapprovingly. The statue might not have anything to do with Halav, but somehow she found the thief’s attitude irreverent. She held her tongue, though.

The dwarf chimed in, “Fine. You want to move on? Pick a door and check it out.”

Corwyn sketched a mocking bow and considered for a moment, then he actually took out a copper kopec and spun it in the air. “Wolf it’s left, Duke it’s right.” He caught it in a gloved hand and held it out in his palm for all to see. “Wolf it is.” and walked over to the left-hand door in the western corner, kneeling before the latch to inspect it more closely. After a minute or two, he muttered “Locked tight.”and started to insert his picks.

FOOM! A brilliant flash of light erupted from the door. The others, being farther back, were not as dazzled by the sudden brightness, but Corwyn was close enough that such intensity could seriously damage his eyes, at least for a time. Corwyn instinctively threw his arm up in front of his face to shield himself.

Ivana blinked hard and hurried up to help him. Corwyn had fallen back onto the seat of his pants in surprise, but he seemed no worse for wear. “Charcoal powder, soaked in special oils.” he said, “A tiny spark sets it off in one big bazoom! It can blind a fellow for a couple hours. Great way to stop interlopers without leaving corpses on the doorstep for the maid to clean.” he stood and dusted himself off. “Well then. Kon?” said with a gesture at the door. “Your turn again.”

Yet despite Kon’s efforts, as well as the others, no one could get the door to budge. Finally Durlum called a stop by saying, “This is wasting time. Shall we just try the other one, or go back up like we’d said we do before?” The group agreed to ascend the stairs and check the other ruins before returning to the East door.

Back on the surface, Since the mule had seemed to find some leaves on the shrub to munch, Kon decided to leave it where it was as they group walked toward the next of the more intact ruins.

This structure was smaller than the “temple”, no larger than a modest house, but Durlum pointed to a pile of collapsed stone nearby. “This was once a small tower of some sort. Perhaps a granary?”

“How can anyone care so much about stones that aren’t jewels?” Corwyn quipped.

“You can’t build a home out of diamonds, Corwyn.” Ivana said sagely.

“No. But I could use some to pay somebody else to build it for me!” he replied, causing Oldor to guffaw.

Entering the enclosed walls carefully, the group could see there was no place enemies could easily hide there, but closer inspection revealed a concealed hatch in the floor. A brief inspection by the thief revealed no sign of any trap or lock, but the wood was swollen tight in the frame.

Oldor took hold of the hatch’s edge and hauled upward. The trapdoor groaned in the frame, but swung stiffly upward. In the light that shone down into the hole, the halfling saw the face of a doglike skull appear below, attached to humanoid skeleton! It grasped a rung on a ladder set in the wall and began to climb!

With a shout, Oldor shoved the door back down. It swung slowly, still not fitting right in its jamb, but he got it more or less flat before he felt the thumping of the creature below. “We have a problem,” he said as the door bounced up and down slightly from the pounding, “The lock is on the other side of this thing.”

Ivana stepped forward, clasping her holy symbol. “Let me try to drive them back. Like last time.” Oldor looked doubtful, but Durlum told him to step off the door and he’d pull it up on Ivana’s signal. The halfling half rolled off the trap door and got to his feet, drawing his sword. With a nod from the cleric, Durlum yanked hard and the hatch swung wide.

“Begone undead filth! Halav’s grace commands you!” Ivana shouted as she displayed the religious token in front of the jackal-like skull that was rising from the opening. Unlike the last time, when she had felt the power of her faith flow from her and through her, this time the words rang hollow in her mind. The skeleton seemed to balk only for a moment, then kept climbing, followed immediately by another. They took tentative swipes with their bony claws at Ivana and Durlum as they got to their feet, but the adventurers easily evaded their weak blows. More skeletons appeared to be climbing the ladder behind them.

Since Ivana’s failed to drive them away, Durlum pushed to swing the hatch shut again. As he tried to overpower the ones below that were pushing up, Oldor stepped in and dispatched the skeleton on the surface that had attacked the dwarf before. The others surround the skeleton on Ivana, but only Corwyn manages to connect, but the small man’s blows lack the power of the party’s warriors, and only wounds it.

As the group tried to down the second undead, the two below the door managed to push Durlum off balance and flung the hatch open, climbing to the surface as well! Ivana smashed the skeleton in front of her, but as she spotted the other ones that had just surfaced, she knew the fight was far from over.

There was a flurry of blows as neither side was able to make much headway against the other, but in the process two more skeletons have ascended. One of the newly arrived undead caught Oldor in the side with a claw, and the halfling immediately decided to back away from the melee. As he backpedals away from his opponent, he drew an oil flask from a pocket on the side of his back and reached for the flint at his belt.

Durlum gave up on the trapdoor and preapred to fight. His axe ended one with a single blow. Ivana and Corwyn also managed to each drop another. Kon cut another in half, but now there was another two starting up the ladder!

Oldor stuck a small wick into the flask and got it burning, then he hurled it into the open hatch just as a bony head appeared, dousing it in sudden flames. The thing fell down the shaft and for a moment, instead of monsters, only smoke came out of the hole. In the meantime, the party had dispatched two more skeletons, but one had hit Kon, though it seemed a minor wound.

One more skeleton clambered out from the smoke to face the Eights, making it a total of three remaining. It immediately struck at the dwarf, ripping a deep wound in his arm that bled badly. Corwyn and Kon surrounded one of the three and smashed it to pieces.

Corwyn rushed to help Durlum with the skeleton that had wounded him, but neither could seem to land a solid blow. Meanwhile, Oldor and Ivana were dealing with their skeleton when its lashed out and caught the halfling in the throat. The halfling struck back, knocking several of the thing’s ribs loose from the body. A moment later, bright arterial blood sprayed the ground, and Oldor fell lifeless at Ivana’s feet.

Before she could even react, she heard Corwyn shout. Durlum’s arm had been torn at again and was nearly severed above the elbow. The blood pumped for a moment before the mighty dwarf toppled face first into the dirt. Had she a moment’s respite to think, she might have realized that both she and Corwyn had made the same error: the had frozen at the sight of the dead comrades. Their mistake proved fatal to both as the undead lashed out again and both of them were slain where they stood.

Kon stood alone, stunned at the sudden turn of events. They’d been winning! Hadn’t they? The warrior was actually a very quiet man, but now he was filled with a rage that would have shamed the berserkers of the Northern Reaches. With a howl he stepped forward and swung his sword with all his strength at the skeleton that had just slain Corwyn. It’s skull turned to shards from the blow and it toppled in a pile of dry bones.

The last skeleton closed with him and struck. His armor held but the unnatural strength of the undead still slammed into him and he was sure at least one rib had broken. Still, the monster’s swing had left its right side exposed. Kon shoved his sword between its ribs, the blade passed right through wherever its heart had once been. With a savage twist, Kon broke four of its ribs and detached its left arm entirely. Apparently that was too much for whatever foul energies held the thing together and it fell to pieces at his feet.

Panting, Kon looked around to be sure none of the things were still moving. Then he ran to the trapdoor, shoved it closed, and -despite his injured ribs protests- grabbed the largest rock he could lift to drop on top of the hatch.

Kon then turned to his companions, checking each of them for signs of life, hoping perhaps at least one of them was merely stunned, or at least still breathing. Sadly, each of them was most definitely dead.

Kon sat for several minutes without moving. His sword forgotten in the dust and his head in his hands. Tears stood in his eyes, equal parts grief and anger. Finally, he sniffed loudly and stood with a grunt. He picked up and sheathed his blade, then got to work.

It took him most of the afternoon to prepare a spot for his friends and gather enough stones for their cairn. He packed most of the gear on the mule, but he left his friends in the armor, with their blades (in Ivana’s case her mace) and their shields. He left Corwyn his lockpicks too. He put Ivana’s holy symbol in her hands and then sprinkled her vial of holy water over all of them and put two gold coins over their eyes (taken from Corwyn’s bulging purse) before placing the stones over them. Then he took the mule’s reins and walked slowly away from the ruins toward town.

The sun was setting beautifully over the lake as the walls of Threshold came into view.

End of Adventure 2