REWIND: The Eights in the Hole and the Gnome Burrow

This is the write-up from the first foray into the solo campaign. It's mostly a first draft, so there may be fixes or edits forthcoming. Maybe an image or two. I like to add bits of dialog, etc. sometime to help show the oracle at work, making narrative sense of the choices made by the party.

Party: The Eights in a Hole

Adventure: #1 “The Ruined Burrow”

Session Number: 1

Session Date: 2/14/26 (Gromdain, Thaumont 9. AC 1000)

Adventure Background:

To the north of Threshold, among the hills, lies the abandoned gnome burrow of the Shimmerhorn clan. The burrow was attacked from below by kobolds and most of the gnomes were killed. Those that survived fled to Highforge.

Twenty years later, the survivors and some of their kin wanted to try to reclaim the burrow, but they were not great warriors, so they hired a half dozen dwarves as guards to escort them there and help clear it out.

Shortly after entering the ruins, the group was ambushed by kobolds. While the dwarves fought them off, slaying several, all the gnomes were killed in the initial attack (so they thought!). The dwarves pursued the fleeing kobolds into the halls killing another group in a central hall.

Another group of kobolds managed to flee to a further chamber and hide. Now, as the dwarves decide whether to continue avenging the gnomes or to return their remains to Highforge, the kobolds plot their next move as well.

Enter the heroes…

“The Eights in a Hole”:

Anton Novikov: (Male Magic-User). A young wizard and the leader of the group.

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.

(all the PCs are 1st level)

The Burrow:

The Eights left Threshold heading North alongside the river. It was a bright, clear morning with a chill in the air. None of the group could afford a horse, so they walked. They were in no great hurry, as their destination was only a half day’s hike away, but they still stepped briskly, each of them eager to take these first, tangible steps into their new lives of adventure.

They had barely walked an hour when Oldor heard the sound of men in armor marching ahead. The ground was hilly and uneven here, so they couldn’t see anything yet. The group, recognizing their inexperience, wisely chose to hide behind some rocks and let whomever (or whatever) approached to pass. Sure enough, a few minutes later, a group of adventurers came trudging down the trail. They were heading in the direction of town, and they looked as if they had gotten the worst of whatever exchange they had been up to. Anton considered hailing them but Durlum placed a hand on his arm, silently shaking his head.

After the other group had passed, Anton asked the dwarf, “Why not get news of the road ahead?”

Durlum said, “They looked like a rough lot in a bad mood. Not a great combination to bet on making friends.”

“Hm. Perhaps.” Anton replied, “Better to be safe when we can, I suppose.”

The Eights continued on without incident. By early afternoon, they had reached the entrance of the old burrow. A pair of double doors, that once must have looked fairly impressive, hung crookedly from their frame. Roots and vines had overgrown enough of the opening to make peering inside next to impossible.

Corwyn, not waiting for others to comment, slid off his pack and slipped quietly up to the doorway. After peering in from an angle, he shrugged and stepped in boldly, just for show. After a moment, he peered out through the vines, “Coming?” he asked with a slight mocking tone.

The room had obviously been some sort of entrance hall or foyer, shaped in sort of irregular octagon. The floor, now covered in dirt and dead leaves, was made from what were once colorful tiles. There was a door on both the north and south walls.

Anton made a quick sketch, noting the entrance and the doors. “Which way?” he asked the group. After a moment’s discussion, Kon shrugged, “North?” No one argued, so they went to open the door on the right, but despite their efforts, it would not move more than an inch.

Kon shrugged again, “South then.” The door to the left was also swollen in its frame, but gave after a bit of pressure and the party stepped through. Anton had retrieved his lantern from his pack and had lit the wick. Kon produced a torch and lit it as well.

The ceiling was low, but tall enough the men could stand by stooping. Durlum and Older grinned at the tall folks’ discomfort. The hallways stretched on longer than expected. The dwarf explained that the gnomes often followed less than direct lines when building, “to ‘follow the Elemental Flow’, or some such nonsense,” Durlum grunted.

After a time of checking empty corridors, and pacing things off for Anton’s map, the party rested briefly at an intersection, deciding which way to try next. So far, they had seen nothing. There was a door to the West, but in the end they felt there were too many unchecked passages behind them to press deeper in just yet.

Turning North, they came to another intersection, this one most definitely not empty. The bodies of several gnomes lay in the corridor, along with several of the doglike men known as kobolds; bitter enemies of the gnomes. The fight must have been recent, as the blood had not fully dried.

Corwyn was already sizing up the dead’s belongings. The kobolds gear looked worthless and he couldn’t imagine them having any hard coin. But gnomes, now. That was different. Gnomes loved gold. And gems! So when the party decided it would be disrespectful to loot the gnomes, he suggested they lay the bodies neatly along the wall and use their cloaks to shroud them. Ivana, impressed with the Darokinian’s piety, heartily agreed. While the party moved the gnomes, Corwyn was able to cut two of the corpse’s purses from their belts without being spotted, pocketing 200 gold coins.

Durlum was pretty sure the hallway heading East leads back to the door they couldn’t open, so the party checks to confirm. It is the same door and Oldor is able to shove it open from the inside, giving the group another option to retreat.

Returning to the intersection with the bodies, The spot -and are spotted by- a small patrol of 3 kobolds down the hall to the left. They screech something that Durlum translates as “Get out now!”

Anton says he wants to take them out as quietly as possible, before they can raise a general alarm. He begins to cast his Sleeping Spell. The kobolds are faster than expected and manage to hurl their crude javelins at the mage before he can complete the incantation. He was struck twice and fell bleeding to the ground. Ivana dropped to her knees beside him and tried to bind the wounds, but it was too late. Anton’s eyes no longer saw the world of the living.

Enraged, Oldor fired an arrow, snariling with vengeance when the shaft struck the kobold dead between the eyes. Durlum charged in, axe whistling over his head to come down on the second creature, nearly cutting his torso in half.

The last kobold, perhaps sensing his doom, decided to sell his life dearly but Oldor, sword already in hand, raced in and skewered the kobold before he could even draw his knife.

In the aftermath, the Eights had a moment to react to the loss of their leader and companion. It was Anton’s research that had found the location of this dungeon, it was his planning that had gotten them this far, and it was his command of magic that they were anticipating to be a major part of their chances at success. Now he was gone, and their adventure had only started!

Durlum sighed, “We’ll set him by the gnomes for now, and see to him when we’re finished.”

Ivana looked like she was about to protest the idea of continuing on, but she set her jaw and nodded. “Yes. It’s obvious there is wickedness here that needs dealing with.”

The others made no comment. Corwyn and Oldor dragged Anton to the wall near the door and Corwyn covered him in his cloak. Ivana looked surprised again at the sneak-thief’s tenderheartedness. “We’ll make a good man of you yet, Corwyn.” she said as he passed.

No doubt. He thought to himself, as he tucked the dead wizard’s spellbook further under his cloak.

Ivana picked up Anotn’s lanter, and Kon lit another torch before the party moved back down the hall to the door they had passed earlier. Corwyn moved up to the door and inspected it for a long while before testing the latch and finding it locked. Taking his picklocks out, he set to work. Several minutes later, his face a thundercloud, he stood up and spat. “It’s clear, but it won’t budge.” He declared and slunk back from the portal.

Kon pat the thief on his shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, friend. I know a trick for this kind of lock.”

Kon’s boot splintered the door and it swung in violently.

Inside was a great hall, by gnomish scale. To the humans, it was a fair-sized dining hall. Any furnishings or decorations were long gone, but in the center of the room were a group of dwarves standing over several dead kobolds. Their eyes and axes came up when the door crashed open, but when they saw Durlum, they hesitated momentarily. Durlum lowered his axe gestured to his companions to do the same. “There are no enemies here.” he said in Dwarfish. The group of dwarves lowered their weapons as well, then the two groups gathered and exchanged information.

The dwarves, as it turned out, were from the Rockbottom clan, which was centered in Rockhome, but traded regularly with Highforge in Karameikos. They were caravan guards and were at the gnomish hold when the Shimmerhorns were recruiting guards. The group saw it as some easy coin for a week or so of work. Sadly, while the dwarves were more than up to the taks of dealing with the kobolds, the gnomes were not as tough the initial ambush was brutally effective and all the gnomes were killed. The dwarves slew many and chased these other down, but they are confident more are about. Right now, the dewarves are torn about their duty. Do they return the gnomes’ bodies to their kin in Highforge, or pursue the kobolds for vengeance’s sake?

Corwyn and Oldor both thought a cadre of hardened dwarf warriors would be a fine addition to the group, but Durlum told them he knew some of the Highforge Shimmerhorns. They would want to know their kin’s fate. He and his companions would put paid to the kobolds, for they owed a blood debt for Anton.

The Rockbottom dwarves agreed and said they would take the gnomes remains with them. One of them handed Durlum a small steel medallion. It was a token of friendship from the Rockbottom clan for him and his friends. Then both groups left the room and returned to where the dead lay.

The dwarves agreed to take Anton outside with the gnomes, so he wouldn’t be left for the kobolds to find while the Eights explored. One of the dwarves noticed that one of the gnomes’ purse-strings were cut. He looked sharply at the group, his eyes settling on Corwyn, but the thief kept a blank expression, feigning not to notice the scrutiny. In the end, nothing was said.

After the dwarves had left, the Eights returned to the matter at hand. Since they had already been to the South, they chose the right (North) hall and followed it to a turn, with a door just beyond. Testing the door, it seemed stuck or barred. As it wasn’t locked per se, Corwyn happily stepped back and let the warriors at it. This time, Ivana stepped up. Since the group had three male warriors, they tended to forget that Ivana was not some frail maiden. She was tall and broad-shouldered and not at all squeamish about using the mace she carried. With an unladylike grunt and shove she pushed the door back far enough to slip through.

Inside the rectangular chamber was a pile of what might have once been furniture, still partially blocking the door, and a terrified-looking gnome holding a short sword in the middle of the room.

When he saw that they were not kobolds, he nearly dropped his sword in relief. “You’re not them!” He said breathlessly, “Who are you, though?”

Durlum explained briefly what had transpired and what they had learned from the Rockbottoms. The gnome, Koli was his name, was obviously distraught over his kin, but desperate that not only did his escort not know he was alive, but they had left without him!

After a few minutes’ discussion, Corwyn offered to lead Koli to the dwarves. His and Koli’s lack of heavy armor would let them move faster, letting then catch up faster. “The fee,” he explained, “we can discuss along the way.” Ivana’s eyes narrowed in disapproval, but Koli agreed before any debate could begin.

“All right.” Corwyn said, “I’ll be back as fast as I can. Leave me a trail to find you.”

Durlum produced a wedge of chalk and replied “Check the corners for arrows.”

The thief nodded, and turned to Koli, “Let’s move along, your Gnomeship.” With that, they hurried out the door toward the exit. The rest of the group checked the room for anything out of the ordinary then left as well.

(We’ll return to the party in a moment. For now, let’s follow Corwyn and his charge out of the dungeon)

Corwyn led Koli quickly toward the entrance hall. When the gnome saw the pile of dead kobolds, his eyes hardened and he gave one of the dead dog-men a kick as he passed. Corwyn said nothing. Before long they were standing in the open air, but there was no sign of the dwarves. Koli’s eyes widened in concerned, but Corwyn shrugged. “It’s been nearly half an hour since they left. It’s hardly surprising that they’ve started walking.” He squinted at the sun, now getting a bit low in the West. “Come on, we can catch up before dark if we hurry.” Koli nodded eagerly and the pair stepped briskly down the path. “Now, about that fee…” Corwyn began. After moment’s discussion, Koli agreed to three platinum coins “When I am safely with the dwarves.”

After about half an hour of hurrying along, Corwyn’s ears caught the jingling of metal ahead. When they rounded a bend in the trail, he spied a dwarf leading a mule with the gnome bodies, wrapped in their cloaks, lashed to its back. Where was the mule? Corwyn wondered. “I guess we need to be better about scouting near entrances.” he muttered. Koli called out eagerly to the dwarves, who halted and looked in surprise when the pair approached. After some brief explanations, Luvik, their leader, thanked Corwyn for his efforts to bring their charge back to them. The group seemed relieved that they hadn’t let quite everyone be killed. Koli solemnly took out 3 coins from his pouch and handed them to Corwyn. “As promised.” he said.

Corwyn bowed with a grin. “My pleasure. Now I really need to hurry back. Those idiots have probably fallen into a trap and died thrice over without me.” With that, he turned and jogged back up the trail.

(We will return to Corwyn later. Now back to the party!)

Back in the dungeon, the rest of the Eights left the room they’d found Koli in and found themselves back at the intersection South of the dining hall’s door. To the East lay the door they originally came in. As they debated which direction to try next, Oldor heard movement in the darkness down the West corridor. “It may be the kobolds.” Durlum said as he marked the wall for Corwyn to point in that direction. “Let’s go!’ he barked, and hustled down the hall, followed by his companions.

As they approached, their light revealed a group of 5 kobolds standing near an intersection, when they saw the party approaching, but before they could decide whether to fight or flee, the party closed the gap.

Ivana’s longer legs got her to the fray first, and, with a single swing of her mace, she caved the head in of the first kobold. Durlum, not to be undone, cut the next one down. Kon took a mighty cut with his sword, but the little kobold dodged. Oldor’s opponent didn’t fare as well and fell to Oldor’s blade. Despite having been recruited primarily as an archer, the halfling’s shortsword had been proving quite deadly.

With most of their number cut down in moments, the remaining pair of kobolds fled up the North corridor and around a corner. It appeared their plan was to fire their sling from cover as the PCs approached. But again, the creatures underestimated the speed of their pursuers. The Eights were hot on their tails, closing the gap again before a single stone flew.

Kon, perhaps annoyed he was the only one not to have dropped a foe last time, eagerly takes a swing at one of the remaining kobolds, severing its head neatly with a quick chop. The last one fell much as the first, with Ivana’s mace ending its existence with one blow.

After the four catch their breath, Oldor looked around for a moment. “It looked like they came from the door on the south wall back there. We should check that out before going farther.” The others nodded and they began to walk back down the hall. The door was indeed still ajar, but Ivana hesitated. “I wish Corwyn were here to check this first. Kobolds are supposed ot be mad for traps.” Durlum nodded, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary and figured the kobolds hadn’t had time to set anything before the party had charged at them. He pushed the door open with his axe and looked inside. Beyond was merely an empty chamber. What the kobolds had been doing there, he couldn’t say. “Well, this is a bust.” Oldor sighed. “Where to now?”

Kon scratched his chin. He was thoroughly turned around in terms of directions, but his memory was fine about which places they’d already been. “There’s that short hall with the door to the left.” He suggested.

“Fair enough,” Durlum added with a nod, and the group headed to the West. The door was shut tight, but no lock was visible. The dwarf gave it a mighty shove and it opened with a groan. Inside was a rectangular chamber with little to show except a jagged opening in the floor. It was about five feet across and looked quite deep. A moment or two after entering, a howling wind came from below and blew Kon’s torch out. Fortunately Ivana was still carrying Anton’s lantern and the flame was protected from the blast. The wind ceased after a moment and nothing else seemed to happen.

“Well,” Ivana said, “THAT was odd!” The others nodded in agreement.

Durlum stroked his beard a moment before saying, “Vents like these aren’t unheard of, but they’re usually deeper underground. We’re likely safe enough if we stay back from the hole. Let’s take a break here and plan the next move.”

As they set their packs on the floor and sat on top of them, Oldor chewed a bit of hardtack and said between bites, “We may have taken out the last of those kobolds. There can’t be much more to this place. How big are gnome burrows, anyway, Durlum?”

The dwarf chuckled, “I’m supposed to be the gnome expert, am I?”

Kon looked confused “Aren’t you from Highforge? Isn’t that a gnome burrow?”

Durlum laughed outright this time, “I was joking, lad. But Highforge is a BIT more than a family burrow. I expect this is closer to a halfling hole.” Grinning back at Oldor.

Oldor stuck his tongue out, but replied “Fair enough. I’d say there are only a few more chambers, but the stories say the kobolds came from below, so who knows what connects to the original structure now?”

Ivana was silent a moment, then said, “Apart from Anton, we’ve been quite lucky so far. Those Rockbottom dwarves did a lot of the work for us. Perhaps we should think of cutting our losses and start backing out.”

“Leave!?” Oldor exclaimed, “Apart from a few kobold coppers, we haven’t found anything that even looks like treasure!”

“Yes. Thank you, Corwyn. We’re aware.” Durlum replied wryly. Oldor laughed at the dig.

Another blast of air roiled the chamber. Kon stood up and said, “I think that means it’s time to get going again.” as he shouldered his pack. “Maybe we take a quick look back up where we finished those fellas off before deciding?” The rest of the group agreed that, lacking any better plan, that Kon’s idea would do. They collected their things and stepped back out into the hallway.

As the dwarf marked the passage to the North for Corwyn to follow. Ivana noticed a strange sound coming from the east hallway. It wasn’t loud, but a low, rattling sound, like sticks or rocks shifting. “Durlum..?” she began, but he had already stepped up next to her, squinting into the darkness ahead. At the edge of the lantern light, there appeared a shuffling figure. Its flesh had long since disappeared and only the bones remained, another came into view besides it and more could be made out in the shadows.

“Undead!” hissed the dwarf. All the stories of Ivana’s youth about ghosts and evil spirits haunting the woods of her homeland came back to her and an icy fear gripped her spine.

“Get ready!” Shouted Kon as he raised his sword.

“We could run?” suggested Oldor. Durlum shook his head.

“They’re between us and the exit, unless you want to go searching for another door with them on our backs?” Oldor grimaced and drew steel. He and the dwarf stepped to the front as Kon watched the hallway behind them while he prepared for the fight.

The skeletons closed with Durlum and Oldor, clawing at them with bony fingers. The pairs’ armor was too much for the attacks and both of them managed to cut down their foes.

Ivan’s fear crystallize into fury at these abominations. From around her neck, she lifted the pendant that hung there. It was in the shape of an anvil, with a sword embedded into it. She raised it as if to show it to the skeletons and cried out in a clear voice “Begone filth! Halav the Immortal commands it!”

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then a soft glow seemed to come from the pendant. It wasn’t very bright, but it was a pure white unlike firelight or even the Sun. The remaining skeletons seemed to stumble for a moment and halt. Then they began an almost comical backpedaling away from the tall woman. They retreated back into the darkness, leaving the group momentarily alone.

Durlum grunted “Nice work.” to the cleric who kept the symbol aloft but smiled at the compliment. Kon looked at Ivana in amazement. He knew clerics had the favor of the Immortals, but he’d never seen actual holy magic at work before.

“Well.” Durlum said, shifting his axe in his grip, “They’ve left, but they ain’t gone. What should we do? Chase them down? Try to escape?”

After a moment’s debate, the party agreed to check just one more room, hoping for some sort of compensation for this expedition, but if that came up bust, they’d have to cut their loses. “We are NOT leaving those things creeping about.” Ivana declared firmly. “My uncle said that -as long as I do not directly attack them- they will stay away from me if they can until sunset or sunrise, whichever comes first.”

“Good to know.” Kon replied.

“All right.” she said, “We check ONE room, then we go and deal with those things. There were a couple up doors to the North, where we finished off the kobolds. Let’s pick one of those.” The rest agreed and the group hurried back up the hall they’d chased the kobolds down earlier.

Meanwhile, Corwyn had returned to the burrow entrance. It was nearly full dark by now and, since he didn’t fancy staying outside alone with Anton’s corpse, he ducked back in the doorway and lit a torch. Then slipped back through the North door, where he and Koli has left from only an hour or so before. True to his word, the dwarf had drawn easy to spot arrows on the walls, pointing the way the others had went. Corwyn stepped along quickly, his hand on his sword’s hilt.

It was only a few minutes later when, as Corwyn was passing an intersection, when he heard the rattle of bones and saw 10 skeletons all bunched up at the end of the hall. They became aware of him immediately and, since the cleric was nowhere to be seen, rushed forward toward him! “Where did THEY come from!?” Corwyn cried, and pelted down the hall away from them. “I sure hope those idiots didn’t spring some pit trap up ahead!”

Luckily, in his lighter gear, Corwyn was faster than his mail clad friends and quickly outdistanced the horrible undead. Scanning quickly for the chalk signs, the thief found his way up the same corridor his friends had gone only minutes before.

While Corwyn was lighting his torch, the party had reached the door on the north wall past where they’d killed the last kobolds. It opened easily but what was inside gave the group pause. Beyond the doorway, the chamber appeared to be a forest of stunted and leprous trees. How they were growing underground at all was strange enough, but who even planted them here and why? The trees weren’t planted in any kind of order, like an orchard. Rather it seemed with little order, like a natural forest. The vegetation also made it difficult to see the dimension of the room, or if it were occupied.

“I definitely do not like this.” Oldor muttered. Kon nodded silently in agreement. Without speaking further, the group backed out. When the door was firmly shut after them, Oldor said, “That one didn’t count. One more!” and the party turned to the right down the hall, reaching a door around a short turn. Oldor, being the one to have suggested to keep going, got the honors of pushing it open. Inside was a room with some rotted bits of furniture, and a shattered box with coins spilling out!

“Finally!” Kon exclaimed, and stepped up to take a closer look. The coins seemed to be mostly copper, but some silver was definitely in the mix. As Kon scooped up a handful to examine, he caught a hint of movement from the other side of the pile. A dark-scaled snake was coiling istelf up and raising its head at his intrusion.

“Snake!” Kon screamed and backed away quickly. Oldor fired an arrow but only managed to hit the beast’s tail. It hissed and spread its hood in anger. Durlum, not wishing to get too close to a poisonous creature, threw his dagger at it, but failed to connect.

Ivana, afraid of losing another companion, rushed forward swinging her mace at its head, but the cobra dodged it easily. Before she could do anything else, the snake opened its jaws and a fine mist sprayed from its mouth at Ivana’s face! She knew that the venom could burn one’s eyes badly enough to blind you, so she was lucky to get her arm up to stop the poison from hitting her directly.

With the cleric right in front of it now, the snake tried to bite Ivana, but her armor was too strong. The others rushed forward to help her, but this time her mace finished the job and the cobra was crushed to death.

Kon and Oldor examined the dead snake for a moment. “I bet this skin would look neat as a belt or scabbard.” the big man mused.

“We should keep the head and sell it to an alchemist in town.” Oldor suggested.

“We should trade in poison?” Ivana asked, shocked.

“No no.” Oldor explained, “They can use it to make anti-venom, to cure poisons.”

“Oh,” she replied, “I suppose that’s all right.”

Meanwhile, the dwarf was sizing up the coins. “The copper just isn’t worth it. It’ll weigh a ton, and we’ll move like snails trying to get home with it all. Better to just distribute the silver among use and that will be at least a couple hundred gold worth.”

“Did someone say gold?” came a voice from the door. Corwyn had returned.

The party took a few minutes to pack the coins as they caught each other up on events. Ivana was adamant that the skeletons be destroyed, so the group came up with a plan to try and bottleneck them again with Ivana in reserve to drive them off if necessary. Moving a bit slower now from the weight of the silver. The Eights went back down the hall toward where Corwyn had fled the skeletons. Before too long the sound of clattering bones could be heard.

Taking up position at the corner where the room with the ‘wind tunnel’, Ivana kept out of sight around the bend. Corwyn guarded her with his bow, and Oldor took the rank behind Kon and Durlum. Within a few moments, the skeletons approached. The halfling fired an arrow as they closed and was rewarded when the arrow shattered its backbone, dropping the undead. Kon and Durlum both struck heavy blows on their opponents, dropping one and wounding the other. But another stepped into the fallen one’s place. There looked to be nine of the monsters left.

They trade blows again and a bony claw tears a deep cut into Durlum’s neck and shoulder. He keeps his feet, but is obviously hurt badly. Kon avoids being hit, but both he and the dwarf failed to connect. Oldor’s next arrow struck only a glancing blow on another skeleton. The halfling tapped the dwarf’s shoulder and said, “You’re hit. Step back and take my spot!” Durlum nodded and Oldor stepped to the front, next to Kon, who drops the wounded one in the front as Oldor lunges in to finish off the other front skeleton.

Corwyn, who had been hanging back, realized he couldn’t sit this out if he wanted to see the sky again. He fired an arrow and was rewarded with a skeleton falling to his arrow. In the meantime, two more skeletons attacked the front rank, Oldor took a deep wound in his side, and Kon received several shallow cuts to his head. Now all three warriors were hurt.

“Ivana!” Kon yelled, “We’re getting hammered here! I think you need to do the shiny thing again!” The cleric stepped back into view and raised her holy icon. The skeletons reacted almost immediately and once again began to flee East. As they turned their backs, Oldor and Kon drop two more. Ivana continued to push them back with her holy aura as Oldor and Corwyn dropped the rest from a distance with arrows.

“Satisfied?” Durlum asked in a strained voice as the last of the undead fell. The dwarf stood straight, but his hand was pressed to the side of his neck to staunch the bleeding and he was in obvious pain.

“Yes. Thanks to you all. That evil was worse than kobolds.” Ivana had no healing magic, but she knew the basics of bandaging and poultices. After a few minutes work, no one in the group was in any danger of bleeding out, but they were still the worse for wear.

It was slow going getting themselves and their takings out the door, but after a little bit, they found themselves back outside. It was full night by now and the darkness was all around them. The shape of Anton’s cloaked body was barely visible under a tree.

“Let’s make a quick camp.” Suggested Oldor, “Maybe a little ways from here? We don’t want to deal with anything crawling out that door in the night.”

The others nodded. Durlum volunteered to take a look around for a good site, as he needed no torchlight to see his way. He returned shortly, having found a small clearing well off the path and out of sight. The group dragged Anton’s body with them and prepared to quietly pass the night. Other than the distant barks of some rock baboons, the night passed peacefully.

In the morning Kon and Corwyn dig a shallow grave as Oldor and Durlum collected some stones for a cairn. They gently placed Anton’s corpse in the hole and Ivana said a prayer for the dead over it, sprinkling her only vial of holy water over him to consecrate the grave. Then the group piled the stones over the dead mage. Durlum was able to use Corwyn’s spikes and mallet to chisel ANTON into a larger flat stone. The lettering was simple, but deep enough that it would be a long time before there disappeared to the elements.

Having done the best they could by their friend, the group set out for town. Unfortunately having left the trail before to avoid detection, the group ended up wandering the woods and hills for nearly a full day before finding their bearings. Thus it was two days after leaving the burrow before the Eights managed to get back to Threshold.

End of Adventure 1